The Mysterious Island Jules Verne (red white royal blue txt) 📖

be no men besides ourselves on Lincoln Island. Why, the island is not large: and if it had been inhabited, we must have met someone of its people before this.”

“It would, indeed, be astonishing if we had not,” said Herbert.

“But it would be much more astonishing, I think,” remarked the reporter, “if this little beast had been born with a bullet in his body!”

“Unless,” suggested Neb, seriously, “Pencroff had had it⁠—”

“How’s that, Neb?” interrupted the sailor, “I, to have had a bullet in my jaw for five or six months, without knowing it? Where would it have been?” he added, opening his mouth and displaying the thirty-two splendid teeth that ornamented it. “Look, Neb, and if you can find one broken one in the whole set you may pull out half-a-dozen!”

“Neb’s theory is inadmissible,” said Smith, who, in spite of the gravity of his thoughts, could not restrain a smile. “It is certain that a gun has been discharged on the island within three months. But I am bound to believe that the persons on this island have been here but a short time, or else simply landed in passing; as, had the island had inhabitants when we made the ascent of Mount Franklin, we must have seen them or been seen. It is more probable, that within the past few weeks some people have been shipwrecked somewhere upon the coast; the thing, therefore, to do is to discover this point.”

“I think we should act cautiously,” said the reporter.

“I think so, too,” replied Smith, “as I fear that they must be Malay pirates;”

“How would it do, Mr. Smith,” said the sailor, “to build a canoe so that we could go up this river, or, if need be, round the coast? It won’t do to be taken unawares.”

“It’s a good idea,” answered the engineer; “but we have not the time now. It would take at least a month to build a canoe⁠—”

“A regular one, yes,” rejoined the sailor; “but we don’t want it to stand the sea. I will guarantee to make one in less than five days that will do to use on the Mercy.”

“Build a boat in five days,” cried Neb.

“Yes, Neb, one of Indian fashion.”

“Of wood?” demanded the negro, still incredulous.

“Of wood, or what is better, of bark,” answered Pencroff. “Indeed, Mr. Smith, it could be done in five days!”

“Be it so, then,” answered the engineer. “In five days.”

“But we must look out for ourselves in the meantime!” said Herbert.

“With the utmost caution, my friends,” answered Smith. “And be very careful to confine your hunting expeditions to the neighborhood of Granite House.”

The dinner was finished in lower spirits than Pencroff had expected. The incident of the bullet proved beyond doubt that the island had been, or was now, inhabited by others, and such a discovery awakened the liveliest anxiety in the breasts of the colonists.

Smith and Spilett, before retiring, had a long talk about these things. They questioned, if by chance this incident had a connection with the unexplained rescue of the engineer, and other strange events which they had encountered in so many ways. Smith, after having discussed the pros and cons of the question, ended by saying:⁠—

“In short, Spilett, do you want to know my opinion?”

“Yes, Cyrus.”

“Well, this is it. No matter how minutely we examine the island, we will find nothing!”

Pencroff began his work the next day. He did not mean to build a boat with ribs and planks, but simply a flat bottomed float, which would do admirably in the Mercy, especially in the shallow water and its sources. Strips of bark fastened together would be sufficient for their purpose, and in places where a portage would be necessary the affair would be neither heavy nor cumbersome. The sailor’s idea was to fasten the strips of bark together with clinched nails, and thus to make the craft staunch.

The first thing was to select trees furnishing a supple and tough bark. Now, it had happened that the last storm had blown down a number of Douglass pines, which were perfectly adapted to this purpose. Some of these lay prone upon the earth, and all the colonists had to do was to strip them of their bark, though this indeed was somewhat difficult, on account of the awkwardness of their tools.

While the sailor, assisted by the engineer was thus occupied, Herbert and Spilett, who had been made purveyors to the colony, were not idle. The reporter could not help admiring the young lad, who had acquired a remarkable proficiency in the use of the bow and arrows, and who exhibited, withal, considerable hardiness and coolness. The two hunters, remembering the caution of the engineer, never ventured more than two miles from Granite House, but the outskirts of the forest furnished a sufficient supply of agoutis, cabiais, kangaroos, peccaries, etc., and although the traps had not done so well since the cold had abated, the warren furnished a supply sufficient for the wants of the colonists.

Often, while on these excursions, Herbert conversed with Spilett about the incident of the bullet and of the engineer’s conclusions, and one day⁠—the 26th of October⁠—he said:⁠—

“Don’t you think it strange, Mr. Spilett, that any people should have been wrecked on this island, and never have followed up the coast to Granite House?”

“Very strange if they are still here,” answered the reporter, “but not at all astonishing if they are not.”

“Then you think they have gone again?”

“It is likely, my boy, that, if they had stayed any time, or were still here, something would have discovered their presence.”

“But if they had been able to get off again they were not really shipwrecked.”

“No, Herbert, they were what I should call shipwrecked temporarily. That is, it is possible that they were driven by stress of weather upon the island, without having to abandon their vessel, and when the wind moderated they set out again.”

“One thing is certain,” said Herbert, “and that is, that Mr. Smith has always seemed to dread, rather than to desire, the presence of human