THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG
THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG
By Jules Verne
Translated by [Hope] Cranstoun Metcalfe
CHAPTER I
THE CASTAWAYS
Night--a pitch-dark night! It was almost impossible
to distinguish sky from sea. From the sky, laden with
clouds low and heavy, deformed and tattered,
lightning flashed every now and then, followed by
muffled rolls of thunder. At these flashes the
horizon lit up for moment and showed deserted and
melancholy.
No wave broke in foam upon the surface of the sea.
There was nothing but the regular and monotonous
rolling of the swell and the gleam of ripples under
the lightning flashes. Not a breath moved across the
vast plain of ocean, not even the hot breath of the
storms. But electricity so charged the atmosphere
that it escaped in phosphorescent light, and ran up
and down the rigging of the boat in tongues of Saint
Elmo's fire. Although the sun had set four or five
hours ago, the sweltering heat of the day had not
passed.
Two men talked in low tones, in the stern of a big
ship's boat that was decked in to the foot of the
mast. Her foresail and jib were flapping as the
monotonous rolling shook her.
One of these men, holding the tiller tucked under his
arm, tried to dodge the cruel swell that rolled the
boat from side to side. He was a sailor, about forty
years of age, thick-set and sturdy, with a frame of
iron on which fatigue, privation, even despair, had
never taken effect. An Englishman by nationality,
this boatswain was named John Block.
The other man was barely eighteen, and did not
seem to belong to the sea-faring class.
In the bottom of the boat, under the poop and seats,
with no strength left to pull the oars, a number of
human beings were lying, among them a child of five
years old--a poor little creature whose whimpering
was audible, whom its mother tried to hush with idle
talk and kisses.
Before the mast, upon the poop and near the jib
stays, two people sat motionless and silent, hand in
hand, lost in the most gloomy thoughts. So intense
was the darkness that it was only by the lightning
flashes that they could see each other.
From the bottom of the boat a head was lifted
sometimes, only to droop again at once. The
boatswain spoke to the young man lying by his side.
"No, no. I watched the horizon until the sun went
down. No land in sight--not a sail! But
what I didn't see this evening will perhaps be visible
at dawn."
"But, bo'sun, "his companion answered, "we must
get to land somewhere in the next forty-eight hours,
or we shall have succumbed."
"That's true, "John Block agreed. "Land must
appear--simply must. Why, continents and islands
were made on purpose to give shelter to brave men,
and one always ends by getting to them!"
"If the wind helps one, bo'sun."
"That is the only reason wind was invented, "John
Block replied. "To-day, as bad luck would have it, it
was busy somewhere else, in the middle of the
Atlantic or the Pacific perhaps, for it didn't blow
enough here to fill my cap. Yes, a jolly good gale
would blow us merrily along."
"Or swallow us up, Block."
"Oh no, not that! No, no, not that! Of all ways to
bring this job to a finish, that would be the worst."
"Who can tell, bo'sun?"
Then for some minutes the two men were silent.
Nothing could be heard but the gentle rippling
under the boat.
"How is the captain?" the young man went on.
"Captain Gould, good man, is in bad case," John
Block replied. "How those blackguards
knocked him about! The wound in his head makes
him cry out with pain. And it was an officer in whom
he had every confidence who stirred those wretches
up! No, no! One fine morning, or one fine
afternoon, or perhaps one fine evening, that rascal
of a Borupt shall make his last ugly face at the
yardarm or--"
"The brute! The brute!" the young man exclaimed,
clenching his fists in wrath. "But poor Harry Gould!
You dressed his wounds this evening, Block--"
"Ay, ay; and when I put him back under the poop,
after I had put compresses on his head, he was able
to speak to me, though very feebly. 'Thanks, Block,
thanks,' he said--as if I wanted thanks! 'And land?
What about land?' he asked. 'You may be quite
sure, captain,' I told him, 'that there is land
somewhere, and perhaps not very far off.' He looked
at me and closed his eyes."
And the boatswain murmured in an aside: "Land?
Land? Ah, Borupt and his accomplices knew very
well what they were about! While we were shut up
in the bottom of the hold, they altered the course;
they went some hundreds of miles away before they
cast us adrift in this boat--in seas where a ship is
hardly ever seen, I guess."
The young man had risen. He stooped, listening to
port.
"Didn't you hear anything, Block?" he asked.
"Nothing, nothing at all," the boatswain answered;
"this swell is as noiseless as if it were made of oil
instead of water."
The young man said no more, but sat down again
with his arms folded across his breast.
Just at this moment one of the passengers sat up,
and exclaimed, with a gesture of despair:
"I wish a wave would smash this boat up, and
swallow us all up with it, rather than that we should
all be given over to the horrors of starvation! To-
morrow we shall have exhausted the last of our
provisions. We shall have nothing left at all."
"To-morrow is to-morrow, Mr. Wolston," the
Boatswain replied. "If the boat were to capsize there
wouldn't be any to-morrow for us; and while there
is a to-morrow--"
"John Block is right," his young companion
answered. "We must not give up hope, James!
Whatever danger threatens us, we are in God's
hands, to dispose of as He thinks fit. His hand is in
all that comes to us, and it is not right to say that He
has withdrawn it from us."
"I know," James whispered, drooping his head, "but
one is not always master of one's self."
Another passenger, a man of about thirty, one of
those who had been sitting in the bows, approached
John Block and said:
"Bo'sun, since our unfortunate captain was
thrown into this boat with us--and that is a week
ago already--it is you who have taken his place.
So our lives are in your hands. Have you any
hope?"
"Have I any hope?" John Block replied.
"Yes! I assure you I have. I hope these infernal
calms will come to an end shortly and that the
wind will take us safe to harbour."
"Safe to harbour?" the passenger answered,
his eyes trying to pierce the darkness of the night.
"Well, what the deuce!" John Block exclaimed.
"There is a harbour somewhere! All we have to
do is to steer for it, with the wind whistling
through the yards. Good Lord! If I were the
Creator I would show you half a dozen islands
lying all round us, waiting our convenience!"
"We won't ask for as many as that, bo'sun,"
the passenger replied, unable to refrain from
smiling.
"Well," John Block answered, "if He will
drive our boat towards one of those which exist
already, it will be enough, and He need not make
any islands on purpose, although, I must say, He
seems to have been a bit stingy with them here-
abouts!"
"But where are we?"
"I can't tell you, not even within a few hundred
miles," John Block replied. "You know that for
a whole long week we were shut up in the hold,
unable to see what course the ship was shaping,
whether south or north. Anyhow, it must have
have been blowing steadily, and the sea did plenty
of rolling and chopping."
"That is true, John Block, and true, too, that
we must have gone a long way; but in what
direction?"
"About that I don't know anything," the boatswain declared. "Did
the ship go off to the
Pacific, instead of making for the Indian Ocean?
On the day of the mutiny we were off Madagascar.
But since then, as the wind has blown from the
west all the time, we may have been taken hundreds
of miles from there, towards the islands of Saint
Paul and Amsterdam."
"Where there are none but savages of the worst
possible sort," James Wolston remarked. "But
after all, the men who cast us away are not much
better."
"One thing is certain," John Block declared;
"that wretch Borupt must have altered the Flag's
course and made for waters where he will be most
likely to escape punishment, and where he and his
gang will play pirates! So I think that we were a
long way out of our proper course when this boat
was cut adrift. But I wish we might strike some
island in these seas--even a desert island would
do! We could live all right by hunting and
fishing; we should find shelter in some cave.
Why shouldn't we make of our island what the
survivors of the Landlord made of New Switzerland? With
strong arms, brains, and pluck--"
"Very true," James Wolston answered, "but
the Landlord did not fail her passengers. They
were able to save her cargo, while we shall never
have anything from the Flag's cargo."
The conversation was interrupted. A voice
that rang with pain was heard:
"Drink! Give me something to drink!"
"It's Captain Gould" one of the passengers
said. "He is eaten up with fever. Luckily there
is plenty of water, and--"
"That's my job" said the boatswain. "Do
one of you take the tiller, I know where the can
is, and a few mouthfuls will give the captain ease"
And John Block left his seat aft and went
forward into the bows of the boat.
The three other passengers remained in silence,
awaiting his return.
After being away for two or three minutes John
Block came back to his post.
"Well?" someone enquired.
"Someone got there before me," John Block
answered. "One of our good angels was with the
patient already, pouring a little fresh water
between his lips, and bathing his forehead that
was wet with sweat, I don't know whether
Captain Gould was conscious. He seemed to be
delirious. He was talking about land. 'The land
ought to be over there,' he kept saying, and his
hand was wobbling about like the pennon on the
mainmast when all winds are blowing at once. I
answered: 'Ay, ay, captain, quite so. The
land is somewhere! We shall reach it soon. I
can smell it, to northwards' And that is a sure
thing. We old sailors can smell land like that.
And I said too: 'Don't be uneasy, captain, every-
thing is all right. We have a stout boat and I will
keep her course steady. There must be more
islands hereabouts than we could know what to do
with. Too many to choose from! We shall find
one to suit our convenience--an inhabited island
where we shall find a welcome and where we shall
be sent home from!' The poor chap understood
what I said, I am sure, and when I held the lantern
near his face he smiled to me--such a sad smile!--
and at the good angel too. Then he closed his
eyes again, and fell asleep almost at once. Well!
I may have lied pretty heavily when I talked
about land to him as if it were only a few miles off,
but was I far wrong?"
"No, Block," the youngest passenger replied;
"that is the kind of lie that God allows."
The conversation ended, and the silence was only
broken thereafter by the flapping of the sail
against the mast as the boat rolled from, one side
to the other. Most of those who were aboard her,
broken down by fatigue and weakened by long
privation, forgot their terrors in heavy sleep.
Although these unhappy people still had some-
thing wherewith to quench their thirst, they would
have nothing wherewith to appease their hunger
in the coming days. Of the few pounds of salt
meat that had been flung into the boat when she
was pushed off, nothing now remained. They
were reduced to one bag of sea-biscuits for eleven
people. How could they manage, if the calm
persisted? And for the last forty-eight hours not
one breath of breeze had stolen through the stifling
atmosphere, not even one of those intermittent
gusts which are like the last sighs of a dying man.
It meant death by starvation, and that within
a short time.
There was no steam navigation in those days.
So the probability was that, in the absence of wind,
no ship would come into sight, and, in the absence
of wind, the boat could not reach land, whether
island or continent.
It was necessary to have perfect faith in God
to combat utter despair, or else to possess the
unshakeable philosophy of the boatswain, which
consisted in refusing to see any but the bright side
of things. Even now he muttered to himself:
"Ay, ay, I know; the time will come when
the last biscuit will have been eaten; but as long
as one can keep one's stomach one mustn't
grumble even if there is nothing to put in it! Now, if one
hadn't got a stomach left, even if there were plenty
to put in it--that would be really serious!"
Two hours passed. The boat had not moved a
cable's length, for there was only the motion of
the swell to affect her. Now the swell does not
move forward; it merely makes the surface of he
water undulate. A few chips of wood that had been
thrown over the side the day before were still
floating close by, and the sail had not filled once
to move the boat away from them.
While merely afloat like this, it was of little use
to remain at the helm. But the boatswain declined to leave his post.
With the tiller under his
arm, he tried at least to avoid the lurching which
tilted the boat to one side and another, and thus
to spare his companions excessive shaking.
It was about three o'clock in the morning when
John Block felt a light breath pass across his
cheeks, roughened and hardened as they were by
the salt sea air.
"Can the wind be getting up?" he murmured
as he rose.
He turned towards the south, and, wetting his
finger in his mouth, held it up. There was a distinct sensation of
coldness, caused by the evaporation and now a distant rippling sound
became audible.
He turned to the passenger sitting on the
middle bench, near one of the women.
"Mr. Fritz!" he said.
Fritz Robinson raised his head and bent round.
"What do you want, bo'sun?" he asked.
"Look over there--towards the east."
"What do you think you see?"
"If I'm not mistaken, a kind of rift, like a belt,
on the water-line."
Unmistakably there was a lighter line along the
horizon in that direction. Sky and sea could be
distinguished with more definiteness. It was as if
a rent had just been made in the dome of mist and
vapour.
"It's wind!" the boatswain declared.
"Isn't it only the first beginning of daybreak?"
the passenger asked.
"It might be daylight, though it's very early for
it," John Block replied, "and again it might be a
breeze! I felt something of it in my beard just
now, and look!--it's twitching still! I'm aware
it's not a breeze to fill the top-gallant sails, but
anyhow it's more than we've had for the last four
and twenty hours. Put, your hand to your ear,
Mr. Fritz, and listen; you'll hear what I hear."
"You are right," said the passenger, leaning over
the gunwale; "it is the breeze."
"And we're ready for it," the boatswain replied,
"with the foresail block and tackle. We've only
got to haul the sheet taut to save all the wind which
is rising."
"But where will it take us?"
"Wherever it likes," the boatswain answered;
"all I want it to do is to blow us out of these cursed
waters!"
Twenty minutes went by. The breath of wind,
which at first t was almost imperceptible, grew
stronger. The rippling aft became louder. The
boat made a few rougher motions, not caused by the
slow, nauseating swell. Folds of the sail spread
out, fell flat, and opened again, and the sheet sagged
against its cleats. The wind was not strong enough
yet to fill the heavy canvas of the foresail and the
jib. Patience was needed, while the boat's head
was kept to her course as well as might be by means
of one of the sculls.
A quarter of an hour later, progress was marked
by a light wake.
Just at this moment one of the passengers who
had been lying in the bows got up and looked at the
rift in the clouds to the eastward.
"Is it a breeze?" he asked.
"Yes," John Block answered. "I think we have
got it this time, like a bird in the hand--and we
won't let go of it!".
The wind was beginning to spread steadily
now through the rift, through which, too, the first
gleams of light must come From south-east to
south-west, the clouds still hung in heavy masses,
over three-quarters of the circumference of the sky,
It was still impossible to see more than a few cables'
lengths from the boat, and beyond that distance
no ship could have been detected.
As the breeze had freshened, the sheet had to be
hauled in, the foresail, whose gear was slackened,
hoisted, and the course veered a point or two, so as
to give the jib a hold on the wind.
"We've got it; we've got it!" the boatswain
said cheerily, and the boat, heeling gently over to
starboard, dipped her nose into the first waves.
Little by little the rent in the clouds grew bigger
and spread overhead. The sky assumed a reddish
hue. It seemed that the wind might hold to the
present quarter for some little time, and that the
period of calms had come to an end.
Hope of reaching land revived once more, or the
alternative hope of falling in with a ship.
At five o'clock the rent in the clouds was ringed
with a collar of vivid coloured clouds. It was the
day, appearing with the suddenness peculiar to the
low latitudes of the tropical regions. Soon purple
rays of light arose above the horizon, like the sticks
of a fan. The rim of the solar disc, heightened by
the refraction, touched the horizon line, drawn
clearly now at the end of sky and sea. At once the
rays of light caught on the little clouds which hung
in the high heaven, and dyed them every shade of
crimson. But they were stubbornly arrested by
the dense vapours accumulated in the north, and
could not break through them. And so the range
of vision, long behind, was still extremely limited
in front. The boat was leaving a long wake behind
her now, marked in creamy white upon the greenish
water.
And now the whole sun emerged above the
horizon, enormously magnified at its diameter. No
haze dimmed its brilliance, which was insupportable
to the eye. All aboard the boat looked away from
it; they only scanned the north, whither the wind
was carrying them. The main question was what
the fog screened from them in that direction.
At length, just before half-past six, one of the
passengers seized the halyards of the foresail and
clambered nimbly up to the yardarm, just as the
sun cleared the sky to the eastward with its early
rays.
And in a ringing voice he shouted:
"Land!"
CHAPTER II
IN ENGLAND
It was on the 20th of October that the Unicorn
had left New Switzerland on her way back
to England. On her return, when the
Admiralty sent to take possession of the new colony
in the Indian Ocean, after a brief stop at the Cape
of Good Hope, she was to bring back Fritz and
Frank Zermatt, Jenny Montrose and Dolly Wolston.
The two brothers took the berths left vacant by the
Wolstons who were now settled on the island. A
comfortable cabin had been placed at the disposal
of Jenny and her little companion Dolly, who was
going to join James Wolston and his wife and child
at Cape Town.
After rounding the False Hope Point the Unicorn
sailed westward before the wind and came down to
the south again, leaving the island of Burning Rock
on her starboard. Before finally leaving New
Switzerland Lieutenant Littlestone decided to reconnoitre its eastern
coast as well, in order to satisfy
himself that it really was an isolated island in these
seas, and to form an approximate idea of the size
of a colony which would soon be included among
the island dominions of Great Britain. As soon as
he had done this, the corvette, with a fair wind
behind her, left the island to the north-west, after
getting little more than a glimpse of its southern
portion through the haze and fog.
Fortune favoured the first few weeks of the
voyage. The passengers on the Unicorn were
delighted with the weather, as well as with the
cordial treatment which they received from the
commander and the other officers. When they all
met at table in the officers' mess, or under the
awning on the poop, the conversation generally
turned upon the wonders of New Switzerland. If
the corvette met with nothing to delay her they all
hoped to see it again within the year.
Fritz and Jenny often talked of Colonel Montrose,
and of the gladness that would be his when he
clasped in his arms the daughter whom he had
thought he would never see again. For three years
no news had been received of the Dorcas, whose
loss with nearly all hands had been confirmed by
the survivors who had been taken to Sydney. But
when they reached England Jenny would present
to her father the man who had rescued Her, and
would beg him to bless their union.
As for Frank, though Dolly Wolston was only
fourteen, it would not be without a bitter pang that
he would leave her at Cape Town, and keen would be
his longing to come back to her side!
After crossing the Tropic, off the Isle of France
the Unicorn encountered less favourable winds.
These delayed her arrival at her port until the 17th
of December, two months after her departure from
New Switzerland.
The corvette came to anchor in the harbour of
Cape Town, where she was to remain for a
week.
One of the first visitors to come aboard was James
Wolston. He knew that his father, mother, and
two sisters had taken passages on the Unicorn, and
his disappointment can be imagined at finding that
there was only one sister for him to meet. Dolly
presented Fritz and Frank Zermatt to him.
"Your father and mother and sister Hannah
are living in New Switzerland now, Mr. Wolston,"
Fritz told him; "an unknown island on which my
family was cast twelve years ago, after the wreck of
the Landlord. They have decided to remain there
and expect you to join them. When she comes
back from Europe the Unicorn will take you and
your wife and child to our island, if you are willing
to go with us."
"When is the corvette due back at the Cape?"
James Wolston enquired.
"In eight or nine months," Fritz replied, "and
she will go from here to New Switzerland where the
British flag will be flying. My brother Frank and I
have availed ourselves of this opportunity to take
back to London the daughter of Colonel Montrose
who, we hope, will consent to come and settle with
her in our second fatherland."
"And with you too, Fritz dear; for you will
have become his son, "Jenny added, giving him
her hand.
"That is my most ardent wish, Jenny dear," said
Fritz.
"And we and our parents do very much want
you to bring your family and settle in New Switzerland," Dolly
Wolston added.
"You must insist on the fact, Dolly," Frank
declared," that our island is the most wonderful
island that has ever appeared above the sea."
"James will be the first to agree, when he has
seen it," Dolly answered. "When once you have
set foot in New Switzerland, and stayed at Rock
Castle--"
"And roosted at Falconhurst, eh, Dolly?" said
Jenny laughing.
"Yes, roosted," the little girl replied, u well then
you will never want to leave New Switzerland
again!"
"You hear, Mr. Wolston?" said Fritz.
"I hear, M. Zermatt," James Wolston answered.
"To settle in your island and open up its first
commercial relations with Great Britain is a proposition that I find
peculiarly inviting. My wife and
I will talk about it, and if we decide to go we will
wind up our affairs and hold ourselves in readiness
to embark upon the Unicorn when she comes back
to Cape Town. I am sure Susan will not hesitate."
"I will do whatever my husband wishes," Mrs.
Wolston said.
Fritz and Frank shook James Wolston's hand
warmly as Dolly kissed her sister-in-law.
"While the corvette stays here," James Wolston
then explained," we expect you all to accept the
hospitality of our house. That will be the best way
to knit our friendship, and we will talk as much as
you please about New Switzerland."
Naturally the passengers on the Unicorn accepted
this invitation in the spirit in which it had been
offered.
An hour later Mr. and Mrs. James Wolston
received their guests. Fritz and Frank were given a
room between them, and Jenny shared the one
allotted to Dolly, as she had shared her cabin during
the voyage.
Mrs. James Wolston was a young woman of
twenty-four, gentle, intelligent, and devoted to her
husband. He was an earnest and active man, very
much like his father. They had one boy, Bob, now
five years old, whom they adored.
During the ten days that the Unicorn remained
in the port, from the 17th to the 27th of December,
little was talked about but New Switzerland, the
events of which it had been the stage, the various
works undertaken, and the many contrivances and
improvements effected on the island. The subject-
was never exhausted. Dolly would expatiate on all
these wonderful things, and Frank would encourage
her to go on, and even find fault with her for not
saying enough. Then Jenny Montrose would embroider the tale, to
Fritz's keen delight.
In a word, the time sped, and James Wolston
and his wife quite made up their minds to leave the
Cape for New Switzerland. During the voyage
of the corvette home and out again, Wolston would
employ himself winding up his affairs and realising
his capital; he would be ready to start directly the
Unicorn reappeared; and he would be one of the
first emigrants to the island.
The last good-byes had to be said at length, with
the comforting reflection that in another eight or
nine months they would be at Cape Town again,
and that then they would all put to sea together-,
outward bound for New Switzerland. Nevertheless, the parting was a
painful one. Jenny Montrose
and Susan Wolston mingled their kisses with tears,
to which Dolly's were added. The child was much
distressed by Frank's departure, and his heart, too,
was heavy, for he had grown very fond of her. As
he and his brother clasped James Wolston's hand
they could assure themselves that they were leaving
there a true friend indeed.
The Unicorn put to sea on the 27th, in somewhat
overcast weather. Her passage was of average
length. For several weeks winds varied from
north-west to south-west. The corvette spoke
Saint Helena, Ascension, and the Cape Verde
islands. Then, after passing in sight of the
Canaries and Azores, off the coasts of Portugal and
France, she came up the Channel, rounded the Isle
of Wight, and, on the 14th of February, dropped
anchor at Portsmouth.
Jenny Montrose wanted to start at once for
London, where her aunt lived. If the Colonel were
on active service she would not find him there, since
the campaign for which he had been recalled from
India might have lasted for several years. But if
he had retired, he would have settled near his sister-
in-law, and it would be there that he would at length
set eyes again upon her whom he believed to have
perished in the wreck of the Dorcas.
Fritz and Frank offered to escort Jenny to
London, whither business called them also, and
Fritz naturally wanted to meet Colonel Montrose
soon. So all three set out the same evening,
and arrived in London during the morning of
the 23rd.
But bitter grief fell upon Jenny Montrose. She
learned from her aunt that the colonel had died
during his last campaign, without the happiness of
knowing that the daughter whom he had mourned
for was still alive. After coming back from the
far waters of the Indian Ocean to embrace her
father, hoping never to part from him again, to
present her saviour to him, and to beg for his con-
sent to their union and his blessing on it, Jenny
would never see him more!
Her distress was great. In vain her aunt lavished
on her words of consolation; in vain Fritz sorrowed
with her. The blow was too cruel. She had never
even thought of the possibility that her father might
be dead.
A few days later, in a conversation broken by
tears and regrets, Jenny said to him:
"Fritz, dear Fritz, we have just experienced the
bitterest of misfortunes, you and I. If you have
not changed your mind at all--"
"Oh, Jenny, my darling!" Fritz exclaimed.
"Yes, I know," said Jenny, "and my father
would have been happy to call you his son, I am
sure he would have wanted to go with us and share
our life in the new English colony. But I must give
up that happiness. I am alone in the world now,
and have only myself to depend upon! Alone? No, no! You are there,
Fritz."
"Jenny," said the young man, "the whole of my
life shall be devoted to your happiness."
"And mine to yours, Fritz dear! But since my
father is no longer here to give us his consent, since
I have no near relations living, and since yours is the
only family I can call my own--"
"You have belonged to it three years already,
Jenny dear, ever since the day when I found you on
Burning Rock."
"I love them all, and they love me, Fritz! Well,
in a few months more we shall be with them all again
we shall be back--"
"Married, Jenny?"
"Yes, Fritz, if you wish it, since you have your
father's consent and my aunt will not refuse me
hers."
"Jenny, dear Jenny!" Fritz exclaimed, falling
on his knees beside her. "Our plans will not be
changed at all, and I shall take back my wife to my
father and mother."
Jenny Montrose remained henceforth in her
aunt's house, where Fritz and Frank came every
day to see her. Meanwhile all the necessary
arrangements were made for the celebration of the
marriage within the briefest time that the law permitted.
But there was other business of some importance
to be attended to, business which had been the
purpose of the two brothers in coming to Europe.
There was the sale of the various articles of value
collected on the Island, the coral gathered on Whale
Island, the pearls taken from the bay, the nutmegs
and the vanilla. M. Zermatt had not been mistaken
about their market value. They produced the
considerable sum of eight thousand pounds sterling.
When one remembered that the banks of Pearl
Bay had been no more than skimmed, that coral
was to be found on many parts of the coast, that
nutmegs and vanilla could be produced in large
quantities, and that there were many other treasures in New
Switzerland, one had to acknowledge
that the colony was destined for a height of prosperity which would
set it in the forefront of the
over-sea dominions of Great Britain.
In accordance with M. Zermatt's instructions
part of the sum realised from the sale of these
articles was to be spent upon things required to
complete the stock at Rock Castle and the farms in
the Promised Land. The rest, about three-quarters
of the whole sum, and the ten thousand pounds
coming from Colonel Montrose's estate, were deposited in the Bank of
England, upon which
M. Zermatt would be able to draw in the future as
he might require, thanks to the communication
which would soon be established with the capital.
Restitution was made of the various jewels and
monies belonging to the families of those who had
been lost with the Landlord, who had been traced
after enquiry.
Finally, a month after the arrival of Fritz
Zermatt and Jenny Montrose in London, their
marriage was celebrated there by the chaplain of the
corvette, The Unicorn had brought them as an
engaged couple, and would take them back to New
Switzerland a married couple.
All these events excited a considerable interest
throughout Great Britain in the family which had
been abandoned for a dozen years on an unknown
island in the Indian Ocean, and in Jenny's adventures and her stay on
Burning Rock. The story
which had been written by Jean Zermatt appeared
in the English and foreign newspapers, and under
the title of "The Swiss Family Robinson", it was
destined to a fame equal to that won already by the
immortal work of Daniel Defoe.
The consequence of all this was that the
Admiralty decided to take possession of New
Switzerland, Moreover, this new possession had
some very considerable advantages to offer. The
island occupied an important position in the east
of the Indian Ocean, near the entrance to the Sunda
seas, on the road to the Far East. Seven hundred
and fifty miles at most separated it from the western
coast of Australia. The sixth part of the world,
discovered by the Dutch in 1605, visited by Abel
Tasman in 1644 and by Captain Cook in 1774, was
destined to become one of England's principal
dominions. Thus the Admiralty could but congratulate itself on its
acquisition of an island so
near that continent.
And thus the despatch of the Unicorn to its waters
was decided upon. The corvette would set out
again in a few months under the command of
Lieutenant Littlestone, promoted captain on this
occasion. Fritz and Jenny Zermatt were to sail
in her with Frank, and also a few colonists, pending
the time when other emigrants, in larger numbers,
would sail in other ships to the same destination,
It was arranged that the corvette should put in
at the Cape to pick up James and Susan and Dolly
Wolston.
The lengthy stay of the Unicorn at Portsmouth
was due to the fact that repairs of some magnitude
had become absolutely necessary after her voyage
from Sydney to Europe.
Fritz and Frank did not spend the whole of this
time in London or in England. They and Jenny
regarded it as a duty to visit Switzerland, so as to be
able to take to M. and Mme. Zermatt some news of
their native land.
So they went first to France, and spent a week in
Paris. The Empire had just ended at this date,
as also had the long wars with Great Britain.
Fritz and Frank arrived in Switzerland, the
country which they had almost forgotten, so young
had they been when they left it, and from Geneva
they went to the canton of Appenzel.
Of their family none remained except a few
distant relatives of whom M. and Mme. Zermatt
knew little. But the arrival of the two young men
caused a great sensation in the Swiss Republic,
Everybody knew the story of the survivors of the
wreck of the Landlord, and knew the island now on
which they had found refuge. Thus, although their
fellow-countrymen were little inclined to run the
risks involved in emigration, several declared their
intention of joining those colonists to whom New
Switzerland promised a cordial welcome.
It was not without a pang that Fritz and Frank
left the land of their origin. Even if they might
hope to visit it again in the future, that was a hope
which M. and Mme. Zermatt, advancing now in
years, would hardly realise.
Crossing France, Fritz and Jenny and Frank
returned to England.
Preparations for the sailing of the Unicorn were
drawing to a close, and the corvette would be ready
to set sail in the last few days of June.
Both Fritz and Frank were received with flattering attention by the
Lords of the Admiralty. England was grateful to Jean Zermatt for
having
of his own free will offered Captain Littlestone
immediate possession of his island.
As has been explained, when the corvette left
New Switzerland, the greatest portion of the island
was still unexplored, save the district of the
Promised Land, the littoral on the north, and part
of the littoral on the east as far as Unicorn Bay,
Captain Littlestone was therefore to complete its
survey both on the west and south and also in the
interior. In a few months more, several ships
would be fitted out to take emigrants and the
materials required in colonisation and to put the
island in a proper state of defence. Then regular
communication would be established between Great
Britain and those distant waters of the Indian
Ocean.
On the 27th of June the Unicorn was ready to
weigh anchor, and only waited for Fritz; and Jenny
and Frank. On the 28th the three arrived at
Portsmouth, whither the stores purchased on behalf
oŁ the Zermatt family had been sent in advance.
They were warmly welcomed aboard the corvette
by Captain Littlestone, whom they had had one or
two opportunities of meeting in London. How
happy they were in the thought of seeing James and
Susan Wolston again at Cape Town, and also the
charming little Dolly, whom Frank had kept
constantly supplied with news, and good news too
of everybody.
In the morning of the 29th of June, the Unicorn
left Portsmouth with a fair wind, flying at the peak
the English flag which was to be planted upon the
shores of New Switzerland.
CHAPTER III
THE MUTINY ON THE FLAG
A cabin was reserved for Fritz and his wife
in the Unicorn, and an adjoining one for
Frank, and they took their meals at
Captain Littlestone's table.
Nothing of special note happened during the
voyage. There were all the usual incidents, change-
able seas, uncertain winds, calms, and a few
violent outbreaks of heavy weather through which
the corvette came without much damage. In the
South Atlantic they passed a few vessels which
would report tidings of the Unicorn in Europe. In
the present interval of peace after the long period
of great wars, the high seas were safe.
But the Unicorn, which had had a fairly easy time
while crossing the Atlantic, met with shocking
weather when south of Africa. A violent storm
burst on her during the night of the 19th of August,
and the gale drove her out to sea again. The hurricane grew more and
more violent, and they had to
run before it, as it was impossible to lie to. Captain
Littlestone, splendidly supported by his officers and
crew, displayed great skill The mizzen mast had
to be cut away, and a leak was sprung aft which
was only smothered with difficulty. At last, when
the wind fell, Captain Littlestone was able to
resume his course and hurried to the harbour at
Cape Town for repairs.
On the morning of the 10th of September the top
of the Table, the mountain which gives its name to
the bay, was sighted.
Directly the Unicorn had found her moorings,
James Wolston, with his wife and Dolly, came out
in a boat.
What a welcome they gave Fritz: and Jenny and
Frank, and how happy they all were!
For the last ten months they had perforce been
without news. Although there was no particular
ground for imagining that anything untoward had
befallen the people at Rock Castle, this absence
could not but seem very long.
James Wolston's affairs had all been wound up
satisfactorily.
But they found themselves confronted by the
impossibility of putting to sea at once. The damage
done to the Unicorn was serious enough to necessitate a
prolonged stay in Cape Town harbour. It
would take two or three months to repair them,
after her cargo had been taken out of the corvette.
She could not possibly sail for New Switzerland
before the end of October.
But the passengers on the Unicorn had an
unexpected opportunity of shortening their stay at
the Cape.
There happened to be in the harbour a vessel, due
to sail in a fortnight. She was the Flag, an English
three-masted vessel of five hundred tons, captain
Harry Gould, bound for Batavia, in the Sunday
Islands. To put in at New Switzerland would
take her very little out of her course, and the
passengers for the island were prepared to pay a
good price for their passage.
Their proposal was accepted by Captain Gould,
and the Unicorn's passengers transferred their
baggage to the Flag.
The three-master's preparations were finished in
the afternoon of the 20th of September. That
evening they said good-bye, not without regret,
to Captain Littlestone, promising to look out for the
arrival of the Unicorn at the mouth of Deliverance
Bay towards the end of November.
Next morning the Flag sailed, with a favouring
wind from the south-west, and before the evening
of that first day the high summits of the Cape, left
forty miles behind, disappeared below the horizon.
Harry Gould was a fine sailor, with cool courage
equal to his resolution. He was now in the prime
of life, at forty-two, and had shown his quality both
as mate and captain. His owners had every
confidence in him.
To this confidence, Robert Borupt, the second
officer on the Flag, was not entitled. He was a
man of the same age as Harry Gould, jealous,
vindictive, and of uncontrolled passions. He never
believed that he received the due meed of his
merits. Disappointed in his hope of being given
the command of the Flag, he nursed at the bottom
of his heart a secret hatred of his captain. But his
temper had not escaped the vigilance of the boat-
swain, John Block, a fearless, reliable man devoted
heart and soul to his chief.
The crew of the Flag, mustering some score of
men, was not of the first-class, as Captain Gould
very well knew. The boatswain noticed with disapproval the indulgence
too often shown by Robert
Borupt to some of the sailors, when fault should
have been found with them for neglect of duty.
He thought that all this was suspicious, and he
watched the second officer, fully determined to give
Captain Gould warning, if needful.
Nothing of note happened between the 22nd of
August and the 9th of September. The condition
of the sea and the direction of the wind were alike
favourable to the ship's progress, though the breeze
was a shade too light. If the three-master were able
to maintain the same rate of progress she would
reach New Switzerland waters about the middle
of October, within the time anticipated.
But about this time the crew began to manifest
symptoms of insubordination. It even looked as
though the second and third officers, in defiance
of every sense of duty, connived at this relaxing of
discipline. Robert Borupt, influenced by his own
jealous and perverse nature, took no steps to check
the disorder.
But the Flag continued to make her way north-
east. On the 9th of September she was almost in
the middle of the Indian Ocean, on the line of the-
Tropic of Capricorn, her position being 20° 17'
latitude and 80° 45' longitude.
During the course of the previous night symptoms of bad weather had
appeared--a sudden fall
of the barometer, and a gathering of storm clouds,
both signs of the formidable hurricanes that too
often lash these seas to fury.
About three o'clock in the afternoon a squall got
up so suddenly that it almost caught the ship--a
serious matter for a vessel which, heeled over to one
side, cannot answer to her rudder and is in danger
of not being brought up again unless her rigging is
cut away. If that is done, she is disabled, incapable of offering any
resistance to the waves while
lying to, and is at the mercy of the ocean's fury.
As soon as this storm broke the passengers had,
of course, been obliged to keep their cabins, for the
deck was swept by tremendous seas. Only Fritz
and Frank stayed on deck to lend a hand with the
crew.
Captain Gould took the watch at the outset, and
the boatswain was at the wheel, while the second
and third officers were on duty in the forecastle.
The crew were at their posts, ready to obey the
captain's orders, for it was a matter of life and
death. The slightest mistake in the handling of
her, while the seas were breaking over the Flag as
she lay half over on the port side, might have meant
the end. Every effort must be made to get her up
again, and then to trim her sails so as to bring her
head on to the squall.
And yet the mistake was made, not deliberately
perhaps, for the ship ran the risk of foundering
through it, but certainly through some misunderstanding of the
captain's orders, of which an officer
ought not to have been capable, if he possessed any
of the instincts of a sailor.
Robert Borupt, the second officer, alone was
to blame. The foretopsail, trimmed at a wrong
moment, drove the ship still farther over, and a
tremendous lump of water crashed over the taffrail.
"That cursed Borupt wants to sink us!" cried
Captain Gould.
"He has done it!" the boatswain answered,
trying to shove the tiller to starboard.
The captain leaped to the deck and made his way
forward, at the risk of being swept back by the
water. After a desperate struggle he reached the
forecastle.
"Get to your cabin!" he shouted in a voice of
wrath to the second officer; " get to your cabin,
and stop there!"
Borupt's blunder was so patent that not one of
the crew dared to protest, although they were all
ready to stand by him if he had given them the
word. He obeyed, however, and went back to the
poop.
What was possible to do, Captain Gould did.
He trimmed all the canvas that the Flag could carry,
and succeeded in bringing her up without being
obliged to cut away the rigging. The ship no longer
lay broadside on to the sea.
For three consecutive days they had to run before
the storm in constant peril. During almost the
whole of that time Susan and Jenny and Dolly were
obliged to keep to their cabins, while Fritz, Frank,
and James Wolston helped in the various operations.
At last, on the 13th of September, an abatement
of the storm came. The wind dropped, and
although the sea did not immediately drop too, at
last the waves no longer swept the deck of the Flag.
The ladies hurried eagerly out of their cabins.
They knew what had taken place between the
captain and the second officer, and why the latter
had been removed from his post. Robert Borupt's
fate would be decided by a naval court when they
got back.
There was much damage to the canvas to be made
good, and John Block, who was in charge of this
work, saw quite clearly that the crew were on the
verge of mutiny.
This state of things could not be lost upon Fritz,
or Frank, or James Wolston, and it filled them with
more uneasiness than the storm had caused them.
Captain Gould would not shrink from the severest
measures against the mutineers. But was he not
too late?
During the following week there was no actual
breach of discipline. As the Flag had been carried
some hundreds of miles to the east, she had to turn
back to the west, in order to get into the longitude
of New Switzerland.
On the 20th of September, about ten o'clock,
much to the surprise of all, for he had not been
released from arrest, Robert Borupt reappeared on
deck.
The passengers, who were all sitting together on
the poop, had a presentiment that the situation,
grave enough already, was about to become still
more grave.
Directly Captain Gould saw the second officer
coming forward he went up to him.
"Mr. Borupt" he said, "you are under arrest.
What are you doing here? Answer!"
"I will!" cried Borupt loudly. "And this is
my answer!"
Turning to the crew, he shouted:
"Come on, mates!"
"Hurrah for Borupt!" rang from every part of
the ship!
Captain Gould rushed down into his cabin and
came back with a pistol in his hand. But he was
not given time to use it. A shot, fired by one of the
sailors round Borupt wounded him in the head,
and he fell into the boatswain's arms.
Resistance was hopeless against an entire crew
of mutineers, headed by the first and second officers.
John Block, Fritz, Frank, and James Wolston,
drawn up near Captain Gould tried in vain to
maintain the struggle. In a moment they were
overwhelmed by numbers, and ten sailors hustled
them down to the spar-deck with the captain.
Jenny, Dolly, Susan, and the child were shut into
their cabins, over which a guard was placed by order
of Borupt, now ruler of the ship.
The situation of the prisoners in the semi-darkness
of the spar-deck, and of the wounded captain whose
head could only be dressed with cold compresses,
was a hard one. The boatswain was unfailing in his
devotion to the captain.
Fritz and Frank and James Wolston were consumed by appalling anxiety.
The three women
were at the mercy of the mutineers of the Flag!
The men suffered agony from the thought that they
were powerless.
Several days passed. Twice a day, morning and
evening, the hatch of the spar-deck was opened
and the prisoners were given some food. To the
questions that John Block asked them, the sailors
only replied with brutal threats.
More than once did the boatswain and his companions try to force up
the hatch and regain their
liberty. But the hatch was guarded day and night,
and even if they had succeeded in raising it, over-
powering their guards, and getting up on deck, what
chance would they have had against the crew, and
what would have been the result?
"The brute! The brute!" said Fritz over and
over again, as he thought of his wife and Susan and
Dolly.
"Yes; the biggest rascal alive!" John Block
declared. "If he doesn't swing some day it will be
because justice is dead!"
But if the mutineers were to be punished, and
their ringleader given the treatment he deserved,
a man-of-war must catch and seize the Flag. And
Robert Borupt did not commit the blunder of going
into waters where ships were numerous, and where
he and his gang might have run the risk of being
chased. He must have taken the ship far out of her
proper course, most probably to the eastward, with
the object of getting away alike from ships and the
African and Australian shores.
Every day was adding a hundred, or a hundred
and fifty, miles to the distance separating the Flag
from the meridian of New Switzerland. Captain
Gould and the boatswain could tell from the angle
at which the ship heeled to port that she was making
good speed. The creaking of the mast steps showed
that the first officer was cramming on sail. When
the Flag arrived in those distant waters of the
Pacific Ocean where piracy was practicable, what
would become of the prisoners. The mutineers
would not be able to keep them; would they
maroon them on some desert island? But anything would be better than
to remain on board the
ship, in the hands of Robert Borupt and his accomplices.
A week had passed since Harry Gould and his
friends had been shut up on the spar-deck, without
a word about the women. But on the 27th of
September, it seemed as if the speed of the three-
master had decreased, either because she was
becalmed or because she was hove to.
About eight o'clock in the evening a squad of
sailors came down to the captives.
These had no choice, but to obey the order to
follow him which the second officer gave them.
What was going on above? Was their liberty
about to be restored to them? Or had a party been
formed against Robert Borupt to restore Captain
Gould to the command of the Flag?
When they were brought up on to the deck in
front of all the crew, they saw Borupt waiting for
them at the foot of the mainmast. Fritz and
Frank cast a vain glance within the poop, the door
of which was open. No lamp or lantern shed a
gleam of light within.
But as they came up to the starboard nettings,
the boatswain could see the top of a mast rocking
against the side of the ship.
Evidently the ship's boat had been lowered to the
sea.
Was Borupt preparing, then, to put the captain
and his friends aboard her and cast them adrift in
these waters, abandoning them to all the perils of
the sea, without the least idea whether they were
near any land.
And the unfortunate women, too, were they to
remain on board, exposed to such appalling danger?
At the thought that they would never see them
more, Fritz and Frank and James determined to
make a last attempt to set them free, though it
should end in dying where they stood.
Fritz rushed to the side of the poop, calling Jenny.
But he was stopped, as Frank was stopped, and
James was stopped before he heard any answer from
Susan to his call. They, were overpowered at once,
and despite resistance were lowered with Captain
Gould and John Block over the nettings into the
ship's boat, which was fastened alongside the vessel
by a knotted cable.
Their surprise and joy--yes, joy!--were inexpressible. The dear ones
whom they had called in
vain were in the boat already! The women had
been lowered down a few minutes before the
prisoners had left the spar-deck. They were
waiting in mortal terror, not knowing whether their
companions were to be cast adrift with them.
It seemed to them that to be reunited was the
greatest grace that Heaven could have bestowed on
them.
And yet what peril menaced them aboard this
boat! Only four bags of biscuit and salt meat had
been flung into it, with three casks of fresh water,
a few cooking utensils, and a bundle of clothes and
blankets taken at random from the cabins--a
meagre supply at best.
But they were together! Death alone could
separate them henceforward.
They were not given much time to reflect. In a
few moments, with the freshening wind, the Flag
would be several miles away.
The boatswain had taken his place at the tiller,
and Fritz and Frank theirs at the foot of the mast,
ready to hoist the sail directly the boat should be
free from the shelter of the ship.
Captain Gould had been laid down under the
forward deck. Jenny was ministering to him where
he lay stretched out on the blankets, for he was
unable to stand.
On the Flag the sailors were leaning over the
nettings, looking on in silence. Not one of them
felt a spark of pity for their victims. Their fierce
eyes gleamed in the darkness.
Just at this moment a voice was raised--the voice
to Captain Gould, to whom his indignation restored
some strength. He struggled to his feet, dragged
himself from bench to bench, and half stood up.
"You brutes!" he cried. "You shall not
escape man's justice!"
"Nor yet God's justice!" Frank added.
"Cast off!" cried Borupt.
The rope dropped into the water, the boat was
left alone, and the ship disappeared into the darkness
of the night.
CHAPTER IV.
LAND AHOY!
It was Frank who had shouted "Land!" in
tones of stentorian salutation. Standing erect
upon the poop, he had thought he could see
vague outlines of a coast through a rift in the fog.
So he seized the halyards and scrambled to the
masthead where, sitting astride the yard, he kept
his eyes fixed steadily in the direction where he had
seen it.
Close upon ten minutes passed before he caught
another glimpse to the northward. He slid to the
foot of the mast.
"You saw the coast?" Fritz asked sharply.
"Yes, over there; under the rim of that thick
cloud which hides the horizon now."
"Are you sure you were not mistaken, Mr.
Frank?" John Block said.
"No, bos'un, no, I was not mistaken! The
cloud has spread over the place again now, but the
land is behind it. I saw it; I swear I saw it!"
Jenny had just risen and grasped her husband's
arm.
"We must believe what Frank says," she declared.
"His sight is wonderfully keen. He could
not make a mistake."
"I haven't made a mistake," Frank said. "You
must all believe me, as Jenny does. I saw a
cliff distinctly. It was visible for nearly a minute
through a break in the clouds. I couldn't tell
whether it ran to the east or the west; but, island
or continent, the land is there!"
How could they be sceptical about what Frank
declared so positively?
To what land the coast belonged they might
learn when the boat had reached it. Anyhow, her
passengers, five men, namely Fritz and Frank and
James, Captain Gould and the boatswain John
Block, and three women, Jenny, Dolly, and Susan,
together with the child, would most certainly disembark upon its
coast, whatever it might be.
If it offered no resources, if it were uninhabitable,
or if the presence of natives made it dangerous, the
boat would put to sea again, after revictualling as
well as possible.
Captain Gould was immediately informed and,
in spite of,his weakness and pain, he insisted on
being carried to the stern of the boat,
Fritz began to make some comments about the
signalled land.
"What is of the most concern to us at the present
moment, is its distance from here. Given the
height from which it was observed, and also the
foggy state of the atmosphere, the distance cannot
be more than twelve or fifteen miles."
Captain Gould made a sign of assent, and the
boatswain nodded.
"So with a good breeze blowing towards the
northward" Fritz went on, "two hours should be
enough to take us to it."
"Unfortunately," said Frank, "the breeze is
very uncertain, and seems to be inclined to go back,
If it doesn't drop altogether I am afraid it may be
against us."
"What about the oars?" Fritz rejoined,
"Can't we take to the oars, my brother and James,
and I, while you take the tiller, bos'un? We could
row for several hours."
"Take to the oars!" Gould commanded, in an
almost inaudible voice.
It was a pity that the captain was not in a fit
state to steer, for, with four of them to row, the
crew might have made a better job of it.
Besides, although Fritz and Frank and James
were in the full vigour of youth, and the boatswain
was a sturdy fellow still, and all were thoroughly
hardened to physical exercise, yet they were terribly
weakened now by privation and fatigue, A week
had passed since they had been cast adrift from the
Flag. They had economised their provisions, yet
only enough remained to last them for twenty-four
hours. On three or four occasions they had caught
a few fish by trailing lines behind the boat. A little
stove, a little kettle, and a saucepan were all the
utensils they possessed, besides their pocket knives,
And if this land were no more than a rocky island,
if the boat were obliged to resume her painful
course for more long days, looking for a continent
or an island where existence might be possible--
what then?
But all felt hope reviving again. Instead of the
boat that was threatened by squalls and tossed
about by the waves and half filled by the seas, they
would at least feel firm ground under their feet.
They would install themselves in some cave to
shelter there from bad weather. Perhaps they
would find a fertile soil, with edible roots and fruits.
And there they would be able to await the passing
of a ship, without need to fear hunger or thirst.
The ship would see their signals, would come to the
rescue of the castaways--all that and more they saw
through the mirage of hope!
Did the coast thus seen belong to some group of
islands situated beyond the tropic of Capricorn?
That was what the boatswain and Fritz discussed
in undertones. Jenny and Dolly had resumed their
seats in the bottom of the boat, and the little boy
was sleeping in Mrs. Wolston's arms. Captain
Gould, eaten up with fever, had been carried back
under the poop, and Jenny was soaking compresses
in cold water to lay upon his head.
Fritz propounded many theories, none of them
very encouraging. He was pretty sure that the
Flag had sailed a long way to the east during the
week after the mutiny. In that case the boat would
have been cast adrift in that part of the Indian
Ocean where the charts show only a few islands,
Amsterdam and Saint Paul, or, farther south, the
archipelago of Kerguelen. Yet even in these islands
the former deserted, the latter inhabited, life would
be assured, salvation certain, and--who could say?
--some day or other they might be able to get home
from there.
Besides, if since the 27th of September, the ship's
boat had been carried northwards by the breeze
from the south, it was just possible that this land
was part of the Australian continent. If they got
to Hobart Town, Melbourne, or Adelaide, they
would be safe. But if the boat landed in the south-
west portion, in King George's Bay or by Cape
Leeuwin, a country inhabited by hordes of savages,
the position would be more serious. Here at sea
there was at least a chance of falling in with a ship
bound for Australia or some of the Pacific Islands.
"Anyhow, Jenny," said Fritz to his wife, who
had taken her place by his side again, "we must be
a long way--hundreds of miles--from. New Switzerland"
"No doubt," Jenny answered, "but it is some-
thing that land is there! What your family did
in your island, and what I did on the Burning Rock,
we can do again, can't we? After being tried as we
have been, dear, we have a right to have confidence
in our own energy. Two of Jean Zermatt's sons
can't lose heart."
"My dear wife," Fritz replied, "if ever I were to
falter I should only have to listen to you! No; we
will not fail, and we shall be splendidly backed up.
The boatswain is a man on whom to rely utterly.
As for the poor captain--"
"He will get over it, he will get well, Fritz,
dear," Jenny said confidently. "The fever will
drop. When we get him to land he will be better
attended to, and will pick up his strength, and we
shall find our leader in him once more."
"Ah, Jenny, dear," exclaimed Fritz, pressing her
to his heart, "may God grant that this land can
offer us the resources that we need! I don't ask for
as much as we found in New Switzerland; we
cannot expect that. The worst of all would be to
encounter savages, against whom we have no
defence, and to be obliged to put to sea again
without getting fresh provisions. It would be
better to land upon a desert shore even only an
island. There will be fish in its waters and shells on
its beaches, and perhaps flocks of birds, as we found
when we got to the shore at Rock Castle, We shall
contrive to revictual, and after a week or two, when
we have had a rest and the captain has recovered
his strength, we could set out to discover a more
hospitable coast. This boat is sound and we have
an excellent sailor to manage her. The rainy season
is not nearly due yet. We have lived through some
storms already, and we should live through more.
Let this land, whatever it is, only give us some
fresh provisions, and then, with the help of
God--"
"Fritz, dear," Jenny answered, clasping her
husband's hands in her own, "you must say all
that to our companions. Let them hear you, and
they will not lose heart."
"They never have, for a moment, dear wife,"
said Fritz; "and if they ever should falter, it is
you, bravest and most capable of women, the
English girl of Burning Rock, who would give them
hope once more!"
All thought as Fritz did of this brave Jenny.
While they had been shut up in their cabins it was,
from her that Dolly and Susan had been encouraged
to resist despair.
One advantage this land seemed to have. It
was not like New Switzerland, through whose
waters merchant vessels never passed. On the
contrary, whether it were the southern coast of
Australia or Tasmania, or even an island in the
archipelagoes of the Pacific, its position would be
marked in the naval charts.
But even if Captain Gould and his companions
could entertain some hope of being picked up there,
they could not be otherwise than profoundly distressed by the thought
of the distance that separated them from New Switzerland--hundreds of
miles, no doubt, since the Flag had sailed steadily
eastwards for a whole week.
It was now the 13th of October. Nearly a year
had passed since the Unicorn had left the island,
whither she was due to return about this time.
At Rock Castle, M. and Mme. Zermatt, Ernest and
Jack, Mr. and Mrs. Wolston and Hannah, were
counting the days and hours.
In a few weeks more, after her stay at Cape Town,
the Unicorn would appear in New Switzerland
waters, and then the Zermatts and Wolstons would
learn that their missing dear ones had taken their
passage in the Flag, which had not been seen again.
Could they doubt that she had perished with all
hands in one of the frequent storms that rage in the
Indian Ocean. Would there be room for hope that
they would ever see her passengers again?
All that was in the future, however; the immediate present held
quite enough formidable possibilities to engage their attention.
Ever since Frank had pointed out the land, the
boatswain had been steadily steering in a northerly
direction, not an easy task without a compass.
The position indicated by Frank was only approximate, and
unfortunately the thick curtain veiled the
horizon line, which, from observers on the level
of the sea, must still be ten or twelve miles
away.
The oars had been got out. Fritz and James
were rowing with all the strength they could exert.
But in their state of exhaustion they could not lift
the heavily loaded boat, and it would take them the
entire day to cover the distance which lay between
them and the shore.
God grant that the wind might not thwart all
their efforts! On the whole it would be better if the
calm endured till evening. Should the breeze blow
from the north, the boat would be carried far back
from these waters.
By midday it was questionable whether more than
a couple of miles had been done since morning.
The boatswain suspected that a current was setting
in the opposite direction.
About two o'clock in the afternoon John Block,
who was standing up, exclaimed:--
"A breeze is coming; I can feel it! The jib by
itself will do more than the oars."
The boatswain was not mistaken. A few minutes
later little flaws began to paint green the surface of
the water in the south-west, and a creamy ripple
spread right to the sides of the boat.
"That shows you are right, Block," said Fritz,
"But still, the breeze is so faint that we must not
stop rowing."
"We won't stop, Mr. Fritz," the boatswain
answered; "let us plug away until the sail can
carry us towards the coast."
"Where is it?" asked Fritz, trying in vain to
look through the curtain of fog.
"Right in front of us, for sure!"
"Is it so certain, Block?" Frank put in.
"Where would you have it be, except behind that
cursed fog up there in the north?" the boatswain
retorted.
"We would have it there all right," James
Wolston said. "But that is not surety enough !"
And they could not possibly know, unless the
wind should freshen.
This it made no haste to do, and it was after three
when the flapping of the half-clewed sail showed
that it might now be of use.
The oars were taken in, and Fritz and Frank
hoisted the foresail and hauled it in hard, while the
boatswain secured the sheet which was thrashing
the gunwale.
Was it nothing more than a capricious breeze,
whose intermittent breath would not be strong
enough to disperse the fog?
For twenty minutes more doubt reigned. Then
the swell took the boat broadside on, and the
boatswain had to bring her head round with one of
the sculls. The foresail and the jib bellied out,
drawing the sheets quite taut.
The direction they had to take was northward,
until the wind should clear the horizon.
They hoped that this might happen as soon as
the breeze had got so far. So all eyes were fixed in
that direction. If the land showed only for one
moment, John Block would ask no more, but would
steer for it.
But no rift appeared in the veil, although the wind
seemed to acquire force as the sun went down.
The boat was moving fairly fast. Fritz and the
boatswain were beginning to wonder if they had
passed the land.
Doubt crept into their hearts again. Had Frank
been mistaken, after all? Had he really caught
sight of land to the northward?
He declared again most positively that he had.
"It was a high coast," he declared again, "a cliff
with an almost horizontal crest, and it was impossible to mistake a
cloud for it,"
"Yet, since we are bearing down upon it," Fritz
replied, "we ought to have reached it by now.
It could not have been more than twelve or fifteen
miles off then."
"Are you sure, Block," Frank went on, "that
you have been steering the boat on to it all the time,
and that h was due north?"
"It is possible that we have got on a wrong
tack," the boatswain acknowledged, "And so I
think it would be better to wait until the horizon
clears, even if we have to stay where we are all
night."
That might be the best thing to do. But if the
boat were close to the shore it would not be wise to
risk it among the reefs which probably fringed it.
So all listened intently, trying to detect the least
sound of surf.
Nothing was to be heard--none of the long and
sullen rolling of the sea when it breaks upon reefs of
rocks, or bursts in foam upon the beach.
The utmost caution had to be exercised. About
half-past five, the boatswain ordered the foresail
to be struck. The jib was left as it was, to give
steerage way.
It was the wisest thing to do, to reduce the speed
of the boat until the land was sighted.
At night, in the midst of such profound darkness,
there was danger in venturing near a coast--danger
of counter-currents drifting on to it, though there
might be no wind. In similar conditions a ship
would not have delayed until the evening to put out
again and seek the security of the open sea. But a
boat cannot do what a ship may. To tack up
against the southerly wind, which was freshening
now, would have involved a risk of getting too far
away--not to mention the severe toil.
So the boat stayed where it was, with only the
jib sail set, hardly moving, her head pointed north-
But at last all uncertainty and all possibility
of mistake was removed. About six o'clock in the
evening the sun showed itself for a moment before
disappearing below the waves.
On the 21st of September it set exactly in the
west, and on the 13th of October, twenty-three
days after the equinox, it set a little above in the
southern hemisphere. Just at that moment the
fog lifted, and Fritz could see the sun drawing near
to the horizon. Ten minutes later its fiery disk
was flush with the line of sky and sea.
"That is the north, over there!" said Fritz,
pointing with his hand to a point rather to the
left of that on which the boat was headed.
Almost at once he was answered by a shout,
a shout that all of them uttered together.
"Land! Land!"
The mist had just dispersed, and the coast line
was revealed not more than a mile away.
The boatswain steered straight for it. The
foresail was set again and swelled out in the dying
breeze.
Half an hour later the boat had grounded on a
sandy beach, and was made fast behind a long
point of rock, well sheltered from the surf.
CHAPTER V
A BARREN SHORE
The castaways had reached land at last!
Not one of them had succumbed to the
fatigue and privations of their fortnight's
voyage under such distressing and dangerous
conditions, and for that thanks were due to God.
Only Captain Gould was suffering terribly from
fever. But in spite of his exhaustion, his life
did not appear to be in danger, and a few days'
rest might set him up again.
The question rose, what was this land,on which
they had disembarked?
Whatever it was, it unhappily was not New
Switzerland, where, but for the mutiny of Robert
Borupt and his crew, the Flag would have arrived
within the expected time. What had this unknown shore to offer
instead of the comfort and
prosperity of Rock Castle?
But this was not the moment to waste time
over such questions. The night was so dark that
nothing could be seen except a strand backed
by a lofty cliff, at its sides bastions of rock. It
was settled that all should remain in the boat
until sunrise. Fritz and the boatswain were to
keep watch until the morning. The coast might
be frequented by natives, and vigilance was
necessary. Whether it were Australian continent
or Pacific Island, they must be upon their guard.
In the event of attack they would be able to escape
by putting out to sea.
Jenny, Dolly, and Susan therefore resumed
their places beside Captain Gould. Frank and
James stretched themselves out between the
benches, ready to spring up at the call of the boatswain. But for the
moment they had reached the
limit of their strength, and they fell asleep immediately.
Fritz and John Block sat together in the stern
and talked in low tones.
"So here we are in harbour, Mr. Fritz," said
the boatswain; "I knew we should end by getting
there. If it isn't, properly speaking, a harbour,
you will agree at any rate that it is ever so much
better than anchoring among rocks. Our boat is
safe for the night. To-morrow we will look
into things"
"I envy you your cheerfulness, my dear Block,"
Fritz answered. "This neighbourhood does not
inspire me with any confidence, and our position
is anything but comfortable near a coast whose
bearings we do not even know."
"The coast is a coast, Mr. Fritz. It has got
creeks and beaches and rocks; it is made like
any other, and I don't suppose it will sink from
under our feet. As for the question of leaving
it, or of settling on it, we will decide that
later."
"Anyhow, Block, I hope we shall not be obliged
to put to sea again before the captain has had
a little time to rest and recover. So if the spot
is deserted, if it has resources to offer, and we
run no risk of falling into the hands of natives,
we must stay here some time."
"Deserted it certainly seems to be so far," the
boatswain replied, "and to my thinking, it is
better it should be."
"I think so, too, Block, and I think that we
shall be able to renew our provisions by fishing,
if we can't by hunting."
"As you say, sir. Then, if the game here only
amounts to sea-birds which one can't live on,
we will hunt in the forests and plains inland and
make up our fishing that way. Without guns, of
course--"
"What brutes they were, Block, not even to
leave us,any firearms!"
"They were perfectly right--in their own interests, you understand,"
the boatswain replied.
"Before we let go I could not have resisted the
temptation to shoot at the head, of that rascal
Borupt--the treacherous hound!"
"Traitors all," Fritz added; "all of them
who stood in with him."
"Well, they shall pay for their treachery some
day!" John Block declared.
"Did you hear anything, bos'un?" Fritz asked
suddenly, listening intently.
"No; that sound is only the ripples along the
shore. There is nothing to worry about, so far,
and although the night is as dark as the bottom
of the hold I've got good eyes."
"Well, don't shut them for a moment, Block;
let us be prepared for anything."
"The hawser is ready to be cast off," the boat-
swain answered. "If need be, we shall only
have to seize the oars, and with one shove with
the boat-hook I'll guarantee to drive the boat
a good twenty yards from the rocks."
More than once, however, during the night,
Fritz and the boatswain were set on the alert.
They thought they could hear a crawling sound
upon the sandy shore.
Deep silence reigned. The breeze had died away;
the sea had fallen to a calm. A slight surf breaking
at the foot of the rocks was all that could be heard.
A few birds, a very few, gulls and sea-mews flying
in from the sea, sought their crannies in the cliffs.
Nothing disturbed the first night passed upon
the shore.
Next morning all were astir at daybreak, and
it was with sinking hearts that they examined
the coast on which they had found refuge.
Fritz had been able to see part of it the day
Before, when it was a mile or so away. Viewed
from that point it extended ten or twelve miles east
and west. From the promontory at the foot of
which the boat was moored, only a fifth of that,
at most, could be seen, shut in between two angles
with the sea beyond, clear and lucent on the right
hand but still dark upon the left. The shore
extended for a stretch of perhaps a mile, enclosed
at each end by lofty bastions of rock, while a
black cliff completely shut it in behind.
This cliff must have been eight or nine hundred
feet in height, rising sheer from the beach, which
sloped steeply up to its base. Was it higher
still beyond? That could only be ascertained
by scaling the crest by means of the bastions,
one of which, the one to the east, running rather
farther out to sea, presented an outline that was
not so perpendicular. Even on that side, however, the ascent would be
an uncommonly difficult
one, if indeed it were not impracticable.
Captain Gould and his companions were first
conscious of a feeling of utter discouragement
as they beheld the wild desolation of this carpet
of sand, with points of rock jutting out here and
there. Not a tree, not a bush, not a trace of
Vegetation! Here were the melancholy and horror
of the desert. The only verdure was that of scanty
lichens, those rudimentary productions of nature,
rootless, stalkless, leafless, flowerless, looking like
scabby patches on the sides of the rocks, and of
every tint from faded yellow to brilliant red.
In some places, too, there was a kind of sticky
mildew caused by the damp. At the edge of the
cliff there was not a blade of grass on its granite
wall there was not a single one of those stone-
crops or rock plants which need so very little
soil.
Was it to be deduced that soil was lacking on the
plateau above as well? Had the boat found
nothing better than one of those desert islands
undeserving of a name?
"It certainly isn't what you might call a gay
place," the boatswain murmured in Fritz's ear.
"Perhaps we should have had better luck if
we had come ashore on the west or east."
"Perhaps," Block assented; "but at any rate
we shall not run up against any savages here."
For it was obvious that not even a savage
could have existed on this barren shore.
Jenny, Frank, Dolly, James, and Susan sat
in the boat, surveying the whole coast, so different
from the verdant shores of the Promised Land.
Even Burning Rock, gloomy of aspect as it was,
had had its natural products to offer to Jenny
Montrose, the fresh water of its stream and the
game in its woods and plains. Here was nothing
but stones and sand, a bank of shells on the left,
and long trails of seaweeds left high and dry
by the tide. Verily, a land of desolation!
The animal kingdom was represented by a few
sea-birds, gulls, black-divers, sea-mews, and swallows, which uttered
deafening cries at finding their
solitude disturbed by the presence of man. Higher
up, great frigate-birds, halcyons and albatrosses
sailed on powerful wings.
"Well," said the boatswain at last, "even
if this shore is not so good as yours in New Switzerland, that's no
reason for not landing on it."
"Then let us land," Fritz answered. "I hope
we shall find somewhere to shelter at the foot of
the cliff."
"Yes, let us land," said Jenny.
"Dear wife," said Fritz, "I advise you to
remain here in the boat, with Mrs. Wolston and
Dolly, while we make our trip. There is no
sign of danger, and you have nothing to be
afraid of."
"Besides," the boatswain added, "we most
likely shan't go out of sight."
Fritz jumped on to the sand, followed by the
others, while Dolly called out cheerfully:
"Try to bring us back something for dinner,
Frank! We are relying upon you."
"We must rely upon you father, Dolly, "Frank
replied. "Put out some lines at the foot of those
rocks."
We had better not land," Mrs. Wolston agreed.
"We will do our best while you are away."
"The great thing," Fritz remarked, "is to keep
what little biscuit we have left, in case we are
obliged to put to sea again."
"Now, Mrs. Fritz," John Block said, "get the
stove going. We are not the kind of people to be
satisfied with lichen soup or boiled pebbles, and
we promise to bring you something solid and
substantial."
The weather was fairly fine. Through the
clouds in the east a few sun-rays filtered.
Fritz, Frank, James, and the boatswain trudged,
together along the edge of the shore, over sand
still wet from the last high tide.
Ten feet or so higher the sea-weeds lay in zig-zag
lines.
Some were of kinds which contain nutritive
substances, and John Block exclaimed:
"Why, people eat that--when they haven't
got anything else! In my country, in Irish
sea-ports, a sort of jam is made of that!"
After walking three or four hundred yards in
this direction, Fritz and his companions came
to the foot of the bastion to the west. Formed
of enormous rocks with slippery surfaces, and
almost perpendicular, it plunged straight down
into the clear and limpid water which the slight
surf scarcely disturbed. Its foundations could
be seen seven or eight fathoms below.
To climb along this bastion was quite impossible for it rose
perpendicularly. It would
be necessary to scale the cliff in order to find
out if the upper plateau displayed a less arid
surface. Moreover, if they had to abandon the
idea of climbing this bastion it meant that they
could only get round it by means of the boat.
The matter of present urgency, however, was
to look for some cavity in the cliff wherein they
could take shelter.
So all went up to the top of the beach, along the
base of the bastion.
When they reached the corner of the cliff, they
came upon thick layers of sea-weeds, absolutely
dry. As the last water-marks of the high tide
were visible more than two hundred yards lower
down, this meant--the steep pitch of the shore
being taken into account--that these plants had
been thrown up so far, not by the sea, but,by the
winds from the south, which are very violent in
these waters.
"If we were obliged to spend the winter here,"
Fritz remarked, "these sea-weeds would supply
us with fuel for a long time, if we could not find
any wood."
"Fuel that burns fast," the boatswain added.
"Before we came to the end of heaps like that,
of course--. But we have still got something
to boil the pot with to-day. Now we must find
something to put in it!"
"Let's look about," Frank answered.
The cliff was formed of irregular strata. It
was easy to recognise the crystalline nature of
these rocks, where feldspar and gneiss were mixed,
an enormous mass o± granite, of plutonic origin
and extreme hardness.
This formation recalled in no respect to Fritz
and Frank the walls of their own island from
Deliverance Bay to False Hope Point, where
limestone only was found, easily broken by pick
or hammer. It was thus that the grotto of Rock
Castle had been fashioned. Out of solid granite,
any such work would have been impossible.
Fortunately there was no need to make any
such attempt. A hundred yards from the bastion,
behind the piles of sea-wrack, they found a number
of openings in the rock. They resembled the
cells of a gigantic hive, and possibly gave access
to the inside of the rock.
There were indeed several cavities at the foot
of this cliff.
While some provided only small recesses, others
were deep and also dark, owing to the heaps
of sea-weed in front of them. But it was quite
likely that in the opposite part, which was less
exposed to the winds from the sea, some cavern
opened into which they might carry the stores
from the boat.
Trying to keep as near as possible to where the
boat was moored, Fritz and his companions walked
towards the eastern bastion. They hoped to
find this more practicable than the other, be-
cause of its elongated outline in its lower portion,
and thought that they might be able to get round
it. Although it stood up sheer in its upper portion,
it sloped towards the middle and ended in a point
by the sea.
Their anticipations were not disappointed. In
the corner formed by the bastion was a cave quite
easy of excess, Sheltered from the easterly,
northerly, and southerly winds, its position exposed it only to the
winds from the west, less
frequent in these regions.
The four men went inside this cave, which
was light enough for them to see all over it. It
was some twelve feet high, twenty feet wide,
and fifty or sixty feet deep, and contained several
unequal recesses forming, as it were, so many
rooms set round a common hall. It had a carpet
of fine sand, free from any trace of damp. Entrance
to it was through a mouth which could be easily
.closed.
"As I am a boatswain," John Block declared,
"we couldn't have found anything better!"
"I agree," Fritz replied. "But what worries
me is that this beach is absolute desert, and I
am afraid the upper plateau may be so too."
Let us begin by taking possession of the cave,
and we will attend to the rest presently."
"Oh!" said Frank. "That is not much like
our house at Rock Castle, and I don't even see a
stream of fresh water to take the place of our
Jackal River!"
"Patience! Patience!" the boatswain
answered-" We shall find some spring all right
by and by among the rocks, or else a stream coming
down from the top of the cliff."
"Anyhow," Fritz declared, "we must not
think of settling on this coast. If we do not
succeed in getting round the base of those bastions
on foot we must take the boat and reconnoitre
beyond them. If it is a small island we have
come ashore upon, we will only stay long enough
to set Captain Gould up again. A fortnight
will be enough, I imagine."
"Well, we have the house, at all events,"
John Block remarked. "As for the garden, who
is to say that it isn't quite close by--on the other
side of this point, perhaps?"
They left the cave and walked down across the
beach, so as to get round the bastion.
From the cave to the first rocks washed by the
sea at the half-ebb was about two hundred yards.
On this side there were none of the heaps of sea-
weeds found on the left-hand side of the beach.
This promontory was formed of heavy masses of
rocks which seemed to have been broken off
from the top of the cliff. At the cave it would
have been impossible to cross it, but nearer the
sea it was low enough to get across.
The boatswain's attention was soon caught by a
sound of running water.
A hundred feet from the cave, a stream murmured among the rocks,
escaping in little liquid
threads.
The stones were scattered here, which enabled
them to reach the bed of a little stream fed by a
cascade that came leaping down to lose itself
in the sea.
"There it is! There it is! Good fresh water!"
John Block exclaimed, after a draught taken
up in his hands.
"Fresh and sweet!" Frank declared when he
had moistened his lips with it.
"And why shouldn't there be vegetation on
the top of the cliff," John Block enquired, "although that is only a
stream?"
"A stream now," Fritz said, "and a stream
which may even dry up during the very hot
weather, but no doubt a torrent in the rainy
season."
"Well, if it will only flow for a few days longer,"
the boatswain remarked philosophically, "we won't
ask anything more of it."
Fritz and his companions now had a cave in
which to establish their quarters, and a stream
which would enable them to refill the boat's
casks with fresh water. The chief remaining
question was whether they could provide them-
selves with food.
Things did not look too promising. After
crossing the little river the explorers had a fresh
and deep disappointment.
Beyond the promontory a creek was cut into
the coast, in width about half a mile, fringed
with a rim of sand, and enclosed behind by the
cliff, At the far end rose a perpendicular bluff,
whose foot was washed by the sea.
This shore presented the same arid appearance
as the other. Here, too, the vegetable growths
were confined to patches of lichen and layers of
sea-weeds thrown up by the tide. Was it, then,
on a mere islet, a rocky, lonely, uninhabitable
island in the Pacific Ocean, that the boat had
come ashore? There seemed every reason to
fear so.
It appeared useless to carry the exploration
as far as the bluff which enclosed the creek. They
were about to go back to the boat when James
stretched out his hand towards the shore and said:
"What Is that I see down there on the sand?
Look--those moving specks. They look like rats"
From the distance it did, indeed, look as if a
number of rats were on march together towards
the sea.
"Rats?" said Frank enquiringly. "The rat
is game, when he belongs to the ondatra genus.
Do you remember the hundreds we killed, Fritz,
when we made that trip after the boa-constrictor?"
"I should think I do, Frank," Fritz answered;
"and I remember, too, that we did not make
much of a feast off their flesh, which reeked too
much of the marsh."
"Right!" said the boatswain. "Properly
cooked, one can eat those beggars. But there's
no occasion to argue about it. Those black specks
over there aren't rats."
"What do you think they are, Block?" Fritz
asked.
"Turtles."
"I hope you are right."
The boatswain's good eyesight might have
been trusted. There actually was a crowd of
turtles crawling over the sand.
So while Fritz and James remained on watch
on the promontory, John Block and Frank slid
down the other side of the rocks, in order to cut
off the band of chelones.
These tortoises were small, measuring only
twelve or fifteen inches, and long in the tail They
belonged to a species whose principal food consists
of insects. There were fifty of them, on march,
not towards the sea, but towards the mouth of
the stream, where a quantity of sticky laminariae,
left by the ebb tide, were soaking.
On this side the ground was studded with little
swellings, like bubbles in the sand, the meaning
of which Frank recognised at once.
"There are turtle's eggs under those!" he
exclaimed.
"Well, dig up the eggs, Mr. Frank," John Block
replied. "I'll belay the fowls! That's certainly
ever so much better than my boiled pebbles, and
if little Miss Dolly isn't satisfied----"
"The eggs will be warmly welcomed, Block,
you may be sure," Frank declared.
"And the turtles, too; they are excellent beasts
--excellent for making soup, I mean!"
A moment later the boatswain and Frank
had turned a score of them over on to their backs.
They were quite helpless in that position. Laden
with half a dozen of them, and twice as many eggs,
they went back towards the boat.
Captain Gould listened eagerly to John Block's
story. Since he had been spared the shaking
of the boat his wound had been paining him less,
the fever was beginning to go down, and a week's
rest would certainly put him on his feet again.
Wounds in the head, unless they are exceptionally
serious, generally heal easily and soon. The bullet
had only grazed the surface of the skull, after
tearing away part of the cheek; but it had been
within an ace of going through the temple. A
speedy improvement could now be looked for
in the condition of the wounded man, thanks
to the rest and care which he could now obtain.
It was with much satisfaction Captain Gould
learned that turtles abounded in this bay, which
was named Turtle Bay in their honour. It meant
the guarantee of a wholesome and plentiful food?
even for a considerable time. It might even be
possible to preserve some of it in salt and load
the boat with it when the time came to put to
sea again.
For of course they would have later to seek a
more hospitable shore to the northward, if the table-
land at the top of the cliff proved to be as unfertile
as that of Turtle Bay, if it had no woods or grass
lands, if, in short, the land on which the passengers
of the Flag had come ashore proved to be nothing
more than a mere heaps of rocks.
"Well, Dolly, and you, too, Jenny," said Frank
when he got back, "are you satisfied?How has
the fishing gone while we have been away?"
"Pretty well," Jenny answered, pointing to
several fish lying on the poop.
"And we've got something better than that
to offer you," added Dolly, merrily.
"What's that, then?" Fritz asked.
"Mussels" the girl answered. "There are
heaps of them at the foot of the promontory.
Look at those boiling in the saucepan now!"
"Congratulations!" said Frank. "And you
owe us congratulations, too, Jenny, for we have
not come back empty-handed. Here are some
eggs--"
"Hen's eggs?" Bob exclaimed eagerly.
"No; turtles'," Frank replied.
"Turtles' eggs?" Jenny repeated. "Did you
find turtles?"
"A regiment of them" the boatswain told
her; " and there are lots more; there are enough
to last us all the time we shall be at anchor in
the bay."
"Before we leave this bay," Captain Gould put
in, "I think we ought to reconnoitre along the
coast or climb to the top of the cliff,"
"We'll try it, captain," John Block answered.
"But don't let's be in a greater hurry than we
need be, since it is possible to exist here without
touching what we have left of the biscuit."
"That's what I think, Block."
"What we want, captain," Frank went on,
"is that you should have a rest to allow your
wound to heal, and you to get back your
strength, A week or two is nothing to spend
here. When you are on your feet again you will
have a look at things for yourself, and you will
decide what is best to be done."
During the morning they proceeded to unload
the boat of all that it contained, the bag of biscuit,
the casks, the fuel, the utensils, and the clothing,
and everything was carried within the cave.
The little stove was set up in the corner of the
bastion, and was first employed in making the
turtle soup.
As for Captain Gould, he was carried to the
cave by Fritz and the boatswain; a comfortable
bed was waiting ready for him, made of dry sea-
weed by Jenny and Dolly, and there he was able
to enjoy several hours' sleep.
CHAPTER VI
TIME OF TRIAL
It would have been difficult to find better
quarters than those provided by this cave,
The various recesses hollowed out inside it
made capital separate rooms.
It was a trifling disadvantage, that these recesses
which were of varying depth, were rather dark
during the day, and that the cave itself was never
very light. For, except in bad weather, it would
only be occupied at night. At earliest dawn
Captain Gould would be carried outside, to drink
in the salt, invigorating air and bask in the sun-
shine.
Inside the cave Jenny arranged to occupy one
of the recesses with her husband. A larger one,
sufficient to accommodate all three of them, was
taken possession of by James Wolston and his
wife and little Bob. Frank contented himself
with a corner in the large hall, where he shared the
company of the skipper and the boatswain.
The remainder of the day was given up entirely
to rest. The boat's passengers had to recuperate
after the many emotions of this last week and the
awful trial they had endured so bravely.
Wisdom dictated their resolution to spend a
fortnight in this bay, where material existence
seemed to be secured for some time to come.
Even if the Captain's condition had not required
that they should do so, John Block would not have
advised an immediate departure.
In the evening, after a second meal of turtle
soup, and turtle flesh and eggs, Frank led them in
prayer, and all went into the cave. Captain
Gould, thanks to the ministrations of Jenny and
Dolly, was no longer shaking with fever. His
wound now closing, gave him less pain. He was
progressing rapidly towards complete recovery.
To keep a watch during the night was needless.
There was nothing to fear on this lonely shore,
neither savages nor wild beasts. It was unlikely
that these gloomy and depressing wastes had
ever been visited by man before. The stillness
was only broken by the harsh and melancholy
cry of the sea-birds as they came home to their
crannies in the cliff. The breeze died gradually
away, and not a breath of air stirred till the rising
of the sun.
The men were out at daybreak. First of all
John Block went down the beach along the promontory and made for the
boat. It was still
floating but would soon be left high and dry by
the ebb tide. Being fastened by hawsers on
both sides, it had not bumped against the rocks,
even when the tide was at its highest, and as
long as the wind continued to blow from the east
it could come to no harm. In the event of the
wind veering to the south they would see if it was
necessary to look for other moorings. Meantime
the weather seemed to be definitely set fair, and
this was the fine season.
When he got back the boatswain sought out
Fritz and spoke to him about this,
"It's worth giving a little thought to" he said.
"Our boat comes before everything else. A
snug cave is fine. But one doesn't go to sea in a
cave, and when the time comes for us to leave
--if it ever does come--it's important that we
shouldn't be prevented from doing so."
"Of course, Block" Fritz answered. "We
will take every possible care to prevent the boat
coming to harm. Do you think perhaps there
is a better mooring for her on the other side of the
promontory?"
"We'll see, sir, and since everything is all right
on this side I will go round.to the other and hunt
turtles. Will you come with me?"
"No, Block, Go alone, I am going back to
the captain. This last good night's rest must have
reduced the fever. When he wakes he will want
to discuss the situation. I must be their to tell
him all that has happened."
"Quite right, Mr. Fritz; and mind you tell
him that there is nothing to be uneasy about at
present."
The boatswain went to the far end of the promontory, and sprang from
rock to rock across
the creek towards the place where he and Frank
had come upon the turtles the day before.
Fritz returned to the cave, up to which Frank
and James were busy bringing armfuls of sea-
weed. Mrs. Wolston was dressing little Bob.
Jenny and Dolly were still with the captain. In
the corner of the promontory the fire crackled
under the stove, and the kettle began to boil,
white steam escaping from its spout.
When Fritz had finished his conversation with
the captain, he and Jenny went down to the
beach, They walked a little way and then turned
back under the lofty cliff which enclosed them
like a prison wall.
Fritz spoke in tones of deep emotion.
"Dear wife, I must talk to you of what is in
my heart. I can see you with me in the canoe
after I had found you upon Burning Rock. And
then our meeting with the pinnace, and our return
to Rock Castle with all the others! Two happy
years slipped by with nothing to mar their quiet
happiness! You were the joy and charm of our
circle. We were so accustomed to life under
those conditions that it seemed as if there were no
world outside our island. And if it had not been
for the thought of your father, beloved, perhaps
we should not have sailed on the Unicorn--perhaps
we should never have left New Switzerland."
"Why do you talk now of this, Fritz, dear?"
said Jenny, greatly moved.
"I want to tell you how heavy my heart has
been since ill fortune has set in upon us. Yes!
I am full of remorse at having brought you to
share it with me!"
"You must not fear ill fortune" Jenny answered.
"A man of your courage, your energy, will not
give way to despair, Fritz."
"Let me finish, Jenny! One day the Unicorn
arrived, over there, off New Switzerland, She
went away again, and took us to Europe. From
that moment misfortune has never ceased to
strike you. Colonel Montrose died before he
could see his child--"
"Poor father!" said Jenny, her eyes wet.
"Yes, that happiness was withheld from him--
of clasping me in his arms, and rewarding my
rescuer by placing my hand in his. But God
willed otherwise, and we must submit."
"Well, Jenny dear" Fritz went on, "at all
events there you were, back in England; you
had seen your own land again; you might have
remained there with your own people and found
quiet happiness,"
"Happiness! Without you, Fritz?"
"And then. Jenny, you would not have incurred fresh dangers, after
all those which you
had escaped so miraculously. Yet you consented
to follow me back to our island again."
"Do you forget that I am your wife, Fritz?
Could I have hesitated to leave Europe, to rejoin
all those whom I love, your family, which is mine
henceforward?"
"But Jenny, Jenny, that does not make it less
true that I drew you into fresh danger--and
danger that I cannot think of without panic. Our
present situation is desperate. Oh! those mutineers who caused it
all, who cast us adrift! And
you, shipwrecked once in the Dorcas, now cast
again upon an unknown island even less habitable
than Burning Rock!"
"But I am not alone; I have you, and Frank,
and our friends, brave and determined men.
Fritz, I shrink from no dangers present or to
come! I know that you will do everything possible for our safety."
"Everything, my darling," Fritz exclaimed,
"but though the thought that you are there must
double my courage, yet it also grieves me so much
that I want to throw myself at your knees and
beg for your forgiveness! It is my fault that--"
"Fritz," she answered, clinging to him, "no
one could possible have foreseen the things which
have happened--the mutiny, and our being cast
adrift at sea. Far better forget the ill fortune
and contemplate only the good! We might
have been murdered by the crew of the Flag,
or doomed to the tortures of hunger and thirst
in the boat. We might have perished in some
storm. But instead we have reached a land which
is not quite without resources, which at least
gives us shelter. If we do not know what land it
is we must try to find out, and we will leave it
if we find that we must"
"To go--whither, my poor Jenny?"
"Somewhere else, as our dear boatswain would,
say; to go wherever God wills that we shall!"
"My dear wife!" Fritz exclaimed " You have
given me back my courage! Yes! We will fight
on; we will not give way to despair. We will
think of the precious lives that are confided to
our care. We will save them! We will save them
--with the help of God!"
"On whom we never call in vain!" said Frank,
who had overheard the last words spoken by
his brother. "Let us keep our trust in Him,
and He will not forsake us!"
Under Jenny's encouragement Fritz recovered
all his energy. His companions were as ready
as he was to spend themselves in superhuman
efforts.
About ten o'clock, as the weather was fine.
Captain Gould was able to come and stretch
himself in the sun at the far end of the promontory.
The boatswain returned from his trip round the
creek as far as the foot of the bluff to the east.
Beyond that it was impossible to go. Even at low
tide it would have been useless to attempt to get
round the foot of this huge rock, about which the
surf beat violently.
John Block had been joined by James in the
creek, and both brought back turtles and eggs.
These chelones swarmed upon the shore. In-
anticipation of an early departure it would be
possible to lay in a large stock of their flesh, which
would secure a supply of food for the passengers.
After luncheon the men talked while Jenny
Polly, and Susan busied themselves washing the
spare linen in the fresh water of the stream. It
would dry quickly in the sun, for the day was hot.
Afterwards, all the clothes were to be mended,
so that everybody might be ready to go aboard
the boat again directly it should be decided to
make a start.
They had important questions to answer. What
was the geographical position of this land? Was
it possible to ascertain it without instruments,
within a few degrees, taking the position of the
sun at noon as a basis for calculation? Such an
observation could not be absolutely accurate.
But to-day it seemed to confirm the opinion,
already advanced by Captain Gould, that this
land must lie between the fortieth and thirtieth
parallels. What meridian crossed it from north
to south there were no means of ascertaining,
although the Flag must have been somewhere
in the western waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Then the idea of reaching the upper plateau
came up again. Pending the recovery of the
captain, was it not necessary to find out whether
the boat had come ashore on a continent, an island,
or a mere islet? As the cliff was seven or eight
hundred feet high it was quite possible that some
other land might be visible a few miles out at sea.
So Fritz and Frank and the boatswain made up
their minds to climb to the top of the cliff.
Several days passed without bringing any change
in the situation. Every one realised the necessity
of escaping from it somehow or other, and all were
seriously afraid that it might become worse. The
weather remained fine. The heat was great, but
there was no thunder.
On several occasions John Block and Fritz
and Frank had walked round the bay from the
western bastion as far as the bluff. In vain
had they looked for a gorge or less precipitous
slope by which they might gain the plateau above,
The wall rose sheer.
Meantime the captain approached complete
recovery. His wound was healed, though it was
bandaged. The attacks of fever had become
more and more rare, and had now ceased. His
strength was coming back slowly, but he could
now walk unsupported. He was always talking
to Fritz and the boatswain of the chances of
another voyage in the boat northward. On
the morning of the 25th, he was able to go as
far as the foot of the bluff, and agreed that it was
impossible to walk round the base of it.
Fritz, who had accompanied him, with Frank
and John Block, offered to dive into the sea and
so get to the shore beyond. But although he was
an excellent swimmer, there was such a current
running at the foot of the bluff that the captain
was obliged to order the young man not to put
this dangerous idea into execution. Once borne
away by the current, who could say if Fritz could
have got back to the shore?
"No," said Captain Gould, "it would be rash,
and there is no good in running into danger.
We will go in the boat to reconnoitre that part
of the coast, and if we go a few cables' length out,
we shall be able to get a more extended view of
it. Unfortunately I am very much afraid that
it will be found to be as barren everywhere as it
is here."
"You mean that we are on some islet?" Frank
remarked.
"There is reason to suppose so," the captain
replied.
"Very well," said Fritz, "but does it follow
that this islet is an isolated point? Why should
it not be part of some group of islands lying to
the north, east, or west?"
"What group, my dear Fritz?" the captain
retorted, " If, as everything goes to show, we
are in Australian or New Zealand waters here,
there is no group of islands in this part of the
Pacific."
"Because the charts don't show any, does it
follow that there aren't any?" Fritz remarked.
"The position of New Switzerland was not known
and yet--"
"Quite true," Harry Gould replied; " that
was because it lies outside the track of shipping.
Very seldom, practically never, do ships cross
that bit of the Indian Ocean where it is situated,
whereas to the south of Australia the seas are
very busy, and no island, or group of any size,
could possibly have escaped the notice of navigators."
"There is, still the possibility that we are some-
where near Australia," Frank went on,
"A distinct possibility," the captain answered,
"and I should not be surprised if we are at its
south-west extremity, somewhere near Cape Leeuwin. In that case we
should have to fear the
ferocious Australian natives,"
"And so," the boatswain remarked, "it is better
to be on an islet, where at any rate one is sure
not to run up against cannibals."
"And that is what we should probably know
if we could get to the top of the cliff," Frank
added.
"Yes," said Fritz; " but there isn't a single
place where we can do it."
"Not even by climbing up the promontory?"
Captain Gould asked.
"It is practicable, although very difficult, as
far as half way," Fritz answered, but the upper
walls are absolutely perpendicular. We should
have to use ladders, and even then success isn't
certain. If there were some chimney which we
could get up with ropes, it might perhaps be
possible to reach the top, but there isn't one
anywhere."
"Then we will take the boat and reconnoitre
the coast," said Captain Gould.
"When you are completely recovered, captain,
and not before," replied Fritz firmly. "It will
be several days yet before----"
"I am getting better, Fritz," the captain declared; " how could it
be otherwise, with all the
attention I have? Mrs. Wolston and your wife
and Dolly would have cured in merely by looking
at me. We will put to sea in forty-eight hours at
latest." •,
"Westward or eastward?" Fritz asked.
"According to the wind," the captain replied.
"And I have an idea that this trip will be a
lucky one," the boatswain put in.
Fritz, Frank, and John Block had already
done all but the impossible in their attempts to
scale the promontory. They had got about two
hundred feet up, although the gradient was very
steep, by slipping from one rock to the next in
the very middle of a torrent of landslides, with
the agility of chamois or ibex; but a third of
the way up they had come to a stop. It had been
a highly dangerous attempt, and the boatswain
had come within an ace of breaking some of his
bones.
But from that point all their attempts to continue
the ascent were in vain. The promontory ended
here in a vertical section with a smooth surface,
There was not a foothold anywhere, not the tiniest
projection on which the boat's ropes might have
been caught. And they were still six or seven
hundred feet from the top of the cliff.
When they returned to the cave Captain Gould
explained the decision which had been reached.
Two days hence, on the 27th of October, the boat
was to leave her moorings to go along the coast.
Had a trip of several days' duration been involved,
everybody would have gone in the boat, But
as only a general reconnaissance was contemplated,
he thought it would be better that only he should
go with Fritz and the boatswain. They three
would be enough to handle the boat, and they
would not go farther away to the north than they
must. If they found that the coast-line bounded
nothing more than an islet they could make the
circuit of it and be back within twenty-four hours.
Short as their absence might be, the idea of
it excited great uneasiness. The rest of the party
would not be able to see their companions go
without much anxiety. How could they tell
what might happen? Suppose they were attacked
by savages--suppose they could not get back soon
--suppose they did not come back at all?
Jenny used these arguments with characteristic
energy. She insisted that the many anxieties
they endured already should not be added to by
others arising from an absence which might be
prolonged. Fritz sympathised with her arguments,
Captain Gould accepted them, and ultimately
it was agreed that they should all take part in the
projected exploration.
As soon as this decision had been arrived at,
to the general satisfaction, John Block got busy
putting the boat in order. Not that it required
any repairs, for it had come to little harm since
it had been cast adrift, but it was well to overhaul
it and fit it up in anticipation of a possible ex-
tension of the voyage to some adjoining land.
So the boatswain worked his hardest, to make it
more comfortable, enclosing the fore-deck so
that the women might have shelter from squalls
and breaking waves.
There was nothing more to do but wait, and
meanwhile lay in provisions for a voyage which
might perhaps be longer than was intended.
Besides, if it were necessary to leave Turtle Bay
finally, ordinary prudence suggested that they
should do so without delay, that they should take
advantage of the fine season just beginning in
these southern regions.
They could not but quail before the idea of a
winter here. True, the cave offered them a sure
shelter against the storms from the south, which
are appalling in the Pacific. The cold, too, could
no doubt be faced, for there would be no lack of
fuel, thanks to the enormous collection of sea-
weed at the foot of the cliff.
But suppose the turtles failed? Would they
be reduced to fish as sole diet? And the boat--
where could they put that in safety, out of reach
of the waves which must break right up to the
back of the beach in the winter? Would they
be able to haul it up above the highest tide-marks?
Harry Gould and Fritz and the rest had only their
own arms to rely on, not a tool, not a lever, not
a lifting-jack, and the boat was heavy enough to
resist their united efforts.
At this time of year there was happily nothing
but passing storms to fear. The fortnight that
they had spent ashore had enabled them all to
pick up their moral and physical strength as well
as to recover confidence.
Their preparations were completed in the morning of the 26th. Fritz
observed with some uneasiness that clouds were beginning to gather
in the south. They were still a long way off,
but were assuming a lurid hue. The breeze was
almost imperceptible, yet the heavy mass of
cloud was rising in a solid body. If this thunder-
storm burst it would burst full upon Turtle Bay.
Hitherto the rocks at the far end of the promontory had protected the
boat from the easterly
winds. From the other side, too, the westerly
winds could not have touched it, and firmly held
as it was by hawsers, it might have escaped too
severe a buffeting. But if a furious sea swept in
from the open main, it would be unprotected
and might be smashed to pieces.
It was useless to think of trying to find some
other mooring on the other side of the bluff or
of the bastion, for, even in calm weather, the
sea broke there with violence.
"What's to be done?" Fritz asked the boat-
swain, and the boatswain had no answer.-
One hope remained--that the storm might blow
itself out before it fell upon the coast. But as they
listened they could hear a distant rumbling,
although the wind was very faint. The sea was
roaring out there in the distance, and already
intermittent flaws were sweeping over its surface,
giving it a livid tint.
Captain Gould gazed at the horizon.
"We are in for a bad spell," Fritz said to him.
"I am afraid we are," the captain acknowledged;
"as bad a spell as our worst fears could have
imagined!"
"Captain," the boatswain broke in, "this isn't
a time to sit and twiddle one's thumbs. We've
got to use a little elbow grease, as sailormen say."
"Let us try to pull the boat up to the top of
the beach," said Fritz, calling James and his brother.
"We will try," Captain Gould replied. "The
tide is coming up and will help us. Meanwhile
let us begin by lightening the boat as much as
we can."
All buckled to. The sails were laid upon the
sand, the mast unstepped, the rudder unshipped,
and the seats and spars were taken out and carried
within the cave.
By the time the tide was slack the boat had been
hauled about twenty yards higher up. But that
was not enough; she would have to be pulled up
twice as far again to be out of reach of the waves.
Having no other tools, the boatswain pushed
planks under the keel, and all combined to pull and
push. But their efforts were useless: the
heavy boat was fixed in the sand and did not gain
an inch beyond the last high-water mark.
When evening came the wind threatened a
hurricane. From the piled clouds in the zenith
flash after flash of lightning broke, followed by
terrific peals of thunder, which the cliff re-echoed
in appalling reverberations.
Although the boat had been left high and dry
by the ebb tide, the waves, momentarily becoming
stronger, would soon lift it up from the stern.
And now the rain fell in big drops, so heavily
charged with electricity that they seemed to
explode as they struck the sand on the shore.
"You can't stay outside any longer, Jenny,
dear," said Fritz. "Do go back into the cave,
I beg you! You, too, Dolly, and you too, Mrs.
Wolston."
Jenny did not want to leave her husband.
But Captain Gould spoke authoritatively.
"Go inside, Mrs. Fritz," he said.
"You too, captain," she replied; " you must
not expose yourself to a wetting yet."
"I have nothing to fear now," Harry Gould
answered.
"Jenny, I tell you again, go back, there's no
time to lose!" Fritz exclaimed.;
And Jenny, Dolly, and Susan took refuge in
the cave just as the rain, in which hail was mingled,
began to rattle down like grapeshot.
Captain Gould and the boatswain, Fritz, Frank?
and James remained near the boat, though it
was with the utmost difficulty that they stood
up against the squalls which swept the shore.
The waves were breaking in the bay already and
throwing their spray right over it.
The danger was acute. Would it be possible
to sustain the boat against the shocks which were
rolling it from one side to the other? If it were
broken up, how would Captain Gould and his
companions be able to get away from this coast
before the winter?
All five stood by, and when the sea came farther
up and lifted the boat, they hung on to its sides
trying to steady it.
Soon the storm was at its height. From twenty
places at once tremendous flashes of lightning
burst. When they struck the bastions they tore
off fragments which could be heard crashing upon
the heaps of sea-weeds.
An enormous wave, twenty-five or thirty feet
high at least, was lifted up by the hurricane and
dashed upon the shore like a huge waterspout.
Caught in its grip Captain Gould and his companions were swept right
up to the heaps of seaweed, and it was only by a miracle that the
enormous wave did not carry them back with it as
it drew again to the sea!
The disaster feared so much had befallen them!
The boat, torn from its bed, swept up to the
top of the beach and then carried down again
to the rocks at the end of the promontory, was
smashed, and its fragments, alter floating for a
moment in the creaming foam of the back-water,
disappeared from view round the bend of the
bluff!
CHAPTER VIII
THE COMING OF THE ALBATROSS
The situation seemed worse than ever. While
they were in the boat, exposed to all the
perils of the sea, Captain Gould and his
passengers at least had a chance of being picked
up by some ship, or of reaching land. They had
not fallen in with a ship. And although they had
reached land it was practically uninhabitable,
yet it seemed they must give up all hope of ever
leaving it.
"Still," said John Block to Fritz, "if we had run
into a storm like that out at sea, our boat would
have gone to the bottom and taken us with it!"
Fritz made no reply. He hurried through a
deluge of rain and hail to take shelter with Jenny
and Dolly and Susan, who were intensely anxious.
Owing to its position in the corner of the promontory, the inside of
the cave had not been flooded.
Towards midnight, when the rain had stopped,
the boatswain piled a heap of sea-weed near the
mouth of the cave. A bright fire soon blazed,
drying their drenched clothes.
Until the fury of the storm abated the whole sky
was incessantly ablaze. The pealing thunder
diminished as the clouds were driven rapidly to-
wards the north. But as long as distant lightning
continued to light up the bay, the wind blew with
great force, lifting billows which plunged and broke
wildly on the shore.
At dawn the men came out of the cave. Tattered clouds were passing
over the cliff. Some,
hanging lower, skimmed the surface. During the
night the lightning had struck it in several places.
Huge fragments of rock lay at its base. But there
was no sign of a new cleft or crevice into which
it might be possible to squeeze, and so to reach
the plateau above.
Captain Gould, Fritz, and John Block took stock
of what was left of the boat. It comprised the mast,
the foresail and the jib, the rigging, the hawsers,
the rudder, the oars, the anchor and its cable, the
wooden seats, and the casks of fresh water. Some
use could no doubt be made of most of these things,
damaged as they were.
"Fortune has tried us cruelly!" Fritz said.
"If only we had not these poor women with us--
three women and a child! What fate awaits them
here on this shore, which we cannot even leave
now!"
Even Frank, with all his faith, kept silence this
time. What could he say?
But John Block was wondering whether the
storm had not brought yet another disaster upon
the shipwrecked company, for so they might well
be described. Was there not good reason to fear
that the turtles might have been destroyed by the
breakers, and their eggs smashed as the sand was
washed away? It would be an irreparable loss
if this food supply failed.
The boatswain made a sign to Frank to come to
him, and said a few words in an undertone. Then
both crossed the promontory and went down to
the creek, intending to go over it as far as the
bluff.
While Captain Gould, Fritz, and James went
towards the western bastion. Jenny and Dolly and
Susan resumed their usual occupations--what
might be called their household duties. Little
Bob played on the sand in sublime indifference,
waiting for his mother to prepare some soaked
biscuit for him. Susan was overcome by grief
and anxiety as she thought of the distress and
want which her child might not have the strength
to endure.
After putting everything in order inside the cave,
Jenny and Dolly came out and joined Mrs. Wolston.
Then very sadly they talked of their present situation, which had
been so sorely aggravated since
the day before. Dolly and Susan were more over-
come than the courageous Jenny.
"What will become of us?" Susan said.
"Don't let us lose heart" Jenny answered," and
above all don't let us discourage our men."
"But we can never get away now," Dolly said.
"And when the rainy season comes--"
"I tell you, Dolly, as I told Susan," Jenny
answered, "that no good is done by giving up
courage."
"How can I keep any hope at all?" Mrs.
Wolston exclaimed.
"You must! It's your duty to!" Jenny said.
"Think of your husband; you will increase his
misery a thousandfold if you let him see you
cry."
"You are strong, Jenny," Dolly said; " you
have fought misfortune before. But we--"
"You?" Jenny replied. "Do you forget that
Captain Gould and Fritz and Frank and James
and John Block will do everything that is possible
to save-us all?"
"What can they do?" Susan demanded.
"I don't know, Susan, but they will succeed
provided we don't hamper them by giving way
ourselves to despair!"
"My child! My child!" murmured the poor
woman, choked by sobs.
Seeing his mother crying, Bob stood in wonder,
with his eyes wide open.
Jenny drew him to her and took him on her
knees.
"Mummy was anxious, darling! She called
you, and you didn't answer, and then--you were
playing on the sand, weren't you?"
"Yes," said Bob; " with the boat that Block
made for me. But I wanted him to make a little
white sail for it, so that it could sail. There are
holes full of water in the sand where I can put it.
Aunty Dolly promised to make me a sail."
"Yes, Bob dear; you shall have it to-day,"
Dolly promised.
"Two sails," the child answered; " two sails
like the boat that brought us here."
"Of course," Jenny answered. "Aunty Dolly
will make you a lovely sail, and I will make you
one, too."
"Thank you, thank you, Jenny," Bob answered,
clapping his hands, " But where is our big boat?
I can't see it anywhere!"
"It has gone away--fishing," Jenny answered.
"It will come back soon, with lots of beautiful fish!
Besides, you have got your own; the one that
good John Block made for you."
"Yes; but I am going to tell him to make me
another, one in which I can sail--with papa and
mama, and Aunty Dolly and Jenny, and every-
body!"
Poor little fellow! He voiced so exactly what
was wanted--the replacement of the boat--and
how was that to be done?
"Run away again and play, darling" Jenny
said to him; " and don't go far sway."
"No; over there; quite close. Jenny!"
And he kissed his mother and went bounding
away as children of his age will.
"Susan dear, and you, too, Dolly dear," said
Jenny, " God will see that that little child is saved I
And Bob's rescue means our own! I do beg of
you, no more weakness, no more crying! Have
faith in Providence as I have, as I have always
had!"
So Jenny spoke out of her brave heart. Come
what might, she would never despair. If the
rainy season set in before the shipwrecked people
could leave this coast--and how could they leave
it unless some ship took them off. Arrangements
would be made to spend a winter there. The cave
would give secure protection from the heavy
weather. The heaps of sea-weed would give fuel
to protect them from the cold. Fishing, hunting
perhaps, would suffice to provide them with their
daily bread.
It was of the first importance to know whether
John Block's fears about the turtles were well
founded. Happily they were not. After being
away for an hour, the boatswain and Frank came
back with their accustomed load of turtles, which
had taken refuge under the heap of kelp. But they
had not a single egg.
"Never mind, they will lay, good old things,"
said John Block cheerily.
It was impossible not to smile at the boatswain's
little joke. In the course of their walk to the
bastion. Captain Gould, Fritz, and James had seen
again the impossibility of getting round it in any
other way than by sea. Currents ran there, with
tremendous force and in both directions. Even in
calm weather the violent surf would have prevented
any boat from getting close in, and the
strongest swimmer might have been carried out to
sea or dashed upon the rocks.
So the necessity of getting to the top of the
cliff by some other means became more imperative
than ever.
"How are we to do it?" said Fritz one day,
gazing irritably at the inaccessible crest.
"You can't get out of a prison when its walls
are a thousand feet high," was James's answer.
"Unless you tunnel through them," Fritz replied.
"Tunnel through that mass of granite--which is
probably thicker than it is high?" said James.
"Anyhow, we can't remain in this prison!"
exclaimed Fritz, in a burst of impotent but uncontrollable, anger.
"Be patient, and have confidence," said Frank; again.
"Patience I can have," Fritz retorted, "but
is another thing."
And indeed on what might confidence be placed?
Rescue could only come from a ship passing beyond
the bay. And if one came, would it see their signals
the lighting of a huge fire on the beach or on the
end of the promontory?
A fortnight had passed since the boat came to
land. Several more weeks passed without bringing
any change In the situation. As to the food sup-
plies, they were reduced to turtles and their eggs,
and to crustaceans, crabs and lobsters, some of
which John Block was generally able to catch.
It was he who usually occupied himself with the
fishing, assisted by Frank. Lines with bent nails for
hooks taken from the boat's planks, had rendered
possible the capture of various kinds of fish:
dorado twelve to fifteen inches long, of a beautiful
reddish colour and excellent eating, and bass, or
salt-water perch. Once even, a large sturgeon
was caught with a slip-knot which landed it on the
sand.
The dog-fish, plentiful in these waters, were poor
eating. But there was obtained from them a
grease used to make coarse candles, for which wicks"
were fashioned out of dry sea-weeds. Disturbing
as the prospect of wintering here might be, thought
had to be given to it, and precautions taken against
the long and dark days of the rainy season.
The salmon, which used to go up Jackal River
in New Switzerland in such numbers at certain
times of the year, were not forthcoming here.
But one day a school of herrings stranded at the
mouth of the little stream. Several hundreds of
them were taken, and, smoked over a fire of dry
sea-weed, made an important reserve of food.
"Isn't there a saying that herrings bring their
own butter?" John Block enquired. "Well, if
so, here are some all ready cooked, and what I
want to know is what we shall do with all these
good things!"
Several times during these six weeks attempts.
had been made to climb to the top of the cliff.
As all these attempts were fruitless, Fritz deter-
mined to go round the bluff to the east. But he
was careful to say nothing of his intention to any-
one except John Block. So, on the morning of the
7th of December, the two men went to the creek,
under the pretence of collecting turtles at its
Eastern point.
There, at the foot of the enormous mass of rock,
the sea was breaking savagely, and to get round
it Fritz must risk his life.
The boatswain vainly did his best to induce
him to desist from the idea, and, failing, had no
choice but to help him.
After undressing, Fritz fastened a long line
around his--one of the boat's yard-ropes--
other end to John Block, and jumped
sea.
John Block was obliged to pull him in again to the point--not without
a good deal of trouble.
The risk was twofold--of being caught by the
surf and thrown against the base of the bluff,
and of being carried away by the current if the
line should break.
Twice did Fritz try without success to get free
of the waves. It was only at the third attempt
that he succeeded in reaching and maintaining
a position in which he could look beyond the
bluff, and then John Block was obliged to pull
him in again to the point--not without a good
deal of trouble.
"Well," the boatswain enquired, "what is there
beyond?"
"Nothing but rocks and more rocks!" Fritz
answered as soon as he had recovered his wind
"I only saw a succession of creeks and capes
The cliff goes right on to the northward."
"I'm not surprised," John Block replied.
When the result of this attempt was made
known--one can imagine Jenny's emotions when
she heard of it--it seemed as if the last hope had
vanished. This island, from which Captain Gould
and his boat's company could not escape, was
apparently nothing better than an uninhabited
and uninhabitable rock!
And this unhappy situation was complicated
by so many bitter regrets! But for the mutiny,
the passengers on the Flag would have reached the,
fertile domain of the Promised Land a couple of
months ago. Think of the anguish of all those
who were expecting them and watched in vain
for their coming!
Truly these relations and friends of theirs were
more to be pitied than Captain Gould and his
company. At any rate, the forlorn company
knew that their dear ones were safe in New Switzerland!
Thus the future loomed heavy with anxiety,
and the present was hard.
A new reason for alarm would have been added
if all had known what only Captain Gould and
the boatswain knew--that the number of turtles
was decreasing perceptibly, in consequence of
their daily consumption!
"But perhaps," John Block suggested, "it
is because the creatures know of some passage
underground through which they can get to the
creeks to the east and west; it is a pity we can't
follow them."
"Anyhow, Block," Captain Gould replied,
"don't say a word to our friends."
"Keep.your mind easy, captain. I told you
because one can tell you everything."
"And ought to tell me everything, Block!"
Thereafter the boatswain was obliged to fish
more assiduously for the sea would never withhold
what the land would soon deny. Of course, if
they lived exclusively on fish and molluscs and
crustaceans, the general health would suffer. And
if illness broke out, that would be the last straw.
The last week of December came. The weather
was still fine, except for a few thunderstorms, not
so violent as the first one. The heat, sometimes
excessive, would have been almost intolerable
but for the great shadow thrown over the shore
by the cliff, which sheltered it from the sun as it
traced its daily arc above the northern horizon.
At this season numbers of birds thronged these
waters--not only sea-gulls and divers, sea-mew
and frigate birds, which were the usual dwellers
on the shore. From time to time flocks of cranes
and herons passed, reminding Fritz of his excellent
sport round Swan Lake and about the farms in the
Promised Land. On the top of the bluff, too,
cormorants appeared, like Jenny's bird, now
in the poultry-run at Rock Castle, and albatrosses
like the one she had seat with her message from
the Burning Rock.
These birds kept out of range. When they
settled on the promontory it was useless to attempt
to get near them, and they flew at full speed
above the inaccessible crest of the cliff.
One day all the others were called to the beach
by a shout from the boatswain.
"Look there! Look there!" he continued
to cry, pointing to the edge of the upper plateau.
"What is it'?" Fritz demanded.
"Can't you see that row of black specks?"
John Block returned.
"They are penguins," Frank replied.
"Yes, they are penguins," Captain Gould declared; " they look no
bigger than crows, but
that is because they are perched so high up."
"Well," said Fritz, "if those birds have been
able to get up on to the plateau, it means that
on the other side of the cliff the ascent is practicable."
That "seemed certain, for penguins are clumsy,
heavy birds, with rudimentary stumps instead of
wings. They could not have flown up to the
crest. So if the ascent could not be made on
the south, it could be on the north. But from
lack of a boat in which to go along the shore this
hope of reaching the top of the cliff had to be
abandoned.
Sad, terribly sad, was the Christmas of this
most gloomy year! Full of bitterness was the
thought of what Christmas might have been
in the large hall of Rock Castle, in the midst
of the two families, with Captain Gould and John
Block.
Yet, in spite of all these trials, the health of
the little company was not as yet affected. On
the boatswain hardship had no more affect than
disappointment.
"I am getting fat," he often said: "yes, I
am getting fat!-That's what comes of spending
one's time doing nothing!"
Doing nothing, alas! Unhappily, in the present
situation, there was practically nothing to do!
In the afternoon of the 29th something happened
which recalled memories of happier days.
A bird settled on a part of the promontory which
was not inaccessible.
It was an albatross, which had probably come
a long way, and seemed to be very tired. It
lay out on a rock, its legs stretched, its wings
folded.
Fritz determined to try to capture this bird.
He was clever with the lasso, and he thought he
might succeed if he made a running noose with
one of the boat's halyards.
A long line was prepared by the boatswain,
and Fritz climbed up the promontory as softly
as possible.
Everybody watched him.
The bird did not move and Fritz, getting within,
a few fathoms of it, cast his lasso round its body.
The bird made hardly any attempt to get free
when Fritz, who had picked it up in his arms,
brought it down to the beach.
Jenny could not restrain a cry of astonishment.
"It is! It is!" she exclaimed, caressing the
bird. "I am sure I recognise him!"
"What?" Fritz exclaimed; "you mean----"
"Yes, Fritz, yes! It really is my albatross;
my companion on Burning Rock; the one to which
I tied the note that fell into your hands."
Could it be? Was not Jenny mistaken? After
three whole years, could that same albatross,
which had never returned to the island, have
flown to this coast?
But Jenny was not mistaken, and all were made
quite sure about it when she showed them a little
bit of thread still fastened round one of the bird's
claws. Of the scrap of cloth on which Fritz had
traced his few words of reply, nothing now remained.
If the albatross had come from so far, it was no
doubt because these powerful birds can fly vast
distances. Quite likely this one had come from
the east of the Indian Ocean to these regions of
the Pacific possibly more than a thousand miles
away!
Much petting was lavished upon the messenger
from Burning Rock. It was like a link between
the shipwrecked people and their friends in New
Switzerland.
Two days later the year 1817 reached its end.
What did the new year hold in store?
CHAPTER VIII
LITTLE BOB LOST
If Captain Gould was not mistaken in Ms
calculations about the geographical position
of the island, the summer season could not
have more than another three months to run.
After that, winter would arrive, formidable by
reason of its cold squalls and furious storms.
The faint chance of attracting the attention of some
ship out at sea by means of signals would have
disappeared, In winter sailors avoid these dangerous waters. But just
possibly something would
happen before then to modify the situation.
Existence was much what it had been ever
since that gloomy 26th of October when the boat
was destroyed. The monotony was terribly trying
to such active men. With nothing to do but
wander about at the foot of the cliff which imprisoned them, tiring
their eyes with watching
the ever deserted sea, they needed extraordinary
moral courage not to give way to despair.
The long, long days were spent in conversation
in which Jenny bore the principal part. The
brave young woman loved them all, taxed her
ingenuity to keep their minds occupied, and discussed all manner of
schemes, as to the utility of
which she herself was under no misapprehension.
Sometimes they wondered if the island really
lay, as they had supposed, in the west of the
Pacific. The boatswain expressed some doubt
on this point.
"Is it the albatross's coming that has changed
your mind?" the captain asked him one day.
"Well, yes, it has," John Block replied, "and
I am right, I think."
"You infer from it that this island lies farther
north than we supposed, Block?"
"Yes, captain; and, for all anybody knows,
somewhere near the Indian Ocean. An albatross
might fly hundreds of miles without resting,
but hardly thousands."
"I know that," Captain Gould replied, "but I
know, too, that it was to Borupt's interest to
take the Flag towards the Pacific! As for the week
we were shut up in the hold, I thought, and so
did you, that the wind was from the west."
"I agree," the boatswain answered, "and
yet, this albatross--. Has it come from near,
or from far?"
"And even supposing you are right. Block,
even supposing we were mistaken about the position
of this island, and that it really is only a few miles
from New Switzerland, isn't that just as bad as
if it were hundreds of miles off, seeing that we
can't get away from it?"
Captain Gould's conclusion was unfortunately
only too reasonable. Everything pointed to the
probability of the Flag having steered for the
Pacific, far, very far, from New Switzerland's
waters. And yet what John Block was thinking,
others were thinking too. It seemed as if the
bird from Burning Rock had brought hope with it.
When the bird recovered from its exhaustion,
which it speedily did, it was neither timid nor
wild. It was soon walking about the beach,
feeding on the berries of the kelp or on fish, which
it was very clever in catching, and it showed
no desire to fly away.
Sometimes it would fly along the promontory
and settle on the top of the cliff, uttering little
cries.
"Ah, ha!" the boatswain used to say then.
"He is asking us up! If only he could give me
the loan of his wings I would willingly undertake
to fly up there, and look over the other side.
Very likely that side of the coast isn't any better
than this one, but at any rate we should
know."
Know? Did they not know already, since
Fritz had seen nothing but the same arid rocks
and the same inaccessible heights beyond the
bluff?
One of the albatross's chief friends was little
Bob. A comradeship had promptly been established between the child
and the bird. They
played together on the sand. There was no
danger to be apprehended from the teasing of
the one or the pecking of the other. When the
weather was bad both went into the cave where
the albatross had his own corner.
Serious thought had to be given to the chances
of a winter here. But for some stroke of good
fortune they would have to endure four or five
months of bad weather. "In these latitudes, in-
the heart of the Pacific, storms burst with extra-
ordinary violence, and lower the temperature to a
serious extent.
Captain Gould, Fritz, and John Block talked
sometimes of this. It was better to look the perils
of the future squarely in the face. Having made
up their minds to struggle on, they no longer
felt the discouragement which had been caused
earlier by the destruction of the boat.
"If only the situation were not aggravated by
the presence of the women and the child," Captain
Gould said more than once, " if we were only
men here----"
"All the more reason to do more than we should
have done," Fritz rejoined.
One serious question cropped up in these anticipations of the winter:
if the cold became severe,
and a fire had to be kept up day and night, might
not the supply of fuel give out?
Kelp was deposited on the beach by every
incoming tide and quickly dried by the sun. But
an acrid smoke was produced by the combustion
of these sea-weeds, and they could not make use
of them to warm the cave. The atmosphere
would have been rendered unbearable. So it
was thought best to close the entrance with the
sails of the boat, fixing them firmly enough to
withstand the squalls which beset the cliff during
the winter.
There remained the problem of lighting the
inside of the cave when the weather should preclude the possibility
of working outside.
The boatswain and Frank, assisted by Jenny
and Dolly, made many rude candles out of the
grease from the dog-fish which swarmed in the
creek and were very easy to catch.
John Block melted this grease and so obtained
a kind of oil which coagulated as it cooled. Since
he had at his disposal none of the cotton grown
by M. Zermatt, he was obliged to content himself
with the fibre of the laminariae, which furnished
practicable wicks.
There was also the question of clothes, and
that was a different question indeed.
"It's pretty clear," said the boatswain one
day, "that when you are shipwrecked and cast
on a desert island it is prudent to have a ship,
at your disposal in which you can find everything
you want. One makes a poor job of it otherwise!
They all agreed. That was how the Landlord
had been the salvation of the people in
Switzerland.
In the afternoon of the 17th an incident of
which no one could have foreseen the consequence
caused the most intense anxiety.
As already mentioned, Bob found great pleasure
in playing with the albatross. When he was
amusing himself on the shore his mother kept a
constant watch upon him, to see that he did not
go far away, for he was fond of scrambling about
among the low rocks of the promontory and
running away from the waves. But when he
stayed with the bird in the cave there was no risk
in leaving him by himself.
It was about three o'clock. James Wolston
was helping the boatswain to arrange the spars
to support the heavy curtain in front of the entrance
to the cave. Jenny and Susan and Dolly were
sitting in the corner by the stove on which the,
little kettle was boiling, and were busy mending
their clothes.
It was nearly time for Bob's luncheon.
Mrs. Wolston called the child.
Bob did not answer. The boatswain made a trumpet of his hands and
called out several
times:
"Bob! Bob!"
Susan went down to the beach and called louder,
but still got no reply.
Then the boatswain called out.
"Bob! Bob! It's dinner time I"
The child did not appear, and he could not be
seen running about the shore.
"He was here only a minute ago," James
declared.
"Where the deuce can he be?" John Block
said to himself, as he went towards the promontory.
Captain Gould, Fritz, and Frank were walking
along the foot of the cliff.
Bob was not with them.
The boatswain made a trumpet of his hands
and called out several times:
"Bob! Bob!"
The child remained invisible.
James came up to the captain and the two
brothers.
"You haven't seen Bob, have you?" he asked
in a very anxious voice.
"No," Frank answered.
"I saw him half an hour ago," Fritz declared;
"he was playing with the albatross."
And all began to call him, turning in every
direction.
It was in vain.
Then Fritz and James went to the promontory,
climbed the nearest rocks, and looked all over
the creek.
Neither child nor bird was there.
Both went back to the others. Mrs. Wolston
was pale with fear.
"Have you looked inside the cave?" Captain
Gould asked.
Fritz made one spring to the cave and searched
every corner of it, but came back without the
child.
Mrs. Wolston was distracted. She went to and
fro like a mad woman. The little boy might have
slipped among the rocks, or fallen into the sea.
The most alarming suppositions were permissible
since Bob had not been found.
So the search had to be prosecuted without a
moment's delay along the beach and as far as
the creek.
"Fritz and James," said Captain Gould, " come
with me along the foot of the cliff. Do you think
Bob could have got buried in a heap of seaweed?"
"Yes, you go," said the boatswain, " while
Mr. Frank and I go and search the creek."
"And the promontory," Frank added. "It is
possible that Bob may Have taken it into his head
to go climbing there and have fallen into some
hole."
So they separated, some going to the right some
to the left. Jenny and Dolly stayed with. Mrs.
Wolston and tried to allay her anxiety.
Half an hour later, all were back again, after a
fruitless search. Nowhere in the bay was any
trace of the child, and all their calling had been
without result.
Susan's grief broke out. She sobbed in anguish
and had to be carried, against her will, into the
cave. Her husband, who went with her, could
not utter a word.
Outside, Frank said:
"The child can't possibly be lost! I tell you
again, I saw him on the shore scarcely an hour ago,
and he was not near the sea. He had a string
in his hand, with a pebble at the end of it, and
was playing with the albatross."
"By the way, where is the bird?" Frank
asked, looking round.
"Yes; where is he?" John Block echoed.
"Can they have disappeared together?" Captain Gould inquired.
"It looks like it," Fritz replied.
They looked in every direction, and especially
towards the rocks where the bird was accustomed
to perch.
It was not to be seen, nor could its cry be heard.
--a cry easily distinguishable from the noises
of the divers, gulls, and sea-mews.
The albatross might have flown above the cliff
and made for some other eminence along the coast.
But the little boy could not have flown away.
Yet he might have been capable of climbing along
the promontory after the bird. This explanation
was hardly admissible, however, after the search-
that Frank and the boatswain had made.
Yet it was impossible not to see some connection
between Bob's disappearance and that of the
albatross. They hardly ever separated, and now
they were both lost together!
Evening drew on. The father and mother
were in terrible grief. Susan was so agitated
that they feared for her reason. Jenny, Dolly,
Captain Gould and the others, did not know
what next to do. When they reflected that if
the child had fallen into some hole he would have
to stay there all night, they began to search again.
A fire of sea-weed was lighted at the far end of the
promontory, to be a guide for the child in case
he should have gone to the back of the creek.
But after remaining afoot until the last possible
minute of the evening, they had to give up hope
of finding Bob. And what were the chances of
their being more successful next day?
All went back into the cave, but not to sleep.
How could they sleep? First one, and then
another went out, watched, listened through the
rippling of the tide, and then came back and
sat down again without saying a word.
It was the most sorrowful, heart-breaking night
of all that Captain Gould and his company had
passed upon this deserted coast.
About two o'clock in the morning, the sky,
which had been brilliant with stars until then, began
to be overcast. The breeze was now in the north,
and the clouds from that quarter gathered over-
head. Not yet very thick, they chased each
other with ever increasing speed, and east and
west of the cliff the sea must certainly be
rough.
It was the time when the flood brought up
on to the beach the rollers of the rising tide.
Just at this moment Mrs. Wolston got up, and
before she could be stopped she rushed out of the
cave in delirium, shrieking:
"My child! My child!"
Force had to be used to get her back again.
James, who had caught his wife up, took her in
his arms and carried her back, more dead than
alive.
The unhappy mother remained stretched out
on the heap of kelp where Bob usually slept by
her side. Jenny and Dolly tried to bring her round,
but it was only after great efforts on their part
that she recovered consciousness.
Throughout the remainder of the night the
wind moaned incessantly round the top of the
cliff. A score of times the men searched all over
the shore, fearing always that the incoming tide
might lay a little corpse upon the sand.
But there was nothing, nothing! Could the
child have been carried out to sea by the waves?
About four o'clock when the ebb tide was just
setting in after the slack, light appeared in the
east.
At this moment Fritz, who was leaning against
the back of the cave, thought he heard a kind
of cry behind the wall. He listened, and fearing
that he might be mistaken, went up to the
captain.
"Come with me!" he said.
Without knowing, without even asking what
Fritz wanted, Captain Gould went with him.
"Listen!" said Fritz.
Captain Gould listened intently.
"I can hear a bird's cry," he said.
"Yes, a bird's cry!" Fritz declared.
"Then there is a hollow behind the wall."
"There must be; and perhaps a passage communicating with the outside
; how else is it to be
explained?"
"You are right, Fritz!"
John Block was told. He put his ear against
the wall, and said positively:
"It's the albatross's cry: I recognise it."
"And if the albatross is there," said Fritz,
"little Bob must be there too."
"But how could they both have got in?"
the captain asked.
"That we will find out," John Block replied.
Frank and Jenny and Dolly were now told.
James and his wife recovered a little hope.
"He is there! He is there!" Susan said over
and over again.
John Block had lighted one of the thick candles.
That the albatross was behind the wall nobody
could doubt, for its cry continued to be heard.
But just before looking to see if it had slipped
in by some opening outside, it was necessary
to make sure that the back wall had no orifice.
Candle in hand, the boatswain began to examine
this wall.
John Block could only see on its surface a few
fissures which were too narrow for the albatross
or Bob to get through. But at the bottom a
hole, twenty to twenty-five inches wide, was
hollowed out in the ground, a hole big enough to
take the bird and the child.
Meantime, however, the albatross's cry had
ceased, and all were afraid that Captain Gould,
the boatswain, and Fritz must have been mistaken.
Then Jenny took John Block's place, and
stooping down level with the hole, she called the
bird several times. The albatross knew her voice
as well as it knew her caress.
A cry answered her, and almost immediately the
bird came out through the hole.
"Bob! Bob!" Jenny called again.
The child did not answer, did not appear, Was
he not with the bird behind the wall? His mother
could not restrain a cry of despair.
"Wait!" said the boatswain.
He crouched down and enlarged the hole, throwing the sand out behind
him. In a few minutes
he had made the hole large enough for him to
squeeze into it.
A minute later he brought out little Bob, who
had fainted, but who was not long in recovering
consciousness under his mother's kisses.
CHAPTER IX
BOB FOUND
It took Mrs. Wolston some little time to recover
from her terrible shock. But Bob was restored to her, and that
comforted her.
It appeared that Bob, playing with the albatross,
had followed it to the back of the cave. The bird
made its way in through the narrow passage, and
Bob went after it. A dark excavation opened
out at the end, and when the little fellow wanted to
get out of this he found that he could not. At
first he called, but his calls were not heard. Then
he lost consciousness, and nobody knows what
might have happened if by the luckiest chance
Fritz had not happened to hear the cry of the
albatross.
"Well," said the boatswain, " now that Bob is
in his mother's arms again, everything is for the
best. Thanks to him we have discovered another
cave. It is true we haven't any use to put it to.
The first one was enough for us, and as a matter of
fact we ask nothing better than to get away from
that one."
"But I want to find out how far it runs back,"
Captain Gould remarked.
"Right to the other side of the cliff, do you
fancy, captain?"
"Who can tell, Block?"
"All right," the boatswain answered. "But
even supposing it does run through the cliff, what
shall we find on the other side? Sand, rocks,
creeks, promontories, and as much green stuff as I
can cover with my hat."
"That's very likely," Fritz replied, " But none
the less we must look,"
"We'll look, Mr. Fritz; we'll look. Looking
costs nothing, as the saying is."
The investigation might have such priceless
results that it had to be undertaken without
delay.
The captain, Fritz, and Frank went back to the
end of the cave. The boatswain walked behind
them, armed with several big candles. To make
the way easier, those in front enlarged the aperture
by removing some more of the stones which had
fallen into it.
A quarter of an hour sufficed to make the opening
large enough. None of them had put on flesh since
they had landed. Only the boatswain had not
lost weight since he had left the Flag.
When they had all got through, the candles gave
sufficient light for them to examine this second
It was deeper than the first one, but much
narrower, a hundred feet or so long, ten or twelve
feet in diameter, and about the same height. It
was possible that other passages branched off from
it and formed a kind of labyrinth inside the massive
cliff. Captain Gould wondered whether one of
these branches might not perhaps lead, if not to
the top of the cliff, at any rate beyond the bluff
or the bastion.
When Captain Gould urged this point again John
Block replied:
"It certainly is possible. Who knows whether
we shan't reach the top through the inside,
although we couldn't do so outside?"
When they had gone some fifty feet through this
passage, which gradually got narrower, Captain
Gould, the boatswain, and Fritz, came to a wall
of rock before which they were obliged to stop.
John Block passed the light all over its surface
from the ground to the vault, but found only
narrow fissures into which the hand could not be
put. So there was no more hope of penetrating
further through the solid mass.
Nor did the side walls of the passage disclose any
aperture. This second excavation beyond the first
cave was the sole discovery resulting from the
incident.
"Well," said Captain Gould, "it's not by this
way that we shall get through the cliff,"
"Nor over it," added the boatswain.
And, having made sure of that, they could do
nothing but go back.
As a matter of fact, although it was rather disappointing not to find
any inner passage, nobody
had thought it likely.
And yet when Captain Gould and John Block
and Fritz got back, they had a feeling of being more
confined than ever on this shore.
During the next few days the weather, very fine
hitherto, showed signs of changing. Light clouds,
which soon grew thicker, obscured the blue sky,
blown over the plateau above by a northerly breeze
which, in the evening of the 22nd of January,
strengthened until it blew a gale.
Coming from that quarter, the wind was no
menace to Turtle Bay. Sheltered by the cliff, the
bay was not exposed to the breakers, as it had
been in the violent storm which had caused the
destruction of the boat. The sea would remain
calm along the shore, not getting the force of the
wind nearer than a good mile and a half from the
coast. Even if a hurricane burst there would be
nothing to fear.
A heavy thunderstorm broke on the night of
the 22nd. About one o'clock in the morning
everybody was awakened suddenly by a crash
of thunder that, made a more appalling noise than
a cannon fired at the mouth of the cave could
have done.
Fritz, Frank, and the boatswain sprang from
their corners, and rushed to the door.
"The lightning struck quite close by," said
Frank.
"At the crest of the cliff above us, most likely,"
replied John Block, going a few steps outside.
Susan and Dolly, who were always greatly
affected by thunderstorms, as many people of
nervous temperament are, had followed Jenny
outside the cave.
"Well?"Dolly enquired.
"There is no danger, Dolly, dear," Frank
answered. "Go back and close your eyes and ears."
But Jenny was just saying to her husband who
had come up to her:
"What a smell of smoke, Fritz!"
"That's not surprising," said the boatswain.
"There is the fire--over there."
"Where?" Captain Gould asked sharply.
"On that heap of sea-weed at the foot of the
cliff."
The lightning had set fire to the heap of dry weed.
In a few minutes the flames had spread to the mass
of sea-weeds collected at the base of the cliff. It
burned up like straw, crackling in the breeze,
eddying about like will-of-the-wisps, and spreading
an acrid smoke over the whole beach.
Fortunately, the entrance to the cave was clear,
and the fire could not reach it.
"That's our reserve burning!" John Block
exclaimed.
"Can't we save any of it?" said Fritz.
"I fear not!" Captain Gould replied.
The flames spread so rapidly that it was impossible to remove to
safety the heaps which
furnished the only fuel the shipwrecked people had.
True, the quantity deposited by the sea was
inexhaustible. The stuff would continue to be
thrown up, but it would take a long time for such
a quantity to accumulate. The incoming tide
deposited a few armfuls twice in every twenty-four
hours. What had lain on the beach was the
harvest of many years. And who could say that,
in the few weeks remaining before the rainy season,
the tide would have thrown up enough for the
winter's needs?
In less than a quarter of an hour the line of fire
had ringed the whole circle of the shore, and except
for a few heaps along the promontory there was
nothing left.
This fresh hammer-blow of evil fortune aggravated the situation,
already so disturbing.
"Upon my word, it's no go!"
And coming from the lips of the boatswain, who
was always so confident, the words had exceptional
significance.
But they Would not make the walls of the prison fall down, to allow
the prisoners to escape!
The flames spread so rapidly that it was quite impossible to remove
to safety the heaps which furnished the only fuel the shipwrecked
people
had.
Next morning the weather, though no longer
thundery, was still unsettled, and the north wind
continued to sweep the plateau fiercely.
Their first business was to see whether the sea-
weeds piled up along the bastion had been spared
by the fire. They had been, partially. The men
brought back in their arms enough to last for a week,
exclusive of what the tides would bring up every
day.
While the wind continued to blow from the north
these floating masses would, of course, be carried
to sea.
But as soon as it veered round to the south again,
the harvest could be gathered more abundantly.
Nevertheless, Captain Gould pointed out that
some precautions would have to be taken for the
future.
"Quite right, captain," John Block answered,
"it would be a good plan to put what is left of the
sea-weed under cover, in case we have to winter
here."
"Why not store it in the second cave that we
have just discovered?" Fritz suggested.
That seemed to be expressly indicated, and that
day, before noon, Fritz resolved to go back into
the cave, in order to examine its nature and arrangements inside.
Provided with a candle, he crept
through the narrow opening communicating between
the two caves. Who could say if the second one
had not some means of egress beyond the mass of
rock?
But just as he reached the far end of the long
passage, Fritz felt a fresher breath of air, and at
the same moment his ear detected a continual
whistling sound.
"Wind!" he muttered. "That's wind!"
He put his face near the wall, and his hand found
several fissures in it.
"Wind!" he said again. "It certainly is wind!
It gets in here when it blows from the north. So
there is a passage, either on the side or at the top
of the cliff! But then, on this side, it would mean
that there is a communication with the northern
flank of the cliff!"
Just at that moment the candle which Fritz
was passing along the wall went out suddenly, in a
stronger draught blowing through one of the fissures.
Fritz did not wait for anything more. He was
convinced. If one got through this wall one would
have free access to the outside!
To crawl back to the cave where all were waiting
for him, to tell them of his discovery, to take them
back again with him, and make sure that he was
right, was only the work of minutes.
In a few minutes more Fritz,-followed by Captain
Gould, John Block, Frank, and James, went from
the first cave into the second. They lighted their
by candles which on this occasion, they were
careful not to put too near the wall at the far
end.
Fritz was not mistaken. Fresh air was blowing
freely through the passage!
Then the boatswain, passing the light along the
level of the ground, noticed that the passage was
closed only by a heap of stones which had no doubt
fallen right down a kind of natural shaft.
"The door!" he exclaimed. "There's the
door! And no need of a key to open it with! Ah,
captain, you were in the right of it after all I"
"Get on to it! Get on to it!" was all Captain
Gould's reply.
It was easy to clear the passage of the obstructing
stones. They passed them from hand to hand,
quite a lot of them, for the heap was five or six feet
above the ground level. As the work proceeded the
current of air became stronger. There most certainly was a sort of
gorge carved out inside the
mass of the rock.
A quarter of an hour was enough to clear the
passage entirely.
Fritz was the first through, and, followed by the
others, he went ten or twelve steps up a very steep
slope, dimly lighted.
There was no vertical shaft. A gorge, five or six
feet wide and open to the sky, wound between two
walls which rose to an immense height, and a strip
of blue sky formed its ceiling. It was down this
gorge the wind rushed, to creep through the
fissures in the wall at the end of the passage.
And so the cliff was rent right through! But
where did the rift open out?
They could not tell until they had reached the far
end of it, supposing they found it possible to do so.
But for all that they stood like prisoners before
whom the gaol doors have just opened!
It was barely eight o'clock, and there was plenty
of time. They did not even discuss the question
of sending Fritz or the boatswain on in advance
to explore. Everyone wanted to go up the passage
at once, without losing a minute.
"But we must take some provisions," Jenny
said. "Who can tell whether we shall not be away
longer than we think?"
"Besides," Fritz added, " have we any idea
where we are going?"
"Outside," the boatswain replied.
The simple word, so exactly expressing the
general sentiment, answered everything.
But Captain Gould insisted that they should have
breakfast first, also that they should take pro-
visions for several days with them, in case they
should be delayed.
Breakfast was hurried through. After four
months passed in this bay, they were naturally in a
hurry to find out whether their situation had
improved, perhaps even changed entirely.
Besides, there would still be time to come back,
if the upper plateau proved to be as barren as the
shore, if it were unsuitable for a settlement, if from
the extreme summit no other land were to be seen
in the proximity. If the castaways from the Flag
found they had landed on an island or islet, they
would return to the cave and make their arrangements to meet the
winter there.
Directly the meal was finished the men took the
bundles of provisions. The first cave was left,
and, with the albatross walking beside Jenny, all
went through the mouth of the passage.
When they came to the mouth of the gorge,
Fritz and Frank went through first. After them
came Jenny, Dolly, and Susan, holding little Bob's
hand.
Captain Gould and James came next, and John
Block closed the rear.
At first the gorge was so narrow that they had
to walk in single file.
It was really nothing but a cleft in the solid rock,
running in a northerly direction between two
vertical walls which rose to a height of eight or nine
hundred feet.
After a hundred yards or so in a straight line, the
ground began to slope upwards rather steeply-
The way must be a long one, for if it did debouch
upon the plateau it would have had to make up the
five hundred feet or so from the level of the beach
to the upper part of the cliff. Moreover, the journey
was soon lengthened by the twists and turns of
the path. It was like the abrupt and capricious
twisting of a labyrinth inside the mass of rock,
But judging from the light that spread from above,
Harry Gould believed that the general direction
of the gorge was from south to north. The lateral
walls gradually drew further apart, rendering the
march much easier.
About ten o'clock they were obliged to call a halt
to allow everyone to recover breath. They stopped
in a sort of semi-circular cavity, above which a much
larger slice of the sky was visible.
Captain Gould estimated that this spot was
about two hundred feet above the level of the sea.
"At this rate," he remarked, " it will take us five
or six hours to reach the top."
"Well," Fritz replied, " it will still be broad
daylight when we get there, and if need be we shall
have time to get down again before night."
"Quite true, Fritz," the captain replied, " but
how can we be sure that the gorge is not lengthened
by an even greater number of turnings?"
"Or that it does not come out upon the cliff?"
Frank added.
"Whether it's at the top or the side of the cliff,
let us take things as they come." the boatswain
put in. "Above, if it is above, below, if it is
below! Alter all this don't matter much!"
After a rest of half an hour, the march was
resumed. The gorge, which would about ever
more and more, and now measured ten to twelve
feet across, was carpeted with a sandy soil, scattered
with pebbles, and without a sign of vegetation.
It seemed as though the summit must be an arid
waste, for otherwise some seed or germ would have
been carried down by the rain and would have
sprouted. But there was nothing here--not even
a patch of lichen or moss.
About two o'clock in the afternoon another halt
was called for rest and refreshment. They all sat
down in a kind of clearing where the walls widened
out like a bell, and over which the sun was passing
on its downward way to the west. The height
now attained was estimated at seven or eight
hundred feet, which justified the hope of reaching
the upper plateau.
At three o'clock the journey was resumed. The
difficulties became momentarily greater. The
slope was very steep, the ground strown with
landslips which made climbing hard, and there were
large stones which slipped and bounded down.
The gorge, which had widened out considerably,
now formed a ravine, with sides still rising two or
three hundred feet in height. They had to help
one another, and pull each other up by the arms.
Everything pointed to the possibility of reaching
the plateau now. And the albatross spread out its
wings and rose with, a spring, as if inviting them
to follow. Oh! if only they could have followed
in its flight!
At last, after incredible efforts, a little before
five o'clock, they all stood on the top of the cliff.
To south, to east, to west, nothing at all was to
be seen--nothing but the vast expanse of ocean!
Northwards, the plateau extended over an area
which could not be estimated, for its boundary crest
could not be seen. Did it present a perpendicular
wall on that side, fronting the sea? Would they
have to go to the far end of it, to see the horizon
of the sea in that direction?
Altogether, it was a disappointing sight for people
who had hoped to set foot upon some fertile,
verdant, wooded region. The same arid desolation
reigned here as at Turtle Bay, which was perhaps
less depressing, ii not less sterile, since mosses did
gem it here and there, and there were plenty of sea-
weeds on its sandy shore.
And when they turned towards the east and the
west, they looked in vain for the outlines of a
continent or island. Everything went to show that
this was a lonely islet in the middle of these wastes
of water.
Not a word was uttered by anyone before this
dashing of their last hopes. These ghastly solitudes
offered no resources. There was nothing to do but
descend the ravine, get back to the shore, go into
the cave again, settle down there for the long winter
months, and wait for rescue from outside!
It was now five o'clock, and there was no time
to be lost before the darkness of evening fell. In
the gathering shades the walking would not be
easy.
Yet, since the northern part of the plateau had
still to be explored, it seemed best to make the
exploration now. Might it not even be well to camp
for the night among the rocks scattered all over the
surface? But perhaps that would not be prudent.
If the weather changed, where could shelter be
found? Prudence required that they should go
back without delay.
Then Fritz made a suggestion.
"Jenny dear, let James and Frank take you
back to the cave with Dolly and Mrs. Wolston and
the little chap. You can't spend the night on the
cliff. Captain Gould, John Block, and I will stay
here, and directly it is light to-morrow we will
finish our exploration"
Jenny did not answer, and Susan and Dolly
seemed to be consulting her with their eyes.
"What Fritz suggests is wise," Frank put in;
"and besides, what good can we hope to do by
staying here?"
Jenny continued to keep silence, with her eyes
fixed upon the vast ocean which spread over three-
quarters of the horizon, looking perhaps for the
sight of a sail, telling herself that a light might
appear in the far offing.
The sun was sinking rapidly already, among
clouds driven from the north, and it would mean at
least two hours' march through dense darkness to
reach Turtle Bay.
Fritz began again:
"Jenny, I beg you, go! No doubt to-morrow
will be enough for us. We shall be back in the
evening."
Jenny cast a last look all round her. All had
risen, ready to make a start. The faithful albatross
was fluttering from rock to rock, while the other
birds, sea-mews, gulls and divers, flew back to their
holes in the cliff, uttering parting screams.
The young woman realised that she must do
as her husband advised, and regretfully she said:
"Let us go."
Suddenly the boatswain sprang to his feet, and
making an ear-trumpet of his hand, listened
intently.
A report, muffled by the distance, was audible
from the north.
"A gun!" exclaimed John Block.
CHAPTER X
THE FLAG ON THE PEAK
All stood motionless, their hearts tense
with excitement, their eyes turned to-
wards the northern horizon, listening
intently, scarcely breathing.
In the distance a few more shots rang out, the
sound borne to them on the faint breath of the
breeze.
"It's a ship passing off the coast!" said Captain
Gould at length.
"Yes; those reports can only come from a
ship," John Block replied; " when night falls,
perhaps we shall see her lights"
"But couldn't those shots have been fired on
land?" Jenny suggested.
"On land, Jenny dear?" Fritz exclaimed.
"You mean there may be some land near this
Island?"
"I think it is more likely that there is some
ship off there to the northward," Captain, Gould
said again.
"Why should it have fired the gun?" James
asked.
"Yes, why?" Jenny echoed him.
If the second surmise were the right one, it
followed that the ship could not be very far from
the shore. Perhaps when it was quite dark they
would be able to distinguish the flashes from the
guns, if they were fired again. They might also
see her lights before long. But, since the sound
of the guns had come from the north, it was quite
possible that the ship would remain invisible,
since the sea in that direction could not be
seen.
No longer did any one think of going through
the ravine, back to Turtle Bay. Whatever the
weather might be, they would all remain where
they were until day. Unfortunately, in the event
of a ship coming down on the west or east, lack
of wood would prevent them from lighting a
fire to signal it.
Those distant reports had stirred their hearts
to the very depths. They seemed united by them
once more to their kind, felt as though this island
were now not so utterly isolated.
They would have liked to go at once to the
far end of the plateau, and to watch the sea to.
the northward, whence the cannon shots had come.
But the evening was getting on, and night would
fall quite soon--a night without moon or stars,
darkened by the low clouds that the breeze was
to the south, They could not venture,
among the rocks in darkness. It would be difficult
enough by day; it was impossible by night.
So it became necessary to settle themselves for
the night where they were, and everyone got busy.
After a long search the boatswain discovered a
kind of recess, a space between two rocks, where
Jenny, Susan, Dolly, and the little boy could
lie close to the ground, as there was no sand or
sea-weed for them to lie on. They would at
least have shelter from the wind if it should
freshen, even shelter from the rain if the clouds
broke.
The provisions were taken from the bags and
all ate. There was food for several days, in any
case. And might not all fear of spending a winter
in Turtle Bay soon be banished for ever?
Night fell--an endless night it seemed, whose
long drawn hours no one could ever forget, except
little Bob, who slept in his mother's arms. Utter
darkness reigned. From the sea-coast the lights
of a ship would have been visible several miles
out at sea.
Captain Gould, and most of the others, insisted
on remaining afoot until daybreak. Their eyes
incessantly wandered over the east and west and
south, in the hope of seeing a vessel passing off
the island, and not without fears that she might
leave it astern, never to return to it. Had they
been in Turtle Bay at this moment, they would
have lighted a fire upon the end of the promontory,
Here, that was impossible.
No light shone out before the return of dawn,
no report broke the silence of the night, no ship
came in sight of the island.
The men began to wonder whether they had not
been mistaken, if they had not taken for the sound
of cannon what might only have been the roar
of some distant storm.
"No, no," Fritz insisted," we were not mistaken!
It really was a cannon firing out there in the north,
a good long way away."
"I'm sure of it," the boatswain replied.
"But why should they be firing guns?" James
Wolston urged.
"Either in salute or in self-defence," Fritz
answered.
"Perhaps some savages have landed on the
island and made an attack," Frank suggested.
"Anyhow," the boatswain answered, " it wasn't
savages who fired those guns."
"So the island would be inhabited by Americans,
or Europeans?" James enquired.
"Well, to begin with, is it only an island?"
Captain Gould replied, " How do we know what
is beyond this cliff? Are we perhaps upon some
very large island--"
"A very large island in this part of the Pacific?"
Fritz rejoined. "'Which one? I don't see--"
"In my opinion," John Block remarked, with
much good sense, " it is useless to argue about all
that. The truth is we don't know whether our
island is in the Pacific or the Indian Ocean. Let
us have a little patience until dawn, which will
break quite soon, and then we will go and see
what there is up there to the northward."
"Perhaps everything--perhaps nothing!" said
James.
"Well," the boatswain retorted, " it will be
something to know which!"
About five o'clock the first glimmer of dawn
began to show. Low on the horizon the east
grew pale. The weather was very calm, for the
wind had dropped towards morning. The clouds
which had been chased by the breeze were now
replaced by a veil of mist, through which the sun
eventually broke. The whole sky gradually cleared.
The streak of light drawn sharply across the east
grew wider--spread over the line of sky and
sea. The glorious sun appeared, throwing long
streamers of light over the surface of the waters.
Eagerly all eyes travelled over so much of the
ocean as was visible.
But no vessel was to be seen!
At this moment Captain Gould was joined by
Jenny, Dolly, and by Susan Wolston, who was
folding her child's hand.
The albatross fluttered to and fro, hopped from
rock to rock, and sometimes went quite far off
to the northward, as if it were pointing out the way.
"It looks as if he were showing us where to go,"
said Jenny.
"We must follow him!" Dolly exclaimed.
"Not until we have had breakfast," Captain
Gould replied. "We may have several hours'
marching in front of us, and we must keep up,
our strength."
They shared the provisions hurriedly, so impatient were they to be
off, and before seven o'clock
they were moving towards the north.
It was most difficult walking among the rocks;
Captain Gould and the boatswain, in advance,
pointed out "the practicable paths. Then Fritz
came helping Jenny, Frank helping Dolly, and
James helping Susan and little Bob.
Nowhere did the foot encounter grass or sand,
It was all a chaotic accumulation of stones, what
might have been a vast field of scattered" rocks
or moraines. Over it birds were flying,-frigate-
birds, sea-mews, and sea-swallows, in whose flight
the albatross sometimes joined.
They marched for an hour, at the cost of immense
fatigue, and had accomplished little more than
two miles, steadily up hill. There was no change
in the appearance of the nature of the plateau.
It was absolutely necessary to call a halt in order
to get a little rest.
Fritz then suggested that he should go on ahead
with Captain Gould and John Block. That would
spare the others fresh fatigue.
The proposal was unanimously rejected. They
would not separate. They all wanted to be there
when--or if--the sea became visible in the north-
ward.
The march was resumed about nine o'clock,
The mist tempered the heat of the sun. At this
season it might have been insupportable on this
stony waste, on which the rays fell almost vertically at noon.
While still extending towards the north, the
plateau was widening out to east and west, and
the sea, which so far had been visible in both these
directions, would soon be lost to sight. And
still there was not a tree, not a trace of vegetation,
nothing but the same sterility and solitude. A
few low hills rose here and there ahead.
At eleven o'clock a kind of cone showed its
naked peak, towering some three hundred feet
above this portion of the plateau.
"We must get to the top of that," said Jenny.
"Yes," Fritz replied; "from there we shall
be able to see over a much wider horizon. But it
may be a rough climb!"
It probably would be, but so irresistible was
the general desire to ascertain the actual situation
that no one would have consented to remain
behind, however great the fatigue might be. Yet
who could tell whether these poor people were not marching to a last
disappointment, to the
shattering of their last hope?
They resumed their journey towards the peak,
which now was about half a mile away. Every
step was difficult, and progress was painfully
slow among the hundreds of rocks which must be.
scrambled over or gone round. It was more
like a chamois track than a footpath. The boat-
swain insisted on carrying little Bob, and his mother
gave the child to him. Fritz and Jenny, Frank
and Dolly, and James and Susan kept near together, that the men might
help the women over
the dangerous bits.
It was past two o'clock in the afternoon when
the base of the cone was reached. They had
taken three hours to cover less than a mile and
three quarters since the last halt. But they
were obliged to rest again.
The stop was of short duration, and in twenty
minutes the climbing began.
It had occurred to Captain Gould to go round
the peak, to avoid a tiring climb. But its base
was seen to be impassable, and, after all, the
height was not great.
At the outset the foot found hold upon a soil
where scanty plants were growing, clumps of
stonecrops to which the fingers could cling.
Half an hour sufficed to bring them half-way
up the peak. Then Fritz, who was in front,
let a cry of surprise escape him.
All stopped, looking at him.
"What is that, up there?" he said, pointing
to the extreme top of the cone.
A stick was standing upright there, a stick
five or six feet long, fixed between the highest
rocks.
"Can it be a branch of a tree, with all the leaves
stripped off?" said Frank.
"No; that is not a branch," Captain Gould
declared.
"It is a stick--a walking-stick!" Fritz declared. "A stick which has
been set up there."
"And to which a flag has been fastened," the
boatswain added; " and the flag is still there!"
A flag at the summit of this peak!
Yes; and the breeze was beginning to stir the
flag, although from this distance the colours
could not be identified.
"Then there are inhabitants on this island I"
Frank exclaimed.
"Not a doubt of it!" Jenny declared.
"Or if not," Fritz went on, "it is clear
at any rate, that someone has taken possession
of it."
"What island is this, then?" James Wolston
demanded.
"Or, rather, what flag is this?" Captain Gould
added.
"An English flag!" the boatswain cried.
"Look: red bunting with the yacht in the corner!"
The wind had just spread out the flag, and it
certainly was a British flag.
How they sprang from rock to rock! A hundred
and fifty feet still separated them from the summit,
but they were no longer conscious of fatigues
did not try to recover their wind, but hurried up
without stopping, carried along by what seemed
supernatural strength!
At length, just before three o'clock, Captain
Gould and his companions stood side by side on
the top of the peak.
Their disappointment was bitter when they
turned their eyes towards the north.
A thick mist hid the horizon. It was impossible
to discover whether the plateau ended on this
side in a perpendicular cliff, as it did at Turtle
Bay, or whether it spread much further beyond
Through this dense fog nothing could be seen
Above the layer of vapour the sky was still bright
with the rays of the sun, now beginning to decline
into the west.
Well, they would camp there and wait until the
breeze had driven the fog away! Not one of
them would go back without having examined
the northern portion of the island!
For was there not a British flag there, floating
in the breeze? Did it not say as plainly as words
that this land was known, that it must figure in
latitude and longitude on the English charts?
And those guns they had heard the day before,
who could say that they did not come from ships
saluting the flag as they moved by? Who could
say that there was not some harbour on this coast,
that there were not ships at anchor there at this
very moment?
And, even if this land were merely a small
islet, would there be anything wonderful in Great
Britain having, taken possession of it, when it lay
on the confines of the Indian and the Pacific
Oceans? Alternatively, why should it not belong
to the Australian continent, so little of which
was known in this direction, which was part of
the British dominions?
As they talked a bird's cry rang out, followed by
a rapid beating of wings.
It was Jenny's albatross, which had just taken
flight, and was speeding away through the mists
towards the north.
Whither was the bird going? Towards some
distant shore?
Its departure produced a feeling of depression,
even of anxiety. It seemed like a desertion.
But time was passing. The intermittent breeze
was not strong enough to disperse the fog, whose
heavy scrolls, were rolling at the base of the cone.
Would the night fall before the northern horizon
had been laid bare to view?
But no; all hope was not yet lost. As the
mists began to decrease, Fritz was able to make
out that the cone dominated, not a cliff, but long
slopes, which probably extended as far as the level
of the sea.
Then the wind freshened, the folds of the flag
stiffened, and, nearly level with the mists, every-
one could see the declivity for a distance of a
hundred yards.
It was no longer a mere accumulation of rocks,
it was the other side of a mountain, where showed
growths on which they,had not set eyes for many
a long month!
How they feasted their sight on these wide
stretches of verdure, on the shrubs, aloes, mastic-
trees, and myrtles which were growing everywhere!
No; they would not wait for the fog to disperse,
and besides, it was imperative that they should
reach the base of the mountain before night
enveloped them in its shadows!
But now, eight or nine hundred feet below,
through the rifts in the mist, appeared the top
of the foliage of a forest which extended for several
miles; then a vast and fertile plain, strown with
clumps, of trees and groves, with broad meadows
and vast grass-lands traversed by water-courses,
the largest of which ran eastwards towards a
bay in the coast-line.
On the east and west, the sea extended to the
furthest limit of the horizon. Only on the north
was it wanting to make of this land, not an islet,
but a large island.
Finally, very far away, could be seen the faint
outlines of a rocky rampart running from west
to east. Was that the edge of a coast?
"Let us go! Let us go!" cried Fritz.
"Yes; let us go!" Frank echoed him. "We
shall be down before night."
"And we will pass the night in the shelter
of the trees," Captain Gould added.
The last mists cleared away. Then the Ocean
was revealed over a distance which might be
as much as eighteen or twenty miles.
This was an island--it was certainly an island!
They then saw that the northern coast was
indented by three bays of unequal size, the largest
of which lay to the north-west, another to the
north, while the smallest opened to the north-east,
and was more deeply cut into the coast-line than
the other two. The arm of the sea which gave
access to it was bounded by two distant capes one
of which had at its end a lofty promontory.
No other land showed out to sea. Not a sail appeared on the horizon.
Looking back towards the south the eye was
held by the top of the crest of the cliff which
enclosed Turtle Bay, five miles or so away.
What a contrast between the desert region which
Captain Gould and his companions had just crossed
and the land which now lay before their eyes!
Here was a fertile and variegated champaign,
forests, plains, everywhere the luxuriant vegetation
of the tropics! But nowhere was there a hamlet,
or a village, or a single habitation.
And then a cry--a cry of sudden revelation,
which he could not have restrained--broke from
the breast of Fritz, while both his arms were
stretched out towards the north.
"New Switzerland!"
"Yes; New Switzerland!" Frank cried in his turn.
"New Switzerland!" echoed Jenny and Dolly, in tones broken by emotion.
And so, in front of them, beyond that forest, and beyond those
prairies, the rocky barrier that they could see was the rampart
through which the defile of Cluse opened on to the Green Valley.
Beyond lay the Promised Land, with its woods and farms and Jackal
River! There was Falconhurst in the heart of its mangrove wood, and
beyond Rock Castle and the trees in its orchards! That bay on the
left was Pearl Bay, and farther away like a small black speck, was
the Burning Rock, crowned with the smoke
from its crater; there was Nautilus Bay, with
False Hope Point projecting from it; and Deliverance Bay, protected
by Shark's Island! And
why should it not have been the guns from that
battery whose report they had heard the day
before, for there was no ship to be seen either in
the bay or out in the open sea?
Joyful exceedingly, with throbbing hearts and
eyes wet with tears of gratitude, all of them joined
with Frank in the prayer which went up to God.
CHAPTER XI
BY WELL-KNOWN WAYS
The cave in which Mr. Wolston, Ernest,
and Jack had spent the night four
months before, on the day before the
English flag was planted at the summit of Jean
Zermatt peak, was that evening full of happiness.
If no one enjoyed a tranquil sleep, sleeplessness
was not due to bad dreams but to the excitement
of the recent happenings.
After their prayer of thanksgiving, they had all
declined to delay a minute longer at the summit of
the peak. Not for two hours would day yield to
night, and that time would be long enough for them
to reach the foot of the range.
"It would be very strange," Fritz remarked, " if
we could not find some cave large enough to shelter
us all."
"Besides," Frank answered, " we shall be lying
under the trees--under the trees of New Switzerland!--New Switzerland!"
He could not refrain from saying the dear name
over and over again, the name that was blessed
by all.
"Speak it again. Dolly dear!" he exclaimed.
"Say it again, that I may hear it once more."
"New Switzerland!" laughed the girl, her eyes
shining with happiness.
"New Switzerland!" Jenny repeated, holding
Fritz's hand in her own.
And there was not one of them, not even Bob,
who did not echo it.
"Well, good people," said Captain Harry Gould,
"if we have made up our minds to go down to
the foot of the mountain we have no time to
lose."
"What about eating?" John Block enquired.
"And how are we to get food on the way?"
"In forty-eight hours we shall be at Rock Castle,"
Frank declared.
"Besides," Fritz said, " isn't there any quantity
of game on the plains of New Switzerland?"
"And how are you going to hunt it without
guns?" Captain Gould enquired. "Clever as
Fritz and Frank are, I hardly imagine that merely
by pointing a stick--"
"Pooh!" Fritz answered. "Haven't we got
legs? You'll see, captain! Before mid-day to-
morrow we shall have real meat instead of that
turtle stuff."
"We must not abuse the turtles, Fritz," said
Jenny, " if only out of gratitude,"
"You are quite right, wife, but let us be off!"
Bob doesn't want to stay here any longer j do you,
Bob?"
"No, no," the child replied; " not if papa and
mamma are coming too."
"And to think" said the boatswain slily, " to
think that down there, in the south, we have got a
beautiful beach where turtles and mussels swarm--
and a beautiful cave where there are provisions for
several weeks--and in that cave a beautiful bed of
sea-weed--and we are going to leave all that
for--"
"We will come back for our treasures by and
by!" Fritz promised.
"But still--" John Block persisted.
"Oh, shut up, you wretched fellow!" Captain
Gould ordered, laughing.
"I'll shut up, captain; there are only two words
more I should like to say."
"What are they?"
"Cut away!"
As usual, Fritz took the lead, They descended
the cone without any difficulty, and reached the
foot of the range. Some happy instinct, a genuine
sense of direction, had led them to take the same
path as Mr. Wolston, Ernest, and Jack had taken,
and it was barely eight o'clock when they reached
the edge of the vast pine-forest.
And by a no less happy chance--there seemed
surprising in it, for they had entered upon
the season of happy chances--the boatswain found
the cave In which Mr. Wolston and the two brothers
had taken shelter. It was rather small, but large
enough for Jenny and Dolly and Susan and little
Bob. The men could sleep in the open air. They
could tell, from the white ashes of a fire, that the
cave had been occupied before.
Perhaps all the members of the two families had
crossed this forest and climbed the peak on which
the British flag was waving!
After supper, when Bob had fallen asleep in a
corner of the cave, they talked long, notwithstanding all the fatigue
of the day, and the talk turned
upon the Flag.
During the week that they had been held prisoners, the ship must have
sailed northwards. The
only explanation of that could be the persistence
of contrary winds, for it was manifestly to the
interest of Robert Borupt and the crew to reach
the far waters of the Pacific. If they had not done
so it was because the weather had prevented them.
Everything now went to show that the Flag had
been driven towards the Indian Ocean, Into the
proximity of New Switzerland, Reckoning the
time that had passed, and the course that had been
followed, since the boat had been cast adrift, the
incontestable conclusion followed that on that day
Harry Gould and his companions could not have
been much more than a couple of hundred miles
from the desired island, though they had imagined
themselves separated from it by a thousand or
more.
The boat had touched land on the southern
coast, which Fritz and Frank did not know at all,
the other side of the mountain range which they
had seen for the first time when they came out
into the Green Valley. Who could have dreamed
that there could be such an amazing difference in
the nature of the soil and its products between the
rich country to the north of the range and the arid
plateau which extended from the peak to the sea?
Now they could understand the arrival of the
albatross on the other side of the cliff. After Jenny
Montrose's departure the bird had probably returned
to Burning Rock, whence it flew sometimes to the
shore of New Switzerland, though it had never gone
either to Falconhurst or Rock Castle ...
What a big part the faithful bird had played in
their salvation! It was to him that they owed
the discovery of that second cavern into which
little Bob had followed him, and, as a consequence,
the finding of the passage which came out on the
top of the cliff.
The conversation lasted far into the night. But
at last fatigue overcame them, and they slept.
But at early dawn they took some food and set out
again In high spirits.
Besides the traces of a fire in the cave? the little
band encountered other signs in the forest and
the open country. The trampled grass and broken
branches were caused by the constant movement
of animals, ruminants or beasts of prey, but it was
impossible to be under any misapprehension when
they came upon the traces of encampments.
"Besides," Fritz pointed oat, " who but our
own people could have planted the flag on the
summit of that peak?"
"Unless it went and planted itself there!" the
boatswain replied with a laugh.
"Which would not be a surprising thing for an
English flag to do!" Fritz replied cheerfully.
"There are quite a lot of places where it would
seem to have grown by itself I"
Led by Fritz, the party descended the first slopes
of the range, which were partly covered by the
forest.
Great obstacles to overcome or serious risks to be
incurred seemed unlikely on the way from the range
to the Promised Land.
The distance between the two points might be
estimated at twenty miles, If they did ten miles
a day, with a halt for two hours at mid-day, and
slept one night on the way, they could reach the
defile of Cluse in the evening of the following day.
From the defile to Rock Castle or to Falconhurst
would be a matter of a few hours only,
"Ah," said Frank, " if we only had our two good
buffaloes, Storm and Grumbler, or Fritz's onager
or Whirlwind, Jack's ostrich, it would only take us
one day to get to Rock Castle!"
"I am sure that Frank forgot to post the letter
we wrote, asking them to send the animals to us,"
Jenny answered merrily.
"What, Frank, did you forget?" asked Fritz.
"A thoughtful, attentive fellow like you?"
"No," said Frank, " it was Jenny who forgot
to tie a note to her albatross's leg before he flew
off."
"How thoughtless of me!" the young woman
exclaimed.
"But it is not certain that the postman would
have taken the letter to the right address," Dolly
said.
"Who knows?" Frank replied. "Everything
that is happening now is so extraordinary,"
"Well," said Captain Gould, " since we can't
count upon Storm or Grumbler or Whirlwind or
the onager, the best thing we can do is to trust to
our own legs."
"And to step lively," John Block added.
They started with the firm intention only to halt
at mid-day. From time to time James and Frank
and the boatswain carried Bob, although the child
wanted to walk. So they lost no time crossing the
forest.
James and Susan Wolston, who knew nothing of
the marvels of New Switzerland, were filled with
constant admiration of the luxuriant vegetation,
which Is far finer than that of Cape Colony.
And yet they were only In the part of the island
which was left to Itself, and had never been touched
by the hand of man! What would it be Eke when
they came to the cultivated portion of the district,
to the farms at Eberfurt, Sugar-cane Grove, Wood
Grange, and Prospect Hill, the rich territory of the
Promised Land?
Game abounded everywhere--agoutis, peccaries,
cavies, antelopes, and rabbits, besides bustards,
partridges, grouse, hazel-hens, guinea fowls, and
ducks. Fritz and Frank had good reason to regret
not having their sporting guns with them. The
cavies and peccaries and agoutis would not let any
one come near them, and it seemed likely that they
would be reduced to finishing what was left of their
provisions for their next meal.
But then the question of food was resolved by a
stroke of luck.
About eleven o'clock, Fritz, walking in front,
made a sign for everyone to stop at the edge of a
little clearing crossed by a narrow stream, on the
bank of which an animal was quenching its thirst.
It was an antelope, and it meant wholesome and
refreshing meat if only they could contrive to
capture it somehow I
The simplest plan seemed to be to make a ring
around the clearing, without allowing themselves
to be seen, and directly the antelope attempted
to break out, to stop its way, regardless of danger
from its horns, overpower, and kill it.
The difficulty was to carry through this operation
without alarming an animal whose sight is so keen,
hearing so sharp, and scent so delicate.
While Jenny and Susan and Dolly and Bob
halted behind a bush, Fritz, Frank, James, Captain
Gould, and the boatswain, armed only with their
pocket knives, began to work round the clearing,
keeping well under cover in the thickets.
The antelope went on drinking at the stream,
showing no signs of uneasiness, until Fritz got up
sharply and uttered a loud shout.
At once the animal sprang up, stretched out its-
neck, and jumped towards the brake, which it
could have cleared in a single leap.
It made for the side where Frank and John Block
were standing, each with knife in hand.
The beast sprang, but took off badly, fell back,
bowled the boatswain over, and struggled to rise.
Then up came Fritz, and, throwing himself upon
the animal, succeeded in driving his knife into its
flank. But this one blow would not have been
sufficient if Captain Gould had not succeeded in
cutting its throat.
The animal lay motionless among the branches,
and the boatswain got up nimbly.
"Confounded brute I " exclaimed John Block,
who had escaped with a few bruises. "I've shipped
more than one heavy sea in my time, but never been
bowled over like that!"
"I hope you are not much hurt, Block?" Captain Gould asked.
"No: only scratched, and that don't matter,
captain. What annoys me is to have been turned
upside down like that."
"Well, to make up for it we will keep the best
bit for you," Jenny answered.
"No, Mrs. Fritz, no no! I would rather have
the bit that pitched me on to the ground. That
was its head. I want that animal's head!"
They set to work to cut up the antelope and take
out the edible parts. Since they were now assured
of food to last them until the evening of the following
day, there would be no need for them to trouble
further about it before they got to the defile of Cluse.
Fritz and Frank were no novices where the
preparation of game was concerned. Had they
not studied it in theory and in practice in twelve
years' hunting among the grass lands and woods
of the Promised Land? Nor was the boatswain
clumsy over the job. He seemed to derive real
revengeful pleasure in skinning the animal. Within
a quarter of an hour the haunches, cutlets, and
other savoury portions were ready to be grilled
over the embers.
As it was nearly noon, it seemed best to camp in
the clearing, where the stream would furnish clear,
fresh water. Captain Gould and James lighted
a wood fire at the foot of a mangrove. Then Fritz
placed the best bits of the antelope over the glowing
embers and left Susan and Dolly to superintend
the cooking.
By a lucky chance Jenny had just found a
quantity of roots such as can be roasted in the
ashes. They were of a kind to satisfy hungry
stomachs, and would agreeably complete the bill
of fare for luncheon.
No flesh is more delicate than that of the antelope,
which is both fragrant and tender, and everybody
agreed that this was a real treat.
"How good it is" John Block exclaimed, " to
eat real meat which has walked in its lifetime, and
not crawled clumsily over the ground!"
"We won't cry down turtles," Captain Gould
replied'; " not even to sing the praises of ante-
lope."
"The captain is right," said Jenny. "Without
those excellent creatures, which have fed us ever
since we got to the island, what would have become
of us?"
"Then here's luck to turtles!" cried the boat-
swain. "But give me another chop."
When this refreshing meal was finished, they
set out once more. They had no time to lose
the afternoon stage was to complete the ten miles
planned for the day.
If Fritz and Frank had been alone, they would
have paid no heed to fatigue. They would have
marched all night and made but a single stage of
the whole journey to the defile. They may have
had the idea now, and it was certainly very tempting, for they could
have got to Rock Castle in the
afternoon of the following day. But they did not
venture to suggest going on ahead.
Besides, think of the happiness of all arriving
together at their much-desired goal, to throw
themselves into the arms of the relations and friends
who had been waiting so long for them, who might
have lost all hope of ever seeing them again!
The second stage was done under the same
conditions as the first, in order to husband the
strength of Jenny and Dolly and Susan Wolston.
No incident occurred, and about four o'clock
in the afternoon the edge of the forest was
reached.
A fertile champaign extended beyond. Its vegetation was entirely due
to the productivity of the
soil, verdant grass-lands and woods or clumps of
trees studding the country right up to the entrance
to the Green Valley.
A few herds of stags and deer passed in the
distance, but there was no question of hunting
them. Numerous flocks of ostriches were also
seen, reminding Fritz and Frank of their expedition
to the country near the Arabian Watch-tower.
Several elephants appeared as well. They moved
quietly through the thick woods, and one could
imagine the longing eyes with which Jack would
have regarded them if he had been there!
"While we have been away," Fritz said, " Jack
may have succeeded in capturing an elephant, and
taming and training it, as we did Storm and
Grumbler and Lightfoot!"
"It's quite possible, dear," Jenny answered.
"After fourteen months' absence we must expect
to find something new in New Switzerland."
"Our second fatherland!" Frank said.
"I am already picturing other houses there,"
Dolly exclaimed, " and other farms--perhaps
village even!"
"Well," said the boatswain, " I could be quite
content with what we see about us; and I can't
imagine anything better in your island than we
have here."
"It is nothing compared with the Promised
Land, Mr. Block," Dolly declared.
"Nothing," Jenny agreed. "M. Zermatt gave
it that Bible name because it deserved it, and we,
more blest than the children of Israel, are about
to set foot in the land of Canaan."
And John Block admitted they were right.
At six o'clock they stopped for the night.
There was little likelihood of change in the
weather at this season, and the cold was not
formidable. Indeed, they had suffered rather
from heat during the day, in spite of the fact that
they were in the shelter of the trees during the
hottest hours. After that, a few isolated woods
and copses had enabled them to walk in the shade
without wandering too far from the direct route.
Supper was prepared, as the earlier meal had
been, before a crackling fire of dry wood. This
night would not be spent within a cave, but, with
fatigue to rock them, not one of them lay awake.
As a matter of precaution, however, Fritz and
Frank and the boatswain decided to keep alternate
watch. When darkness fell, roaring could be heard
in the far distance. There were wild beasts in this
part of the island.
Next morning a start was made at daybreak.
They hoped to get through the defile of Cluse in
the second stage of the journey, if they met with
no obstacles on the way.
There were no more hardships about the march
to-day than there had been the day before. They
went from wood to wood, so to speak, avoiding as
much as possible the rays of the sun.
After the mid-day meal, taken by the side of a
fast-running river twenty to thirty yards in width,
flowing towards the north, they merely tad to go
along the left bank.
Neither Fritz nor Frank knew this river, since
their expeditions had never brought them into the
heart of the island. They had no idea that it had
already received a name, that it was Called the
Montrose, as they had no knowledge of the new
name of Jean Zermatt peak, on whose summit the
British flag was floating. What a pleasure it would
be to Jenny to learn that this river bore the name
of her family!
After marching for an hour they left the Montrose, which bore off
sharply to the east. Two
hours later Fritz and Frank, who had taken the
lead, set foot at length on country known to them.
"The Green Valley!" they shouted, and saluted
it with a cheer.
It was the Green Valley, and now they only had
to get to the rampart enclosing the Promised
Land to be at the defile of Cluse.
This time, no consideration, no hunger or fatigue,
could have availed to hold back any of them.
Following Fritz and Frank, they all hurried forward,
although the path was steep. They seemed to be-
impelled forcibly towards the goal which they had
despaired of ever attaining!
Oh, if only by some extraordinary good luck M.
Zermatt and Mr. Wolston might be at the hermitage
at Eberfurt, and their families with them, as the
custom was during the summer season!
But that would have been too good to be true,
as people say. Not even John Block dared to hope
for it.
The beams across the entrance were all in place,
fixed firmly between interstices among the rocks so
as to resist the efforts of even the most powerful
animals.
"That is our door!" Fritz cried.
"Yes," said Jenny, " the door into the Promised
Land where all our dear ones live!"
They only had to remove one of the beams, a task
which took but a few minutes.
And then at last they were through the defile,
and all had the feeling that they were entering
their own home--home, which, only three days
ago, they had supposed to be hundreds and hundreds of miles away!
Fritz and Frank and John Block replaced the
beam in its proper grooves so as to bar the way
against wild beasts and pachyderms.
About half-past seven night was falling with the
suddenness peculiar to the tropics when Fritz and
his companions reached the hermitage at Eberfurt.
Nobody was at the farm, and, although they
regretted this, there was no occasion for them to be
surprised.
The little villa was in perfect order. They
opened all the doors and windows, and proceeded
to make themselves comfortable for the ten hours
or so they would stay.
In accordance with M. Zermatt's practice, the
house was quite ready for the reception of the two
families, who visited it several times in the course
of the year. The bedsteads were given to Jenny
and Dolly, Susan and little Bob, and to Captain
Gould. Dry grass spread on the floor of the out-
house would be good enough for the others this last
night before their return home.
Moreover, Eberfurt was always provided with
stores to last a week.
So Jenny only had the trouble of opening large
wicker hampers, to find preserves of various kinds,
sago, cassava, or tapioca flour, and salted meat
and fish. As for fruit--figs, mangoes, bananas,
pears and apples--they only had to take a step to
pick them from the trees, and only another to gather
vegetables in the kitchen garden.
Of course the kitchen and larder were properly
equipped with all necessary utensils. Directly a
good wood fire was crackling in the stove, the pot
was set upon its tripod. Water was drawn from
an off-shoot from the Eastern River, which supplied
the reservoir belonging to the farm. And it was
with special pleasure that Fritz and Frank were
able to offer their guests glasses of palm wine
drawn from the barrels in the cellar.
"Ah ha!" cried the boatswain. "We've been
teetotallers a very long time."
"Well, we will pledge you now, good old Block!"
Fritz exclaimed.
"As much as you like," the boatswain answered.
"Nothing could be more pleasant than drinking
one another's health in this excellent wine,"
"Let us drink then," said Frank, " to the happiness of seeing our
parents and our friends again
at Falconhurst or Rock Castle!"
And, clinking glasses, they gave three cheers for
the Zermatts and the Wolstons.
"Seriously" John Block remarked, " there are
plenty of inns in England and elsewhere which
aren't nearly so good as this hermitage of Eberfurt."
"Moreover, Block," Fritz answered, " here the
entertainment is free!"
When supper was finished all sought the repose
of which they had such need after their long day's
march.
Every one of them slept until the sun rose next
morning.
CHAPTER XII
ENEMIES IN THE PROMISED LAND
At seven o'clock next morning, after break-
fasting off the remains of supper and
drinking a stirrup-cup of palm-wine,
Fritz and his companions left the hermitage at
Eberfurt.
They were all in haste, and intended to cover
the seven and a half miles that lay between the
farm and Falconhurst in less than three hours.
"It is possible that our people may be settled
now in their dwelling in the air," Fritz remarked.
"If so, dear," said Jenny, " we shall have the
joy of meeting them quite an hour sooner,"
"Provided they have not gone into summer-
quarters on Prospect Hill," Frank observed. "In
that case we should be obliged to go back to
False Hope Point."
"Isn't that the cape from which M. Zermatt
must watch for the Unicorn?" Captain Gould
enquired.
"That is the one, captain," Fritz replied; " and
as the corvette must have completed her repairs,
it will not be long before she reaches the island."
"However that may be," the boatswain remarked, " the best thing we
can do, in my opinion,
is to start. If there is nobody at Falconhurst we
will go to Rock Castle, and if there is nobody at
Rock Castle we will go to Prospect Hill, or any-
where else. But let us get on the march!"
Although there was no lack of kitchen utensils
and gardening tools at the hermitage, Fritz had
looked in vain for any sporting guns and ammunition. When his father
and brothers came to the
farm they brought their guns, but never left
them there. However, there was nothing to be
afraid of in crossing the Promised Land, since
no wild beasts could get through the defile of
Cluse.
A cart road--and how often already had it been
rolled by the waggon which the buffaloes and the
onager drew!--ran between the cultivated fields,
now in their full vegetation, and the woods in
their full verdure. The sight of all this prosperity
gladdened the eye. Captain Gould and the boat-
swain, and James and Susan Wolston, who saw
this district for the first time, were amazed. Host
certainly might colonists come here; it could
support hundreds, the island as a whole could
thousands!
After marching for an hour and a half, Fritz
stopped for a few moments, nearly mid-way
between the hermitage of Eberfurt and Falconhurst,
before a stream which he did not know
existed in this part of the district.
"That is something new," he said.
"It certainly is," Jenny answered. "I do.
not remember any stream in this place."
"It is more like a canal," Captain Gould re-
marked.
"You are right, captain," said Fritz. "Mr.
Wolston must have conceived the idea of drawing
water from Jackal River to supply Swan Lake,
and keep it full during the hot weather, which
would enable them to irrigate the land round
Wood Grange."
"Yes," Frank went on, " it must have been
your father, Dolly, who had that notion and
carried it out."
"Oh!" said Dolly. "But I expect your
brother Ernest had a finger in the pie!"
"No doubt--our learned Ernest!" Fritz agreed.
"And why not the intrepid Jack--and M.
Zermatt too?" Captain Gould enquired.
"Everybody, then," said Jenny, laughing.
"Yes, every one of both the families, which
now are really one," Fritz answered.
The boatswain broke in, as was his way, with
a very just remark:
"If those who cut this canal did well, those who
threw a bridge across it deserve quite as much
praise. So let us go over and march on!"
They crossed the bridge and entered into the
more thickly wooded district, where rose the little
stream that ran out near Falconhurst, just below
Whale Island.
Fritz and Frank listened intently, trying to
catch some distant sound of barking or of guns.
What was Jack, the enthusiastic sportsman, about,
that he was not hunting this fine morning? Game
was rising in every direction, scampering away
through the brakes and scattering from tree to
tree. If the two brothers had had guns, they
could have let fly with both barrels over and over
again. It seemed to them that fur and feather
had never been more plentiful in the district, so
plentiful that their companions were genuinely
astonished by it.
But besides the twittering of little birds, the
call of partridges and bustards, the chattering
of parrots and sometimes the howling of jackals
were all that could be heard, and to these sounds
was never added the report of fire-arms or the
whimper of a dog on the scent.
After crossing the Falconhurst river they only
had to go up the right bank as far as the edge of
the wood, where grew the gigantic mangrove tree
with the aerial dwelling-place.
A profound silence reigned underneath these
immense trees--a silence which awakened vague
uneasiness. When Fritz looked at Jenny he read
in her eyes an anxiety for which, however, there
was no justification as yet. Frank, too, felt
some nervousness, walking on in front and then
retracing his steps. This uneasiness was shared
by all. In ten minutes they would be at Falconhurst. Ten minutes!
Was not that much the
same as being there already?
"It's a sure thing," said the boatswain, who
wanted to cheer them up, " it's a sure thing that
we shall have to go down this fine avenue of yours
to Rock Castle! A delay of an hour, that's all.
And what's an hour, after so long an absence?" y
They put on pace. A few moments later they
came within sight of the edge of the wood, and
then of the enormous mangrove tree in the middle
of the court-yard, enclosed by palisades fringed
with a quickset hedge.
Fritz and Frank ran to the gate contrived in
the hedge.
The gate was open, and had been torn half off
its hinges.
The two brothers went into the court-yard
and stopped beside the little central basin.
The place was deserted.
Not a sound came from the poultry run or
the sheds built against the palisade, although
these were generally full of cows and sheep and
poultry during the summer season. In the outhouses were various
things, boxes and hampers
and agricultural implements, all in a disorder
very foreign to the careful habits of Mme. Zermatt
and Mrs. Wolston and her daughter.
Frank ran to the cattle-sheds.
There was nothing in them but a few armfuls
of hay in the racks.
Did it mean that the animals had broken out
of the enclosure? Were they straying loose
about the country? No; for not one had been
seen anywhere near Falconhurst. It was just
possible that, for some reason or other, they had
been penned in the other farms, and yet that was
hardly an explanation.
As has been said, the farmstead of Falconhurst
comprised two dwelling-places, one built among
the branches of the mangrove tree, the other among
the roots which were buttressed round its base.
Above the latter was a terrace with a railing of
bamboo canes, which supported the roof of tarred
moss. This terrace covered several rooms, divided
by partitions fixed among the roots, and large
enough for both families to inhabit them together.
This first dwelling was as silent as the oat-
buildings in the yard.
"Let us go inside!" said Fritz, with trouble
in his voice.
All followed him, and a cry broke from them--
an inarticulate cry, for not one of them could have
uttered a word.
The furniture was upset. The chairs and'
tables had been thrown down, the chests opened,
the bedding thrown on the floor, the utensils
into the corners. It was as if the rooms had
been given over to pillage for the mere sake of
pillage. Of the stores of provisions, generally
kept fully supplied at Falconhurst, not a scrap"
remained. There was no hay in the loft; in the
cellar the casks of wine and beer and spirits were
empty. There were no weapons, except one
loaded pistol which the boatswain picked up and
thrust in his belt. Yet carbines and guns were
always left at Falconhurst during the hunting
season.
Fritz, Frank, and Jenny stood overwhelmed
before this most unexpected disaster. Were things
in the same state at Rock Castle and Wood Grange
and Sugar-cane Grove and Prospect Hill? Of
all the farms, had the hermitage of Eberfurt alone
been spared by these pillagers? And who were
the pillagers?
"My friends," said Captain Gould, " some
disaster has happened; but it may not be as
serious as you fear."
No one answered. What answer could Fritz
or Frank or Jenny have given? Their hearts
seemed broken. They had set foot within the Promised Land with so
much joy, only to find ruin
and desolation!
But what had happened? Had New Switzerland been invaded by a band of
those pirates
who were so numerous at that period in the Indian
Ocean, where the Andamans and Nicobars offered
them a safe place of refuge? Had the Zermatts
and Wolstons been able to leave Rock Castle In
time, and retire elsewhere, or even flee from the
island? Had they fallen into the hands of the
pirates--or had they lost their lives in an attempt
at self-defence?
And, one last question, had all this happened a
few months ago, or a few weeks ago, or a few days
ago, and would it have been possible to prevent
it if the Unicorn had arrived within the time arranged?
Jenny made a brave effort to keep back her
tears, while Susan and Dolly sobbed together.
Frank wanted to rush to find his father and mother
and brothers, and Fritz was obliged to hold him
back. Captain Gould and the boatswain went
out several times to examine the ground near
the palisade, but came back without having
found anything to throw light on the matter.
Some decision, however, had to be arrived at.
Was it better to remain at Falconhurst and await
events there, or to go down to Rock Castle ignorant
of how matters stood? Should they make a
reconnaissance, leaving the women and Bob in
James's protection, while Fritz, Frank, and Captain
Gould, and John Block went to investigate either
along the shore or across country?
In any case they had to dispel this uncertainty,
even though the truth should leave them without
hope!
Fritz was voicing the general wish when he said:
"Let us try to get to Rock Castle."
"And let us go at once!" Frank exclaimed.
"I will come with you," said Captain Gould.
"And so will I," said John Block.
"Good!" Fritz replied. "But James must
stay with Jenny, Dolly, and Susan, who will
be out of harm's way at the top of Falconhurst."
"Let us all go up first," John Block suggested,
"and from there, perhaps, we shall see--"
It was only reasonable to do that before going
to reconnoitre outside. From the aerial dwelling-
place, and especially from the top of the mangrove
tree, the view extended over much of the Promised
Land and the sea to the east, and also over nearly
eight miles of coast between Deliverance Bay and
False Hope Point.
"Up! Up!" Fritz answered, to the boatswain's
suggestion.
The habitation among the branches of the tree
had escaped the general devastation, thanks to the
dense foliage of the mangrove, which almost
concealed it from, view. The door giving access
to the winding staircase inside the trunk bores
no marks of violence. Frank found it shut, and
wrenched at it so that the lock-bolt came away.
In a few moments they had all climbed up
the staircase, lighted by narrow loopholes in the
tree, and set foot on the circular balcony, which
was almost completely screened behind a curtain
of leaves.
The instant Fritz and Frank reached the plat-
form they hurried into the first room.
Neither this room nor the rooms next it presented the least sign of
disturbance. The bedding
was all in good condition, the furniture all in
place. So it was obvious that the original Falcon's
nest had been respected. The marauders could
not have found the door below. The foliage had
become so very much thicker in the course of these
twelve years that it would have been as impossible
to see the dwelling from the yard below as it was
from the edge of the neighbouring wood.
It really looked as if Mme. Zermatt and Mrs.
Wolston had set everything in order only the
day before. There ware preserved meat, flour,
rice, preserves, and liquor, enough of everything
to last for a week, in accordance with the usual
custom observed at Falconhurst as at the other
farms.
Nobody now, of course, gave a thought to the
question of food. What occupied their minds
to the exclusion of all else, filling them with despair,
was the deserted condition of Falconhurst in the
height of the summer, and the pillage of the lower
dwelling.
Directly they returned to the balcony Fritz
and the boatswain clambered up to the top of the
mangrove tree, to get as wide a view as possible.
To north ran the line of coast bounded by False
Hope Point at the little hill where the villa of
Prospect Hill stood. Nothing suspicious could be
detected in this part of the district.
To west, beyond the canal connecting Jackal
River with Swan Lake, spread the country watered
by the little Falconhurst river, through which
Fritz and his companions had walked after they
had crossed the bridge. This was as deserted
as the country which ran still further to the west
as far as the defile of Cluse.
To east, the vast arm of the sea spread out
between False Hope Point and Cape East, behind
which lay Unicorn Bay, There was not a sail
to be seen at sea, not a boat along the shore.
Nothing was visible but the vast plain of water,
from which, to north-east, projected the reef
upon which the Landlord had struck long ago.
Turning towards the south, the eye could only
see, about two miles and a half away, the entrance
into Deliverance Bay, near the wall of rock which
sheltered the dwelling of Rock Castle.
Of that house, and its annexes, nothing was
visible except the green tops of the trees in the
kitchen garden, and, a little more to south-west,
a line of light which indicated the course of Jackal
River.
Fritz and John Block came down to the balcony
again, after spending some ten minutes in the
first examination. Making use of the telescope
which M. Zermatt always kept at Falconhurst
they had looked carefully in the direction of Rock
Castle and the shore.
No one was to be seen there. It seemed that
the two families could not be on the island now.
But it was possible that M. Zermatt and his
people had been led by the marauders to some
farmstead in the Promised Land, or even to some
other part of New Switzerland.
To this suggestion, however, Captain Gould
raised an objection which it was difficult to meet.
"These marauders, whoever they may be,"
he said, " must have come by sea; must even have
landed in Deliverance Bay, Now we have observed none of their boats.
The conclusion would
seem to be that they have gone away again--
perhaps taking----"
He stopped. No one ventured to make answer.
Certainly Rock Castle did not seem to be inhabited now. From the top
of the tree no smoke
could be seen rising above the fruit trees in the
kitchen garden.
Captain Gould then suggested that the two
families might have left New Switzerland voluntarily, since the
Unicorn had not arrived at the
appointed time.
"How could they have gone?" Fritz asked, who
would have been glad to have this hope to cling to.
"Aboard some ship that came to these waters,"
Captain Gould replied; " one of the ships which
must have been sent from England or perhaps
another vessel which arrived off the island in, the
ordinary chances of navigation."
This theory was possible. And yet there were
many grave reasons to suppose that the desertion
of New Switzerland was not due to any such
circumstance.
Fritz spoke again.
"We must not hesitate any longer. Let us
go and look!"
"Yes, let us go!" said Frank.
Fritz was just preparing to go down again
when Jenny stopped him.
"Smoke!" she said. "I think I can see
smoke rising above Rock Castle."
Fritz seized the telescope and turned it towards
the south; for more than a minute his eye stayed
glued to the instrument.
Jenny was right. Smoke was passing across
the curtain of green, above the rocks which enclosed Rock Castle to
to the rear.
"They are there! They are there!" cried
Frank. "And we ought to have been with them
already!"
This assertion nobody denied. They all had
such dire need to recover hope that everything
was forgotten, the solitude that lay round Falconhurst, the pillage
of the yard, the absence of the
domestic animals, the empty sheds, the ruin
of the rooms at the foot of the mangrove tree.
But cold reason came back, to Captain Gould
and John Block at least. Manifestly Rock Castle
was occupied at this moment--the smoke proved
that. But might it not be occupied by the
marauders I At any rate, it would be necessary
to approach it with the utmost caution. Perhaps
it would be best not to go along the avenue which
led to Jackal River. If they went across fields,
and, as much as possible, from wood to wood, they
might have a chance of getting to the drawbridge
without being sighted.
At last, as all were getting ready to leave the
aerial dwelling, "Jenny lowered the telescope,
with which she had been scanning the coast of
the bay.
"And the proof that both families are still
here," she said, " is that the flag is flying over
Shark's Island,"
The white and red flag, the colours of New
Switzerland, was indeed waving over the battery.
But did that make it absolutely certain that M.
Zermatt and Mr. Wolston, and their wives and
children, had not left the island? Did not the
flag always float at that spot?
They would not argue the point. Everything
would be explained at Rock Castle, and before an
hour had passed.
"Let us go! Let us go!" said Frank again,
and he turned towards the staircase.
"Stop! Stop!" the boatswain suddenly said,
lowering his voice.
They watched him crawl along the balcony,
to the side overlooking Deliverance Bay. Then
he moved the leaves aside, put his head through
them and drew it back precipitately.
"What is the matter?" Fritz asked.
"Savages!" John Block replied.
CHAPTER XIII
SHARK'S ISLAND
It was now half past two in the afternoon. The
foliage of the mangrove was so dense that
the rays of the sun, though almost vertical,
could not penetrate it. Thus Fritz and his companions ran no risk of
being detected in the aerial
dwelling of Falconhurst, of the existence of which
the savages who had landed on the island had no
idea.
Five men, half naked, with the black skins of
natives of Western Australia, armed with bows
and arrows, were coming along the path. They
had no notion that they had been seen, or even
that there were other inhabitants of the Promised
Land besides those of Rock Castle.
But what had become of M. Zermatt and the
others? Had they been able to make their
escape? Had they fallen in unequal combat?
Of course, as John Block remarked, it could
not be supposed that the number of aborigines
who had landed on the island was limited to
these few men. Had they been so inferior numerically, they could not
have got the better of M.
Zermatt and his two sons and Mr. Wolston, even
if they had made a surprise attack. It must
have been a large band that had invaded New
Switzerland, whither they must have come in a
fleet of canoes. The fleet was doubtless lying
at the present moment in the creek, with the boat
and the pinnace. It could not be seen from the
top of Falconhurst because the view in that direction was cut off by
the point of Deliverance
Bay.
And where were the Zermatts and the Wolstons?
What inference must be drawn from the fact that
they had not been encountered at Falconhurst
or thereabouts?
That they were prisoners at Rock Castle, that
they had had neither time nor opportunity to seek
refuge in the other farms--or that they had been
massacred?
Everything else was explained now--the havoc
wrought at Falconhurst, and the deserted condition in which the
Promised Land was found
between the Swan Lake canal and the shore.
How could they cherish any but the faintest
hope? So, while Captain Gould and the boatswain
kept the natives in view, the others sorrowed
together.
There was one last chance. Could the two
families have taken refuge in the westward, in
some part of the island beyond Pearl Bay? If
they had caught sight of the canoes in the distance
across Deliverance Bay, might they not have
had time to make their escape in the waggon,
taking provisions and arms?
Captain Gould and John Block continued to
watch the approaching savages.
Was it their intention to come into the yard?
The house had been visited and pillaged by them
already. Now they might discover the door
at the foot of the staircase. In that event, however, they could
easily be disposed of. For when
they stepped out on to the platform they could
be surprised, one by one, and hurled over the
balustrade, a drop of forty or fifty feet.
"And," as the boatswain remarked, " if after
a tumble like that they had legs enough left to
get to Rock Castle, the beasts would be more
like cats than the monkeys they resemble!"
But when they reached the end of the avenue,
the five men stopped. The watchers did not
miss a single movement they made. What was
their business at Falconhurst? If the aerial
dwelling had escaped their observation so far,
were they not now on the point of discovering
it, and the people inside it? And then, they would
come back in larger numbers, and how was the
attack of a hundred natives to be withstood?
They came to the palisade and walked all round
it. Three of them entered the yard, and went into
one of the out-houses on the left, coming out again
presently with fishing tackle.
"The rascals are a bit too familiar!" the boat-
swain murmured. "They don't only not ask
your leave--"
"Can they have a canoe on the beach, and are
they going to fish along the shore?" said Captain
Gould.
"We'll soon find out, Skipper" John Block
replied.
The three men returned to their companions.
Then they went down a little path bordered with a
stout thorn hedge, which ran along the right of
the Falconhurst river and passed on to the sea.
They were in sight until they reached the cutting
through which the river flowed to its outlet into
Flamingo Bay.
But as soon as they turned to the left, they
became invisible, and would only be seen again
if they put out to sea. It was probable there
was a boat upon the beach--probable, too, that
they generally used it for fishing near Falconhurst.
While Captain Gould and John Block remained
on the watch, Jenny controlled her grief and
asked Fritz:
"What ought we to do, dear I"
Fritz looked at his wife, not knowing what to
answer.
"We are going to decide what we ought to
do," Captain Gould declared, "But to begin
with, it is idle to remain on this balcony, where
we are in danger of being discovered."
When they were all together in the room, while
Bob, who was tired by his long march, slept in a
little closet next to it, Fritz answered his wife's
question:
"No, Jenny dear--all hope is not lost of finding
our people. It is possible that they were not
taken by surprise. Father and Mr. Wolston are
sure to have seen the canoes in the distance.
They may have had time to take refuge in one
of the farms, or even in the heart of the woods at
Pearl Bay, where these savages would not have
ventured. We saw no trace of them when we
left the hermitage at Eberfurt, after we crossed
the canal. My opinion is that they have not
moved away from the coast."
"That is my opinion too," said Captain Gould,
"and I believe that M. Zermatt and Mr. Wolston
have got away with their families,"
"Yes, I am sure of it!" said Jenny positively.
"Dolly, dear--Susan--don't lose heart! Don't
cry any more I We shall see them all again!"
The young woman spoke so stoutly that she
brought back hope to them. Fritz took her hand.
"It is God who speaks through your lips, Jenny
dear!" he said.
On consideration, indeed, as Captain Gould insisted, it was hardly to
be supposed that Rock
Castle could have been surprised by attacking
natives, for they could not have brought their
canoes by night to land which they did not know.
It must have been by daylight that they arrived,
and some of the islanders must surely have seen
them far enough off to have had time to take
refuge in some other part of the island.
"And then again," Fritz added, " if these natives
landed only recently, our people may not have
been at Rock Castle at all. This is the season when
we usually visit all the farms. Although we did
not meet them at the hermitage at Eberfurt last
night, they may be at Wood Grange, or Prospect Hill, or at Sugar-cane
Grove, in the midst of
those thick woods,"
"Let us go to Sugar-cane Grove first," Frank
suggested.
"We can do that," John Block assented; " but
not before night."
"Yes, now, at once, at once!" Frank insisted, declining to listen to
argument. "I can
go alone. About twelve miles there, and twelve
miles back; I shall be back in four hours, and
we shall know what we are about,"
"No, Frank, no!" said Fritz. "I do beg you not
to leave us. It would be most foolish. If need be,
I order you not to, and I am your elder brother?"
"Would you stop me, Fritz?" •
"I would deter you from doing anything so rash."
"Frank, Frank!" said Dolly entreatingly. "Do
please listen to your brother! Frank! I beseech you!"
But Frank was set on his plan.
"Very well I " said the boatswain, who thought
it his duty to interfere. "Since a search is to be
made, let us make it without waiting until night.
But why should we not all go together to Sugar-
cane Grove?"
"Then come along!" said Frank.
"But," the boatswain went on, addressing Fritz,
"is it really Sugar-cane Grove that we ought
to make for?"
"Where else?" Fritz asked.
"Rock Castle!" John Block answered.
The name, thus unexpectedly dropped into
the discussion, altered the whole course of it.
Rock Castle? After all, if M. Zermatt and
Mr. Wolston and their wives and children had
fallen into the hands of the natives, and if their
lives had been spared, it was there that they
would be, for the smoke proved that Rock Castle
was occupied.
"Go to Rock Castle, eh?" Captain Gould
replied. "All right; but go there all together.
"All together? No," said Fritz; "only two
or three of us, and after dark."
"After dark?" Frank began again, more set
than ever upon his idea. "I am going to Rock
Castle now."
"And how do you expect in broad daylight to
escape the savages who are prowling round about
it?" Fritz replied. "And if you do escape them,
how will you get into Rock Castle, if they are
there at the time?"
"I don't know, Fritz. But I shall find out
if our people are there, and when I have found out
I will come back!"
"My dear Frank," Captain Gould said, " I
quite understand our impatience, and I sympathise with it. But do
give way to us in this
matter; it is only common prudence that makes--
us think as we do. If the savages get you, the,
hunt will be up; they will come to look for us,
and there won't be any more safety for us, either
at Wood Grange or anywhere else."
At last they succeeded in making Frank listen
to reason. He had to bow to the authority of one
who already perhaps was the head of the family.
So it was decided that they should wait, and
that as soon as darkness permitted Frank and
the boatswain should leave Falconhurst. It was
better that two should make this reconnaissance,
fraught with many dangers. They would glide
along the quickset hedge that bordered the avenue,
and both would try to get to Jackal River. If
the drawbridge were withdrawn to the other bank,
they would swim across the river and attempt
to get into the courtyard of Rock Castle through
the orchard. It would be easy to see through
one of the windows if the families were shut up
inside. If they were not, Frank and John Block
would come back at once to Falconhurst, and they
would all try to get to Sugar-cane Grove before
daylight.
Never did the hours drag by more slowly!
Never had Captain Gould and his companions
been more profoundly dejected--not even when
the boat was cast adrift upon an unknown sea,
not even when it was smashed upon the rocks in
"Turtle Bay, not even when the shipwrecked company, with three women
and a child amongst
them, saw themselves threatened by winter on a
desert coast, shut in a prison whence they could
not escape!
In the midst of all those trials they had, at least,
been free from anxiety on account of those in
New Switzerland! Whereas, now, they had found
the island in the power of a horde of natives,
and did not know what had become of their relatives
and friends; but had good ground for fearing
that they might all have perished in a massacre I
Slowly the day wore on. Every now and then
one or other of them, generally Fritz and the
boatswain, climbed up among the branches of
mangrove in order to search the country and
the sea. What they were most anxious to ascertain
was whether the savages were still in the neighbourhood of
Falconhurst, or had gone back to Rock
Castle.
But they could see nothing, except, towards the
south, near the mouth of Jackal River, the little
column of smoke rising above the rocks.
Up to four o'clock in the afternoon nothing
happened to change the situation, A meal was
prepared from the stores in the house.
When Frank and John Block came back they
might all have to set out for Sugar-cane Grove,
and that would be a long march.
Suddenly a report was heard.
"What is that?" Jenny exclaimed, and Fritz;
drew her back as she was hastening to one of the
windows.
"Could it have been a gun?" Frank asked.
"It was a gun!" the boatswain exclaimed.
"But who fired it?" Fritz said.
"A ship off the island, do you think?" James
suggested.
"The Unicorn, perhaps!" Jenny cried.
"Then she must be very near the island,"
John Block remarked, "for that report was
close at hand,"
"Come to the balcony, come to the balcony!'
Frank cried excitedly.
"Let us be careful not to be seen, for the savages
must be on the alert" Captain Gould cautioned
them.
All eyes were turned towards the sea.
No ship was to be seen, although, judging from
the nearness of the report, it must have been off
Whale Island. All that the boatswain could see
was a single canoe, manned by two men, which
was trying to get in from the open sea to the
beach at Falconhurst.
"Can they be Ernest and Jack?" Jenny whispered.
"No," Fritz answered, " those two men are
natives, and the canoe is a pirogue."
"But why are they running away like that?"
Frank asked. "Can there be some one after them?"
Fritz uttered a cry--a cry of joy and surprise
combined.
He had just seen a bright flash in the middle of
a white smoke, and almost simultaneously there
was a second report which made the echoes ring
round the coast.
At the same time a ball, skimming the surface
of the bay, threw up a great jet of water a couple
of fathoms away from the canoe, which continued
to fly at full speed towards Falconhurst.
"There! There!" shouted Fritz." Father
and Mr. Wolston and all of them are there--on
Shark's Island!"
It was, indeed, from that island that the
first report had come, as well as the second with
the ball aimed at the pirogue. No doubt the
islanders had found refuge under the protection
of the battery which the savages did not venture
to approach. Above it was the red and white
flag of New Switzerland, while on the topmost
peak in all the island floated the British flag!
Impossible to depict the joy, the delirium to
which those so lately in despair now abandoned
themselves I And their emotions were shared
by those true comrades, Captain Gould and the
boatswain.
There was no further idea of going to Rock
Castle; they would leave Falconhurst only to go--
how, they did not know--to Shark's Island. If
only it had been possible to communicate with
it by signals from the top of the mangrove, to
wave a flag to which the flag on the battery might
reply! But that might have been unwise, unwise
too, to fire a few shots with the pistol, for, though
these might be heard by M. Zermatt, they might
also be heard by the savages, if they were still
prowling about Falconhurst.
It was most important that they should not
know of the presence of Captain Gould and his
party, for these could not have withstood a combined attack by all
the savages now in possession
of Rock Castle.
"Our position is a good one now" Fritz remarked; " don't let us do
anything to compromise
it."
"Quite so," Captain Gould replied, "Since
we have not been discovered, don't let us run
any risk of it. Let us wait until night before
we do anything."
"How will it be possible to get to Shark's
Island?" Jenny asked.
"By swimming," Fritz declared. "Yes; I
can swim there all right. And since father must
have fled there in the long boat, I will bring back
the long boat to take you all over."
"Fritz,--dear!" Jenny could not refrain from
protesting. "Swim across that arm of the sea?"
"Mere sport for me, dear wife, mere sport I"
the intrepid fellow answered.
"Perhaps the niggers' canoe is still upon the
beach," John Block suggested.
Evening drew on, and a little after seven o'clock
it was dark, for night follows day with hardly
any interval of twilight in these latitudes.
About eight o'clock the time had come, and
it was arranged that Fritz and Frank and the
boatswain should go down into the yard. They
were to satisfy themselves that the natives were
not hanging about anywhere near, and then were
to venture down to the shore. In any case
Captain Gould, James Wolston, Jenny, Dolly
and Susan were to wait at the foot of the tree
for a signal to join them.
So the three crept down the staircase. They
had not dared to light a lantern lest its light should
betray them.
There was no one in the house below, nor in
the out-houses. What had to be found out now
was whether the men who had come during the
day had gone back to Rock Castle, or if they
were on the beach for which the canoe had made.
Caution was still necessary. Fritz and John
Block decided to go down to the shore by them-
selves, while Frank remained on guard near the
entrance to the yard, ready to run in if any danger
threatened Falconhurst.
The two men went out of the palisade and
crossed the clearing. Then they slid from tree
to tree for a couple of hundred yards, listening,
and peering, until they reached the narrow cutting
between the last rocks, against which the waves
broke.
The beach was deserted, and so was the sea
as far as the cape, the outlines of which could just
be seen in the eastward. There were no lights
either in the direction of Rock Castle, or on the
surface of Deliverance Bay, A single mass of rock
loomed up a couple of miles out at sea.
It was Shark's Island.
"Come on," said Fritz.
"Ay, ay," John Block replied.
They went down to the sandy shore, whence
the tide was receding.
They would have shouted for joy if they had
dared. A canoe was there, lying on its side.
It was the pirogue which the battery had greeted
with a couple of shots from its guns.
"A lucky thing that they missed it!" John
Block exclaimed. "If they hadn't, it would
be at the bottom now. If it was Mr. Jack or
Mr. Ernest who was such a bad shot, we will offer
him our congratulations I"
This little boat, of native construction and
worked by paddles, could only hold five or six
people. Captain Gould and his party numbered
eight, and a child, to be rowed to Shark's Island.
True, the distance was only a bare two miles.
"Well, we will pack in somehow," John Block
said; " we mustn't have to make two trips."
"Besides," Fritz added, " in another hour the
flood tide will make itself felt, and as it sets towards
Deliverance Bay, not very far from Shark's Island,
it will not be a very big job for us to get there."
"Everything is for the best," the boatswain
replied, " and that is beginning to become evident.?"
There was no question of pushing the boat
down to the sea; it would take the water of its
own accord, directly the flood tide overtook it.
John Block satisfied himself that it was firmly
moored and was in no danger of drifting out to
sea.
Then both went up the beach again into the
avenue, and rejoined Frank, who was waiting
for them in the court-yard.
Informed of what they had found, he was overjoyed, Fritz left him
with the boatswain to
keep watch over the entrances to the yard.
The news he brought made joy upstairs.
About half past nine all went down to the
foot of the mangrove tree.
Frank and John Block had seen nothing suspicious. Silence reigned
round Falconhurst. The
slightest sound could have been heard, for there
was not a breath of air.
With Fritz and Frank and Captain Gould in
front, they crossed the court-yard and the clearing,
and filing under cover of the trees in the avenue
they reached the beach.
It was as deserted as it had been two hours
before.
The flood tide had already lifted the boat, which
was floating at the end of its rope. Nothing now
remained but to get into it, unmoor it, and push
off into the current.
Jenny, Dolly, Susan, and the child, immediately
took their places in the stern. The others crouched
between the seats, and Fritz and Frank took the
paddles.
It was just ten o'clock, and, as, there was no
moon, they hoped they might get across unseen.
In spite of the great darkness, they would have
no difficulty in making straight for the island.
The moment the pirogue was caught by the
current it was carried towards it.
All kept silence. Not a word was exchanged,
even under breath. Every heart was gripped by
excitement.
The flood tide could not be relied upon to take
them straight to Shark's Island. About a mile
from the shore it bore away towards the mouth of
Jackal River, to run up Deliverance Bay.
So Fritz and Frank paddled vigorously towards
the dark mass of rock, where no sound or light
could be detected.
But someone would certainly be on guard
within the battery. Was there not a danger
of the canoe being seen and shot at, under the
misapprehension that the savages were making an
attempt to get possession of the island under
cover of the night?
Actually, the boat was not more than five or
six cables' length away when a light flashed
out at the spot where the guns stood under their
shed.
Was it the flash from a gun? Was the air
about to be rent by "an explosion?
And then, caring no longer whether the savages
heard him or not, the boatswain stood up and
shouted in stentorian tones:
"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"
"Friends--we are friends!" shouted Captain
Gould.
And Fritz and Frank together called again
and yet again:
"It's we! It's we! It's we!"
The instant they touched the rocks they fell
into the arms of their friends.
CHAPTER XIV
A PERILOUS PLIGHT
A few minutes later the two families--
complete this time--with Captain Harry
Gould and the boatswain, were together
in the store-house in the middle of the island, five
hundred paces from the battery knoll over which
the flag of New Switzerland floated.
Fritz, Frank, and Jenny were clasped to the
hearts of M. and Mme. Zermatt and covered with
kisses; James, Dolly, Susan, and Bob were unable
to extricate themselves from the embraces of Mr.
and Mrs. Wolston; and much hand-shaking was
exchanged with Captain Gould and the boatswain.
Then they had to exchange stories of the fifteen
months which had passed since the day when the
Unicorn disappeared behind the heights of False
Hope Point, bearing away Jenny Montrose, Fritz,
Frank, and Dolly.
But before recalling all these past events, it was
necessary to talk of the present.
For although they were reunited now, the two
families were none the less in a serious an
position. The savages must ultimately become
masters of this island when the ammunition and
provisions were exhausted, unless help came. And
whence could M. Zermatt and his people expect
help?
First of all Fritz told briefly the story of the
Flag's castaways.
"And where are the savages?" Fritz asked, as he
came to the end of telling how they had seen the
savages.
"At Rock Castle," M. Zermatt replied.
"Many of them?"
"A hundred at least; they came in fifteen,
pirogues--probably from the Australian coast."
"Thank God you were able to escape from
them!" Jenny exclaimed.
"Yes, indeed, dear child," M. Zermatt replied.
"As soon as we saw the canoes making for Deliverance Bay, we took
refuge on Shark's Island, thinking
that we might be able to defend ourselves here
against an attack by them,"
"Papa," said Frank, " the savages know now
that you are on this island."
"Yes, they do," M, Zermatt answered, " but
thank God, they have not succeeded in landing
here yet, and our old flag is still flying!"
The following is a very brief summary of what
had happened since the time at which the first part
of this narrative ended.
On the return of the dry season, after the expeditions
which resulted in the discovery of the
Montrose River, a reconnaissance was carried out
as far as the range of mountains, where Mr. Wolston,
Ernest and Jack planted the British flag on the
summit of Jean Zermatt peak. That happened
some ten or twelve days before the boat arrived
on the southern coast of the island, and if the
expedition had been carried beyond the range they
might have met Captain Gould at Turtle Bay.
But Mr. Wolston and the two brothers had not
ventured across the desert plateau.
The newcomers were told how Jack, carried
away by his wild desire to capture a young elephant,
had fallen into the midst of savages, who made him
prisoner. After escaping from them, he had
brought back the grave news of their presence on
the island.
Thoroughly alarmed, the Zermatts and Wolstons
made plans in anticipation of an attack upon
Rock Castle, and maintained a watch day and
night.
For three months, however, nothing happened.
The savages did not appear. It seemed that they
had finally left the island.
But there was matter of new anxiety in the fact
that the Unicorn, due to arrive in September or
October, made no appearance off New Switzerland.
In vain did Jack go many times to the top of Prospect
Hill to look out for the return of the corvette.
On each occasion he had to come back to Rock
Castle without having seen her.
It should be mentioned here that the ship
observed by Mr. Wolston, Ernest, and Jack from
the summit of Jean Zermatt peak was no other than
the Flag, as could be proved by comparison of dates.
Yes, it was the three-master which had fallen into
the hands of Robert Borupt. After approaching
the island, she had sailed to the Pacific Ocean,
through the Sunda seas, never to be heard of
again.
The last weeks of the year brought them to
despair. After the lapse of fifteen months, all
abandoned hope of ever seeing the Unicorn again.
Mme. Zermatt, Mrs. Wolston, and Hannah mourned
their lost ones, None had courage left for anything. Nothing seemed
of any use.
It was only after this long delay, that they took
it for granted that the Unicorn had been wrecked,
lost with all hands, and that nothing more would
ever be heard of her, either in England or in the
Promised Land!
For if the corvette had accomplished her outward
voyage without mishap, after a call at the Cape
of Good Hope lasting a few days, she would have
reached Portsmouth, her destination, within three
months. From there, a few months later, she
would have sailed for New Switzerland, and several
emigrant ships would have been despatched soon
after her to the English colony. The fact that no
ship had visited this portion of the Indian Ocean
meant that the Unicorn had foundered In the
dangerous seas that lie between Australia and
Africa before she had reached her first port of call,
Cape Town; it meant, too, that the existence of
the island was still unknown, and would remain
unknown, unless the chances of navigation brought
some other ship into these remote seas which, at
this period, lay within none of the maritime routes.
During the first half of the dry season neither
M. Zermatt nor Mr. Wolston thought of leaving
Rock Castle. As a rule they spent the finest part
of the year at Falconhurst, reserving a week each
for the farms at Wood Grange, Sugar-cane Grove,
Prospect Hill, and the hermitage at Eberfurt. On
this occasion they limited themselves to the brief
visits necessitated by their duty to the animals.
They, made no attempt to explore the other portions
of the island outside the district of the Promised
Land. Jack contented himself with hunting in
the immediate neighbourhood of Rock Castle,
leaving Whirlwind and Storm and Grumbler idle.
Various works which Mr. Wolston had planned to
do, to which his engineering instinct had moved
him, were left unattempted.
What was the use? In those four little words
was summed up a volume of despondency.
So when they came to celebrate the festival of
Christmas--kept with joy for so many years--
tears were in the eyes of all, and prayers rose for
those who were not with them!
Thus the year 1817 opened. In that splendid
summer season nature was more lavish with her
gifts than she had ever been before. But her
generosity far exceeded the requirements of seven
persons. The great house seemed empty, now
that those they had expected could be looked for
no longer!
And yet there came at times faint hopes that
everything was not lost irreparably. Could the
delay of the Unicorn be explained in no other way
than by shipwreck with loss of all hands? Perhaps
she had prolonged her stay in Europe. Perhaps
quite soon they would see her topsails on the
horizon, and the long pennon streaming from her
main mast.
It was in the second week of January of this
most gloomy year that M. Zermatt saw a flotilla of
pirogues round Cape East, and making for Deliverance Bay. Their
appearance caused no great
surprise, for after Jack had fallen into their hands
the savages could no longer be unaware that the
island was inhabited.
In less than two hours the tide would bring up
pirogues to the mouth of Jackal River. Manned
by something like a hundred men, for, of course
the whole party that had landed on the island
must have joined in this expedition, how would
it be possible to offer them serious resistance?
Would it be well to take refuge at Falconhurst,
Wood Grange, Prospect Hill, Sugar-cane Grove,
or even at the hermitage at Eberfurt? Would
they be any safer there? As soon as they had
set foot on this rich domain of the Promised Land,
the invaders would be sure to go all over it! Ought
they to seek a more secret shelter in the unknown
regions of the island, and would there be any
certainty that they would not be discovered even
there?
Then Mr. Wolston suggested that they should
abandon Rock Castle in favour of Shark's Island.
If they put off in the long boat behind the point of
Deliverance Bay, and went along the Falconhurst
shore, they might perhaps be able to get to the
island before the pirogues arrived. There, at any
rate, under the protection of the two cannon in the
battery, they might defend themselves, if the
natives attempted to set foot on the island.
Besides, if there were not time to take over the
stores and provisions needed for a long stay, the
store-house had beds and could accommodate the
two families. The boat could be laden with
articles of prime necessity. And further, as has
been related before, Shark's Island had been
planted with mangroves, palms, and other trees
and was used as a park for a herd of antelopes,
while a limpid stream assured an abundant supply
of water, even during the very hottest season.
There would thus be nothing to fear on the score
of food for several months. Whether or not the
two four-pounder carronades would be sufficient
to repulse the flotilla if it made an attack in full
force upon Shark's Island, nobody could say,
The natives, of course, could have no knowledge
of the power of these arms, whose reports would
spread panic among them, not to mention the
bullets and balls which the two guns and the carbines would rain upon
them. But if even half of
them succeeded in landing on the island there would
be little hope.
There was not a moment to lose. Jack and
Ernest brought round the boat to the mouth of
Jackal River. Boxes of preserves, cassava, rice
and flour, and also arms and ammunition were taken
down to it. Then M. and Mme. Zermatt, Mr. and
Mrs. Wolston, Ernest and Hannah got into it, while
Jack took his seat in his canoe which would enable
Mm, if need arose, to establish communication
between the island and the shore. The animals,
except the two dogs, had to be left at Rock Castle.
The jackal, ostrich, and the onager were set at
liberty. They would be able to find their own
food.
The boat left the mouth of the river just as the
pirogues came into sight off Whale Island. But
it ran no risk of being seen in this portion of the
sea lying between Rock Castle and Shark's Island.
Mr. Wolston and Ernest rowed, while M. Zermatt
steered in such a way as to profit by certain back-
waters which enabled them to make headway
against the rising tide without excessive exertion.
Nevertheless, for a mile they had to struggle hard
not to be carried back towards Deliverance Bay,
and it was three quarters of an hour before the
boat slipped in among the rocks and anchored at
the foot of the battery knoll.
They at once unloaded the chests, arms, and
various articles brought from Rock Castle, which
they deposited in the store-house. Mr. Wolston
and Jack went to the battery, and took up their
posts there to keep watch over the approaches
to the island.
The flag flying from the signal mast was immediately pulled down.
Nevertheless, it was to be
feared that the savages had seen it, since their
canoes were not more than a mile away.
Thus they had to remain on the defensive in
anticipation of an immediate attack.
The attack did not take place. When the
pirogues were off the island, they turned southwards
and the current took them in towards the
mouth of Jackal River. After the savages had
landed, the canoes were takes, into shelter in the
little creek where the pinnace lay at her moorings.
This was the position of affairs. For a fortnight,
the savages had been in possession of Rock Castle,
and it did not appear that they had sacked the
house. It was different at Falconhurst, and from
the top of the knoll M. Zermatt had seen them
chasing the animals, after they had wrought havoc
in the rooms and store-houses.
But there was soon no doubt that the band had
discovered that Shark's Island was serving as a
refuge for the inhabitants of the island. On
several occasions half-a-dozen of the canoes came
across Deliverance Bay and made towards the
island. Several shots sent among them by Ernest
and Jack sank one or two and put the others to
flight. But from that moment it was necessary,
to watch day and night. A night attack would be
very difficult to repulse.
M. Zermatt hoisted the flag at the top of the hill
again, for the improbable might happen, and a ship
might come within sight of New Switzerland!
CHAPTER XV
FIGHTING FOR LIFE
The last hours of this night of the 24th of
January were spent in conversation. The
two families had so much to say, so many
memories to recall, so many fears for the future to
discuss! No one thought of going to sleep, except
little Bob. But until day-break M. Zermatt and
his companions did not relax their keen vigilance,
relieving one another on duty near the two carronades, one loaded
with ball, the other with grape-shot.
Shark's Island was larger than Whale Island,
which lay two and a half miles away to the north,
at the entrance to Flamingo Bay. It was an oval,
about half a mile long and a quarter of a mile
across at its widest part, thus having a circumference
of something under two miles. By day
it had been comparatively easy to keep watch over
it, and as it was of the utmost importance that
equally effective watch should be maintained from
sunset to sunrise, it was decided, on Captain
Gould's suggestion, that the whole of the shore
should be patrolled.
Dawn came, and no alarm had been raised,
Although the savages knew that the island was
held by a little garrison, they had no idea that
it had been reinforced and was in a position to offer
them sterner resistance. But it would not be long
before they discovered that one of their canoes had
disappeared--that which had taken Captain Gould
and his party from Falconhurst beach to Shark's
Island.
"They may think." Fritz suggested, " that the
canoe has been carried away by the outgoing tide."
"Anyhow" M. Zermatt replied, " let us keep a
careful lookout. As long as the island is not
invaded we have nothing to fear. Although there
are fifteen of us, we have plenty of food for a long,
time, with the reserves in the store-house, not to
mention the herd of antelopes. The spring is;
inexhaustible, and of ammunition we have enough
provided we are not attacked very often."
"What the deuce!" John Block exclaimed.
"These tailless apes surely won't stay for ever
on the island!"
"Who can tell?" Mme. Zermatt answered.
"If they have settled down in Rock Castle, they
will never leave it. Oh! our poor dear house,
prepared to receive all of you, my children, and,
now in their power!"
"Mother," said Jenny, " I do not think they
have destroyed anything at Rock Castle, for they
have no interest in doing so. We shall find our
home in good condition, and we shall resume our
life together there, and with the help of God--"
"Yes, of God" Frank added, " Who will not
forsake us after having brought us all together
again as by a miracle."
"Ah! If only I could work a miracle!" Jack
exclaimed.
"What would you do, Mr. Jack?" the boatswain
enquired.
"To begin with," the young man replied, " I
would jolly well make these rascals decamp before
they tried to land on this island, many of them
as there are."
"And then?" Harry Gould asked.
"Then, captain, if they continued to infest our
island with their presence, I would make either
the Unicorn or another ship show its colours at the
entrance to Deliverance Bay."
"But that would not be a miracle, Jack dear,"
Jenny said; " that is an event which will surely
come to pass. One of these days we shall hear
the guns saluting the new English colony."
"Why, it is surprising that no ship has come
already!" Mr. Wolston agreed.
"Patience!" John Block replied. "Everything
comes in its own good time."
"God grant it!" sighed Mme. Zermatt, whose
confidence was shaken by her many trials.
And so, alter having organised their life in New
Switzerland, here were the two families brought
down to making another start on a tiny islet a mere
annex to their island! How long would they be
prisoners on it, and might they not fall into hostile
hands if help did not reach them from outside?
They proceeded to settle down for a stay perhaps
of weeks possibly even of months. As the store-
house was large enough to accommodate fifteen
people, Mme. Zermatt and Mrs. Wolston, Jenny,
Susan, and her child, Hannah and Dolly were to
sleep in the beds in the inner room while the men
occupied the outer one.
Now, at the height of summer, the nights were
warm, following the hot days. A few armfuls of
of grass dried in the sun were all that the men
required, especially as they had to keep guard in
turns, from evening until morning, upon the
approaches to the island.
There was no occasion for anxiety with regard
to the food supply. Of rice, tapioca, flour, smoked
meat, and dried fish, such as salmon and herrings,
the stores would suffice for the daily requirements,
of six months, without taking into account the fresh
fish that could be caught at the foot of the rocks,
The mangroves and palms on the island bore fruit
in any quantity. There were two kegs of brandy
to make an addition to the fresh and limpid water
of the spring.
The only thing which might run short--and that
possibility was serious--was ammunition, although
they had brought some more over in the boat.
If, as a consequence of repeated attacks, powder,
bullets and cannon balls ran out, defence would
cease to be possible.
While M. Zermatt and Ernest helped the women
to make everything as comfortable as possible,
Mr. Wolston and Captain Gould, the boatswain
and Fritz and Jack and Frank surveyed Shark's
Island on foot. Almost all round the coast it
was easily accessible on little beaches lying between
the projecting points of the coast-line. The best
protected part was that commanded by the battery
knoll, which rose at the south-west extremity, over-
looking Deliverance Bay. At its foot there were
enormous rocks, among which it would be very
difficult to effect a landing. Everywhere else,
light boats, such as these pirogues were, could
find quite enough water to enable them to reach
land. Consequently it was indispensable that
they should keep all the approaches to the island
under careful supervision.
In the course of their inspection Fritz and Frank
had opportunity to observe the fine condition of
the plantations. The mangroves, palms, and pines
were in full fruit. Thick grass, carpeted the
pastures where the herd of antelopes capered and
played. Many birds, flitting from tree to tree,
filled the air with their myriad cries. The magnificent firmament
poured light and warmth upon
the surrounding sea.
The day after that on which the two families had
taken refuge on the island, a bird arrived, to receive
the warmest of welcomes. It was the albatross
of Burning Rock, which Jenny had found again
at Turtle Bay, and which had flown away from
the top of Jean Zermatt peak in the direction of
the Promised Land. When it arrived, the piece
of thread that was still fastened round one of its
legs attracted Jack's attention, and he caught the
bird without any trouble. But, unfortunately,
on this occasion, the albatross brought no
tidings.
The men went up to the battery. From the top
of the knoll an uninterrupted view could be obtained
north as far as False Hope Point, east as far as Cape.
East, and south as far as the end of Deliverance
Bay, To west, about two miles away, ran the long;
line of trees which bordered the shore between
Jackal River and the Falconhurst woods. But;
they could not see whether the natives were roaming
about the Promised Land.
Just at this moment, at the mouth of Deliverance
Bay, a few canoes came paddling out to sea, keeping
well beyond range of the guns in the battery, By
this time the savages had learned the danger of
coming too near Shark's Island, and if they should
attempt to land upon it they would most certainly
wait for a very dark night.
Looking out to the open main in the northward,
one saw nothing but deserted boundless space, and
it was from that quarter that the Unicorn, or any
other ship despatched from England, must appear.
After having satisfied themselves that the battery
was in order, the men were just preparing to come
down, when Captain Gould asked:
"Is there not a powder magazine at Rock
Castle?"
"Yes," Jack answered, " and I wish to goodness
it were here instead of there! The three barrels
that the Unicorn left us are in it."
"Where are they?"
"In a little cavity at the end of the orchard."
The boatswain guessed the captain's thought.
"Probably" he said, " those rascals may have
discovered that magazine?"
"It is to be feared they may," Mr. Wolston
answered.
"What is most to be feared," Captain Gould
declared, " is that in their ignorance they may
blow up the house."
"And themselves with it!" Jack exclaimed.
"Well, if Rock Castle had to go to blazes in the
explosion, it would be one solution, for I imagine
that those left of the filthy creatures would decamp
without any heart to come back!"
Leaving the boatswain on sentry-go at the
battery, the others went back to the store-house,
Breakfast was eaten together; how happy a meal
it would have been if all the party had been gathered
in the big hall at Rock Castle!
The next four days brought no change in the
situation. Beyond keeping proper watch over the
island, they did not know how to fill the long hours.
How different everything would have been if the
Unicorn had not been compelled to put in to Cape
Town for repairs. They would all have been settled
down at Rock Castle more than two months ago!
And now that Fritz and Jenny were married, who
could say that another wedding would not be
celebrated soon, the union of Ernest and Hannah,
which the corvette's chaplain might have blessed
in the chapel of Rock Castle? There might have
been whispers of a third union--by and by--when
Dolly should be eighteen.
Everyone fought bravely against despondency,
As for John Block, he had lost none of his native
good humour. They took long walks among the
plantations. They watched Deliverance Bay,
although no attack by the pirogues was to be
apprehended while the sun was in the sky. Then,
with night, all their anxiety returned, anticipating
an attack in force.
So while the women retired within the second room
of the store-house, the men made the rounds
of the shore, ready to concentrate at the foot of the
knoll if the enemy approached the island.
On the 29th of January, during the morning,
there was still nothing unusual to be noted. The
sun rose in a horizon undimmed by the faintest haze.
The day would be very hot, and the light sea-breeze
could hardly last until the evening.
After the mid-day meal Captain Gould and Jack
left the store and went to relieve Ernest and Mr.
Wolston, who Were on sentry-go at the battery.
Those two were just coming away when Captain
Gould stopped them.
"There are several canoes at the mouth of Jackal
River," he said.
"They are probably going fishing as usual,"
Jack replied. "They will take care to go by out
of range of our guns."
Jack was scanning the place through the telescope.
"Ah!" he exclaimed. "There are a lot of
canoes this time. Wait: five--six--nine; and
two more coming out of the creek: eleven--twelve!
Can the whole fleet be going fishing?"
"Perhaps they are getting ready to attack us,
Mr. Wolston said.
"We will be on our guard," said Captain Gould,
"let us go and warn the others."
"Let us see first which way the canoes are
going," Mr. Wolston replied.
"Anyhow, all our guns are ready," Jack
added.
During the few hours that Jack had spent in the
hands of the savages he had observed that their
pirogues were in number fifteen, each able to carry
seven or eight men. Twelve of these canoes could
now be counted, rounding the point of the creek
With the help of the telescope they were able to
calculate that the whole band of savages had gone
aboard, and that there could not be a single aborigine remaining at
Rock Castle.
"Can they be clearing out at last?" Jack
exclaimed.
"It isn't very likely," Ernest answered. "More
likely that they mean to pay a visit to Shark's
Island."
"When does the ebb begin?" Captain Gould
enquired.
"At half-past one," Mr. Wolston told him.
"Then it will soon make itself felt, and as it
will be in the favour of the canoes we shall then
know what to expect."
Ernest went to inform M. Zermatt, his brothers,
and the boatswain, and all came and took up their
posts under the hangar of the battery.
It was a little after one o'clock, and, with the ebb
only just beginning to run, the pirogues moved but slowly along the
east coast. They kept as far
away from the island as possible, in order
to escape the projectiles whose range and power they now
knew very well.
"Yet--suppose it were a final departure!"
said Frank again.
"Then good luck to them and good-bye!" said
Jack.
"And here's hoping we shall never see them
back!" John Block added.
As yet no one would venture to prophesy such a
happy contingency. Were not the canoes only
waiting for the ebb to run strongly in order to make
for the island?
Fritz and Jenny stood side by side, watching in
silence, hardly daring to believe that the situation
was drawing to so immediate an end.
It soon became apparent that the canoes were
feeling the action of the out-going tide. Their
speed increased, although they did not cease to
hug the coast, as if it were the natives' intention to
go round Cape East.
At half-past three the fleet was midway between
Deliverance Bay and Cape East. At six o'clock
there could be no further doubt on the matter.
The last boat rounded the cape and disappeared
behind the point.
Neither M. Zermatt nor any one else had left the
knoll for a moment.
What relief was theirs when not a single pirogue
remained in sight! At last the Island was freed
from the savages' presence! The whole party
would be able to settle down in Rock Castle again,
Perhaps there would be only trifling damage to
make good. They would do nothing but watch. •
for the arrival of the Unicorn! Their last fears
were forgotten, and, after all, they were all together
again after surviving so many dreadful trials!
"Shall we start for Rock Castle?" Jack exclaimed, eager to quit the
Island.
"Yes, yes!" said Dolly no less eagerly, Frank
had just joined her.
"Would it not be better to wait until to-morrow?" Jenny suggested.
"What do you think
Fritz dear?"
"What Mr. Wolston and Captain Gould and
papa think," Fritz replied; "and that certainly
is to spend this next night here."
"Yes," said M. Zermatt. "Before we return to
Rock Castle we must be absolutely sure that the
savages have no intention of going back there."
"They have gone to the devil already," Jack
exclaimed, " and the devil never lets go of anything
he has once got in his claws! Isn't that so, good
old Block?"
"Yes--sometimes," the boatswain answered.
Despite Jack's protests and arguments, it was
decided to postpone the start until the morrow;
and all assembled at the last meal which they
expected to take on Shark's Island.
It was a very merry one, and when the evening
came to an end all were ready for bed.
Everything suggested that this night of the 29th
of January would be as tranquil as the many others
spent in the quietude of Rock Castle and Falconhurst.
Nevertheless, neither M. Zermatt nor his companions would depart from
their customary caution,
although all danger seemed to have gone with the
last of the canoes. It was therefore arranged that
some should make the usual nightly rounds while
the others remained on guard at the battery.
As soon as the women and Bob had gone into the
store. Jack, Ernest, Frank, and John Block, with
their guns over their shoulders, set out to the north
end of the island. Fritz and Captain Gould went
up the knoll and took their place tinder the hangar,
as it was their turn to go on guard until sunrise.
Mr. Wolston, M. Zermatt, and James stayed in the
store, where they were free to sleep until dawn.
The night was a dark one, with no moon. The
atmosphere was thick with the evaporations from
the heated earth. The breeze had fallen at evening.
Profound silence reigned. Nothing was audible
save the surf of the incoming tide, which began to
flow about eight o'clock.
Harry Gould and Fritz sat side by side, recalling
memories of all the events, good and ill, that had followed each
other after the Flag had cast them
adrift. From time to time one or other of them
went: out and looked carefully about, more especially
in the direction of the dark arm of the sea lying
between the two capes.
Nothing disturbed their utter solitude until, at
two o'clock in the morning, the captain and Fritz
were startled out of their conversation by a report,
"
A gun!" said Harry Gould.
"Yes; fired over there," Fritz answered, pointing
to the north-west of the island.
"What's up, then?" Captain Gould exclaimed.
Both rushed out of the hangar and peered for
any light in the midst of the profound darkness.
Two other reports rang out, nearer this time
than the first one.
"The canoes have come back," said Fritz.
And leaving Harry Gould at the battery he ran
to the store at top speed.
M. Zermatt and Mr. Wolston had heard the
reports, and were already on the threshold.
"What is the matter f" M. Zermatt asked
sharply.
"I am afraid, papa, that the savages have tried
to effect a landing," Fritz answered.
"And the rascals have succeeded!" exclaimed
Jack, who now approached with Ernest and the
boatswain.
"They are on the island?" said Mr. Wolston.
"Their canoes touched the north-east point just
at the very moment we got there," said Ernest,
"and our shots were not enough to frighten them
off. And now nothing remains but--"
"To defend ourselves!" Captain Gould finished
for him.
The ladies had just left their room. In anticipation of an immediate
attack they had to carry all
the arms, ammunition and stores they could, and
get to the battery as quickly as possible.
The departure of the pirogues had been merely a
ruse. Taking advantage of the incoming tide, the
savages had returned towards Shark's Island,
which they hoped to take by surprise. The
manoeuvre had been highly successful. Although
their presence was known and they had been
welcomed with guns, they were in occupation of
the point, whence it would be easy for them to get
to the central store.
The situation was thus desperate, for the pirogues
had succeeded in landing the entire band. M.
Zermatt and his companions could not offer a
serious resistance to so large a number of assailants.
That they must succumb when their ammunition
and supplies ran out was only too certain.
They could do nothing but take refuge on the
knoll, within the battery. That was the only place
where there was any possibility of putting up a
defence.
The women and Bob crept under cover in the
hangar which sheltered the two guns. They did
not let a murmur escape them.
For one moment M. Zermatt thought of carrying
them over to the Falconhurst shore in the boat.
But what would become of the unfortunate women
if, after the islet had been invaded, their companions were unable to
join them? Besides, they
would never have consented to go.
It was a little after four o'clock when a confused
noise announced the presence of the savages, a
couple of hundred yards away. Captain Gould,
M. Zermatt, Mr. Wolston, Ernest, Frank, James,
and the boatswain, armed with carbines, were
ready to fire, while Fritz and Jack stood with
matches lighted near the two little cannon, only
waiting for the moment to rake the slopes of the
knoll with grape-shot.
When the black shadows showed against the early
light of dawn, Captain Gould gave the order in a
low tone to fire in that direction-
Seven or eight reports rang out, followed by
horrible cries which proved that more than one
bullet had found its billet in the crowd.
Three attacks had to be repelled before sunrise,
la the last a score or so of natives succeeded in
reaching the crest of the knoll. Although some of
them had been mortally hit, the carbines could no
longer keep them in check, and but for a double
discharge of the ordnance the battery would
probably have been carried in this assault.
At daylight the band withdrew among the trees,
near the store, as if they meant to wait until the
next night to renew the attack.
Unfortunately the defenders had almost exhausted their cartridges.
When they were reduced
to the two guns, which could only be directed,
towards the base of the knoll, how could they cover
the summit?
A council was held to consider the situation.
If they could not carry on the resistance under
these conditions, would it not be possible to leave
Shark's Island, land on Falconhurst beach, and seek
refuge within the Promised Land or in some other
part of the island--all of them together, this time?
Or would it be better to make a rush on the savages
and, with the advantage of carbines over bows
and arrows, compel them to take to the sea again?
But M. Zermatt and his party were only nine
against the scores who surrounded the knoll
Just at this moment, as if in answer to this last
suggestion, the air was filled with the whistling
of arrows, some of which stuck in the roof of the
hangar, fortunately without wounding any one.
"The attack is beginning again!" said John
Block.
Let's get ready for them!"Fritz replied.
This assault was the fiercest of all, for the natives
were furious, and seemed no longer afraid to face
the bullets and grape-shot. Moreover the ammunition
was almost exhausted, and the fire slackened. Several of the savages
crawled up the knoll and got
to the hangar. The two carronades fired point
blank at them, cleared the ground of a few, and
Fritz, Jack, Frank, James, and John Block fought
hand to hand with the others. Then they retired
over the corpses which strewed the foot of the hill.
They had used a weapon between axe and club,
which, in their hands, was a formidable thing.
Plainly the struggle approached its end. The
last cartridges were spent. Numbers must tell.
M. Zermatt and his party were trying to make
a stand around the hangar, which must soon be
entered. At grips with several natives, Fritz and
Frank and Jack and Harry Gould were in imminent
peril of being borne down to the foot of the hill
The fight would be over in a few minutes now,
and defeat meant massacre, for they could expect
no mercy from these savage foes.
Just at this moment a report rang out off the
island, borne by the wind from the north.
The assailants heard it, for those in advance
stopped.
Fritz and Jack and the others at once ran back
towards the hangar, one or two of them slightly
wounded.
"A gun!" Frank exclaimed.
"And a gun from a ship--or I'm a Dutchman!"
the boatswain declared.
"There is a ship in sight," said M. Zermatt.
"It is the Unicorn" Jenny replied.
"And it's God who has sent her now!" "Frank
murmured.
The echoes of Falconhurst rang with a second
detonation, much closer, and the savages recoiled
into cover under the trees.
Jack sprang to the flag-staff, and, nimble as any
top-man, scrambled to the top of it.
"Ship! Ship ahoy!" he yelled.
All eyes were turned towards the north.
Above False Hope Point the top-sails of a ship
appeared, swelling in the morning breeze.
A three-master, on the port tack, was manoeuvring to get round the
point, which thereafter was
known as Cape Deliverance.
From her mizzen-mast flew the flag of Great
Britain!
The women appeared stretching their hands to
heaven in ardent gratitude.
"What about those ruffians?" Fritz enquired.
"They're running!" replied Jack, who had
just slid down the flag-staff.
"Yes, they're running!" John Block added.
"And if they don't clear jolly quick, we'll help them
along with our last four-pounders.
And indeed, surprised by the detonations ringing
from the north, scared by the sight of the ship
coming round the point, the ravages had fled to
the point where their canoes were lying, They
clambered into them, shoved off hard and paddled
vigorously in the direction of Cape East.
The boatswain and Jack went back into the
hangar and trained the two guns upon them; and
three canoes, cut in half, went to the bottom.
Just as the ship, coming under full sail into the
arm of the sea, was off Shark's Island, she joined
her heavy guns to those of the battery. Most
of the pirogues failed to escape the rain of shot and
shell, and only two succeeded in vanishing behind
the cape, never to return.
CHAPTER XVI
CONCLUSION
It actually was the Unicorn which had just
dropped anchor at the mouth of Deliverance
Bay. All the repairs effected. Captain Littlestone
had left Cape Town after a stay of several
months, and at last had reached New Switzerland,
of which he was to take official possession in the
name of England.
Captain Littlestone now learned from Captain
Gould's lips the events of which the Flag had been
the stage.
As for what had become of that vessel, whether
Robert Borupt was playing pirate in the ill-famed
waters of the Pacific, or whether he and his
accomplices had perished in some furious tornado
was
destined never to be known, and was of little
consequence to the islanders.
It was an immense satisfaction to the
families when they found that the dwelling at Rock
Castle had not been sacked, Tie natives
probably contemplated taking up their quarters
there, intending to settle on the island. There was
no damage done to the bed-rooms or halls, no sign
of pillage in the out-houses or stores, no havoc
in the orchard or adjoining fields.
They recovered all the domestic animals which
had scattered in the neighbourhood, the buffaloes
Storm and Grumbler, the ostrich Whirlwind, the
monkey Nip, the onager Lightfoot, the cow Paleface
and her meadow companions, the bull Roarer
and his stable companions, the asses Swift, Arrow,
and Dart, the jackal, and Jenny's albatross, which
had flown across the arm of the sea between Shark's
Island and Rock Castle.
As it could not be very long before several ships
despatched from England would arrive with colonists and their stores,
it became necessary to choose
the site for new buildings. It was decided that
these should be erected along the banks of Jackal
River, up towards the fall. Rock Castle would
thus be the first village of the colony, pending the
time when it should have grown into a town. No
doubt in the future it would rank as the capital of
New Switzerland, for it would be the most important
of the little towns which would grow up in the heart
of the Promised Land, and beyond.
The Unicorn was under orders to remain in
Deliverance Bay until the emigrants arrived. So
animation reigned along the coast from Falconhurst
beach.
Three weeks had not elapsed before a ceremony,
which it was agreed to make as brilliant as possibly
brought together Commander Littlestone and the
officers and crew of his ship, Captain Harry Gould
and the boatswain, and all the members of the
Zermatt and Wolston families, now to be united
to one another in still closer bonds.
On that day the chaplain of the Unicorn celebrated
in the chapel of Rock Castle the marriage of
Ernest Zermatt and Hannah Wolston. It was
the first wedding on the island of New Switzerland,
but the future would no doubt see it followed by
many others.
And, in point of fact, two years later, Frank
became the husband of Dolly Wolston. On this
occasion it was not in the humble chapel that the
pastor of the colony gave his blessing to the happy
pair. The ceremony was held in a church erected
midway between Rock Castle, and Falconhurst,
in the avenue. The steeple, rising above the trees,
was visible three miles out to sea.
No need to dilate further upon the progress of New
Switzerland! The fortunate isle saw the number
of its inhabitants increasing every year, Deliverance
Bay, well protected from the winds and waves
offered excellent anchorage for ships, and among
these the pinnace Elizabeth cut no bad figure.
Regular communication with England was
established. This inaugurated a most profitable
export trade. By that time there were four more
villages, Wood Grange, Sugar-cane Grove, Eberfurt,
and Prospect Hill. A harbour was made at the
mouth of the Montrose River, and another at
Unicorn Bay, the latter connected with Deliverance
Bay by a good carriage road.
Three years after New Switzerland had been
taken possession of by England her population
exceeded two thousand. The British government
had left the colony her autonomy, and M. Zermatt
was elected to the position of Governor of New
Switzerland. Heaven grant that his successors may
be as good as that excellent and worthy man!
A detachment of troops from India garrisoned
the island after fortifications had been constructed
at Cape East and Cape Deliverance, (formerly
known as False Hope Point), so as to command the
arm of the sea which gave access to Deliverance
Bay.
Of course, this had nothing to do with any fear
of savages, neither those of the Andamans and
Nicobars, nor those of the Australian coast. But
New Switzerland's position in these waters, besides
offering excellent anchorage for ships, was of real
importance from a strategic point of view at the
entrance to the Sunda Seas and the Indian Ocean.
It was only proper, therefore, that it should be
provided with means of defence.
Such is the complete history of this island from
the day when a storm cast a father, mother and
four children upon it. For twelve years that brave
and intelligent family worked without ceasing,
and set in operation all the energy of a virgin soil,
which was rendered fruitful by the magic climate
of the tropic regions. And so their prosperity had
never ceased to grow nor their welfare to be
increased, until the day when the arrival of the
Unicorn enabled them to establish relations with
the rest of the world.
As has been related, a second family voluntarily
threw in its fortune with theirs, and materially and
morally existence was never happier than in the
fertile domain of the Promised Land.
Then began a period of severe trial. Ill fortune
fell upon these good people. They knew the fear
of never seeing again those for whom they were
waiting, and the peril of being attacked by a horde
of savages!
But even in the darkest hours of that unhappy
time they never lost faith in Providence.
Then at last bright days returned, and never
again are dark ones to be feared for this second
fatherland of the two families.
And now New Switzerland is flourishing and will
soon be too small to receive all those who are
attracted to her. Her commerce is finding outlets
in Europe as well as in Asia, thanks to the proximity
of Australia, India, and the Netherlands
possessions. Most fortunately the nuggets found
in the gorge by tie Montrose River proved to be
very rare, and the colony was not invaded by gold-
seekers, who usually leave nothing but disorder
and misery in their train!
The marriages which united the Zermatt and
Wolston families have been blessed by heaven.
The grandparents will soon feel that they live
again in their grandchildren. Only Jack is content
with the nephews and nieces who clamber on his
knees. He said he was a born uncle, and in that
relation was certainly a great success.
Though the island now forms part of the colonial
dominions of Great Britain, it has been allowed
to retain its name of New Switzerland in honour of
the Zermatt family.
END OF "THE CASTAWAYS OF THE FLAG"