Part 2 - Abandoned: Chapter 18

by Jules Verne

　　"Poor man!" said Herbert, who had rushed to the door, but returned, havingseen Ayrton slide down the rope on the lift and disappear in the darkness.

　　"He will come back," said Cyrus Harding.

　　"Come, now, captain," exclaimed Pencroft, "what does that mean? What!wasn't it Ayrton who threw that bottle into the sea? Who was it then?"

　　Certainly, if ever a question was necessary to be made, it was that one!

　　"It was he," answered Neb, "only the unhappy man was half-mad."

　　"Yes!" said Herbert, "and he was no longer conscious of what he wasdoing."

　　"It can only be explained in that way, my friends," replied Hardingquickly, "and I understand now how Ayrton was able to point out exactly thesituation of Tabor Island, since the events which had preceded his beingleft on the island had made it known to him."

　　"However," observed Pencroft, "if he was not yet a brute when he wrotethat document, and if he threw it into the sea seven or eight years ago,how is it that the paper has not been injured by damp?"

　　"That proves," answered Cyrus Harding, "that Ayrton was deprived ofintelligence at a more recent time than he thinks."

　　"Of course it must be so," replied Pencroft, "without that the fact wouldbe unaccountable."

　　"Unaccountable indeed," answered the engineer, who did not appeardesirous to prolong the conversation.

　　"But has Ayrton told the truth?" asked the sailor.

　　"Yes," replied the reporter. "The story which he has told is true inevery point. I remember quite well the account in the newspapers of theyacht expedition undertaken by Lord Glenarvan, and its result."

　　"Ayrton has told the truth," added Harding. "Do not doubt it, Pencroft,for it was painful to him. People tell the truth when they accusethemselves like that!"

　　The next day--the 21st of December--the colonists descended to the beach,and having climbed the plateau they found nothing of Ayrton. He had reachedhis house in the corral during the night and the settlers judged it bestnot to agitate him by their presence. Time would doubtless perform whatsympathy had been unable to accomplish.

　　Herbert, Pencroft, and Neb resumed their ordinary occupations. On thisday the same work brought Harding and the reporter to the workshop at theChimneys.

　　"Do you know, my dear Cyrus," said Gideon Spilett, "that the explanationyou gave yesterday on the subject of the bottle has not satisfied me atall! How can it be supposed that the unfortunate man was able to write thatdocument and throw the bottle into the sea without having the slightestrecollection of it?"

　　"Nor was it he who threw it in, my dear Spilett."

　　"You think then--"

　　"I think nothing, I know nothing!" interrupted Cyrus Harding. "I amcontent to rank this incident among those which I have not been able toexplain to this day!"

　　"Indeed, Cyrus," said Spilett, "these things are incredible! Your rescue,the case stranded on the sand, Top's adventure, and lastly this bottle...Shall we never have the answer to these enigmas?"

　　"Yes!" replied the engineer quickly, "yes, even if I have to penetrateinto the bowels of this island!"

　　"Chance will perhaps give us the key to this mystery!"

　　"Chance! Spilett! I do not believe in chance, any more than I believe inmysteries in this world. There is a reason for everything unaccountablewhich has happened here, and that reason I shall discover. But in themeantime we must work and observe."

　　The month of January arrived. The year 1867 commenced. The summeroccupations were assiduously continued. During the days which followed,Herbert and Spilett having gone in the direction of the corral, ascertainedthat Ayrton had taken possession of the habitation which had been preparedfor him. He busied himself with the numerous flock confided to his care,and spared his companions the trouble of coming every two or three days tovisit the corral. Nevertheless, in order not to leave Ayrton in solitudefor too long a time, the settlers often paid him a visit.

　　It was not unimportant either, in consequence of some suspicionsentertained by the engineer and Gideon Spilett, that this part of theisland should be subject to a surveillance of some sort, and that Ayrton,if any incident occurred unexpectedly, should not neglect to inform theinhabitants of Granite House of it.

　　Nevertheless it might happen that something would occur which it would benecessary to bring rapidly to the engineer's knowledge. Independently offacts bearing on the mystery of Lincoln Island, many others might happen,which would call for the prompt interference of the colonists,--such as thesighting of a vessel, a wreck on the western coast, the possible arrival ofpirates, etc.

　　Therefore Cyrus Harding resolved to put the corral in instantaneouscommunication with Granite House.

　　It was on the 10th of January that he made known his project to hiscompanions.

　　"Why! how are you going to manage that, captain?" asked Pencroft. "Do youby chance happen to think of establishing a telegraph?"

　　"Exactly so," answered the engineer.

　　"Electric?" cried Herbert.

　　"Electric," replied Cyrus Harding. "We have all the necessary materialsfor making a battery, and the most difficult thing will be to stretch thewires, but by means of a drawplate I think we shall manage it."

　　"Well, after that," returned the sailor, "I shall never despair of seeingourselves some day rolling along on a railway!"

　　They then set to work, beginning with the most difficult thing, for, ifthey failed in that, it would be useless to manufacture the battery andother accessories.

　　The iron of Lincoln Island, as has been said, was of excellent quality,and consequently very fit for being drawn out. Harding commenced bymanufacturing a drawplate, that is to say, a plate of steel, pierced withconical holes of different sizes, which would successively bring the wireto the wished-for tenacity. This piece of steel, after having beentempered, was fixed in as firm a way as possible in a solid frameworkplanted in the ground, only a few feet from the great fall, the motivepower of which the engineer intended to utilize. In fact as the fulling-mill was there, although not then in use, its beam moved with extreme powerwould serve to stretch out the wire by rolling it round itself. It was adelicate operation, and required much care. The iron, prepared previouslyin long thin rods, the ends of which were sharpened with the file, havingbeen introduced into the largest hole of the drawplate, was drawn out bythe beam which wound it round itself, to a length of twenty-five or thirtyfeet, then unrolled, and the same operation was performed successivelythrough the holes of a less size. Finally, the engineer obtained wires fromforty to fifty feet long, which could be easily fastened together andstretched over the distance of five miles, which separated the corral fromthe bounds of Granite House.

　　It did not take more than a few days to perform this work, and indeed assoon as the machine had been commenced, Cyrus Harding left his companionsto follow the trade of wiredrawers, and occupied himself with manufacturinghis battery.

　　It was necessary to obtain a battery with a constant current. It is knownthat the elements of modern batteries are generally composed of retortcoal, zinc, and copper. Copper was absolutely wanting to the engineer, who,notwithstanding all his researches, had never been able to find any traceof it in Lincoln Island, and was therefore obliged to do without it. Retortcoal, that is to say, the hard graphite which is found in the retorts ofgas manufactories, after the coal has been dehydrogenized, could have beenobtained, but it would have been necessary to establish a specialapparatus, involving great labor. As to zinc, it may be remembered that thecase found at Flotsam Point was lined with this metal, which could not bebetter utilized than for this purpose.

　　Cyrus Harding, after mature consideration, decided to manufacture a verysimple battery, resembling as nearly as possible that invented by Becquerelin 1820, and in which zinc only is employed. The other substances, azoticacid and potash, were all at his disposal.

　　The way in which the battery was composed was as follows, and the resultswere to be attained by the reaction of acid and potash on each other. Anumber of glass bottles were made and filled with azotic acid. The engineercorked them by means of a stopper through which passed a glass tube, boredat its lower extremity, and intended to be plunged into the acid by meansof a clay stopper secured by a rag. Into this tube, through its upperextremity, he poured a solution of potash, previously obtained by burningand reducing to ashes various plants, and in this way the acid and potashcould act on each other through the clay.

　　Cyrus Harding then took two slips of zinc, one of which was plunged intoazotic acid, the other into a solution of potash. A current was immediatelyproduced, which was transmitted from the slip of zinc in the bottle to thatin the tube, and the two slips having been connected by a metallic wire theslip in the tube became the positive pole, and that in the bottle thenegative pole of the apparatus. Each bottle, therefore, produced as manycurrents as united would be sufficient to produce all the phenomena of theelectric telegraph. Such was the ingenious and very simple apparatusconstructed by Cyrus Harding, an apparatus which would allow them toestablish a telegraphic communication between Granite House and the corral.

　　On the 6th of February was commenced the planting along the road to thecorral, of posts furnished with glass insulators, and intended to supportthe wire. A few days after, the wire was extended, ready to produce theelectric current at a rate of twenty thousand miles a second.

　　Two batteries had been manufactured, one for Granite House, the other forthe corral; for if it was necessary the corral should be able tocommunicate with Granite House it might also be useful that Granite Houseshould be able to communicate with the corral.

　　As to the receiver and manipulator, they were very simple. At the twostations the wire was wound round a magnet, that is to say, round a pieceof soft iron surrounded with a wire. The communication was thus establishedbetween the two poles; the current, starting from the positive pole,traversed the wire, passed through the magnet which was temporarilymagnetized, and returned through the earth to the negative pole. If thecurrent was interrupted, the magnet immediately became unmagnetized. It wassufficient to place a plate of soft iron before the magnet, which,attracted during the passage of the current, would fall back when thecurrent was interrupted. This movement of the plate thus obtained, Hardingcould easily fasten to it a needle arranged on a dial, bearing the lettersof the alphabet, and in this way communicate from one station to the other.

　　All was completely arranged by the 12th of February. On this day,Harding, having sent the current through the wire, asked if all was goingon well at the corral, and received in a few moments a satisfactory replyfrom Ayrton. Pencroft was wild with joy, and every morning and evening hesent a telegram to the corral, which always received an answer.

　　This mode of communication presented two very real advantages: firstly,because it enabled them to ascertain that Ayrton was at the corral; andsecondly, that he was thus not left completely isolated. Besides, CyrusHarding never allowed a week to pass without going to see him, and Ayrtoncame from time to time to Granite House, where he always found a cordialwelcome.

　　The fine season passed away in the midst of the usual work. The resourcesof the colony, particularly in vegetables and corn, increased from day today, and the plants brought from Tabor Island had succeeded perfectly.

　　The plateau of Prospect Heights presented an encouraging aspect. Thefourth harvest had been admirable and it may be supposed that no onethought of counting whether the four hundred thousand millions of grainsduly appeared in the crop. However, Pencroft had thought of doing so, butCyrus Harding having told him that even if he managed to count threehundred grains a minute, or nine thousand an hour, it would take him nearlyfive thousand five-hundred years to finish his task, the honest sailorconsidered it best to give up the idea.

　　The weather was splendid, the temperature very warm in the day time, butin the evening the sea-breezes tempered the heat of the atmosphere andprocured cool nights for the inhabitants of Granite House. There were,however, a few storms, which, although they were not of long duration,swept over Lincoln Island with extraordinary fury. The lightning blazed andthe thunder continued to roll for some hours.

　　At this period the little colony was extremely prosperous.

　　The tenants of the poultry-yard swarmed, and they lived on the surplus,but it became necessary to reduce the population to a more moderate number.The pigs had already produced young, and it may be understood that theircare for these animals absorbed a great part of Neb and Pencroft's time.The onagers, who had two pretty colts, were most often mounted by GideonSpilett and Herbert, who had become an excellent rider under the reporter'sinstruction, and they also harnessed them to the cart either for carryingwood and coal to Granite House, or different mineral productions requiredby the engineer.

　　Several expeditions were made about this time into the depths of the FarWest Forests. The explorers could venture there without having anything tofear from the heat, for the sun's rays scarcely penetrated through thethick foliage spreading above their heads. They thus visited all the leftbank of the Mercy, along which ran the road from the corral to the mouth ofFalls River.

　　But in these excursions the settlers took care to be well armed, for theymet with savage wild boars, with which they often had a tussle. They also,during this season, made fierce war against the jaguars. Gideon Spilett hadvowed a special hatred against them, and his pupil Herbert seconded himwell. Armed as they were, they no longer feared to meet one of thosebeasts. Herbert's courage was superb, and the reporter's sang-froidastonishing. Already twenty magnificent skins ornamented the dining-room ofGranite House, and if this continued, the jaguar race would soon be extinctin the island, the object aimed at by the hunters.

　　The engineer sometimes took part in the expeditions made to the unknownparts of the island, which he surveyed with great attention. It was forother traces than those of animals that he searched the thickets of thevast forest, but nothing suspicious ever appeared. Neither Top nor Jup, whoaccompanied him, ever betrayed by their behavior that there was anythingstrange there, and yet more than once again the dog barked at the mouth ofthe well, which the engineer had before explored without result.

　　At this time Gideon Spilett, aided by Herbert, took several views of themost picturesque parts of the island, by means of the photographicapparatus found in the cases, and of which they had not as yet made anyuse.

　　This apparatus, provided with a powerful object-glass, was very complete.Substances necessary for the photographic reproduction, collodion forpreparing the glass plate, nitrate of silver to render it sensitive,hyposulfate of soda to fix the prints obtained, chloride of ammonium inwhich to soak the paper destined to give the positive proof, acetate ofsoda and chloride of gold in which to immerse the paper, nothing waswanting. Even the papers were there, all prepared, and before laying in theprinting-frame upon the negatives, it was sufficient to soak them for a fewminutes in the solution of nitrate of silver.

　　The reporter and his assistant became in a short time very skilfuloperators, and they obtained fine views of the country, such as the island,taken from Prospect Heights with Mount Franklin in the distance, the mouthof the Mercy, so picturesquely framed in high rocks, the glade and thecorral, with the spurs of the mountain in the background, the curiousdevelopment of Claw Cape, Flotsam Point, etc.

　　Nor did the photographers forget to take the portraits of all theinhabitants of the island, leaving out no one.

　　"It multiplies us," said Pencroft.

　　And the sailor was enchanted to see his own countenance, faithfullyreproduced, ornamenting the walls of Granite House, and he stopped aswillingly before this exhibition as he would have done before the richestshop-windows in Broadway.

　　But it must be acknowledged that the most successful portrait wasincontestably that of Master Jup. Master Jup had sat with a gravity not tobe described, and his portrait was lifelike!

　　"He looks as if he was just going to grin!" exclaimed Pencroft.

　　And if Master Jup had not been satisfied, he would have been verydifficult to please; but he was quite contented and contemplated his owncountenance with a sentimental air which expressed some small amount ofconceit.

　　The summer heat ended with the month of March. The weather was sometimesrainy, but still warm. The month of March, which corresponds to theSeptember of northern latitudes, was not so fine as might have been hoped.Perhaps it announced an early and rigorous winter.

　　It might have been supposed one morning--the 21 st--that the first snowhad already made its appearance. In fact Herbert looking early from one ofthe windows of Granite House, exclaimed,--

　　"Hallo! the islet is covered with snow!"

　　"Snow at this time?" answered the reporter, joining the boy.

　　Their companions were soon beside them, but could only ascertain onething, that not only the islet but all the beach below Granite House wascovered with one uniform sheet of white.

　　"It must be snow!" said Pencroft.

　　"Or rather it's very like it!" replied Neb.

　　"But the thermometer marks fifty-eight degrees!" observed Gideon Spilett.

　　Cyrus Harding gazed at the sheet of white without saying anything, for hereally did not know how to explain this phenomenon, at this time of yearand in such a temperature.

　　"By Jove!" exclaimed Pencroft, "all our plants will be frozen!"

　　And the sailor was about to descend, when he was preceded by the nimbleJup, who slid down to the sand.

　　But the orang had not touched the ground, when the snowy sheet arose anddispersed in the air in such innumerable flakes that the light of the sunwas obscured for some minutes.

　　"Birds!" cried Herbert.

　　They were indeed swarms of sea-birds, with dazzling white plumage. Theyhad perched by thousands on the islet and on the shore, and theydisappeared in the distance, leaving the colonists amazed as if they hadbeen present at some transformation scene, in which summer succeeded winterat the touch of a fairy's wand. Unfortunately the change had been sosudden, that neither the reporter nor the lad had been able to bring downone of these birds, of which they could not recognize the species.

　　A few days after came the 26th of March, the day on which, two yearsbefore, the castaways from the air had been thrown upon Lincoln Island.