Part 3 - The Secret of the Island: Chapter 3

by Jules Verne

　　The night passed without incident. The colonists were on the qui vive, anddid not leave their post at the Chimneys. The pirates, on their side, didnot appear to have made any attempt to land. Since the last shots fired atAyrton not a report, not even a sound, had betrayed the presence of thebrig in the neighborhood of the island. It might have been fancied that shehad weighed anchor, thinking that she had to deal with her match, and hadleft the coast.

　　But it was no such thing, and when day began to dawn the settlers couldsee a confused mass through the morning mist. It was the "Speedy."

　　"These, my friends," said the engineer, "are the arrangements whichappear to me best to make before the fog completely clears away. It hidesus from the eyes of the pirates, and we can act without attracting theirattention. The most important thing is, that the convicts should believethat the inhabitants of the island are numerous, and consequently capableof resisting them. I therefore propose that we divide into three parties.The first of which shall be posted at the Chimneys, the second at the mouthof the Mercy. As to the third, I think it would be best to place it on theislet, so as to prevent, or at all events delay, any attempt at landing. Wehave the use of two rifles and four muskets. Each of us will be armed, and,as we are amply provided with powder and shot, we need not spare our fire.We have nothing to fear from the muskets nor even from the guns of thebrig. What can they do against these rocks? And, as we shall not fire fromthe windows of Granite House, the pirates will not think of causingirreparable damage by throwing shell against it. What is to be feared is,the necessity of meeting hand-to-hand, since the convicts have numbers ontheir side. We must therefore try to prevent them from landing, but withoutdiscovering ourselves. Therefore, do not economize the ammunition. Fireoften, but with a sure aim. We have each eight or ten enemies to kill, andthey must be killed!"

　　Cyrus Harding had clearly represented their situation, although he spokein the calmest voice, as if it was a question of directing a piece of workand not ordering a battle. His companions approved these arrangementswithout even uttering a word. There was nothing more to be done but foreach to take his place before the fog should be completely dissipated. Neband Pencroft immediately ascended to Granite House and brought back asufficient quantity of ammunition. Gideon Spilett and Ayrton, both verygood marksmen, were armed with the two rifles, which carried nearly a mile.The four other muskets were divided among Harding, Neb, Pencroft, andHerbert.

　　The posts were arranged in the following manner:--

　　Cyrus Harding and Herbert remained in ambush at the Chimneys, thuscommanding the shore to the foot of Granite House.

　　Gideon Spilett and Neb crouched among the rocks at the mouth of theMercy, from which the drawbridges had been raised, so as to prevent any onefrom crossing in a boat or landing on the opposite shore.

　　As to Ayrton and Pencroft, they shoved off in the boat, and prepared tocross the channel and to take up two separate stations on the islet. Inthis way, shots being fired from four different points at once, theconvicts would be led to believe that the island was both largely peopledand strongly defended.

　　In the event of a landing being effected without their having been ableto prevent it, and also if they saw that they were on the point of beingcut off by the brig's boat, Ayrton and Pencroft were to return in theirboat to the shore and proceed towards the threatened spot.

　　Before starting to occupy their posts, the colonists for the last timewrung each other's hands.

　　Pencroft succeeded in controlling himself sufficiently to suppress hisemotion when he embraced Herbert, his boy! and then they separated.

　　In a few moments Harding and Herbert on one side, the reporter and Neb onthe other, had disappeared behind the rocks, and five minutes later Ayrtonand Pencroft, having without difficulty crossed the channel, disembarked onthe islet and concealed themselves in the clefts of its eastern shore.

　　None of them could have been seen, for they themselves could scarcelydistinguish the brig in the fog.

　　It was half-past six in the morning.

　　Soon the fog began to clear away, and the topmasts of the brig issuedfrom the vapor. For some minutes great masses rolled over the surface ofthe sea, then a breeze sprang up, which rapidly dispelled the mist.

　　The "Speedy" now appeared in full view, with a spring on her cable, herhead to the north, presenting her larboard side to the island. Just asHarding had calculated, she was not more than a mile and a quarter from thecoast.

　　The sinister black flag floated from the peak.

　　The engineer, with his telescope, could see that the four guns on boardwere pointed at the island. They were evidently ready to fire at a moment'snotice.

　　In the meanwhile the "Speedy" remained silent. About thirty pirates couldbe seen moving on the deck. A few more on the poop; two others posted inthe shrouds, and armed with spyglasses, were attentively surveying theisland.

　　Certainly, Bob Harvey and his crew would not be able easily to give anaccount of what had happened during the night on board the brig. Had thishalf-naked man, who had forced the door of the powder-magazine, and withwhom they had struggled, who had six times discharged his revolver at them,who had killed one and wounded two others, escaped their shot? Had he beenable to swim to shore? Whence did he come? What had been his object? Hadhis design really been to blow up the brig, as Bob Harvey had thought? Allthis must be confused enough to the convicts' minds. But what they could nolonger doubt was that the unknown island before which the "Speedy" had castanchor was inhabited, and that there was, perhaps, a numerous colony readyto defend it. And yet no one was to be seen, neither on the shore, nor onthe heights. The beach appeared to be absolutely deserted. At any rate,there was no trace of dwellings. Had the inhabitants fled into theinterior? Thus probably the pirate captain reasoned, and doubtless, like aprudent man, he wished to reconnoiter the locality before he allowed hismen to venture there.

　　During an hour and a half, no indication of attack or landing could beobserved on board the brig. Evidently Bob Harvey was hesitating. Even withhis strongest telescopes he could not have perceived one of the settlerscrouched among the rocks. It was not even probable that his attention hadbeen awakened by the screen of green branches and creepers hiding thewindows of Granite House, and showing rather conspicuously on the barerock. Indeed, how could he imagine that a dwelling was hollowed out, atthat height, in the solid granite? From Claw Cape to the Mandible Capes, inall the extent of Union Bay, there was nothing to lead him to suppose thatthe island was or could be inhabited.

　　At eight o'clock, however, the colonists observed a movement on board the"Speedy." A boat was lowered, and seven men jumped into her. They werearmed with muskets; one took the yoke-lines, four others the oars, and thetwo others, kneeling in the bows, ready to fire, reconnoitered the island.Their object was no doubt to make an examination but not to land, for inthe latter case they would have come in larger numbers. The pirates fromtheir look-out could have seen that the coast was sheltered by an islet,separated from it by a channel half a mile in width. However, it was soonevident to Cyrus Harding, on observing the direction followed by the boat,that they would not attempt to penetrate into the channel, but would landon the islet.

　　Pencroft and Ayrton, each hidden in a narrow cleft of the rock, saw themcoming directly towards them, and waited till they were within range.

　　The boat advanced with extreme caution. The oars only dipped into thewater at long intervals. It could now be seen that one of the convicts helda lead-line in his hand, and that he wished to fathom the depth of thechannel hollowed out by the current of the Mercy. This showed that it wasBob Harvey's intention to bring his brig as near as possible to the coast.About thirty pirates, scattered in the rigging, followed every movement ofthe boat, and took the bearings of certain landmarks which would allow themto approach without danger. The boat was not more than two cables-lengthsoff the islet when she stopped. The man at the tiller stood up and lookedfor the best place at which to land.

　　At that moment two shots were heard. Smoke curled up from among the rocksof the islet. The man at the helm and the man with the lead-line fellbackwards into the boat. Ayrton's and Pencroft's balls had struck them bothat the same moment.

　　Almost immediately a louder report was heard, a cloud of smoke issuedfrom the brig's side, and a ball, striking the summit of the rock whichsheltered Ayrton and Pencroft, made it fly in splinters, but the twomarksmen remained unhurt.

　　Horrible imprecations burst from the boat, which immediately continuedits way. The man who had been at the tiller was replaced by one of hiscomrades, and the oars were rapidly plunged into the water. However,instead of returning on board as might have been expected, the boat coastedalong the islet, so as to round its southern point. The pirates pulledvigorously at their oars that they might get out of range of the bullets.

　　They advanced to within five cables-lengths of that part of the shoreterminated by Flotsam Point, and after having rounded it in a semicircularline, still protected by the brig's guns, they proceeded towards the mouthof the Mercy.

　　Their evident intention was to penetrate into the channel, and cut offthe colonists posted on the islet, in such a way, that whatever theirnumber might be, being placed between the fire from the boat and the firefrom the brig, they would find themselves in a very disadvantageousposition.

　　A quarter of an hour passed while the boat advanced in this direction.Absolute silence, perfect calm reigned in the air and on the water.

　　Pencroft and Ayrton, although they knew they ran the risk of being cutoff, had not left their post, both that they did not wish to showthemselves as yet to their assailants, and expose themselves to the"Speedy's" guns, and that they relied on Neb and Gideon Spilett, watchingat the mouth of the river, and on Cyrus Harding and Herbert, in ambushamong the rocks at the Chimneys.

　　Twenty minutes after the first shots were fired, the boat was less thantwo cables-lengths off the Mercy. As the tide was beginning to rise withits accustomed violence, caused by the narrowness of the straits, thepirates were drawn towards the river, and it was only by dint of hardrowing that they were able to keep in the middle of the channel. But, asthey were passing within good range of the mouth of the Mercy, two ballssaluted them, and two more of their number were laid in the bottom of theboat. Neb and Spilett had not missed their aim.

　　The brig immediately sent a second ball on the post betrayed by thesmoke, but without any other result than that of splintering the rock.

　　The boat now contained only three able men. Carried on by the current, itshot through the channel with the rapidity of an arrow, passed beforeHarding and Herbert, who, not thinking it within range, withheld theirfire, then, rounding the northern point of the islet with the two remainingoars, they pulled towards the brig.

　　Hitherto the settlers had nothing to complain of. Their adversaries hadcertainly had the worst of it. The latter already counted four menseriously wounded if not dead; they, on the contrary, unwounded, had notmissed a shot. If the pirates continued to attack them in this way, if theyrenewed their attempt to land by means of a boat, they could be destroyedone by one.

　　It was now seen how advantageous the engineer's arrangements had been.The pirates would think that they had to deal with numerous and well-armedadversaries, whom they could not easily get the better of.

　　Half an hour passed before the boat, having to pull against the current,could get alongside the "Speedy." Frightful cries were heard when theyreturned on board with the wounded, and two or three guns were fired withno results.

　　But now about a dozen other convicts, maddened with rage, and possibly bythe effect of the evening's potations, threw themselves into the boat. Asecond boat was also lowered, in which eight men took their places, andwhile the first pulled straight for the islet, to dislodge the colonistsfrom thence the second maneuvered so as to force the entrance of the Mercy.

　　The situation was evidently becoming very dangerous for Pencroft andAyrton, and they saw that they must regain the mainland.

　　However, they waited till the first boat was within range, when two well-directed balls threw its crew into disorder. Then, Pencroft and Ayrton,abandoning their posts, under fire from the dozen muskets, ran across theislet at full speed, jumped into their boat, crossed the channel at themoment the second boat reached the southern end, and ran to hide themselvesin the Chimneys.

　　They had scarcely rejoined Cyrus Harding and Herbert, before the isletwas overrun with pirates in every direction. Almost at the same moment,fresh reports resounded from the Mercy station, to which the second boatwas rapidly approaching. Two, out of the eight men who manned her, weremortally wounded by Gideon Spilett and Neb, and the boat herself, carriedirresistibly onto the reefs, was stove in at the mouth of the Mercy. Butthe six survivors, holding their muskets above their heads to preserve themfrom contact with the water, managed to land on the right bank of theriver. Then, finding they were exposed to the fire of the ambush there,they fled in the direction of Flotsam Point, out of range of the balls.

　　The actual situation was this: on the islet were a dozen convicts, ofwhom some were no doubt wounded, but who had still a boat at theirdisposal; on the island were six, but who could not by any possibilityreach Granite House, as they could not cross the river, all the bridgesbeing raised.

　　"Hallo," exclaimed Pencroft as he rushed into the Chimneys, "hallo,captain! What do you think of it, now?"

　　"I think," answered the engineer, "that the combat will now take a newform, for it cannot be supposed that the convicts will be so foolish as toremain in a position so unfavorable for them!"

　　"They won't cross the channel," said the sailor. "Ayrton and Mr.Spilett's rifles are there to prevent them. You know that they carry morethan a mile!"

　　"No doubt," replied Herbert; "but what can two rifles do against thebrig's guns?"

　　"Well, the brig isn't in the channel yet, I fancy!" said Pencroft.

　　"But suppose she does come there?" said Harding.

　　"That's impossible, for she would risk running aground and being lost!"

　　"It is possible," said Ayrton. "The convicts might profit by the hightide to enter the channel, with the risk of grounding at low tide, it istrue; but then, under the fire from her guns, our posts would be no longertenable."

　　"Confound them!" exclaimed Pencroft, "it really seems as if theblackguards were preparing to weigh anchor."

　　"Perhaps we shall be obliged to take refuge in Granite House!" observedHerbert.

　　"We must wait!" answered Cyrus Harding.

　　"But Mr. Spilett and Neb?" said Pencroft.

　　"They will know when it is best to rejoin us. Be ready, Ayrton. It isyours and Spilett's rifles which must speak now."

　　It was only too true. The "Speedy" was beginning to weigh her anchor, andher intention was evidently to approach the islet. The tide would be risingfor an hour and a half, and the ebb current being already weakened, itwould be easy for the brig to advance. But as to entering the channel,Pencroft, contrary to Ayrton's opinion, could not believe that she woulddare to attempt it.

　　In the meanwhile, the pirates who occupied the islet had graduallyadvanced to the opposite shore, and were now only separated from themainland by the channel.

　　Being armed with muskets alone, they could do no harm to the settlers, inambush at the Chimneys and the mouth of the Mercy; but, not knowing thelatter to be supplied with long-range rifles, they on their side did notbelieve themselves to be exposed. Quite uncovered, therefore, they surveyedthe islet, and examined the shore.

　　Their illusion was of short duration. Ayrton's and Gideon Spilett'srifles then spoke, and no doubt imparted some very disagreeableintelligence to two of the convicts, for they fell backwards.

　　Then there was a general helter-skelter. The ten others, not evenstopping to pick up their dead or wounded companions, fled to the otherside of the islet, tumbled into the boat which had brought them, and pulledaway with all their strength.

　　"Eight less!" exclaimed Pencroft. "Really, one would have thought thatMr. Spilett and Ayrton had given the word to fire together!"

　　"Gentlemen," said Ayrton, as he reloaded his gun, "this is becoming moreserious. The brig is making sail!"

　　"The anchor is weighed!" exclaimed Pencroft.

　　"Yes, and she is already moving."

　　In fact, they could distinctly hear the creaking of the windlass. The"Speedy" was at first held by her anchor; then, when that had been raised,she began to drift towards the shore. The wind was blowing from the sea;the jib and the foretopsail were hoisted, and the vessel graduallyapproached the island.

　　From the two posts of the Mercy and the Chimneys they watched her withoutgiving a sign of life, but not without some emotion. What could be moreterrible for the colonists than to be exposed, at a short distance, to thebrig's guns, without being able to reply with any effect? How could theythen prevent the pirates from landing?

　　Cyrus Harding felt this strongly, and he asked himself what it would bepossible to do. Before long, he would be called upon for his determination.But what was it to be? To shut themselves up in Granite House, to bebesieged there, to remain there for weeks, for months even, since they hadan abundance of provisions? So far good! But after that? The pirates wouldnot the less be masters of the island, which they would ravage at theirpleasure, and in time, they would end by having their revenge on theprisoners in Granite House.

　　However, one chance yet remained; it was that Bob Harvey, after all,would not venture his ship into the channel, and that he would keep outsidethe islet. He would be still separated from the coast by half a mile, andat that distance his shot could not be very destructive.

　　"Never!" repeated Pencroft, "Bob Harvey will never, if he is a goodseaman, enter that channel! He knows well that it would risk the brig, ifthe sea got up ever so little! And what would become of him without hisvessel?"

　　In the meanwhile the brig approached the islet, and it could be seen thatshe was endeavoring to make the lower end. The breeze was light, and as thecurrent had then lost much of its force, Bob Harvey had absolute commandover his vessel.

　　The route previously followed by the boats had allowed her to reconnoiterthe channel, and she boldly entered it.

　　The pirate's design was now only too evident; he wished to bring herbroadside to bear on the Chimneys and from there to reply with shell andball to the shot which had till then decimated her crew.

　　Soon the "Speedy" reached the point of the islet; she rounded it withease; the mainsail was braced up, and the brig hugging the wind, stoodacross the mouth of the Mercy.

　　"The scoundrels! they are coming!" said Pencroft.

　　At that moment, Cyrus Harding, Ayrton, the sailor, and Herbert, wererejoined by Neb and Gideon Spilett.

　　The reporter and his companion had judged it best to abandon the post atthe Mercy, from which they could do nothing against the ship, and they hadacted wisely. It was better that the colonists should be together at themoment when they were about to engage in a decisive action. Gideon Spilettand Neb had arrived by dodging behind the rocks, though not withoutattracting a shower of bullets, which had not, however, reached them.

　　"Spilett! Neb!" cried the engineer. "You are not wounded?"

　　"No," answered the reporter, "a few bruises only from the ricochet! Butthat cursed brig has entered the channel!"

　　"Yes," replied Pencroft, "and in ten minutes she will have anchoredbefore Granite House!"

　　"Have you formed any plan, Cyrus?" asked the reporter.

　　"We must take refuge in Granite House while there is still time, and theconvicts cannot see us."

　　"That is, my opinion, too," replied Gideon Spilett, "but once shut up--"

　　"We must be guided by circumstances," said the engineer.

　　"Let us be off, then, and make haste!" said the reporter.

　　"Would you not wish, captain, that Ayrton and I should remain here?"asked the sailor.

　　"What would be the use of that, Pencroft?" replied Harding. "No. We willnot separate!"

　　There was not a moment to be lost. The colonists left the Chimneys. Abend of the cliff prevented them from being seen by those in the brig, buttwo or three reports, and the crash of bullets on the rock, told them thatthe "Speedy" was at no great distance.

　　To spring into the lift, hoist themselves up to the door of GraniteHouse, where Top and Jup had been shut up since the evening before, to rushinto the large room, was the work of a minute only.

　　It was quite time, for the settlers, through the branches, could see the"Speedy," surrounded with smoke, gliding up the channel. The firing wasincessant, and shot from the four guns struck blindly, both on the Mercypost, although it was not occupied, and on the Chimneys. The rocks weresplintered, and cheers accompanied each discharge. However, they werehoping that Granite House would be spared, thanks to Harding's precautionof concealing the windows when a shot, piercing the door, penetrated intothe passage.

　　"We are discovered!" exclaimed Pencroft.

　　The colonists had not, perhaps, been seen, but it was certain that BobHarvey had thought proper to send a ball through the suspected foliagewhich concealed that part of the cliff. Soon he redoubled his attack, whenanother ball having torn away the leafy screen, disclosed a gaping aperturein the granite.

　　The colonists' situation was desperate. Their retreat was discovered.They could not oppose any obstacle to these missiles, nor protect thestone, which flew in splinters around them. There was nothing to be donebut to take refuge in the upper passage of Granite House, and leave theirdwelling to be devastated, when a deep roar was heard, followed byfrightful cries!

　　Cyrus Harding and his companions rushed to one of the windows--

　　The brig, irresistibly raised on a sort of water-spout, had just split intwo, and in less than ten seconds she was swallowed up with all hercriminal crew!