Part 3 - The Secret of the Island: Chapter 8

by Jules Verne

　　So the convicts were still there, watching the corral, and determined tokill the settlers one after the other. There was nothing to be done but totreat them as wild beasts. But great precautions must be taken, for justnow the wretches had the advantage on their side, seeing, and not beingseen, being able to surprise by the suddenness of their attack, yet not tobe surprised themselves. Harding made arrangements, therefore, for livingin the corral, of which the provisions would last for a tolerable length oftime. Ayrton's house had been provided with all that was necessary forexistence, and the convicts, scared by the arrival of the settlers, had nothad time to pillage it. It was probable, as Gideon Spilett observed, thatthings had occurred as follows:

　　The six convicts, disembarking on the island, had followed the southernshore, and after having traversed the double shore of the SerpentinePeninsula, not being inclined to venture into the Far West woods, they hadreached the mouth of Falls River. From this point, by following the rightbank of the watercourse, they would arrive at the spurs of Mount Franklin,among which they would naturally seek a retreat, and they could not havebeen long in discovering the corral, then uninhabited. There they hadregularly installed themselves, awaiting the moment to put their abominableschemes into execution. Ayrton's arrival had surprised them, but they hadmanaged to overpower the unfortunate man, and--the rest may be easilyimagined!

　　Now, the convicts,--reduced to five, it is true, but well armed,--wereroaming the woods, and to venture there was to expose themselves to theirattacks, which could be neither guarded against nor prevented.

　　"Wait! There is nothing else to be done!" repeated Cyrus Harding. "WhenHerbert is cured, we can organize a general battle of the island, and havesatisfaction of these convicts. That will be the object of our grandexpedition at the same time--"

　　"As the search for our mysterious protector," added Gideon Spilett,finishing the engineer's sentence. "An, it must be acknowledged, my dearCyrus, that this time his protection was wanting at the very moment when itwas most necessary to us!"

　　"Who knows?" replied the engineer.

　　"What do you mean?" asked the reporter.

　　"That we are not at the end of our trouble yet, my dear Spilett, and thathis powerful intervention may have another opportunity of exercisingitself. But that is not the question now. Herbert's life beforeeverything."

　　This was the colonists' saddest thought. Several days passed, and thepoor boy's state was happily no worse. Cold water, always kept at asuitable temperature, had completely prevented the inflammation of thewounds. It even seemed to the reporter that this water, being slightlysulphurous,--which was explained by the neighborhood of the volcano, had amore direct action on the healing. The suppuration was much less abundant,and thanks to the incessant care by which he was surrounded!--Herbertreturned to life, and his fever abated. He was besides subjected to asevere diet, and consequently his wealmess was and would be extreme; butthere was no want of refreshing drinks, and absolute rest was of thegreatest benefit to him. Cyrus Harding, Gideon Spilett, and Pencroft hadbecome very skilful in dressing the lad's wounds. All the linen in thehouse had been sacrificed. Herbert's wounds, covered with compresses andlint, were pressed neither too much nor too little, so as to cause theircicatrization without effecting any inflammatory reaction. The reporterused extreme care in the dressing, knowing well the importance of it, andrepeating to his companions that which most surgeons willingly admit, thatit is perhaps rarer to see a dressing well done than an operation wellperformed.

　　In ten days, on the 22nd of November, Herbert was considerably better. Hehad begun to take some nourishment.

　　The color was returning to his cheeks, and his bright eyes smiled at hisnurses. He talked a little, notwithstanding Pencroft's efforts, who talkedincessantly to prevent him from beginning to speak, and told him the mostimprobable stories. Herbert had questioned him on the subject of Ayrton,whom he was astonished not to see near him, thinking that he was at thecorral. But the sailor, not wishing to distress Herbert, contented himselfby replying that Ayrton had rejoined Neb, so as to defend Granite House.

　　"Humph!" said Pencroft, "these pirates! they are gentlemen who have noright to any consideration! And the captain wanted to win them by kindness!I'll send them some kindness, but in the shape of a good bullet!"

　　"And have they not been seen again?" asked Herbert.

　　"No, my boy," answered the sailor, "but we shall find them, and when youare cured we shall see if the cowards who strike us from behind will dareto meet us face to face!"

　　"I am still very weak, my poor Pencroft!"

　　"Well! your strength will return gradually! What's a ball through thechest? Nothing but a joke! I've seen many, and I don't think much of them!"

　　At last things appeared to be going on well, and if no complicationoccurred, Herbert's recovery might be regarded as certain. But what wouldhave been the condition of the colonists if his state had been aggravated,--if, for example, the ball had remained in his body, if his arm or his leghad had to be amputated?

　　"No," said Spilett more than once, "I have never thought of such acontingency without shuddering!"

　　"And yet, if it had been necessary to operate," said Harding one day tohim, "you would not have hesitated?"

　　"No, Cyrus!" said Gideon Spilett, "but thank God that we have been sparedthis complication!"

　　As in so many other conjectures, the colonists had appealed to the logicof that simple good sense of which they had made use so often, and oncemore, thanks to their general knowledge, it had succeeded! But might not atime come when all their science would be at fault? They were alone on theisland. Now, men in all states of society are necessary to each other.Cyrus Harding knew this well, and sometimes he asked if some circumstancemight not occur which they would be powerless to surmount. It appeared tohim besides, that he and his companions, till then so fortunate, hadentered into an unlucky period. During the two years and a half which hadelapsed since their escape from Richmond, it might be said that they hadhad everything their own way. The island had abundantly supplied them withminerals, vegetables, animals, and as Nature had constantly loaded them,their science had known how to take advantage of what she offered them.

　　The wellbeing of the colony was therefore complete. Moreover, in certainoccurrences an inexplicable influence had come to their aid!... But allthat could only be for a time.

　　In short, Cyrus Harding believed that fortune had turned against them.

　　In fact, the convicts' ship had appeared in the waters of the island, andif the pirates had been, so to speak, miraculously destroyed, six of them,at least, had escaped the catastrophe. They had disembarked on the island,and it was almost impossible to get at the five who survived. Ayrton had nodoubt been murdered by these wretches, who possessed firearms, and at thefirst use that they had made of them, Herbert had fallen, wounded almostmortally. Were these the first blows aimed by adverse fortune at thecolonists? This was often asked by Harding. This was often repeated by thereporter; and it appeared to him also that the intervention, so strange,yet so efficacious, which till then had served them so well, had now failedthem. Had this mysterious being, whatever he was, whose existence could notbe denied, abandoned the island? Had he in his turn succumbed?

　　No reply was possible to these questions. But it must not be imaginedthat because Harding and his companions spoke of these things, they weremen to despair. Far from that. They looked their situation in the face,they analyzed the chances, they prepared themselves for any event, theystood firm and straight before the future, and if adversity was at last tostrike them, it would find in them men prepared to struggle against it.