"GODFREY MORGAN\n\nA CALIFORNIAN MYSTERY\n\nBY\n\nJULES VERNE\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nIN WHICH THE READER HAS THE OPPORTUNITY OF BUYING AN ISLAND IN THE\nPACIFIC OCEAN.\n\n\n\"An island to sell, for cash, to the highest bidder!\" said Dean Felporg,\nthe auctioneer, standing behind his rostrum in the room where the\nconditions of the singular sale were being noisily discussed.\n\n\"Island for sale! island for sale!\" repeated in shrill tones again and\nagain Gingrass, the crier, who was threading his way in and out of the\nexcited crowd closely packed inside the largest saloon in the auction\nmart at No. 10, Sacramento Street.\n\nThe crowd consisted not only of a goodly number of Americans from the\nStates of Utah, Oregon, and California, but also of a few Frenchmen, who\nform quite a sixth of the population.\n\nMexicans were there enveloped in their sarapes; Chinamen in their\nlarge-sleeved tunics, pointed shoes, and conical hats; one or two\nKanucks from the coast; and even a sprinkling of Black Feet,\nGrosventres, or Flatheads, from the banks of the Trinity river.\n\nThe scene is in San Francisco, the capital of California, but not at the\nperiod when the placer-mining fever was raging--from 1849 to 1852. San\nFrancisco was no longer what it had been then, a caravanserai, a\nterminus, an _inn_, where for a night there slept the busy men who were\nhastening to the gold-fields west of the Sierra Nevada. At the end of\nsome twenty years the old unknown Yerba-Buena had given place to a town\nunique of its kind, peopled by 100,000 inhabitants, built under the\nshelter of a couple of hills, away from the shore, but stretching off to\nthe farthest heights in the background--a city in short which has\ndethroned Lima, Santiago, Valparaiso, and every other rival, and which\nthe Americans have made the queen of the Pacific, the \"glory of the\nwestern coast!\"\n\nIt was the 15th of May, and the weather was still cold. In California,\nsubject as it is to the direct action of the polar currents, the first\nweeks of this month are somewhat similar to the last weeks of March in\nCentral Europe. But the cold was hardly noticeable in the thick of the\nauction crowd. The bell with its incessant clangour had brought\ntogether an enormous throng, and quite a summer temperature caused the\ndrops of perspiration to glisten on the foreheads of the spectators\nwhich the cold outside would have soon solidified.\n\nDo not imagine that all these folks had come to the auction-room with\nthe intention of buying. I might say that all of them had but come to\nsee. Who was going to be mad enough, even if he were rich enough, to\npurchase an isle of the Pacific, which the government had in some\neccentric moment decided to sell? Would the reserve price ever be\nreached? Could anybody be found to work up the bidding? If not, it would\nscarcely be the fault of the public crier, who tried his best to tempt\nbuyers by his shoutings and gestures, and the flowery metaphors of his\nharangue. People laughed at him, but they did not seem much influenced\nby him.\n\n\"An island! an isle to sell!\" repeated Gingrass.\n\n\"But not to buy!\" answered an Irishman, whose pocket did not hold enough\nto pay for a single pebble.\n\n\"An island which at the valuation will not fetch six dollars an acre!\"\nsaid the auctioneer.\n\n\"And which won't pay an eighth per cent.!\" replied a big farmer, who was\nwell acquainted with agricultural speculations.\n\n\"An isle which measures quite sixty-four miles round and has an area of\ntwo hundred and twenty-five thousand acres!\"\n\n\"Is it solid on its foundation?\" asked a Mexican, an old customer at the\nliquor-bars, whose personal solidity seemed rather doubtful at the\nmoment.\n\n\"An isle with forests still virgin!\" repeated the crier, \"with prairies,\nhills, watercourses--\"\n\n\"Warranted?\" asked a Frenchman, who seemed rather inclined to nibble.\n\n\"Yes! warranted!\" added Felporg, much too old at his trade to be moved\nby the chaff of the public.\n\n\"For two years?\"\n\n\"To the end of the world!\"\n\n\"Beyond that?\"\n\n\"A freehold island!\" repeated the crier, \"an island without a single\nnoxious animal, no wild beasts, no reptiles!--\"\n\n\"No birds?\" added a wag.\n\n\"No insects?\" inquired another.\n\n\"An island for the highest bidder!\" said Dean Felporg, beginning again.\n\"Come, gentlemen, come! Have a little courage in your pockets! Who wants\nan island in perfect state of repair, never been used, an island in the\nPacific, that ocean of oceans? The valuation is a mere nothing! It is\nput at eleven hundred thousand dollars, is there any one will bid? Who\nspeaks first? You, sir?--you, over there nodding your head like a\nporcelain mandarin? Here is an island! a really good island! Who says an\nisland?\"\n\n\"Pass it round!\" said a voice as if they were dealing with a picture or\na vase.\n\nAnd the room shouted with laughter, but not a half-dollar was bid.\n\nHowever, if the lot could not be passed round, the map of the island was\nat the public disposal. The whereabouts of the portion of the globe\nunder consideration could be accurately ascertained. There was neither\nsurprise nor disappointment to be feared in that respect. Situation,\norientation, outline, altitudes, levels, hydrography, climatology, lines\nof communication, all these were easily to be verified in advance.\nPeople were not buying a pig in a poke, and most undoubtedly there could\nbe no mistake as to the nature of the goods on sale. Moreover, the\ninnumerable journals of the United States, especially those of\nCalifornia, with their dailies, bi-weeklies, weeklies, bi-monthlies,\nmonthlies, their reviews, magazines, bulletins, &c., had been for\nseveral months directing constant attention to the island whose sale by\nauction had been authorized by Act of Congress.\n\nThe island was Spencer Island, which lies in the west-south-west of the\nBay of San Francisco, about 460 miles from the Californian coast, in 32°\n15' north latitude, and 145° 18' west longitude, reckoning from\nGreenwich. It would be impossible to imagine a more isolated position,\nquite out of the way of all maritime or commercial traffic, although\nSpencer Island was relatively, not very far off, and situated\npractically in American waters. But thereabouts the regular currents\ndiverging to the north and south have formed a kind of lake of calms,\nwhich is sometimes known as the \"Whirlpool of Fleurieu.\"\n\nIt is in the centre of this enormous eddy, which has hardly an\nappreciable movement, that Spencer Island is situated. And so it is\nsighted by very few ships. The main routes of the Pacific, which join\nthe new to the old continent, and lead away to China or Japan, run in a\nmore southerly direction. Sailing-vessels would meet with endless calms\nin the Whirlpool of Fleurieu; and steamers, which always take the\nshortest road, would gain no advantage by crossing it. Hence ships of\nneither class know anything of Spencer Island, which rises above the\nwaters like the isolated summit of one of the submarine mountains of the\nPacific. Truly, for a man wishing to flee from the noise of the world,\nseeking quiet in solitude, what could be better than this island, lost\nwithin a few hundred miles of the coast? For a voluntary Robinson\nCrusoe, it would be the very ideal of its kind! Only of course he must\npay for it.\n\nAnd now, why did the United States desire to part with the island? Was\nit for some whim? No! A great nation cannot act on caprice in any\nmatter, however simple. The truth was this: situated as it was, Spencer\nIsland had for a long time been known as a station perfectly useless.\nThere could be no practical result from settling there. In a military\npoint of view it was of no importance, for it only commanded an\nabsolutely deserted portion of the Pacific. In a commercial point of\nview there was a similar want of importance, for the products would not\npay the freight either inwards or outwards. For a criminal colony it was\ntoo far from the coast. And to occupy it in any way, would be a very\nexpensive undertaking. So it had remained deserted from time immemorial,\nand Congress, composed of \"eminently practical\" men, had resolved to put\nit up for sale--on one condition only, and that was, that its purchaser\nshould be a free American citizen. There was no intention of giving away\nthe island for nothing, and so the reserve price had been fixed at\n$1,100,000. This amount for a financial society dealing with such\nmatters was a mere bagatelle, if the transaction could offer any\nadvantages; but as we need hardly repeat, it offered none, and competent\nmen attached no more value to this detached portion of the United\nStates, than to one of the islands lost beneath the glaciers of the\nPole.\n\nIn one sense, however, the amount was considerable. A man must be rich\nto pay for this hobby, for in any case it would not return him a\nhalfpenny per cent. He would even have to be immensely rich for the\ntransaction was to be a \"cash\" one, and even in the United States it is\nas yet rare to find citizens with $1,100,000 in their pockets, who would\ncare to throw them into the water without hope of return.\n\nAnd Congress had decided not to sell the island under the price. Eleven\nhundred thousand dollars, not a cent less, or Spencer Island would\nremain the property of the Union.\n\nIt was hardly likely that any one would be mad enough to buy it on the\nterms.\n\nBesides, it was expressly reserved that the proprietor, if one offered,\nshould not become king of Spencer Island, but president of a republic.\nHe would gain no right to have subjects, but only fellow-citizens, who\ncould elect him for a fixed time, and would be free from re-electing him\nindefinitely. Under any circumstances he was forbidden to play at\nmonarchy. The Union could never tolerate the foundation of a kingdom, no\nmatter how small, in American waters.\n\nThis reservation was enough to keep off many an ambitious millionaire,\nmany an aged nabob, who might like to compete with the kings of the\nSandwich, the Marquesas, and the other archipelagoes of the Pacific.\n\nIn short, for one reason or other, nobody presented himself. Time was\ngetting on, the crier was out of breath in his efforts to secure a\nbuyer, the auctioneer orated without obtaining a single specimen of\nthose nods which his estimable fraternity are so quick to discover; and\nthe reserve price was not even mentioned.\n\nHowever, if the hammer was not wearied with oscillating above the\nrostrum, the crowd was not wearied with waiting around it. The joking\ncontinued to increase, and the chaff never ceased for a moment. One\nindividual offered two dollars for the island, costs included. Another\nsaid that a man ought to be paid that for taking it.\n\nAnd all the time the crier was heard with,--\n\n\"An island to sell! an island for sale!\"\n\nAnd there was no one to buy it.\n\n\"Will you guarantee that there are flats there?\" said Stumpy, the grocer\nof Merchant Street, alluding to the deposits so famous in alluvial\ngold-mining.\n\n\"No,\" answered the auctioneer, \"but it is not impossible that there are,\nand the State abandons all its rights over the gold lands.\"\n\n\"Haven't you got a volcano?\" asked Oakhurst, the bar-keeper of\nMontgomery Street.\n\n\"No volcanoes,\" replied Dean Felporg, \"if there were, we could not sell\nat this price!\"\n\nAn immense shout of laughter followed.\n\n\"An island to sell! an island for sale!\" yelled Gingrass, whose lungs\ntired themselves out to no purpose.\n\n\"Only a dollar! only a half-dollar! only a cent above the reserve!\" said\nthe auctioneer for the last time, \"and I will knock it down! Once!\nTwice!\"\n\nPerfect silence.\n\n\"If nobody bids we must put the lot back! Once! Twice!\n\n\"Twelve hundred thousand dollars!\"\n\nThe four words rang through the room like four shots from a revolver.\n\nThe crowd, suddenly speechless, turned towards the bold man who had\ndared to bid.\n\nIt was William W. Kolderup, of San Francisco.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nHOW WILLIAM W. KOLDERUP, OF SAN FRANCISCO, WAS AT LOGGERHEADS WITH J. R.\nTASKINAR, OF STOCKTON.\n\n\nA man extraordinarily rich, who counted dollars by the million as other\nmen do by the thousand; such was William W. Kolderup.\n\nPeople said he was richer than the Duke of Westminster, whose income is\nsome $4,000,000 a year, and who can spend his $10,000 a day, or seven\ndollars every minute; richer than Senator Jones, of Nevada, who has\n$35,000,000 in the funds; richer than Mr. Mackay himself, whose annual\n$13,750,000 give him $1560 per hour, or half-a-dollar to spend every\nsecond of his life.\n\nI do not mention such minor millionaires as the Rothschilds, the\nVanderbilts, the Dukes of Northumberland, or the Stewarts, nor the\ndirectors of the powerful bank of California, and other opulent\npersonages of the old and new worlds whom William W. Kolderup would have\nbeen able to comfortably pension. He could, without inconvenience, have\ngiven away a million just as you and I might give away a shilling.\n\nIt was in developing the early placer-mining enterprises in California\nthat our worthy speculator had laid the solid foundations of his\nincalculable fortune. He was the principal associate of Captain Sutter,\nthe Swiss, in the localities, where, in 1848, the first traces were\ndiscovered. Since then, luck and shrewdness combined had helped him on,\nand he had interested himself in all the great enterprises of both\nworlds. He threw himself boldly into commercial and industrial\nspeculations. His inexhaustible funds were the life of hundreds of\nfactories, his ships were on every sea. His wealth increased not in\narithmetical but in geometrical progression. People spoke of him as one\nof those few \"milliardaires\" who never know how much they are worth. In\nreality he knew almost to a dollar, but he never boasted of it.\n\nAt this very moment when we introduce him to our readers with all the\nconsideration such a many-sided man merits, William W. Kolderup had 2000\nbranch offices scattered over the globe, 80,000 employés in America,\nEurope, and Australia, 300,000 correspondents, a fleet of 500 ships\nwhich continually ploughed the ocean for his profit, and he was spending\nnot less than a million a year in bill-stamps and postages. In short, he\nwas the honour and glory of opulent Frisco--the nickname familiarly\ngiven by the Americans to the Californian capital.\n\nA bid from William W. Kolderup could not but be a serious one. And when\nthe crowd in the auction room had recognized who it was that by $100,000\nhad capped the reserve price of Spencer Island, there was an\nirresistible sensation, the chaffing ceased instantly, jokes gave place\nto interjections of admiration, and cheers resounded through the saloon.\nThen a deep silence succeeded to the hubbub, eyes grew bigger, and ears\nopened wider. For our part had we been there we would have had to hold\nour breath that we might lose nothing of the exciting scene which would\nfollow should any one dare to bid against William W. Kolderup.\n\nBut was it probable? Was it even possible?\n\nNo! And at the outset it was only necessary to look at William W.\nKolderup to feel convinced that he could never yield on a question where\nhis financial gallantry was at stake.\n\nHe was a big, powerful man, with huge head, large shoulders, well-built\nlimbs, firmly knit, and tough as iron. His quiet but resolute look was\nnot willingly cast downwards, his grey hair, brushed up in front, was as\nabundant as if he were still young. The straight lines of his nose\nformed a geometrically-drawn right-angled triangle. No moustache; his\nbeard cut in Yankee fashion bedecked his chin, and the two upper points\nmet at the opening of the lips and ran up to the temples in\npepper-and-salt whiskers; teeth of snowy whiteness were symmetrically\nplaced on the borders of a clean-cut mouth. The head of one of those\ntrue kings of men who rise in the tempest and face the storm. No\nhurricane could bend that head, so solid was the neck which supported\nit. In these battles of the bidders each of its nods meant an additional\nhundred thousand dollars.\n\nThere was no one to dispute with him.\n\n\"Twelve hundred thousand dollars--twelve hundred thousand!\" said the\nauctioneer, with that peculiar accent which men of his vocation find\nmost effective.\n\n\"Going at twelve hundred thousand dollars!\" repeated Gingrass the crier.\n\n\"You could safely bid more than that,\" said Oakhurst, the bar-keeper;\n\"William Kolderup will never give in.\"\n\n\"He knows no one will chance it,\" answered the grocer from Merchant\nStreet.\n\nRepeated cries of \"Hush!\" told the two worthy tradesmen to be quiet. All\nwished to hear. All hearts palpitated. Dare any one raise his voice in\nanswer to the voice of William W. Kolderup? He, magnificent to look\nupon, never moved. There he remained as calm as if the matter had no\ninterest for him. But--and this those near to him noticed--his eyes were\nlike revolvers loaded with dollars, ready to fire.\n\n\"Nobody speaks?\" asked Dean Felporg.\n\nNobody spoke.\n\n\"Once! Twice!\"\n\n\"Once! Twice!\" repeated Gingrass, quite accustomed to this little\ndialogue with his chief.\n\n\"Going!\"\n\n\"Going!\"\n\n\"For twelve--hundred--thousand--dollars--Spencer--Island--com--plete!\"\n\n\"For twelve--hundred--thousand--dollars!\"\n\n\"That is so? No mistake?\"\n\n\"No withdrawal?\"\n\n\"For twelve hundred thousand dollars, Spencer Island!\"\n\nThe waistcoats rose and fell convulsively. Could it be possible that at\nthe last second a higher bid would come? Felporg with his right hand\nstretched on the table was shaking his ivory hammer--one rap, two raps,\nand the deed would be done.\n\nThe public could not have been more absorbed in the face of a summary\napplication of the law of Justice Lynch!\n\nThe hammer slowly fell, almost touched the table, rose again, hovered\nan instant like a sword which pauses ere the drawer cleaves the victim\nin twain; then it flashed swiftly downwards.\n\nBut before the sharp rap could be given, a voice was heard giving\nutterance to these four words,--\n\n\"Thirteen--hundred--thousand--dollars!\"\n\nThere was a preliminary \"Ah!\" of general stupefaction, then a second\n\"Ah!\" of not less general satisfaction. Another bidder had presented\nhimself! There was going to be a fight after all!\n\nBut who was the reckless individual who had dared to come to dollar\nstrokes with William W. Kolderup of San Francisco?\n\nIt was J. R. Taskinar, of Stockton.\n\nJ. R. Taskinar was rich, but he was more than proportionately fat. He\nweighed 490 lbs. If he had only run second in the last fat-man show at\nChicago, it was because he had not been allowed time to finish his\ndinner, and had lost about a dozen pounds.\n\nThis colossus, who had had to have special chairs made for his portly\nperson to rest upon, lived at Stockton, on the San Joachim. Stockton is\none of the most important cities in California, one of the depôt centres\nfor the mines of the south, the rival of Sacramento the centre for the\nmines of the north. There the ships embark the largest quantity of\nCalifornian corn.\n\nNot only had the development of the mines and speculations in wheat\nfurnished J. R. Taskinar with the occasion of gaining an enormous\nfortune, but petroleum, like another Pactolus, had run through his\ntreasury. Besides, he was a great gambler, a lucky gambler, and he had\nfound \"poker\" most prodigal of its favours to him.\n\nBut if he was a Croesus, he was also a rascal; and no one would have\naddressed him as \"honourable,\" although the title in those parts is so\nmuch in vogue. After all, he was a good war-horse, and perhaps more was\nput on his back than was justly his due. One thing was certain, and that\nwas that on many an occasion he had not hesitated to use his\n\"Derringer\"--the Californian revolver.\n\nNow J. R. Taskinar particularly detested William W. Kolderup. He envied\nhim for his wealth, his position, and his reputation. He despised him as\na fat man despises a lean one. It was not the first time that the\nmerchant of Stockton had endeavoured to do the merchant of San Francisco\nout of some business or other, good or bad, simply owing to a feeling of\nrivalry. William W. Kolderup thoroughly knew his man, and on all\noccasions treated him with scorn enough to drive him to distraction.\n\nThe last success which J. R. Taskinar could not forgive his opponent\nwas that gained in the struggle over the state elections.\nNotwithstanding his efforts, his threats, and his libels, not to mention\nthe millions of dollars squandered by his electoral courtiers, it was\nWilliam W. Kolderup who sat in his seat in the Legislative Council of\nSacramento.\n\nJ. R. Taskinar had learnt--how, I cannot tell--that it was the intention\nof William W. Kolderup to acquire possession of Spencer Island. This\nisland seemed doubtless as useless to him as it did to his rival. No\nmatter. Here was another chance for fighting, and perhaps for\nconquering. J. R. Taskinar would not allow it to escape him.\n\nAnd that is why J. R. Taskinar had come to the auction room among the\ncurious crowd who could not be aware of his designs, why at all points\nhe had prepared his batteries, why before opening fire, he had waited\ntill his opponent had covered the reserve, and why when William W.\nKolderup had made his bid of--\n\n\"Twelve hundred thousand dollars!\"\n\nJ. R. Taskinar at the moment when William W. Kolderup thought he had\ndefinitely secured the island, woke up with the words shouted in\nstentorian tones,--\n\n\"Thirteen hundred thousand dollars!\"\n\nEverybody as we have seen turned to look at him.\n\n\"Fat Taskinar!\"\n\nThe name passed from mouth to mouth. Yes. Fat Taskinar! He was known\nwell enough! His corpulence had been the theme of many an article in the\njournals of the Union.\n\nI am not quite sure which mathematician it was who had demonstrated by\ntranscendental calculations, that so great was his mass that it actually\ninfluenced that of our satellite and in an appreciable manner disturbed\nthe elements of the lunar orbit.\n\nBut it was not J. R. Taskinar's physical composition which interested\nthe spectators in the room. It was something far different which excited\nthem; it was that he had entered into direct public rivalry with William\nW. Kolderup. It was a fight of heroes, dollar versus dollar, which had\nopened, and I do not know which of the two coffers would turn out to be\nbest lined. Enormously rich were both these mortal enemies! After the\nfirst sensation, which was rapidly suppressed, renewed silence fell on\nthe assembly. You could have heard a spider weaving his web.\n\nIt was the voice of Dean Felporg which broke the spell.\n\n\"For thirteen hundred thousand dollars, Spencer Island!\" declaimed he,\ndrawing himself up so as to better command the circle of bidders.\n\nWilliam W. Kolderup had turned towards J. R. Taskinar. The bystanders\nmoved back, so as to allow the adversaries to behold each other. The\nman of Stockton and the man of San Francisco were face to face, mutually\nstaring, at their ease. Truth compels me to state that they made the\nmost of the opportunity. Never would one of them consent to lower his\neyes before those of his rival.\n\n\"Fourteen hundred thousand dollars,\" said William W. Kolderup.\n\n\"Fifteen hundred thousand!\" retorted J. R. Taskinar.\n\n\"Sixteen hundred thousand!\"\n\n\"Seventeen hundred thousand!\"\n\nHave you ever heard the story of the two mechanics of Glasgow, who tried\nwhich should raise the other highest up the factory chimney at the risk\nof a catastrophe? The only difference was that here the chimney was of\ningots of gold.\n\nEach time after the capping bid of J. R. Taskinar, William W. Kolderup\ntook a few moments to reflect before he bid again. On the contrary\nTaskinar burst out like a bomb, and did not seem to require a second to\nthink.\n\n\"Seventeen hundred thousand dollars!\" repeated the auctioneer. \"Now,\ngentlemen, that is a mere nothing! It is giving it away!\"\n\nAnd one can well believe that, carried away by the jargon of his\nprofession, he was about to add,--\n\n\"The frame alone is worth more than that!\" When--\n\n\"Seventeen hundred thousand dollars!\" howled Gingrass, the crier.\n\n\"Eighteen hundred thousand!\" replied William W. Kolderup.\n\n\"Nineteen hundred thousand!\" retorted J. R. Taskinar.\n\n\"Two millions!\" quoth William W. Kolderup, and so quickly that this time\nhe evidently had not taken the trouble to think. His face was a little\npale when these last words escaped his lips, but his whole attitude was\nthat of a man who did not intend to give in.\n\nJ. R. Taskinar was simply on fire. His enormous face was like one of\nthose gigantic railway bull's-eyes which, screened by the red, signal\nthe stoppage of the train. But it was highly probable that his rival\nwould disregard the block, and decline to shut off steam.\n\nThis J. R. Taskinar felt. The blood mounted to his brows, and seemed\napoplectically congested there. He wriggled his fat fingers, covered\nwith diamonds of great price, along the huge gold chain attached to his\nchronometer. He glared at his adversary, and then shutting his eyes so\nas to open them with a more spiteful expression a moment afterwards.\n\n\"Two million, four hundred thousand dollars!\" he remarked, hoping by\nthis tremendous leap to completely rout his rival.\n\n\"Two million, seven hundred thousand!\" replied William W. Kolderup in a\npeculiarly calm voice.\n\n\"Two million, nine hundred thousand!\"\n\n\"Three millions!\"\n\nYes! William W. Kolderup, of San Francisco, said three millions of\ndollars!\n\nApplause rang through the room, hushed, however, at the voice of the\nauctioneer, who repeated the bid, and whose oscillating hammer\nthreatened to fall in spite of himself by the involuntary movement of\nhis muscles. It seemed as though Dean Felporg, surfeited with the\nsurprises of public auction sales, would be unable to contain himself\nany longer.\n\nAll glances were turned on J. R. Taskinar. That voluminous personage was\nsensible of this, but still more was he sensible of the weight of these\nthree millions of dollars, which seemed to crush him. He would have\nspoken, doubtless to bid higher--but he could not. He would have liked\nto nod his head--he could do so no more.\n\nAfter a long pause, however, his voice was heard; feeble it is true, but\nsufficiently audible.\n\n\"Three millions, five hundred thousand!\"\n\n\"Four millions,\" was the answer of William W. Kolderup.\n\nIt was the last blow of the bludgeon. J. R. Taskinar succumbed. The\nhammer gave a hard rap on the marble table and--\n\nSpencer Island fell for four millions of dollars to William W. Kolderup,\nof San Francisco.\n\n\"I will be avenged!\" muttered J. R. Taskinar, and throwing a glance of\nhatred at his conqueror, he returned to the Occidental Hotel.\n\nBut \"hip, hip, hurrah,\" three times thrice, smote the ears of William W.\nKolderup, then cheers followed him to Montgomery Street, and such was\nthe delirious enthusiasm of the Americans that they even forgot to\nfavour him with the customary bars of \"Yankee Doodle.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nTHE CONVERSATION OF PHINA HOLLANEY AND GODFREY MORGAN, WITH A PIANO\nACCOMPANIMENT.\n\n\nWilliam W. Kolderup had returned to his mansion in Montgomery Street.\nThis thoroughfare is the Regent Street, the Broadway, the Boulevard des\nItaliens of San Francisco. Throughout its length, the great artery which\ncrosses the city parallel with its quays is astir with life and\nmovement; trams there are innumerable; carriages with horses, carriages\nwith mules; men bent on business, hurrying to and fro over its stone\npavements, past shops thronged with customers; men bent on pleasure,\ncrowding the doors of the \"bars,\" where at all hours are dispensed the\nCalifornian's drinks.\n\nThere is no need for us to describe the mansion of a Frisco nabob. With\nso many millions, there was proportionate luxury. More comfort than\ntaste. Less of the artistic than the practical. One cannot have\neverything.\n\nSo the reader must be contented to know that there was a magnificent\nreception-room, and in this reception-room a piano, whose chords were\npermeating the mansion's warm atmosphere when the opulent Kolderup\nwalked in.\n\n\"Good!\" he said. \"She and he are there! A word to my cashier, and then\nwe can have a little chat.\"\n\nAnd he stepped towards his office to arrange the little matter of\nSpencer Island, and then dismiss it from his mind. He had only to\nrealize a few certificates in his portfolio and the acquisition was\nsettled for. Half-a-dozen lines to his broker--no more. Then William W.\nKolderup devoted himself to another \"combination\" which was much more to\nhis taste.\n\nYes! she and he were in the drawing-room--she, in front of the piano;\nhe, half reclining on the sofa, listening vaguely to the pearly\narpeggios which escaped from the fingers of the charmer.\n\n\"Are you listening?\" she said.\n\n\"Of course.\"\n\n\"Yes! but do you understand it?\"\n\n\"Do I understand it, Phina! Never have you played those 'Auld Robin\nGray' variations more superbly.\"\n\n\"But it is not 'Auld Robin Gray,' Godfrey: it is 'Happy Moments.'\"\n\n\"Oh! ah! yes! I remember!\" answered Godfrey, in a tone of indifference\nwhich it was difficult to mistake. The lady raised her two hands, held\nthem suspended for an instant above the keys as if they were about to\ngrasp another chord, and then with a half-turn on her music-stool she\nremained for a moment looking at the too tranquil Godfrey, whose eyes\ndid their best to avoid hers.\n\nPhina Hollaney was the goddaughter of William W. Kolderup. An orphan, he\nhad educated her, and given her the right to consider herself his\ndaughter, and to love him as her father. She wanted for nothing. She was\nyoung, \"handsome in her way\" as people say, but undoubtedly fascinating,\na blonde of sixteen with the ideas of a woman much older, as one could\nread in the crystal of her blue-black eyes. Of course, we must compare\nher to a lily, for all beauties are compared to lilies in the best\nAmerican society. She was then a lily, but a lily grafted into an\neglantine. She certainly had plenty of spirit, but she had also plenty\nof practical common-sense, a somewhat selfish demeanour, and but little\nsympathy with the illusions and dreams so characteristic of her sex and\nage.\n\nHer dreams were when she was asleep, not when she was awake. She was not\nasleep now, and had no intention of being so.\n\n\"Godfrey?\" she continued.\n\n\"Phina?\" answered the young man.\n\n\"Where are you now?\"\n\n\"Near you--in this room--\"\n\n\"Not near me, Godfrey! Not in this room! But far far away, over the\nseas, is it not so?\"\n\nAnd mechanically Phina's hand sought the key-board and rippled along a\nseries of sinking sevenths, which spoke of a plaintive sadness,\nunintelligible perhaps to the nephew of William W. Kolderup.\n\nFor such was this young man, such was the relationship he bore towards\nthe master of the house. The son of a sister of this buyer of islands,\nfatherless and motherless for a good many years, Godfrey Morgan, like\nPhina, had been brought up in the house of his uncle, in whom the fever\nof business had still left a place for the idea of marrying these two to\neach other.\n\nGodfrey was in his twenty-third year. His education now finished, had\nleft him with absolutely nothing to do. He had graduated at the\nUniversity, but had found it of little use. For him life opened out but\npaths of ease; go where he would, to the right or the left, whichever\nway he went, fortune would not fail him.\n\nGodfrey was of good presence, gentlemanly, elegant--never tying his\ncravat in a ring, nor starring his fingers, his wrists or his\nshirt-front with those jewelled gimcracks so dear to his\nfellow-citizens.\n\nI shall surprise no one in saying that Godfrey Morgan was going to\nmarry Phina Hollaney. Was he likely to do otherwise? All the proprieties\nwere in favour of it. Besides, William W. Kolderup desired the marriage.\nThe two people whom he loved most in this world were sure of a fortune\nfrom him, without taking into consideration whether Phina cared for\nGodfrey, or Godfrey cared for Phina. It would also simplify the\nbookkeeping of the commercial house. Ever since their births an account\nhad been opened for the boy, another for the girl. It would then be only\nnecessary to rule these off and transfer the balances to a joint account\nfor the young couple. The worthy merchant hoped that this would soon be\ndone, and the balances struck without error or omission.\n\nBut it is precisely that there had been an omission and perhaps an error\nthat we are about to show.\n\nAn error, because at the outset Godfrey felt that he was not yet old\nenough for the serious undertaking of marriage; an omission, because he\nhad not been consulted on the subject.\n\nIn fact, when he had finished his studies Godfrey had displayed a quite\npremature indifference to the world, in which he wanted for nothing, in\nwhich he had no wish remaining ungratified, and nothing whatever to do.\nThe thought of travelling round the world was always present to him. Of\nthe old and new continents he knew but one spot--San Francisco, where he\nwas born, and which he had never left except in a dream. What harm was\nthere in a young man making the tour of the globe twice or\nthrice--especially if he were an American? Would it do him any good?\nWould he learn anything in the different adventures he would meet with\nin a voyage of any length? If he were not already satiated with a life\nof adventure, how could he be answered? Finally, how many millions of\nleagues of observation and instruction were indispensable for the\ncompletion of the young man's education?\n\nThings had reached this pass; for a year or more Godfrey had been\nimmersed in books of voyages of recent date, and had passionately\ndevoured them. He had discovered the Celestial Empire with Marco Polo,\nAmerica with Columbus, the Pacific with Cook, the South Pole with Dumont\nd'Urville. He had conceived the idea of going where these illustrious\ntravellers had been without him. In truth, he would not have considered\nan exploring expedition of several years to cost him too dear at the\nprice of a few attacks of Malay pirates, several ocean collisions, and a\nshipwreck or two on a desert island where he could live the life of a\nSelkirk or a Robinson Crusoe! A Crusoe! To become a Crusoe! What young\nimagination has not dreamt of this in reading as Godfrey had often, too\noften done, the adventures of the imaginary heroes of Daniel de Foe and\nDe Wyss?\n\nYes! The nephew of William W. Kolderup was in this state when his uncle\nwas thinking of binding him in the chains of marriage. To travel in this\nway with Phina, then become Mrs. Morgan, would be clearly impossible! He\nmust go alone or leave it alone. Besides, once his fancy had passed\naway, would not she be better disposed to sign the settlements? Was it\nfor the good of his wife that he had not been to China or Japan, not\neven to Europe? Decidedly not.\n\nAnd hence it was that Godfrey was now absent in the presence of Phina,\nindifferent when she spoke to him, deaf when she played the airs which\nused to please him; and Phina, like a thoughtful, serious girl, soon\nnoticed this.\n\nTo say that she did not feel a little annoyance mingled with some\nchagrin, is to do her a gratuitous injustice. But accustomed to look\nthings in the face, she had reasoned thus,--\n\n\"If we must part, it had better be before marriage than afterwards!\"\n\nAnd thus it was that she had spoken to Godfrey in these significant\nwords.\n\n\"No! You are not near me at this moment--you are beyond the seas!\"\n\nGodfrey had risen. He had walked a few steps without noticing Phina,\nand unconsciously his index finger touched one of the keys of the piano.\nA loud C# of the octave below the staff, a note dismal enough, answered\nfor him.\n\nPhina had understood him, and without more discussion was about to bring\nmatters to a crisis, when the door of the room opened.\n\nWilliam W. Kolderup appeared, seemingly a little preoccupied as usual.\nHere was the merchant who had just finished one negotiation and was\nabout to begin another.\n\n\"Well,\" said he, \"there is nothing more now than for us to fix the\ndate.\"\n\n\"The date?\" answered Godfrey, with a start. \"What date, if you please,\nuncle?\"\n\n\"The date of your wedding!\" said William W. Kolderup. \"Not the date of\nmine, I suppose!\"\n\n\"Perhaps that is more urgent?\" said Phina.\n\n\"Hey?--what?\" exclaimed the uncle--\"what does that matter? We are only\ntalking of current affairs, are we not?\"\n\n\"Godfather Will,\" answered the lady. \"It is not of a wedding that we are\ngoing to fix the date to-day, but of a departure.\"\n\n\"A departure!\"\n\n\"Yes, the departure of Godfrey,\" continued Phina, \"of Godfrey who,\nbefore he gets married, wants to see a little of the world!\"\n\n\"You want to go away--you?\" said William W. Kolderup, stepping towards\nthe young man and raising his arms as if he were afraid that this\n\"rascal of a nephew\" would escape him.\n\n\"Yes; I do, uncle,\" said Godfrey gallantly.\n\n\"And for how long?\"\n\n\"For eighteen months, or two years, or more, if--\"\n\n\"If--\"\n\n\"If you will let me, and Phina will wait for me.\"\n\n\"Wait for you! An intended who intends until he gets away!\" exclaimed\nWilliam W. Kolderup.\n\n\"You must let Godfrey go,\" pleaded Phina; \"I have thought it carefully\nover. I am young, but really Godfrey is younger. Travel will age him,\nand I do not think it will change his taste! He wishes to travel, let\nhim travel! The need of repose will come to him afterwards, and he will\nfind me when he returns.\"\n\n\"What!\" exclaimed William W. Kolderup, \"you consent to give your bird\nhis liberty?\"\n\n\"Yes, for the two years he asks.\"\n\n\"And you will wait for him?\"\n\n\"Uncle Will, if I could not wait for him I could not love him!\" and so\nsaying Phina returned to the piano, and whether she willed it or no,\nher fingers softly played a portion of the then fashionable \"Départ du\nFiancé,\" which was very appropriate under the circumstances. But Phina,\nwithout perceiving it perhaps, was playing in \"A minor,\" whereas it was\nwritten in \"A major,\" and all the sentiment of the melody was\ntransformed, and its plaintiveness chimed in well with her hidden\nfeelings.\n\nBut Godfrey stood embarrassed, and said not a word. His uncle took him\nby the head and turning it to the light looked fixedly at him for a\nmoment or two. In this way he questioned him without having to speak,\nand Godfrey was able to reply without having occasion to utter a\nsyllable.\n\nAnd the lamentations of the \"Départ du Fiancé\" continued their sorrowful\ntheme, and then William W. Kolderup, having made the turn of the room,\nreturned to Godfrey, who stood like a criminal before the judge. Then\nraising his voice,--\n\n\"You are serious,\" he asked.\n\n\"Quite serious!\" interrupted Phina, while Godfrey contented himself with\nmaking a sign of affirmation.\n\n\"You want to try travelling before you marry Phina! Well! You shall try\nit, my nephew!\"\n\nHe made two or three steps and stopping with crossed arms before\nGodfrey, asked,--\n\n\"Where do you want to go to?\"\n\n\"Everywhere.\"\n\n\"And when do you want to start?\"\n\n\"When you please, Uncle Will.\"\n\n\"All right,\" replied William W. Kolderup, fixing a curious look on his\nnephew.\n\nThen he muttered between his teeth,--\n\n\"The sooner the better.\"\n\nAt these last words came a sudden interruption from Phina. The little\nfinger of her left hand touched a G#, and the fourth had, instead of\nfalling on the key-note, rested on the \"sensible,\" like Ralph in the\n\"Huguenots,\" when he leaves at the end of his duet with Valentine.\n\nPerhaps Phina's heart was nearly full, she had made up her mind to say\nnothing.\n\nIt was then that William W. Kolderup, without noticing Godfrey,\napproached the piano.\n\n\"Phina,\" said he gravely, \"you should never remain on the 'sensible'!\"\n\nAnd with the tip of his large finger he dropped vertically on to one of\nthe keys and an \"A natural\" resounded through the room.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nIN WHICH T. ARTELETT, OTHERWISE TARTLET, IS DULY INTRODUCED TO THE\nREADER.\n\n\nIf T. Artelett had been a Parisian, his compatriots would not have\nfailed to nickname him Tartlet, but as he had already received this\ntitle we do not hesitate to describe him by it. If Tartlet was not a\nFrenchman he ought to have been one.\n\nIn his \"Itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem,\" Chateaubriand tells of a\nlittle man \"powdered and frizzed in the old-fashioned style, with a coat\nof apple green, a waistcoat of drouget, shirt-frill and cuffs of muslin,\nwho scraped a violin and made the Iroquois dance 'Madeleine Friquet.'\"\n\nThe Californians are not Iroquois, far from it; but Tartlet was none the\nless professor of dancing and deportment in the capital of their state.\nIf they did not pay him for his lessons, as they had his predecessor in\nbeaver-skins and bear-hams, they did so in dollars. If in speaking of\nhis pupils he did not talk of the \"bucks and their squaws,\" it was\nbecause his pupils were highly civilized, and because in his opinion he\nhad contributed considerably to their civilization.\n\nTartlet was a bachelor, and aged about forty-five at the time we\nintroduce him to our readers. But for a dozen years or so his marriage\nwith a lady of somewhat mature age had been expected to take place.\n\nUnder present circumstances it is perhaps advisable to give \"two or\nthree lines\" concerning his age, appearance, and position in life. He\nwould have responded to such a request we imagine as follows, and thus\nwe can dispense with drawing his portrait from a moral and physical\npoint of view.\n\n\"He was born on the 17th July, 1835, at a quarter-past three in the\nmorning.\n\n\"His height is five feet, two inches, three lines.\n\n\"His girth is exactly two feet, three inches.\n\n\"His weight, increased by some six pounds during the last year, is one\nhundred and fifty one pounds, two ounces.\n\n\"He has an oblong head.\n\n\"His hair, very thin above the forehead, is grey chestnut, his forehead\nis high, his face oval, his complexion fresh coloured.\n\n\"His eyes--sight excellent--a greyish brown, eyelashes and eyebrows\nclear chestnut, eyes themselves somewhat sunk in their orbits beneath\nthe arches of the brows.\n\n\"His nose is of medium size, and has a slight indentation towards the\nend of the left nostril.\n\n\"His cheeks and temples are flat and hairless.\n\n\"His ears are large and flat.\n\n\"His mouth, of middling size, is absolutely free from bad teeth.\n\n\"His lips, thin and slightly pinched, are covered with a heavy moustache\nand imperial, his chin is round and also shaded with a many-tinted\nbeard.\n\n\"A small mole ornaments his plump neck--in the nape.\n\n\"Finally, when he is in the bath it can be seen that his skin is white\nand smooth.\n\n\"His life is calm and regular. Without being robust, thanks to his great\ntemperance, he has kept his health uninjured since his birth. His lungs\nare rather irritable, and hence he has not contracted the bad habit of\nsmoking. He drinks neither spirits, coffee, liqueurs, nor neat wine. In\na word, all that could prejudicially affect his nervous system is\nvigorously excluded from his table. Light beer, and weak wine and water\nare the only beverages he can take without danger. It is on account of\nhis carefulness that he has never had to consult a doctor since his life\nbegan.\n\n\"His gesture is prompt, his walk quick, his character frank and open.\nHis thoughtfulness for others is extreme, and it is on account of this\nthat in the fear of making his wife unhappy, he has never entered into\nmatrimony.\"\n\nSuch would have been the report furnished by Tartlet, but desirable as\nhe might be to a lady of a certain age, the projected union had hitherto\nfailed. The professor remained a bachelor, and continued to give lessons\nin dancing and deportment.\n\nIt was in this capacity that he entered the mansion of William W.\nKolderup. As time rolled on his pupils gradually abandoned him, and he\nended by becoming one wheel more in the machinery of the wealthy\nestablishment.\n\nAfter all, he was a brave man, in spite of his eccentricities. Everybody\nliked him. He liked Godfrey, he liked Phina, and they liked him. He had\nonly one ambition in the world, and that was to teach them all the\nsecrets of his art, to make them in fact, as far as deportment was\nconcerned, two highly accomplished individuals.\n\nNow, what would you think? It was he, this Professor Tartlet, whom\nWilliam W. Kolderup had chosen as his nephew's companion during the\nprojected voyage. Yes! He had reason to believe that Tartlet had not a\nlittle contributed to imbue Godfrey with this roaming mania, so as to\nperfect himself by a tour round the world. William W. Kolderup had\nresolved that they should go together. On the morrow, the 16th of April,\nhe sent for the professor to his office.\n\nThe request of the nabob was an order for Tartlet. The professor left\nhis room, with his pocket violin--generally known as a kit--so as to be\nready for all emergencies. He mounted the great staircase of the mansion\nwith his feet academically placed as was fitting for a dancing-master;\nknocked at the door of the room, entered--his body half inclined, his\nelbows rounded, his mouth on the grin--and waited in the third position,\nafter having crossed his feet one before the other, at half their\nlength, his ankles touching and his toes turned out. Any one but\nProfessor Tartlet placed in this sort of unstable equilibrium would have\ntottered on his base, but the professor preserved an absolute\nperpendicularity.\n\n\"Mr. Tartlet,\" said William W. Kolderup, \"I have sent for you to tell\nyou some news which I imagine will rather surprise you.\"\n\n\"As you think best!\" answered the professor.\n\n\"My nephew's marriage is put off for a year or eighteen months, and\nGodfrey, at his own request, is going to visit the different countries\nof the old and new world.\"\n\n\"Sir,\" answered Tartlet, \"my pupil, Godfrey, will do honour to the\ncountry of his birth, and--\"\n\n\"And, to the professor of deportment who has initiated him into\netiquette,\" interrupted the merchant, in a tone of which the guileless\nTartlet failed to perceive the irony.\n\nAnd, in fact, thinking it the correct thing to execute an \"assemblée,\"\nhe first moved one foot and then the other, by a sort of semi-circular\nside slide, and then with a light and graceful bend of the knee, he\nbowed to William W. Kolderup.\n\n\"I thought,\" continued the latter, \"that you might feel a little regret\nat separating from your pupil?\"\n\n\"The regret will be extreme,\" answered Tartlet, \"but should it be\nnecessary--\"\n\n\"It is not necessary,\" answered William W. Kolderup, knitting his bushy\neyebrows.\n\n\"Ah!\" replied Tartlet.\n\nSlightly troubled, he made a graceful movement to the rear, so as to\npass from the third to the fourth position; but he left the breadth of a\nfoot between his feet, without perhaps being conscious of what he was\ndoing.\n\n\"Yes!\" added the merchant in a peremptory tone, which admitted not of\nthe ghost of a reply; \"I have thought it would really be cruel to\nseparate a professor and a pupil so well made to understand each other!\"\n\n\"Assuredly!--the journey?\" answered Tartlet, who did not seem to want to\nunderstand.\n\n\"Yes! Assuredly!\" replied William W. Kolderup; \"not only will his\ntravels bring out the talents of my nephew, but the talents of the\nprofessor to whom he owes so correct a bearing.\"\n\nNever had the thought occurred to this great baby that one day he would\nleave San Francisco, California, America, to roam the seas. Such an idea\nhad never entered the brain of a man more absorbed in choregraphy than\ngeography, and who was still ignorant of the suburbs of the capital\nbeyond ten miles radius. And now this was offered to him. He was to\nunderstand that _nolens volens_ he was to expatriate himself, he himself\nwas to experience with all their costs and inconveniences the very\nadventures he had recommended to his pupil! Here, decidedly, was\nsomething to trouble a brain much more solid than his, and the\nunfortunate Tartlet for the first time in his life felt an involuntary\nyielding in the muscles of his limbs, suppled as they were by\nthirty-five years' exercise.\n\n\"Perhaps,\" said he, trying to recall to his lips the stereotyped smile\nof the dancer which had left him for an instant,--\"perhaps--am I not--\"\n\n\"You will go!\" answered William W. Kolderup like a a man with whom\ndiscussion was useless.\n\nTo refuse was impossible. Tartlet did not even think of such a thing.\nWhat was he in the house? A thing, a parcel, a package to be sent to\nevery corner of the world. But the projected expedition troubled him not\na little.\n\n\"And when am I to start?\" demanded he, trying to get back into an\nacademical position.\n\n\"In a month.\"\n\n\"And on what raging ocean has Mr. Kolderup decided that his vessel\nshould bear his nephew and me?\"\n\n\"The Pacific, at first.\"\n\n\"And on what point of the terrestrial globe shall I first set foot?\"\n\n\"On the soil of New Zealand,\" answered William W. Kolderup; \"I have\nremarked that the New Zealanders always stick their elbows out! Now you\ncan teach them to turn them in!\"\n\nAnd thus was Professor Tartlet selected as the travelling-companion of\nGodfrey Morgan.\n\nA nod from the merchant gave him to understand that the audience had\nterminated. He retired, considerably agitated, and the performance of\nthe special graces which he usually displayed in this difficult act left\na good deal to be desired. In fact, for the first time in his life,\nProfessor Tartlet, forgetting in his preoccupation the most elementary\nprinciples of his art, went out with his toes turned in!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nIN WHICH THEY PREPARE TO GO, AND AT THE END OF WHICH THEY GO FOR GOOD.\n\n\nBefore the long voyage together through life, which men call marriage,\nGodfrey then was to make the tour of the world--a journey sometimes even\nmore dangerous. But he reckoned on returning improved in every respect;\nhe left a lad, he would return a man. He would have seen, noted,\ncompared. His curiosity would be satisfied. There would only remain for\nhim to settle down quietly, and live happily at home with his wife, whom\nno temptation would take him from. Was he wrong or right? Was he to\nlearn a valuable lesson? The future will show.\n\nIn short, Godfrey was enchanted.\n\nPhina, anxious without appearing to be so, was resigned to this\napprenticeship.\n\nProfessor Tartlet, generally so firm on his limbs, had lost all his\ndancing equilibrium. He had lost all his usual self-possession, and\ntried in vain to recover it; he even tottered on the carpet of his room\nas if he were already on the floor of a cabin, rolling and pitching on\nthe ocean.\n\nAs for William W. Kolderup, since he had arrived at a decision, he had\nbecome very uncommunicative, especially to his nephew. The closed lips,\nand eyes half hidden beneath their lids, showed that there was some\nfixed idea in the head where generally floated the highest commercial\nspeculations.\n\n\"Ah! you want to travel,\" muttered he every now and then; \"travel\ninstead of marrying and staying at home! Well, you shall travel.\"\n\nPreparations were immediately begun.\n\nIn the first place, the itinerary had to be projected, discussed, and\nsettled.\n\nWas Godfrey to go south, or east, or west? That had to be decided in the\nfirst place.\n\nIf he went southwards, the Panama, California and British Columbia\nCompany, or the Southampton and Rio Janeiro Company would have to take\nhim to Europe.\n\nIf he went eastwards, the Union Pacific Railway would take him in a few\ndays to New York, and thence the Cunard, Inman, White Star,\nHamburg-American, or French-Transatlantic Companies would land him on\nthe shores of the old world.\n\nIf he went westwards, the Golden Age Steam Transoceanic would render it\neasy for him to reach Melbourne, and thence he could get to the Isthmus\nof Suez by the boats of the Peninsular and Oriental Company.\n\nThe means of transport were abundant, and thanks to their mathematical\nagreement the round of the world was but a simple pleasure tour.\n\nBut it was not thus that the nephew and heir of the nabob of Frisco was\nto travel.\n\nNo! William W. Kolderup possessed for the requirements of his business\nquite a fleet of steam and sailing-vessels. He had decided that one of\nthese ships should be \"put at the disposal\" of Godfrey Morgan, as if he\nwere a prince of the blood, travelling for his pleasure--at the expense\nof his father's subjects.\n\nBy his orders the _Dream_, a substantial steamer of 600 tons and 200\nhorse-power, was got ready. It was to be commanded by Captain Turcott, a\ntough old salt, who had already sailed in every latitude in every sea. A\nthorough sailor, this friend of tornadoes, cyclones, and typhoons, had\nalready spent of his fifty years of life, forty at sea. To bring to in a\nhurricane was quite child's play to this mariner, who was never\ndisconcerted, except by land-sickness when he was in port. His\nincessantly unsteady existence on a vessel's deck had endowed him with\nthe habit of constantly balancing himself to the right or the left, or\nbehind or in front, as though he had the rolling and pitching variety of\nSt. Vitus's dance.\n\nA mate, an engineer, four stokers, a dozen seamen, eighteen men in all,\nformed the crew of the _Dream_. And if the ship was contented to get\nquietly through eight miles an hour, she possessed a great many\nexcellent nautical qualities. If she was not swift enough to race the\nwaves when the sea was high, the waves could not race over her, and that\nwas an advantage which quite compensated for the mediocrity of her\nspeed, particularly when there was no hurry. The _Dream_ was brigantine\nrigged, and in a favourable wind, with her 400 square yards of canvas,\nher steaming rate could be considerably increased.\n\nIt should be borne in mind all through that the voyage of the _Dream_\nwas carefully planned, and would be punctually performed. William W.\nKolderup was too practical a man not to put to some purpose a journey of\n15,000 or 16,000 leagues across all the oceans of the globe. His ship\nwas to go without cargo, undoubtedly, but it was easy to get her down to\nher right trim by means of water ballast, and even to sink her to her\ndeck, if it proved necessary.\n\nThe _Dream_ was instructed to communicate with the different branch\nestablishments of the wealthy merchant. She was to go from one market to\nanother.\n\nCaptain Turcott, never fear, would not find it difficult to pay the\nexpenses of the voyage! Godfrey Morgan's whim would not cost the\navuncular purse a single dollar! That is the way they do business in the\nbest commercial houses!\n\nAll this was decided at long, very secret interviews between William W.\nKolderup and Captain Turcott. But it appeared that the regulation of\nthis matter, simple as it seemed, could not be managed alone, for the\ncaptain paid numerous visits to the merchant's office. When he came\naway, it would be noticed that his face bore a curious expression, that\nhis hair stood on end as if he had been ruffling it up with fevered\nhands, and that all his body rolled and pitched more than usual. High\nwords were constantly heard, proving that the interviews were stormy.\nCaptain Turcott, with his plain speaking, knew how to withstand William\nW. Kolderup, who loved and esteemed him enough to permit him to\ncontradict him.\n\nAnd now all was arranged. Who had given in? William W. Kolderup or\nTurcott? I dare not say, for I do not even know the subject of their\ndiscussion. However, I rather think it must have been the captain.\n\nAnyhow, after eight days of interviewing, the merchant and the captain\nwere in accord, but Turcott did not cease to grumble between his teeth.\n\n\"May five hundred thousand Davy Joneses drag me to the bottom if ever I\nhad a job like this before!\"\n\nHowever, the _Dream_ fitted out rapidly, and her captain neglected\nnothing which would enable him to put to sea in the first fortnight in\nJune. She had been into dock, and the hull had been gone over with\ncomposition, whose brilliant red contrasted vividly with the black of\nher upper works.\n\nA great number of vessels of all kinds and nationalities came into the\nport of San Francisco. In a good many years the old quays of the town,\nbuilt straight along the shore, would have been insufficient for the\nembarkation and disembarkation of their cargoes, if engineers had not\ndevised subsidiary wharves. Piles of red deal were driven into the\nwater, and many square miles of planks were laid on them and formed huge\nplatforms. A good deal of the bay was thus taken up, but the bay is\nenormous. There were also regular landing-stages, with numberless cranes\nand crabs, at which steamers from both oceans, steamboats from the\nCalifornian rivers, clippers from all countries, and coasters from the\nAmerican seaboard were ranged in proper order, so as not to interfere\none with the other.\n\nIt was at one of these artificial quays, at the extremity of Mission\nWharf Street, that the _Dream_ had been securely moored after she had\ncome out of dock.\n\nNothing was neglected, and the steamer would start under the most\nfavourable conditions. Provisioning, outfit, all were minutely studied.\nThe rigging was perfect, the boilers had been tested and the screw was\nan excellent one. A steam launch was even carried, to facilitate\ncommunication with the shore, and this would probably be of great\nservice during the voyage.\n\nEverything was ready on the 10th of June. They had only to put to sea.\nThe men shipped by Captain Turcott to work the sails or drive the engine\nwere a picked crew, and it would have been difficult to find a better\none. Quite a stock of live animals, agouties, sheep, goats, poultry,\n&c., were stowed between decks, the material wants of the travellers\nwere likewise provided for by numerous cases of preserved meats of the\nbest brands.\n\nThe route the _Dream_ was to follow had doubtless been the subject of\nthe long conferences which William W. Kolderup had had with his captain.\nAll knew that they were first bound for Auckland, in New Zealand, unless\nwant of coal necessitated by the persistence of contrary winds obliged\nthem to refill perhaps at one of the islands of the Pacific or some\nChinese port.\n\nAll this detail mattered little to Godfrey once he was on the sea, and\nstill less to Tartlet, whose troubled spirit exaggerated from day to day\nthe dangers of navigation. There was only one formality to be gone\nthrough--the formality of being photographed.\n\nAn engaged man could not decently start on a long voyage round the world\nwithout taking with him the image of her he loved, and in return leaving\nhis own image behind him.\n\nGodfrey in tourist costume accordingly handed himself over to Messrs\nStephenson and Co., photographers of Montgomery Street, and Phina, in\nher walking-dress, confided in like manner to the sun the task of fixing\nher charming but somewhat sorrowing features on the plate of those able\noperators.\n\nIt is also the custom to travel together, and so Phina's portrait had\nits allotted place in Godfrey's cabin, and Godfrey's portrait its\nspecial position in Phina's room. As for Tartlet, who had no betrothed\nand who was not thinking of having one at present, he thought it better\nto confide his image to sensitised paper. But although great was the\ntalent of the photographers they failed to present him with a\nsatisfactory proof. The negative was a confused fog in which it was\nimpossible to recognize the celebrated professor of dancing and\ndeportment.\n\nThis was because the patient could not keep himself still, in spite of\nall that was said about the invariable rule in studios devoted to\noperations of this nature.\n\nThey tried other means, even the instantaneous process. Impossible.\nTartlet pitched and rolled in anticipation as violently as the captain\nof the _Dream_.\n\nThe idea of obtaining a picture of the features of this remarkable man\nhad thus to be abandoned. Irreparable would be the misfortune if--but\nfar from us be the thought!--if in imagining he was leaving the new\nworld for the old world Tartlet had left the new world for the other\nworld from which nobody returns.\n\nOn the 9th of June all was ready. The _Dream_ was complete. Her papers,\nbills of lading, charter-party, assurance policy, were all in order, and\ntwo days before the ship-broker had sent on the last signatures.\n\nOn that day a grand farewell breakfast was given at the mansion in\nMontgomery Street. They drank to the happy voyage of Godfrey and his\nsafe return.\n\nGodfrey was rather agitated, and he did not strive to hide it. Phina\nshowed herself much the most composed. As for Tartlet he drowned his\napprehensions in several glasses of champagne, whose influence was\nperceptible up to the moment of departure. He even forgot his kit, which\nwas brought to him as they were casting off the last hawsers of the\n_Dream_.\n\nThe last adieux were said on board, the last handshakings took place on\nthe poop, then the engine gave two or three turns of the screw and the\nsteamer was under way.\n\n\"Good-bye, Phina!\"\n\n\"Good-bye, Godfrey!\"\n\n\"May Heaven protect you!\" said the uncle.\n\n\"And above all may it bring us back!\" murmured Professor Tartlet.\n\n\"And never forget, Godfrey,\" added William W. Kolderup, \"the device\nwhich the _Dream_ bears on her stern, 'Confide, recte agens.'\"\n\n\"Never, Uncle Will! Good-bye, Phina!\"\n\n\"Good-bye, Godfrey!\"\n\nThe steamer moved off, handkerchiefs were shaken as long as she remained\nin sight from the quay, and even after. Soon the bay of San Francisco,\nthe largest in the world, was crossed, the _Dream_ passed the narrow\nthroat of the Golden Gate and then her prow cleft the waters of the\nPacific Ocean. It was as though the Gates of Gold had closed upon her.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nIN WHICH THE READER MAKES THE ACQUAINTANCE OF A NEW PERSONAGE.\n\n\nThe voyage had begun. There had not been much difficulty so far, it must\nbe admitted.\n\nProfessor Tartlet, with incontestable logic, often repeated,--\n\n\"Any voyage can begin! But where and how it finishes is the important\npoint.\"\n\nThe cabin occupied by Godfrey was below the poop of the _Dream_ and\nopened on to the dining-saloon. Our young traveller was lodged there as\ncomfortably as possible. He had given Phina's photograph the best place\non the best lighted panel of his room. A cot to sleep on, a lavatory for\ntoilet purposes, some chests of drawers for his clothes and his linen, a\ntable to work at, an armchair to sit upon, what could a young man in his\ntwenty-second year want more? Under such circumstances he might have\ngone twenty-two times round the world! Was he not at the age of that\npractical philosophy which consists in good health and good humour? Ah!\nyoung people, travel if you can, and if you cannot--travel all the same!\n\nTartlet was not in a good humour. His cabin, near that of his pupil,\nseemed to him too narrow, his bed too hard, the six square yards which\nhe occupied quite insufficient for his steps and strides. Would not the\ntraveller in him absorb the professor of dancing and deportment? No! It\nwas in the blood, and when Tartlet reached the hour of his last sleep\nhis feet would be found placed in a horizontal line with the heels one\nagainst the other, in the first position.\n\nMeals were taken in common. Godfrey and Tartlet sat opposite to each\nother, the captain and mate occupying each end of the rolling table.\nThis alarming appellation, the \"rolling table,\" is enough to warn us\nthat the professor's place would too often be vacant.\n\nAt the start, in the lovely month of June, there was a beautiful breeze\nfrom the north-east, and Captain Turcott was able to set his canvas so\nas to increase his speed. The _Dream_ thus balanced hardly rolled at\nall, and as the waves followed her, her pitching was but slight. This\nmode of progressing was not such as to affect the looks of the\npassengers and give them pinched noses, hollow eyes, livid foreheads, or\ncolourless cheeks. It was supportable. They steered south-west over a\nsplendid sea, hardly lifting in the least, and the American coast soon\ndisappeared below the horizon.\n\nFor two days nothing occurred worthy of mention. The _Dream_ made good\nprogress. The commencement of the voyage promised well--so that Captain\nTurcott seemed occasionally to feel an anxiety which he tried in vain to\nhide. Each day as the sun crossed the meridian he carefully took his\nobservations. But it could be noticed that immediately afterwards he\nretired with the mate into his cabin, and then they remained in secret\nconclave as if they were discussing some grave eventuality. This\nperformance passed probably unnoticed by Godfrey, who understood nothing\nabout the details of navigation, but the boatswain and the crew seemed\nsomewhat astonished at it, particularly as for two or three times during\nthe first week, when there was not the least necessity for the\nmanoeuvre, the course of the _Dream_ at night was completely altered,\nand resumed again in the morning. In a sailing-ship this might be\nintelligible; but in a steamer, which could keep on the great circle\nline and only use canvas when the wind was favourable, it was somewhat\nextraordinary.\n\nDuring the morning of the 12th of June a very unexpected incident\noccurred on board.\n\nCaptain Turcott, the mate, and Godfrey, were sitting down to breakfast\nwhen an unusual noise was heard on deck. Almost immediately afterwards\nthe boatswain opened the door and appeared on the threshold.\n\n\"Captain!\" he said.\n\n\"What's up?\" asked Turcott, sailor as he was, always on the alert.\n\n\"Here's a--Chinee!\" said the boatswain.\n\n\"A Chinese!\"\n\n\"Yes! a genuine Chinese we have just found by chance at the bottom of\nthe hold!\"\n\n\"At the bottom of the hold!\" exclaimed Turcott. \"Well, by all\nthe--somethings--of Sacramento, just send him to the bottom of the sea!\"\n\n\"All right!\" answered the boatswain.\n\nAnd that excellent man with all the contempt of a Californian for a son\nof the Celestial Empire, taking the order as quite a natural one, would\nhave had not the slightest compunction in executing it.\n\nHowever, Captain Turcott rose from his chair, and followed by Godfrey\nand the mate, left the saloon and walked towards the forecastle of the\n_Dream_.\n\nThere stood a Chinaman, tightly handcuffed, and held by two or three\nsailors, who were by no means sparing of their nudges and knocks. He was\na man of from five-and-thirty to forty, with intelligent features, well\nbuilt, of lithe figure, but a little emaciated, owing to his sojourn for\nsixteen hours at the bottom of a badly ventilated hold.\n\nCaptain Turcott made a sign to his men to leave the unhappy intruder\nalone.\n\n\"Who are you?\" he asked.\n\n\"A son of the sun.\"\n\n\"And what is your name?\"\n\n\"Seng Vou,\" answered the Chinese, whose name in the Celestial language\nsignifies \"he who does not live.\"\n\n\"And what are you doing on board here?\"\n\n\"I am out for a sail!\" coolly answered Seng Vou, \"but am doing you as\nlittle harm as I can.\"\n\n\"Really! as little harm!--and you stowed yourself away in the hold when\nwe started?\"\n\n\"Just so, captain.\"\n\n\"So that we might take you for nothing from America to China, on the\nother side of the Pacific?\"\n\n\"If you will have it so.\"\n\n\"And if I don't wish to have it so, you yellow-skinned nigger. If I will\nhave it that you have to swim to China.\"\n\n\"I will try,\" said the Chinaman with a smile, \"but I shall probably sink\non the road!\"\n\n\"Well, John,\" exclaimed Captain Turcott, \"I am going to show you how to\nsave your passage-money.\"\n\nAnd Captain Turcott, much more angry than circumstances necessitated,\nwas perhaps about to put his threat into execution, when Godfrey\nintervened.\n\n\"Captain,\" he said, \"one more Chinee on board the _Dream_ is one Chinee\nless in California, where there are too many.\"\n\n\"A great deal too many!\" answered Captain Turcott.\n\n\"Yes, too many. Well, if this poor beggar wishes to relieve San\nFrancisco of his presence, he ought to be pitied! Bah! we can throw him\non shore at Shanghai, and there needn't be any fuss about it!\"\n\nIn saying that there were too many Chinese in California Godfrey held\nthe same language as every true Californian. The emigration of the sons\nof the Celestial Empire--there are 300,000,000 in China as against\n30,000,000 of Americans in the United States--has become dangerous to\nthe provinces of the Far West; and the legislators of these States of\nCalifornia, Lower California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and even Congress\nitself, are much concerned at this new epidemic of invasion, to which\nthe Yankees have given the name of the \"yellow-plague.\"\n\nAt this period there were more than 50,000 Chinese, in the State of\nCalifornia alone. These people, very industrious at gold-washing, very\npatient, living on a pinch of rice, a mouthful of tea, and a whiff of\nopium, did an immense deal to bring down the price of manual labour, to\nthe detriment of the native workmen. They had to submit to special laws,\ncontrary to the American constitution--laws which regulated their\nimmigration, and withheld from them the right of naturalization, owing\nto the fear that they would end by obtaining a majority in the Congress.\nGenerally ill-treated, much as Indians or negroes, so as to justify the\ntitle of \"pests\" which was applied to them, they herded together in a\nsort of ghetto, where they carefully kept up the manners and customs of\nthe Celestial Empire.\n\nIn the Californian capital, it is in the Sacramento Street district,\ndecked with their banners and lanterns, that this foreign race has taken\nup its abode. There they can be met in thousands, trotting along in\ntheir wide-sleeved blouses, conical hats, and turned-up shoes. Here, for\nthe most part, they live as grocers, gardeners, or laundresses--unless\nthey are working as cooks or belong to one of those dramatic troupes\nwhich perform Chinese pieces in the French theatre at San Francisco.\n\nAnd--there is no reason why we should conceal the fact--Seng Vou\nhappened to form part of one of these troupes, in which he filled the\nrôle of \"comic lead,\" if such a description can apply to any Chinese\nartiste. As a matter of fact they are so serious, even in their fun,\nthat the Californian romancer, Bret Harte, has told us that he never\nsaw a genuine Chinaman laugh, and has even confessed that he is unable\nto say whether one of the national pieces he witnessed was a tragedy or\na farce.\n\nIn short, Seng Vou was a comedian. The season had ended, crowned with\nsuccess--perhaps out of proportion to the gold pieces he had amassed--he\nwished to return to his country otherwise than as a corpse, for Chinamen\nalways like to get buried at home and there are special steamers who\ncarry dead Celestials and nothing else. At all risks, therefore, he had\nsecretly slipped on board the _Dream_.\n\nLoaded with provisions, did he hope to get through, incognito, a passage\nof several weeks, and then to land on the coast of China without being\nseen?\n\nIt is just possible. At any rate, the case was hardly one for a death\npenalty.\n\nSo Godfrey had good reason to interfere in favour of the intruder, and\nCaptain Turcott, who pretended to be angrier than he really was, gave up\nthe idea of sending Seng Vou overboard to battle with the waves of the\nPacific.\n\nSeng Vou, however, did not return to his hiding-place in the hold,\nthough he was rather an incubus on board. Phlegmatic, methodic, and by\nno means communicative, he carefully avoided the seamen, who had always\nsome prank to play off on him, and he kept to his own provisions. He\nwas thin enough in all conscience, and his additional weight but\nimperceptibly added to the cost of navigating the _Dream_. If Seng Vou\ngot a free passage it was obvious that his carriage did not cost William\nW. Kolderup very much.\n\nHis presence on board put into Captain Turcott's head an idea which his\nmate probably was the only one to understand thoroughly.\n\n\"He will bother us a bit--this confounded Chinee!--after all, so much\nthe worse for him.\"\n\n\"What ever made him stow himself away on board the _Dream_?\" answered\nthe mate.\n\n\"To get to Shanghai!\" replied Captain Turcott. \"Bless John and all\nJohn's sons too!\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nIN WHICH IT WILL BE SEEN THAT WILLIAM W. KOLDERUP WAS PROBABLY RIGHT IN\nINSURING HIS SHIP.\n\n\nDuring the following days, the 13th, 14th, and 15th of June, the\nbarometer slowly fell, without an attempt to rise in the slightest\ndegree, and the weather became variable, hovering between rain and wind\nor storm. The breeze strengthened considerably, and changed to\nsouth-westerly. It was a head-wind for the _Dream_, and the waves had\nnow increased enormously, and lifted her forward. The sails were all\nfurled, and she had to depend on her screw alone; under half steam,\nhowever, so as to avoid excessive labouring.\n\nGodfrey bore the trial of the ship's motion without even losing his\ngood-humour for a moment. Evidently he was fond of the sea.\n\nBut Tartlet was not fond of the sea, and it served him out.\n\nIt was pitiful to see the unfortunate professor of deportment deporting\nhimself no longer, the professor of dancing dancing contrary to every\nrule of his art. Remain in his cabin, with the seas shaking the ship\nfrom stem to stern, he could not.\n\n\"Air! air!\" he gasped.\n\nAnd so he never left the deck. A roll sent him rolling from one side to\nthe other, a pitch sent him pitching from one end to the other. He clung\nto the rails, he clutched the ropes, he assumed every attitude that is\nabsolutely condemned by the principles of the modern choregraphic art.\nAh! why could he not raise himself into the air by some balloon-like\nmovement, and escape the eccentricities of that moving plane? A dancer\nof his ancestors had said that he only consented to set foot to the\nground so as not to humiliate his companions, but Tartlet would\nwillingly never have come down at all on the deck, whose perpetual\nagitation threatened to hurl him into the abyss.\n\nWhat an idea it was for the rich William W. Kolderup to send him here.\n\n\"Is this bad weather likely to last?\" asked he of Captain Turcott twenty\ntimes a day.\n\n\"Dunno! barometer is not very promising!\" was the invariable answer of\nthe captain, knitting his brows.\n\n\"Shall we soon get there?\"\n\n\"Soon, Mr. Tartlet? Hum! soon!\"\n\n\"And they call this the Pacific Ocean!\" repeated the unfortunate man,\nbetween a couple of shocks and oscillations.\n\nIt should be stated that, not only did Professor Tartlet suffer from\nsea-sickness, but also that fear had seized him as he watched the great\nseething waves breaking into foam level with the bulwarks of the\n_Dream_, and heard the valves, lifted by the violent beats, letting the\nsteam off through the waste-pipes, as he felt the steamer tossing like a\ncork on the mountains of water.\n\n\"No,\" said he with a lifeless look at his pupil, \"it is not impossible\nfor us to capsize.\"\n\n\"Take it quietly, Tartlet,\" replied Godfrey. \"A ship was made to float!\nThere are reasons for all this.\"\n\n\"I tell you there are none.\"\n\nAnd, thinking thus, the professor had put on his life-belt. He wore it\nnight and day, tightly buckled round his waist. He would not have taken\nit off for untold gold. Every time the sea gave him a moment's respite\nhe would replenish it with another puff. In fact, he never blew it out\nenough to please him.\n\nWe must make some indulgence for the terrors of Tartlet. To those\nunaccustomed to the sea, its rolling is of a nature to cause some\nalarm, and we know that this passenger-in-spite-of-himself had not even\ntill then risked his safety on the peaceable waters of the Bay of San\nFrancisco; so that we can forgive his being ill on board a ship in a\nstiffish breeze, and his feeling terrified at the playfulness of the\nwaves.\n\nThe weather became worse and worse, and threatened the _Dream_ with a\ngale, which, had she been near the shore, would have been announced to\nher by the semaphores.\n\nDuring the day the ship was dreadfully knocked about, though running at\nhalf steam so as not to damage her engines. Her screw was continually\nimmerging and emerging in the violent oscillations of her liquid bed.\nHence, powerful strokes from its wings in the deeper water, or fearful\ntremors as it rose and ran wild, causing heavy thunderings beneath the\nstern, and furious gallopings of the pistons which the engineer could\nmaster but with difficulty.\n\nOne observation Godfrey made, of which at first he could not discover\nthe cause. This was, that during the night the shocks experienced by the\nsteamer were infinitely less violent than during the day. Was he then to\nconclude that the wind then fell, and that a calm set in after sundown?\n\nThis was so remarkable that, on the night between the 21st and 22nd of\nJune, he endeavoured to find out some explanation of it. The day had\nbeen particularly stormy, the wind had freshened, and it did not appear\nat all likely that the sea would fall at night, lashed so capriciously\nas it had been for so many hours.\n\nTowards midnight then Godfrey dressed, and, wrapping himself up warmly,\nwent on deck.\n\nThe men on watch were forward, Captain Turcott was on the bridge.\n\nThe force of the wind had certainly not diminished. The shock of the\nwaves, which should have dashed on the bows of the _Dream_, was,\nhowever, very much less violent. But in raising his eyes towards the top\nof the funnel, with its black canopy of smoke, Godfrey saw that the\nsmoke, instead of floating from the bow aft, was, on the contrary,\nfloating from aft forwards, and following the same direction as the\nship.\n\n\"Has the wind changed?\" he said to himself.\n\nAnd extremely glad at the circumstance he mounted the bridge. Stepping\nup to Turcott,--\n\n\"Captain!\" he said.\n\nThe latter, enveloped in his oilskins, had not heard him approach, and\nat first could not conceal a movement of annoyance in seeing him close\nto him.\n\n\"You, Mr. Godfrey, you--on the bridge?\"\n\n\"Yes, I, captain. I came to ask--\"\n\n\"What?\" answered Captain Turcott sharply.\n\n\"If the wind has not changed?\"\n\n\"No, Mr. Godfrey, no. And, unfortunately, I think it will turn to a\nstorm!\"\n\n\"But we now have the wind behind us!\"\n\n\"Wind behind us--yes--wind behind us!\" replied the captain, visibly\ndisconcerted at the observation. \"But it is not my fault.\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\"\n\n\"I mean that in order not to endanger the vessel's safety I have had to\nput her about and run before the storm.\"\n\n\"That will cause us a most lamentable delay!\" said Godfrey.\n\n\"Very much so,\" answered Captain Turcott, \"but when day breaks, if the\nsea falls a little, I shall resume our westerly route. I should\nrecommend you, Mr. Godfrey, to get back to your cabin. Take my advice,\ntry and sleep while we are running before the wind. You will be less\nknocked about.\"\n\nGodfrey made a sign of affirmation; turning a last anxious glance at the\nlow clouds which were chasing each other with extreme swiftness, he left\nthe bridge, returned to his cabin, and soon resumed his interrupted\nslumbers. The next morning, the 22nd of June, as Captain Turcott had\nsaid, the wind having sensibly abated, the _Dream_ was headed in proper\ndirection.\n\nThis navigation towards the west during the day, towards the east during\nthe night, lasted for forty-eight hours more; but the barometer showed\nsome tendency to rise, its oscillations became less frequent; it was to\nbe presumed that the bad weather would end in northerly winds. And so in\nfact it happened.\n\nOn the 25th of June, about eight o'clock in the morning, when Godfrey\nstepped on deck, a charming breeze from the north-east had swept away\nthe clouds, the sun's rays were shining through the rigging and tipping\nits projecting points with touches of fire. The sea, deep green in\ncolour, glittered along a large section of its surface beneath the\ndirect influence of its beams. The wind blew only in feeble gusts which\nlaced the wave-crests with delicate foam. The lower sails were set.\n\nProperly speaking, they were not regular waves on which the sea rose and\nfell, but only lengthened undulations which gently rocked the steamer.\n\nUndulations or waves, it is true, it was all one to Professor Tartlet,\nas unwell when it was \"too mild,\" as when it was \"too rough.\" There he\nwas, half crouching on the deck, with his mouth open like a carp fainted\nout of water.\n\nThe mate on the poop, his telescope at his eye, was looking towards the\nnorth-east.\n\nGodfrey approached him.\n\n\"Well, sir,\" said he gaily, \"to-day is a little better than yesterday.\"\n\n\"Yes, Mr. Godfrey,\" replied the mate, \"we are now in smooth water.\"\n\n\"And the _Dream_ is on the right road!\"\n\n\"Not yet.\"\n\n\"Not yet? and why?\"\n\n\"Because we have evidently drifted north-eastwards during this last\nspell, and we must find out our position exactly.\"\n\n\"But there is a good sun and a horizon perfectly clear.\"\n\n\"At noon in taking its height we shall get a good observation, and then\nthe captain will give us our course.\"\n\n\"Where is the captain?\" asked Godfrey.\n\n\"He has gone off.\"\n\n\"Gone off?\"\n\n\"Yes! our look-outs saw from the whiteness of the sea that there were\nsome breakers away to the east; breakers which are not shown on the\nchart. So the steam launch was got out, and with the boatswain and three\nmen, Captain Turcott has gone off to explore.\"\n\n\"How long ago?\"\n\n\"About an hour and a half!\"\n\n\"Ah!\" said Godfrey, \"I am sorry he did not tell me. I should like to\nhave gone too.\"\n\n\"You were asleep, Mr. Godfrey,\" replied the mate, \"and the captain did\nnot like to wake you.\"\n\n\"I am sorry; but tell me, which way did the launch go?\"\n\n\"Over there,\" answered the mate, \"over the starboard bow,\nnorth-eastwards.\"\n\n\"And can you see it with the telescope?\"\n\n\"No, she is too far off.\"\n\n\"But will she be long before she comes back?\"\n\n\"She won't be long, for the captain is going to take the sights himself,\nand to do that he must be back before noon.\"\n\nAt this Godfrey went and sat on the forecastle, having sent some one for\nhis glasses. He was anxious to watch the return of the launch. Captain\nTurcott's reconnaissance did not cause him any surprise. It was natural\nthat the _Dream_ should not be run into danger on a part of the sea\nwhere breakers had been reported.\n\nTwo hours passed. It was not until half-past ten that a light line of\nsmoke began to rise on the horizon.\n\nIt was evidently the steam launch which, having finished the\nreconnaissance, was making for the ship.\n\nIt amused Godfrey to follow her in the field of his glasses. He saw her\nlittle by little reveal herself in clearer outline, he saw her grow on\nthe surface of the sea, and then give definite shape to her smoke\nwreath, as it mingled with a few curls of steam on the clear depth of\nthe horizon.\n\nShe was an excellent little vessel, of immense speed, and as she came\nalong at full steam, she was soon visible to the naked eye. Towards\neleven o'clock, the wash from her bow as she tore through the waves was\nperfectly distinct, and behind her the long furrow of foam gradually\ngrowing wider and fainter like the tail of a comet.\n\nAt a quarter-past eleven, Captain Turcott hailed and boarded the\n_Dream_.\n\n\"Well, captain, what news?\" asked Godfrey, shaking his hand.\n\n\"Ah! Good morning, Mr. Godfrey!\"\n\n\"And the breakers?\"\n\n\"Only show!\" answered Captain Turcott. \"We saw nothing suspicious, our\nmen must have been deceived, but I am rather surprised at that, all the\nsame.\"\n\n\"We are going ahead then?\" said Godfrey.\n\n\"Yes, we are going on now, but I must first take an observation.\"\n\n\"Shall we get the launch on board?\" asked the mate.\n\n\"No,\" answered the captain, \"we may want it again. Leave it in tow!\"\n\nThe captain's orders were executed, and the launch, still under steam,\ndropped round to the stern of the _Dream_.\n\nThree-quarters of an hour afterwards, Captain Turcott, with his sextant\nin his hand, took the sun's altitude, and having made his observation,\nhe gave the course. That done, having given a last look at the horizon,\nhe called the mate, and taking him into his cabin, the two remained\nthere in a long consultation.\n\nThe day was a very fine one. The sails had been furled, and the _Dream_\nsteamed rapidly without their help. The wind was very slight, and with\nthe speed given by the screw there would not have been enough to fill\nthem.\n\nGodfrey was thoroughly happy. This sailing over a beautiful sea, under a\nbeautiful sky, could anything be more cheering, could anything give more\nimpulse to thought, more satisfaction to the mind? And it is scarcely to\nbe wondered at that Professor Tartlet also began to recover himself a\nlittle. The state of the sea did not inspire him with immediate\ninquietude, and his physical being showed a little reaction. He tried to\neat, but without taste or appetite. Godfrey would have had him take off\nthe life-belt which encircled his waist, but this he absolutely refused\nto do. Was there not a chance of this conglomeration of wood and iron,\nwhich men call a vessel, gaping asunder at any moment.\n\nThe evening came, a thick mist spread over the sky, without descending\nto the level of the sea. The night was to be much darker than would have\nbeen thought from the magnificent daytime.\n\nThere was no rock to fear in these parts, for Captain Turcott had just\nfixed his exact position on the charts; but collisions are always\npossible, and they are much more frequent on foggy nights.\n\nThe lamps were carefully put into place as soon as the sun set. The\nwhite one was run up the mast, and the green light to the right and the\nred one to the left gleamed in the shrouds. If the _Dream_ was run down,\nat the least it would not be her fault--that was one consolation. To\nfounder even when one is in order is to founder nevertheless, and if any\none on board made this observation it was of course Professor Tartlet.\nHowever, the worthy man, always on the roll and the pitch, had regained\nhis cabin, Godfrey his; the one with the assurance, the other in the\nhope that he would pass a good night, for the _Dream_ scarcely moved on\nthe crest of the lengthened waves.\n\nCaptain Turcott, having handed over the watch to the mate, also came\nunder the poop to take a few hours' rest. All was in order. The steamer\ncould go ahead in perfect safety, although it did not seem as though\nthe thick fog would lift.\n\nIn about twenty minutes Godfrey was asleep, and the sleepless Tartlet,\nwho had gone to bed with his clothes on as usual, only betrayed himself\nby distant sighs. All at once--at about one in the morning--Godfrey was\nawakened by a dreadful clamour.\n\nHe jumped out of bed, slipped on his clothes, his trousers, his\nwaistcoat and his sea-boots.\n\nAlmost immediately a fearful cry was heard on deck, \"We are sinking! we\nare sinking!\"\n\nIn an instant Godfrey was out of his cabin and in the saloon. There he\ncannoned against an inert mass which he did not recognize. It was\nProfessor Tartlet.\n\nThe whole crew were on deck, hurrying about at the orders of the mate\nand captain.\n\n\"A collision?\" asked Godfrey.\n\n\"I don't know, I don't know--this beastly fog--\" answered the mate; \"but\nwe are sinking!\"\n\n\"Sinking?\" exclaimed Godfrey.\n\nAnd in fact the _Dream_, which had doubtless struck on a rock was\nsensibly foundering. The water was creeping up to the level of the deck.\nThe engine fires were probably already out below.\n\n\"To the sea! to the sea, Mr. Morgan!\" exclaimed the captain. \"There is\nnot a moment to lose! You can see the ship settling down! It will draw\nyou down in the eddy!\"\n\n\"And Tartlet?\"\n\n\"I'll look after him!--We are only half a cable from the shore!\"\n\n\"But you?\"\n\n\"My duty compels me to remain here to the last, and I remain!\" said the\ncaptain. \"But get off! get off!\"\n\nGodfrey still hesitated to cast himself into the waves, but the water\nwas already up to the level of the deck.\n\nCaptain Turcott knowing that Godfrey swam like a fish, seized him by the\nshoulders, and did him the service of throwing him overboard.\n\nIt was time! Had it not been for the darkness, there would doubtless\nhave been seen a deep raging vortex in the place once occupied by the\n_Dream_.\n\nBut Godfrey, in a few strokes in the calm water, was able to get swiftly\nclear of the whirlpool, which would have dragged him down like the\nmaelstrom.\n\nAll this was the work of a minute.\n\nA few minutes afterwards, amid shouts of despair, the lights on board\nwent out one after the other.\n\nDoubt existed no more; the _Dream_ had sunk head downwards!\n\nAs for Godfrey he had been able to reach a large lofty rock away from\nthe surf. There, shouting vainly in the darkness, hearing no voice in\nreply to his own, not knowing if he should find himself on an isolated\nrock or at the extremity of a line of reefs, and perhaps the sole\nsurvivor of the catastrophe, he waited for the dawn.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nWHICH LEADS GODFREY TO BITTER REFLECTIONS ON THE MANIA FOR TRAVELLING.\n\n\nThree long hours had still to pass before the sun reappeared above the\nhorizon. These were such hours that they might rather be called\ncenturies.\n\nThe trial was a rough one to begin with, but, we repeat, Godfrey had not\ncome out for a simple promenade. He himself put it very well when he\nsaid he had left behind him quite a lifetime of happiness and repose,\nwhich he would never find again in his search for adventures. He tried\nhis utmost therefore to rise to the situation.\n\nHe was, temporarily, under shelter. The sea after all could not drive\nhim off the rock which lay anchored alone amid the spray of the surf.\nWas there any fear of the incoming tide soon reaching him? No, for on\nreflection he concluded that the wreck had taken place at the highest\ntide of the new moon.\n\nBut was the rock isolated? Did it command a line of breakers scattered\non this portion of the sea? What was this coast which Captain Turcott\nhad thought he saw in the darkness? To which continent did it belong? It\nwas only too certain that the _Dream_ had been driven out of her route\nduring the storm of the preceding days. The position of the ship could\nnot have been exactly fixed. How could there be a doubt of this when the\ncaptain had two hours before affirmed that his charts bore no indication\nof breakers in these parts! He had even done better and had gone himself\nto reconnoitre these imaginary reefs which his look-outs had reported\nthey had seen in the east.\n\nIt nevertheless had been only too true, and Captain Turcott's\nreconnaissance would have certainly prevented the catastrophe if it had\nonly been pushed far enough. But what was the good of returning to the\npast?\n\nThe important question in face of what had happened--a question of life\nor death--was for Godfrey to know if he was near to some land. In what\npart of the Pacific there would be time later on to determine. Before\neverything he must think as soon as the day came of how to leave the\nrock, which in its biggest part could not measure more that twenty yards\nsquare. But people do not leave one place except to go to another. And\nif this other did not exist, if the captain had been deceived in the\nfog, if around the breakers there stretched a boundless sea, if at the\nextreme point of view the sky and the water seemed to meet all round the\nhorizon?\n\nThe thoughts of the young man were thus concentrated on this point. All\nhis powers of vision did he employ to discover through the black night\nif any confused mass, any heap of rocks or cliffs, would reveal the\nneighbourhood of land to the eastward of the reef.\n\nGodfrey saw nothing. Not a smell of earth reached his nose, not a\nsensation of light reached his eyes, not a sound reached his ears. Not a\nbird traversed the darkness. It seemed that around him there was nothing\nbut a vast desert of water.\n\nGodfrey did not hide from himself that the chances were a thousand to\none that he was lost. He no longer thought of making the tour of the\nworld, but of facing death, and calmly and bravely his thoughts rose to\nthat Providence which can do all things for the feeblest of its\ncreatures, though the creatures can do nothing of themselves. And so\nGodfrey had to wait for the day to resign himself to his fate, if safety\nwas impossible; and, on the contrary, to try everything, if there was\nany chance of life.\n\nCalmed by the very gravity of his reflections, Godfrey had seated\nhimself on the rock. He had stripped off some of his clothes which had\nbeen saturated by the sea-water, his woollen waistcoat and his heavy\nboots, so as to be ready to jump into the sea if necessary.\n\nHowever, was it possible that no one had survived the wreck? What! not\none of the men of the _Dream_ carried to shore? Had they all been sucked\nin by the terrible whirlpool which the ship had drawn round herself as\nshe sank? The last to whom Godfrey had spoken was Captain Turcott,\nresolved not to quit his ship while one of his sailors was still there!\nIt was the captain himself who had hurled him into the sea at the moment\nthe _Dream_ was disappearing.\n\nBut the others, the unfortunate Tartlet, and the unhappy Chinese,\nsurprised without doubt, and swallowed up, the one in the poop, the\nother in the depths of the hold, what had become of them? Of all those\non board the _Dream_, was he the only one saved? And had the steam\nlaunch remained at the stern of the steamer? Could not a few passengers\nor sailors have saved themselves therein, and found time to flee from\nthe wreck? But was it not rather to be feared that the launch had been\ndragged down by the ship under several fathoms of water?\n\nGodfrey then said to himself, that if in this dark night he could not\nsee, he could at least make himself heard. There was nothing to prevent\nhis shouting and hailing in the deep silence. Perhaps the voice of one\nof his companions would respond to his.\n\nOver and over again then did he call, giving forth a prolonged shout\nwhich should have been heard for a considerable distance round. Not a\ncry answered to his.\n\nHe began again, many times, turning successively to every point of the\nhorizon.\n\nAbsolute silence.\n\n\"Alone! alone!\" he murmured.\n\nNot only had no cry answered to his, but no echo had sent him back the\nsound of his own voice. Had he been near a cliff, not far from a group\nof rocks, such as generally border the shore, it was certain that his\nshouts, repelled by the obstacles, would have returned to him. Either\neastwards of the reef, therefore, stretched a low-lying shore\nill-adapted for the production of an echo, or there was no land in his\nvicinity, the bed of breakers on which he had found refuge was isolated.\n\nThree hours were passed in these anxieties. Godfrey, quite chilled,\nwalked about the top of the rock, trying to battle with the cold. At\nlast a few pale beams of light tinged the clouds in the zenith. It was\nthe reflection of the first colouring of the horizon.\n\nGodfrey turned to this side--the only one towards which there could be\nland--to see if any cliff outlined itself in the shadow. With its early\nrays the rising sun might disclose its features more distinctly.\n\nBut nothing appeared through the misty dawn. A light fog was rising\nover the sea, which did not even admit of his discovering the extent of\nthe breakers.\n\n[Illustration: Nothing appeared through the mist. _page 82_]\n\nHe had, therefore, to satisfy himself with illusions. If Godfrey were\nreally cast on an isolated rock in the Pacific, it was death to him\nafter a brief delay, death by hunger, by thirst, or if necessary, death\nat the bottom of the sea as a last resource!\n\nHowever, he kept constantly looking, and it seemed as though the\nintensity of his gaze increased enormously, for all his will was\nconcentrated therein.\n\nAt length the morning mist began to fade away. Godfrey saw the rocks\nwhich formed the reef successively defined in relief on the sea, like a\ntroop of marine monsters. It was a long and irregular assemblage of dark\nboulders, strangely worn, of all sizes and forms, whose direction was\nalmost west and east. The enormous block on the top of which Godfrey\nfound himself emerged from the sea on the western edge of the bank\nscarcely thirty fathoms from the spot where the _Dream_ had gone down.\nThe sea hereabouts appeared to be very deep, for of the steamer nothing\nwas to be seen, not even the ends of her masts. Perhaps by some\nunder-current she had been drawn away from the reefs.\n\nA glance was enough for Godfrey to take in this state of affairs.\nThere was no safety on that side. All his attention was directed towards\nthe other side of the breakers, which the lifting fog was gradually\ndisclosing. The sea, now that the tide had retired, allowed the rocks to\nstand out very distinctly. They could be seen to lengthen as there humid\nbases widened. Here were vast intervals of water, there a few shallow\npools. If they joined on to any coast, it would not be difficult to\nreach it.\n\nUp to the present, however, there was no sign of any shore. Nothing yet\nindicated the proximity of dry land, even in this direction.\n\nThe fog continued to lift, and the field of view persistently watched by\nGodfrey continued to grow. Its wreaths had now rolled off for about half\na mile or so. Already a few sandy flats appeared among the rocks,\ncarpeted with their slimy sea-weed.\n\nDid not this sand indicate more or less the presence of a beach, and if\nthe beach existed, could there be a doubt but what it belonged to the\ncoast of a more important land? At length a long profile of low hills,\nbuttressed with huge granitic rocks, became clearly outlined and seemed\nto shut in the horizon on the east. The sun had drunk up all the morning\nvapours, and his disc broke forth in all its glory.\n\n\"Land! land!\" exclaimed Godfrey.\n\nAnd he stretched his hands towards the shore-line, as he knelt on the\nreef and offered his thanks to Heaven.\n\nIt was really land. The breakers only formed a projecting ridge,\nsomething like the southern cape of a bay, which curved round for about\ntwo miles or more. The bottom of the curve seemed to be a level beach,\nbordered by trifling hills, contoured here and there with lines of\nvegetation, but of no great size.\n\nFrom the place which Godfrey occupied, his view was able to grasp the\nwhole of this side.\n\nBordered north and south by two unequal promontories, it stretched away\nfor, at the most, five or six miles. It was possible, however, that it\nformed part of a large district. Whatever it was, it offered at the\nleast temporary safety. Godfrey, at the sight, could not conceive a\ndoubt but that he had not been thrown on to a solitary reef, and that\nthis morsel of ground would satisfy his earliest wants.\n\n\"To land! to land!\" he said to himself.\n\nBut before he left the reef, he gave a look round for the last time. His\neyes again interrogated the sea away up to the horizon. Would some raft\nappear on the surface of the waves, some fragment of the _Dream_, some\nsurvivor, perhaps?\n\nNothing. The launch even was not there, and had probably been dragged\ninto the common abyss.\n\nThen the idea occurred to Godfrey that among the breakers some of his\ncompanions might have found a refuge, and were, like him, waiting for\nthe day to try and reach the shore.\n\nThere was nobody, neither on the rocks, nor on the beach! The reef was\nas deserted as the ocean!\n\nBut in default of survivors, had not the sea thrown up some of the\ncorpses? Could not Godfrey find among the rocks, along to the utmost\nboundary of the surf, the inanimate bodies of some of his companions?\n\nNo! Nothing along the whole length of the breakers, which the last\nripples of the ebb had now left bare.\n\nGodfrey was alone! He could only count on himself to battle with the\ndangers of every sort which environed him!\n\nBefore this reality, however, Godfrey, let it be said to his credit, did\nnot quail. But as before everything it was best for him to ascertain the\nnature of the ground from which he was separated by so short a distance,\nhe left the summit of the rock and began to approach the shore.\n\nWhen the interval which separated the rocks was too great to be cleared\nat a bound, he got down into the water, and sometimes walking and\nsometimes swimming he easily gained the one next in order. When there\nwas but a yard or two between, he jumped from one rock to the other.\nHis progress over these slimy stones, carpeted with glistening\nsea-weeds, was not easy, and it was long. Nearly a quarter of a mile had\nthus to be traversed.\n\nBut Godfrey was active and handy, and at length he set foot on the land\nwhere there probably awaited him, if not early death, at least a\nmiserable life worse than death. Hunger, thirst, cold, and nakedness,\nand perils of all kinds; without a weapon of defence, without a gun to\nshoot with, without a change of clothes--such the extremities to which\nhe was reduced.\n\nHow imprudent he had been! He had been desirous of knowing if he was\ncapable of making his way in the world under difficult circumstances! He\nhad put himself to the proof! He had envied the lot of a Crusoe! Well,\nhe would see if the lot were an enviable one!\n\nAnd then there returned to his mind the thought of his happy existence,\nthat easy life in San Francisco, in the midst of a rich and loving\nfamily, which he had abandoned to throw himself into adventures. He\nthought of his Uncle Will, of his betrothed Phina, of his friends who\nwould doubtless never see him again.\n\nAs he called up these remembrances his heart swelled, and in spite of\nhis resolution a tear rose to his eyes.\n\nAnd again, if he was not alone, if some other survivor of the shipwreck\nhad managed, like him, to reach the shore, and even in default of the\ncaptain or the mate, this proved to be Professor Tartlet, how little he\ncould depend on that frivolous being, and how slightly improved the\nchances of the future appeared! At this point, however, he still had\nhope. If he had found no trace among the breakers, would he meet with\nany on the beach?\n\nWho else but he had already touched the shore, seeking a companion who\nwas seeking him?\n\nGodfrey took another long look from north to south. He did not notice a\nsingle human being. Evidently this portion of the earth was uninhabited.\nIn any case there was no sign, not a trace of smoke in the air, not a\nvestige.\n\n\"Let us get on!\" said Godfrey to himself.\n\nAnd he walked along the beach towards the north, before venturing to\nclimb the sand dunes, which would allow him to reconnoitre the country\nover a larger extent.\n\nThe silence was absolute. The sand had received no other footmark. A few\nsea-birds, gulls or guillemots, were skimming along the edge of the\nrocks, the only living things in the solitude.\n\nGodfrey continued his walk for a quarter of an hour. At last he was\nabout to turn on to the talus of the most elevated of the dunes, dotted\nwith rushes and brushwood, when he suddenly stopped.\n\nA shapeless object, extraordinarily distended, something like the\ncorpse of a sea monster, thrown there, doubtless, by the late storm, was\nlying about thirty paces off on the edge of the reef.\n\nGodfrey hastened to run towards it.\n\nThe nearer he approached the more rapidly did his heart beat. In truth,\nin this stranded animal he seemed to recognize a human form.\n\nGodfrey was not ten paces away from it, when he stopped as if rooted to\nthe soil, and exclaimed,--\n\n\"Tartlet!\"\n\nIt was the professor of dancing and deportment.\n\nGodfrey rushed towards his companion, who perhaps still breathed.\n\nA moment afterwards he saw that it was the life-belt which produced this\nextraordinary distension, and gave the aspect of a monster of the sea to\nthe unfortunate professor.\n\nBut although Tartlet was motionless, was he dead? Perhaps this natatory\nclothing had kept him above water, while the surf had borne him to\nshore?\n\nGodfrey set to work. He knelt down by Tartlet; he unloosed the life-belt\nand rubbed him vigorously. He noticed at last a light breath on the\nhalf-opened lips! He put his hand on his heart! The heart still beat.\n\nGodfrey spoke to him.\n\nTartlet shook his head, then he gave utterance to a hoarse exclamation,\nfollowed by incoherent words.\n\nGodfrey shook him violently.\n\nTartlet then opened his eyes, passed his left hand over his brow, lifted\nhis right hand and assured himself that his precious kit and bow, which\nhe tightly held, had not abandoned him.\n\n\"Tartlet! My dear Tartlet!\" shouted Godfrey, lightly raising his head.\n\nThe head with his mass of tumbled hair gave an affirmative nod.\n\n\"It is I! I! Godfrey!\"\n\n\"Godfrey?\" asked the professor.\n\nAnd then he turned over, and rose on to his knees, and looked about, and\nsmiled, and rose to his feet! He had discovered that at last he was on a\nsolid base! He had gathered that he was no longer on the ship's deck,\nexposed to all the uncertainties of its pitches and its rolls! The sea\nhad ceased to carry him! He stood on firm ground!\n\nAnd then Professor Tartlet recovered the aplomb which he had lost since\nhis departure; his feet placed themselves naturally, with their toes\nturned out, in the regulation position; his left hand seized his kit,\nhis right hand grasped his bow.\n\nThen, while the strings, vigorously attacked, gave forth a humid sound\nof melancholy sonorousness, these words escaped his smiling lips,--\n\n\"In place, miss!\"\n\nThe good man was thinking of Phina.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nIN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT CRUSOES DO NOT HAVE EVERYTHING AS THEY WISH.\n\n\nThat done, the professor and his pupil rushed into one another's arms.\n\n\"My dear Godfrey!\" exclaimed Tartlet.\n\n\"My good Tartlet!\" replied Godfrey.\n\n\"At last we are arrived in port!\" observed the professor in the tone of\na man who had had enough of navigation and its accidents.\n\nHe called it arriving in port!\n\nGodfrey had no desire to contradict him.\n\n\"Take off your life-belt,\" he said. \"It suffocates you and hampers your\nmovements.\"\n\n\"Do you think I can do so without inconvenience?\" asked Tartlet.\n\n\"Without any inconvenience,\" answered Godfrey. \"Now put up your fiddle,\nand let us take a look round.\"\n\n\"Come on,\" replied the professor; \"but if you don't mind, Godfrey, let\nus go to the first restaurant we see. I am dying of hunger, and a dozen\nsandwiches washed down with a glass or two of wine will soon set me on\nmy legs again.\"\n\n\"Yes! to the first restaurant!\" answered Godfrey, nodding his head; \"and\neven to the last, if the first does not suit us.\"\n\n\"And,\" continued Tartlet, \"we can ask some fellow as we go along the\nroad to the telegraph office so as to send a message off to your Uncle\nKolderup. That excellent man will hardly refuse to send on some\nnecessary cash for us to get back to Montgomery Street, for I have not\ngot a cent with me!\"\n\n\"Agreed, to the first telegraph office,\" answered Godfrey, \"or if there\nisn't one in this country, to the first post office. Come on, Tartlet.\"\n\nThe professor took off his swimming apparatus, and passed it over his\nshoulder like a hunting-horn, and then both stepped out for the edge of\nthe dunes which bordered the shore.\n\nWhat more particularly interested Godfrey, whom the encounter with\nTartlet had imbued with some hope, was to see if they too were the only\nsurvivors of the _Dream_.\n\nA quarter of an hour after the explorers had left the edge of the reef\nthey had climbed a dune about sixty or eighty feet high, and stood on\nits crest. Thence they looked on a large extent of coast, and examined\nthe horizon in the east, which till then had been hidden by the hills on\nthe shore.\n\nTwo or three miles away in that direction a second line of hills formed\nthe background, and beyond them nothing was seen of the horizon.\n\nTowards the north the coast trended off to a point, but it could not be\nseen if there was a corresponding cape behind. On the south a creek ran\nsome distance into the shore, and on this side it looked as though the\nocean closed the view. Whence this land in the Pacific was probably a\npeninsula, and the isthmus which joined it to the continent would have\nto be sought for towards the north or north-east.\n\nThe country, however, far from being barren, was hidden beneath an\nagreeable mantle of verdure; long prairies, amid which meandered many\nlimpid streams, and high and thick forests, whose trees rose above one\nanother to the very background of hills. It was a charming landscape.\n\nBut of houses forming town, village, or hamlet, not one was in sight! Of\nbuildings grouped and arranged as a farm of any sort, not a sign! Of\nsmoke in the sky, betraying some dwelling hidden among the trees, not a\ntrace. Not a steeple above the branches, not a windmill on an isolated\nhill. Not even in default of houses a cabin, a hut, an ajoupa, or a\nwigwam? No! nothing. If human beings inhabited this unknown land, they\nmust live like troglodytes, below, and not above the ground. Not a road\nwas visible, not a footpath, not even a track. It seemed that the foot\nof man had never trod either a rock of the beach or a blade of the grass\non the prairies.\n\n\"I don't see the town,\" remarked Tartlet, who, however, remained on\ntiptoe.\n\n\"That is perhaps because it is not in this part of the province!\"\nanswered Godfrey.\n\n\"But a village?\"\n\n\"There's nothing here.\"\n\n\"Where are we then?\"\n\n\"I know nothing about it.\"\n\n\"What! You don't know! But Godfrey, we had better make haste and find\nout.\"\n\n\"Who is to tell us?\"\n\n\"What will become of us then?\" exclaimed Tartlet, rounding his arms and\nlifting them to the sky.\n\n\"Become a couple of Crusoes!\"\n\nAt this answer the professor gave a bound such as no clown had ever\nequalled.\n\nCrusoes! They! A Crusoe! He! Descendants of that Selkirk who had lived\nfor long years on the island of Juan Fernandez! Imitators of the\nimaginary heroes of Daniel Defoe and De Wyss whose adventures they had\nso often read! Abandoned, far from their relatives, their friends;\nseparated from their fellow-men by thousands of miles, destined to\ndefend their lives perhaps against wild beasts, perhaps against savages\nwho would land there, wretches without resources, suffering from hunger,\nsuffering from thirst, without weapons, without tools, almost without\nclothes, left to themselves. No, it was impossible!\n\n\"Don't say such things, Godfrey,\" exclaimed Tartlet. \"No! Don't joke\nabout such things! The mere supposition will kill me! You are laughing\nat me, are you not?\"\n\n\"Yes, my gallant Tartlet,\" answered Godfrey. \"Reassure yourself. But in\nthe first place, let us think about matters that are pressing.\"\n\nIn fact, they had to try and find some cavern, a grotto or hole, in\nwhich to pass the night, and then to collect some edible mollusks so as\nto satisfy the cravings of their stomachs.\n\nGodfrey and Tartlet then commenced to descend the talus of the dunes in\nthe direction of the reef. Godfrey showed himself very ardent in his\nresearches, and Tartlet considerably stupefied by his shipwreck\nexperiences. The first looked before him, behind him, and all around\nhim; the second hardly saw ten paces in front of him.\n\n\"If there are no inhabitants on this land, are there any animals?\"\nasked Godfrey.\n\nHe meant to say domestic animals, such as furred and feathered game, not\nwild animals which abound in tropical regions, and with which they were\nnot likely to have to do.\n\nSeveral flocks of birds were visible on the shore, bitterns, curlews,\nbernicle geese, and teal, which hovered and chirped and filled the air\nwith their flutterings and cries, doubtless protesting against the\ninvasion of their domain.\n\nGodfrey was justified in concluding that where there were birds there\nwere nests, and where there were nests there were eggs. The birds\ncongregated here in such numbers, because rocks provided them with\nthousands of cavities for their dwelling-places. In the distance a few\nherons and some flocks of snipe indicated the neighbourhood of a marsh.\n\nBirds then were not wanting, the only difficulty was to get at them\nwithout fire-arms. The best thing to do now was to make use of them in\nthe egg state, and consume them under that elementary but nourishing\nform.\n\nBut if the dinner was there, how were they to cook it? How were they to\nset about lighting a fire? An important question, the solution of which\nwas postponed.\n\nGodfrey and Tartlet returned straight towards the reef, over which some\nsea-birds were circling. An agreeable surprise there awaited them.\n\nAmong the indigenous fowl which ran along the sand of the beach and\npecked about among the sea-weed and under the tufts of aquatic plants,\nwas it a dozen hens and two or three cocks of the American breed that\nthey beheld? No! There was no mistake, for at their approach did not a\nresounding cock-a-doodle-do-oo-oo rend the air like the sound of a\ntrumpet?\n\nAnd farther off, what were those quadrupeds which were gliding in and\nout of the rocks, and making their way towards the first slopes of the\nhills, or grubbing beneath some of the green shrubs? Godfrey could not\nbe mistaken. There were a dozen agouties, five or six sheep, and as many\ngoats, who were quietly browsing on the first vegetation on the very\nedge of the prairie.\n\n\"Look there, Tartlet!\" he exclaimed.\n\nAnd the professor looked, but saw nothing, so much was he absorbed with\nthe thought of this unexpected situation.\n\nA thought flashed across the mind of Godfrey, and it was correct: it was\nthat these hens, agouties, goats, and sheep had belonged to the _Dream_.\nAt the moment she went down, the fowls had easily been able to reach the\nreef and then the beach. As for the quadrupeds, they could easily have\nswum ashore.\n\n\"And so,\" remarked Godfrey, \"what none of our unfortunate companions\nhave been able to do, these simple animals, guided by their instinct,\nhave done! And of all those on board the _Dream_, none have been saved\nbut a few beasts!\"\n\n\"Including ourselves!\" answered Tartlet naively.\n\nAs far as he was concerned, he had come ashore unconsciously, very much\nlike one of the animals. It mattered little. It was a very fortunate\nthing for the two shipwrecked men that a certain number of these animals\nhad reached the shore. They would collect them, fold them, and with the\nspecial fecundity of their species, if their stay on this land was a\nlengthy one, it would be easy to have quite a flock of quadrupeds, and a\nyard full of poultry.\n\nBut on this occasion, Godfrey wished to keep to such alimentary\nresources as the coast could furnish, either in eggs or shell-fish.\nProfessor Tartlet and he set to work to forage among the interstices of\nthe stones, and beneath the carpet of sea-weeds, and not without\nsuccess. They soon collected quite a notable quantity of mussels and\nperiwinkles, which they could eat raw. A few dozen eggs of the bernicle\ngeese were also found among the higher rocks which shut in the bay on\nthe north. They had enough to satisfy a good many; and, hunger pressing,\nGodfrey and Tartlet hardly thought of making difficulties about their\nfirst repast.\n\n\"And the fire?\" said the professor.\n\n\"Yes! The fire!\" said Godfrey.\n\nIt was the most serious of questions, and it led to an inventory being\nmade of the contents of their pockets. Those of the professor were empty\nor nearly so. They contained a few spare strings for his kit, and a\npiece of rosin for his bow. How would you get a light from that, I\nshould like to know? Godfrey was hardly better provided. However, it was\nwith extreme satisfaction that he discovered in his pocket an excellent\nknife, whose leather case had kept it from the sea-water. This knife,\nwith blade, gimlet, hook, and saw, was a valuable instrument under the\ncircumstances. But besides this tool, Godfrey and his companion had only\ntheir two hands; and as the hands of the professor had never been used\nexcept in playing his fiddle, and making his gestures, Godfrey concluded\nthat he would have to trust to his own.\n\nHe thought, however, of utilizing those of Tartlet for procuring a fire\nby means of rubbing two sticks of wood rapidly together. A few eggs\ncooked in the embers would be greatly appreciated at their second meal\nat noon.\n\nWhile Godfrey then was occupied in robbing the nests in spite of the\nproprietors, who tried to defend their progeny in the shell, the\nprofessor went off to collect some pieces of wood which had been dried\nby the sun at the foot of the dunes. These were taken behind a rock\nsheltered from the wind from the sea. Tartlet then chose two very dry\npieces, with the intention of gradually obtaining sufficient heat by\nrubbing them vigorously and continuously together. What simple\nPolynesian savages commonly did, why should not the professor, so much\ntheir superior in his own opinion, be able to do?\n\nBehold him then, rubbing and rubbing, in a way to dislocate the muscles\nof his arm and shoulder. He worked himself into quite a rage, poor man!\nBut whether it was that the wood was not right, or its dryness was not\nsufficient, or the professor held it wrongly, or had not got the\npeculiar turn of hand necessary for operations of this kind, if he did\nnot get much heat out of the wood, he succeeded in getting a good deal\nout of himself. In short, it was his own forehead alone which smoked\nunder the vapours of his own perspiration.\n\nWhen Godfrey returned with his collection of eggs, he found Tartlet in a\nrage, in a state to which his choregraphic exercises had never doubtless\nprovoked him.\n\n\"Doesn't it do?\" he asked.\n\n\"No, Godfrey, it does not do,\" replied the professor. \"And I begin to\nthink that these inventions of the savages are only imaginations to\ndeceive the world.\"\n\n\"No,\" answered Godfrey. \"But in that, as in all things, you must know\nhow to do it.\"\n\n\"These eggs, then?\"\n\n\"There is another way. If you attach one of these eggs to the end of a\nstring and whirl it round rapidly, and suddenly arrest the movement of\nrotation, the movement may perhaps transform itself into heat, and\nthen--\"\n\n\"And then the egg will be cooked?\"\n\n\"Yes, if the rotation has been swift enough and the stoppage sudden\nenough. But how do you produce the stoppage without breaking the egg?\nNow, there is a simpler way, dear Tartlet. Behold!\"\n\nAnd carefully taking one of the eggs of the bernicle goose, he broke the\nshell at its end, and adroitly swallowed the inside without any further\nformalities.\n\nTartlet could not make up his mind to imitate him, and contented himself\nwith the shell-fish.\n\nIt now remained to look for a grotto or some shelter in which to pass\nthe night.\n\n\"It is an unheard-of thing,\" observed the professor, \"that Crusoes\ncannot at the least find a cavern, which, later on, they can make their\nhome!\"\n\n\"Let us look,\" said Godfrey.\n\nIt was unheard of. We must avow, however, that on this occasion the\ntradition was broken. In vain did they search along the rocky shore on\nthe southern part of the bay. Not a cavern, not a grotto, not a hole was\nthere that would serve as a shelter. They had to give up the idea.\nGodfrey resolved to reconnoitre up to the first trees in the background\nbeyond the sandy coast.\n\nTartlet and he then remounted the first line of sandhills and crossed\nthe verdant prairies which they had seen a few hours before.\n\nA very odd circumstance, and a very fortunate one at the time, that the\nother survivors of the wreck voluntarily followed them. Evidently, cocks\nand hens, and sheep, goats and agouties, driven by instinct, had\nresolved to go with them. Doubtless they felt too lonely on the beach,\nwhich did not yield sufficient food.\n\nThree-quarters of an hour later Godfrey and Tartlet--they had scarcely\nspoken during the exploration--arrived at the outskirt of the trees. Not\na trace was there of habitation or inhabitant. Complete solitude. It\nmight even be doubted if this part of the country had ever been trodden\nby human feet.\n\nIn this place were a few handsome trees, in isolated groups, and others\nmore crowded about a quarter of a mile in the rear formed a veritable\nforest of different species.\n\nGodfrey looked out for some old trunk, hollowed by age, which could\noffer a shelter among its branches, but his researches were in vain,\nalthough he continued them till night was falling.\n\nHunger made itself sharply felt, and the two contented themselves with\nmussels, of which they had thoughtfully brought an ample supply from the\nbeach. Then, quite tired out, they lay down at the foot of a tree, and\ntrusting to Providence, slept through the night.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nIN WHICH GODFREY DOES WHAT ANY OTHER SHIPWRECKED MAN WOULD HAVE DONE\nUNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES.\n\n\nThe night passed without incident. The two men, quite knocked up with\nexcitement and fatigue, had slept as peacefully as if they had been in\nthe most comfortable room in the mansion in Montgomery Street.\n\nOn the morrow, the 27th of June, at the first rays of the rising sun,\nthe crow of the cock awakened them.\n\nGodfrey immediately recognized where he was, but Tartlet had to rub his\neyes and stretch his arms for some time before he did so.\n\n\"Is breakfast this morning to resemble dinner yesterday?\" was his first\nobservation.\n\n\"I am afraid so,\" answered Godfrey. \"But I hope we shall dine better\nthis evening.\"\n\nThe professor could not restrain a significant grimace. Where were the\ntea and sandwiches which had hitherto been brought to him when he\nawoke? How could he wait till breakfast-time, the bell for which would\nperhaps never sound, without this preparatory repast?\n\nBut it was necessary to make a start. Godfrey felt the responsibility\nwhich rested on him, on him alone, for he could in no way depend on his\ncompanion. In that empty box which served the professor for a cranium\nthere could be born no practical idea; Godfrey would have to think,\ncontrive, and decide for both.\n\nHis first thought was for Phina, his betrothed, whom he had so stupidly\nrefused to make his wife; his second for his Uncle Will, whom he had so\nimprudently left, and then turning to Tartlet,--\n\n\"To vary our ordinary,\" he said, \"here are some shell-fish and half a\ndozen eggs.\"\n\n\"And nothing to cook them with!\"\n\n\"Nothing!\" said Godfrey. \"But if the food itself was missing, what would\nyou say then, Tartlet?\"\n\n\"I should say that nothing was not enough,\" said Tartlet drily.\n\nNevertheless, they had to be content with this repast.\n\nThe very natural idea occurred to Godfrey to push forward the\nreconnaissance commenced the previous evening. Above all it was\nnecessary to know as soon as possible in what part of the Pacific Ocean\nthe _Dream_ had been lost, so as to discover some inhabited place on\nthe shore, where they could either arrange the way of returning home or\nawait the passing of some ship.\n\nGodfrey observed that if he could cross the second line of hills, whose\npicturesque outline was visible beyond the first, that he might perhaps\nbe able to do this. He reckoned that they could get there in an hour or\ntwo, and it was to this urgent exploration that he resolved to devote\nthe first hours of the day. He looked round him. The cocks and hens were\nbeginning to peck about among the high vegetation. Agouties, goats,\nsheep, went and came on the skirt of the forest.\n\nGodfrey did not care to drag all this flock of poultry and quadrupeds\nabout with him. But to keep them more safely in this place, it would be\nnecessary to leave Tartlet in charge of them.\n\nTartlet agreed to remain alone, and for several hours to act as shepherd\nof the flock.\n\nHe made but one observation,--\n\n\"If you lose yourself, Godfrey?\"\n\n\"Have no fear of that,\" answered the young man, \"I have only this forest\nto cross, and as you will not leave its edge I am certain to find you\nagain.\"\n\n\"Don't forget the telegram to your Uncle Will, and ask him for a good\nmany hundred dollars.\"\n\n\"The telegram--or the letter! It is all one!\" answered Godfrey, who so\nlong as he had not fixed on the position of this land was content to\nleave Tartlet to his illusions.\n\nThen having shaken hands with the professor, he plunged beneath the\ntrees, whose thick branches scarcely allowed the sun's rays to\npenetrate. It was their direction, however, which was to guide our young\nexplorer towards the high hill whose curtain hid from his view the whole\nof the eastern horizon.\n\nFootpath there was none. The ground, however, was not free from all\nimprint. Godfrey in certain places remarked the tracks of animals. On\ntwo or three occasions he even believed he saw some rapid ruminants\nmoving off, either elans, deer, or wapiti, but he recognized no trace of\nferocious animals such as tigers or jaguars, whose absence, however, was\nno cause for regret.\n\nThe first floor of the forest, that is to say all that portion of the\ntrees comprised between the first fork and the branches, afforded an\nasylum to a great number of birds--wild pigeons by the hundred beneath\nthe trees, ospreys, grouse, aracaris with beaks like a lobster's claw,\nand higher, hovering above the glades, two or three of those\nlammergeiers whose eye resembles a cockade. But none of the birds were\nof such special kinds that he could therefrom make out the latitude of\nthis continent.\n\nSo it was with the trees of this forest. Almost the same species as\nthose in that part of the United States which comprises Lower\nCalifornia, the Bay of Monterey, and New Mexico.\n\nArbutus-trees, large-flowered cornels, maples, birches, oaks, four or\nfive varieties of magnolias and sea-pines, such as are met with in South\nCarolina, then in the centre of vast clearances, olive-trees, chestnuts,\nand small shrubs. Tufts of tamarinds, myrtles, and mastic-trees, such as\nare produced in the temperate zone. Generally, there was enough space\nbetween the trees to allow him to pass without being obliged to call on\nfire or the axe. The sea breeze circulated freely amid the higher\nbranches, and here and there great patches of light shone on the ground.\n\nAnd so Godfrey went along striking an oblique line beneath these large\ntrees. To take any precautions never occurred to him. The desire to\nreach the heights which bordered the forest on the east entirely\nabsorbed him. He sought among the foliage for the direction of the solar\nrays so as to march straight on his goal. He did not even see the\nguide-birds, so named because they fly before the steps of the\ntraveller, stopping, returning, and darting on ahead as if they were\nshowing the way. Nothing could distract him.\n\nHis state of mind was intelligible. Before an hour had elapsed his fate\nwould be settled! Before an hour he would know if it were possible to\nreach some inhabited portion of the continent.\n\nAlready Godfrey, reasoning on what had been the route followed and the\nway made by the _Dream_ during a navigation of seventeen days, had\nconcluded that it could only be on the Japanese or Chinese coast that\nthe ship had gone down.\n\nBesides the position of the sun, always in the south, rendered it quite\ncertain that the _Dream_ had not crossed the line.\n\nTwo hours after he had started Godfrey reckoned the distance he had\ntravelled at about five miles, considering several circuits which he had\nhad to make owing to the density of the forest. The second group of\nhills could not be far away.\n\nAlready the trees were getting farther apart from each other, forming\nisolated groups, and the rays of light penetrated more easily through\nthe lofty branches. The ground began slightly to slope, and then\nabruptly to rise.\n\nAlthough he was somewhat fatigued, Godfrey had enough will not to\nslacken his pace. He would doubtless have run had it not been for the\nsteepness of the earlier ascents.\n\nHe had soon got high enough to overlook the general mass of the verdant\ndome which stretched away behind him, and whence several heads of trees\nhere and there emerged.\n\nBut Godfrey did not dream of looking back. His eyes never quitted the\nline of the denuded ridge, which showed itself about 400 or 500 feet\nbefore and above him. That was the barrier which all the time hid him\nfrom the eastern horizon.\n\nA tiny cone, obliquely truncated, overlooked this rugged line and joined\non with its gentle slope to the sinuous crest of the hills.\n\n\"There! there!\" said Godfrey, \"that is the point I must reach! The top\nof that cone! And from there what shall I see?--A town?--A village?--A\ndesert?\"\n\nHighly excited, Godfrey mounted the hill, keeping his elbows at his\nchest to restrain the beating of his heart. His panting tired him, but\nhe had not the patience to stop so as to recover himself. Were he to\nhave fallen half fainting on the summit of the cone which shot up about\n100 feet above his head, he would not have lost a minute in hastening\ntowards it.\n\nA few minutes more and he would be there. The ascent seemed to him steep\nenough on his side, an angle perhaps of thirty or thirty-five degrees.\nHe helped himself up with hands and feet; he seized on the tufts of\nslender herbs on the hill-side, and on a few meagre shrubs, mastics\nand myrtles, which stretched away up to the top.\n\nA last effort was made! His head rose above the platform of the cone,\nand then, lying on his stomach, his eyes gazed at the eastern horizon.\n\nIt was the sea which formed it. Twenty miles off it united with the line\nof the sky!\n\nHe turned round.\n\nStill sea--west of him, south of him, north of him! The immense ocean\nsurrounding him on all sides!\n\n\"An island!\"\n\n[Illustration: \"An Island!\" _page 111_]\n\nAs he uttered the word Godfrey felt his heart shrink. The thought had\nnot occurred to him that he was on an island. And yet such was the case!\nThe terrestrial chain which should have attached him to the continent\nwas abruptly broken. He felt as though he had been a sleeping man in a\ndrifted boat, who awoke with neither oar nor sail to help him back to\nshore.\n\nBut Godfrey was soon himself again. His part was taken, to accept the\nsituation. If the chances of safety did not come from without, it was\nfor him to contrive them.\n\nHe set to work at first then as exactly as possible to ascertain the\ndisposition of this island which his view embraced over its whole\nlength. He estimated that it ought to measure about sixty miles round,\nbeing, as far as he could see, about twenty miles long from south to\nnorth, and twelve miles wide from east to west.\n\nIts central part was screened by the green depths of forest which\nextended up to the ridge dominated by the cone, whose slope died away on\nthe shore.\n\nAll the rest was prairie, with clumps of trees, or beach with rocks,\nwhose outer ring was capriciously tapered off in the form of capes and\npromontories. A few creeks cut out the coast, but could only afford\nrefuge for two or three fishing-boats.\n\nThe bay at the bottom of which the _Dream_ lay shipwrecked was the only\none of any size, and that extended over some seven or eight miles. An\nopen roadstead, no vessel would have found it a safe shelter, at least\nunless the wind was blowing from the east.\n\nBut what was this island? To what geographical group did it belong? Did\nit form part of an archipelago, or was it alone in this portion of the\nPacific?\n\nIn any case, no other island, large or small, high or low, appeared\nwithin the range of vision.\n\nGodfrey rose and gazed round the horizon. Nothing was to be seen along\nthe circular line where sea and sky ran into each other. If, then, there\nexisted to windward or to leeward any island or coast of a continent, it\ncould only be at a considerable distance.\n\nGodfrey called up all his geographical reminiscences, in order to\ndiscover what island of the Pacific this could be. In reasoning it out\nhe came to this conclusion.\n\nThe _Dream_ for seventeen days had steered very nearly south-west. Now\nwith a speed of from 150 to 180 miles every four-and-twenty hours, she\nought to have covered nearly fifty degrees. Now it was obvious that she\nhad not crossed the equator.\n\nThe situation of the island, or of the group to which it belonged, would\ntherefore have to be looked for in that part of the ocean comprised\nbetween the 160th and 170th degrees of west longitude.\n\nIn this portion of the Pacific it seemed to Godfrey that the map showed\nno other archipelago than that of the Sandwich Islands, but outside this\narchipelago were there not any isolated islands whose names escaped him\nand which were dotted here and there over the sea up to the coast of the\nCelestial Empire?\n\nIt was not of much consequence. There existed no means of his going in\nsearch of another spot on the ocean which might prove more hospitable.\n\n\"Well,\" said Godfrey to himself, \"if I don't know the name of this\nisland, I'll call it Phina Island, in memory of her I ought never to\nhave left to run about the world, and perhaps the name will bring us\nsome luck.\"\n\nGodfrey then occupied himself in trying to ascertain if the island was\ninhabited in the part which he had not yet been able to visit.\n\nFrom the top of the cone he saw nothing which betrayed the presence of\naborigines, neither habitations on the prairie nor houses on the skirt\nof the trees, not even a fisherman's hut on the shore.\n\nBut if the island was deserted, the sea which surrounded it was none the\nless so, for not a ship showed itself within the limits of what, from\nthe height of the cone, was a considerable circuit.\n\nGodfrey having finished his exploration had now only to get down to the\nfoot of the hill and retake the road through the forest so as to rejoin\nTartlet. But before he did so his eyes were attracted by a sort of\ncluster of trees of huge stature, which rose on the boundary of the\nprairie towards the north. It was a gigantic group, it exceeded by a\nhead all those which Godfrey had previously seen.\n\n\"Perhaps,\" he said, \"it would be better to take up our quarters over\nthere, more especially as if I am not mistaken I can see a stream which\nshould rise in the central chain and flow across the prairie.\"\n\nThis was to be looked into on the morrow.\n\nTowards the south the aspect of the island was slightly different.\nForests and prairies rapidly gave place to the yellow carpet of the\nbeach, and in places the shore was bounded with picturesque rocks.\n\nBut what was Godfrey's surprise, when he thought he saw a light smoke,\nwhich rose in the air beyond this rocky barrier.\n\n\"Are there any of our companions?\" he exclaimed. \"But no, it is not\npossible! Why should they have got so far from the bay since yesterday,\nand round so many miles of reef? Is it a village of fishermen, or the\nencampment of some indigenous tribe?\"\n\nGodfrey watched it with the closest attention. Was this gentle vapour\nwhich the breeze softly blew towards the west a smoke? Could he be\nmistaken? Anyhow it quickly vanished, a few minutes afterwards nothing\ncould be seen of it.\n\nIt was a false hope.\n\nGodfrey took a last look in its direction, and then seeing nothing,\nglided down the slope, and again plunged beneath the trees.\n\nAn hour later he had traversed the forest and found himself on its\nskirt.\n\nThere Tartlet awaited him with his two-footed and four-footed flock. And\nhow was the obstinate professor occupying himself? In the same way. A\nbit of wood was in his right hand another piece in his left, and he\nstill continued his efforts to set them alight. He rubbed and rubbed\nwith a constancy worthy of a better fate.\n\n\"Well,\" he shouted as he perceived Godfrey some distance off--\"and the\ntelegraph office?\"\n\n\"It is not open!\" answered Godfrey, who dared not yet tell him anything\nof the situation.\n\n\"And the post?\"\n\n\"It is shut! But let us have something to eat!--I am dying with hunger!\nWe can talk presently.\"\n\nAnd this morning Godfrey and his companion had again to content\nthemselves with a too meagre repast of raw eggs and shell-fish.\n\n\"Wholesome diet!\" repeated Godfrey to Tartlet, who was hardly of that\nopinion and picked his food with considerable care.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nIN WHICH THE QUESTION OF LODGING IS SOLVED AS WELL AS IT COULD BE.\n\n\nThe day was already far advanced. Godfrey resolved to defer till the\nmorrow the task of proceeding to a new abode. But to the pressing\nquestions which the professor propounded on the results of his\nexploration he ended by replying that it was an island, Phina Island, on\nwhich they both had been cast, and that they must think of the means of\nliving before dreaming of the means of departing.\n\n\"An island!\" exclaimed Tartlet.\n\n\"Yes! It is an island!\"\n\n\"Which the sea surrounds?\"\n\n\"Naturally.\"\n\n\"But what is it?\"\n\n\"I have told you, Phina Island, and you understand why I gave it that\nname.\"\n\n\"No, I do not understand!\" answered Tartlet, making a grimace; \"and I\ndon't see the resemblance! Miss Phina is surrounded by land, not water!\"\n\nAfter this melancholy reflection, he prepared to pass the night with as\nlittle discomfort as possible. Godfrey went off to the reef to get a new\nstock of eggs and mollusks, with which he had to be contented, and then,\ntired out, he came back to the tree and soon fell asleep, while Tartlet,\nwhose philosophy would not allow him to accept such a state of affairs,\ngave himself over to the bitterest meditations. On the morrow, the 28th\nof June, they were both afoot before the cock had interrupted their\nslumbers.\n\nTo begin with, a hasty breakfast, the same as the day before. Only water\nfrom a little brook was advantageously replaced by a little milk given\nby one of the goats.\n\nAh! worthy Tartlet! Where were the \"mint julep,\" the \"port wine\nsangaree,\" the \"sherry cobbler,\" the \"sherry cocktail,\" which he hardly\ndrank, but which were served him at all hours in the bars and taverns of\nSan Francisco? How he envied the poultry, the agouties, and the sheep,\nwho cheerfully quenched their thirst without the addition of such\nsaccharine or alcoholic mixtures to their water from the stream! To\nthese animals no fire was necessary to cook their food; roots and herbs\nand seeds sufficed, and their breakfast was always served to the minute\non their tablecloth of green.\n\n\"Let us make a start,\" said Godfrey.\n\nAnd behold the two on their way, followed by a procession of domestic\nanimals, who refused to be left behind. Godfrey's idea was to explore,\nin the north of the island, that portion of the coast on which he had\nnoticed the group of gigantic trees in his view from the cone. But to\nget there he resolved to keep along the shore. The surf might perhaps\nhave cast up some fragment of the wreck. Perhaps they might find on the\nbeach some of their companions in the _Dream_ to which they could give\nChristian burial. As for finding any one of them living, it was hardly\nto be hoped for, after a lapse of six-and-thirty hours.\n\nThe first line of hills was surmounted, and Godfrey and his companion\nreached the beginning of the reef, which looked as deserted as it had\nwhen they had left it. There they renewed their stock of eggs and\nmollusks, in case they should fail to find even such meagre resources\naway to the north. Then, following the fringe of sea-weed left by the\nlast tide, they again ascended the dunes, and took a good look round.\n\nNothing! always nothing!\n\nWe must certainly say that if misfortune had made Crusoes of these\nsurvivors of the _Dream_, it had shown itself much more rigorous towards\nthem than towards their predecessors, who always had some portion of the\nvessel left to them, and who, after bringing away crowds of objects of\nnecessity had been able to utilize the timbers of the wreck. Victuals\nfor a considerable period, clothes, tools, weapons, had always been left\nthem with which to satisfy the elementary exigencies of existence. But\nhere there was nothing of all this! In the middle of that dark night the\nship had disappeared in the depths of the sea, without leaving on the\nreefs the slightest traces of its wreck! It had not been possible to\nsave a thing from her--not even a lucifer-match--and to tell the truth,\nthe want of that match was the most serious of all wants.\n\nI know well, good people comfortably installed in your easy-chairs\nbefore a comfortable hearth at which is blazing brightly a fire of wood\nor coals, that you will be apt to say,--\n\n\"But nothing was more easy than for them to get a fire! There are a\nthousand ways of doing that! Two pebbles! A little dry moss! A little\nburnt rag,\"--and how do you burn the rag? \"The blade of a knife would do\nfor a steel, or two bits of wood rubbed briskly together in Polynesian\nfashion!\"\n\nWell, try it!\n\nIt was about this that Godfrey was thinking as he walked, and this it\nwas that occupied his thoughts more than anything else. Perhaps he too,\npoking his coke fire and reading his travellers' tales, had thought the\nsame as you good people! But now he had to put matters to the test, and\nhe saw with considerable disquietude the want of a fire, that\nindispensable element which nothing could replace.\n\nHe kept on ahead, then, lost in thought, followed by Tartlet, who by his\nshouts and gestures, kept together the flock of sheep, agouties, goats,\nand poultry.\n\nSuddenly his look was attracted by the bright colours of a cluster of\nsmall apples which hung from the branches of certain shrubs, growing in\nhundreds at the foot of the dunes. He immediately recognized them as\n\"manzanillas,\" which serve as food to the Indians in certain parts of\nCalifornia.\n\n\"At last,\" he exclaimed, \"there is something which will be a change from\nour eggs and mussels.\"\n\n\"What? Do you eat those things?\" said Tartlet with his customary\ngrimace.\n\n\"You shall soon see!\" answered Godfrey.\n\nAnd he set to work to gather the manzanillas, and eat them greedily.\n\nThey were only wild apples, but even their acidity did not prevent them\nfrom being agreeable. The professor made little delay in imitating his\ncompanion, and did not show himself particularly discontented at the\nwork. Godfrey thought, and with reason, that from these fruits there\ncould be made a fermented liquor which would be preferable to the water.\n\nThe march was resumed. Soon the end of the sand dunes died away in a\nprairie traversed by a small stream. This was the one Godfrey had seen\nfrom the top of the cone. The large trees appeared further on, and after\na journey of about nine miles the two explorers, tired enough by their\nfour hours' walk, reached them a few minutes after noon.\n\nThe site was well worth the trouble of looking at, of visiting, and,\ndoubtless, occupying.\n\nOn the edge of a vast prairie, dotted with manzanilla bushes and other\nshrubs, there rose a score of gigantic trees which could have even borne\ncomparison with the same species in the forests of California. They were\narranged in a semi-circle. The carpet of verdure, which stretched at\ntheir feet, after bordering the stream for some hundreds of feet, gave\nplace to a long beach, covered with rocks, and shingle, and sea-weed,\nwhich ran out into the water in a narrowing point to the north.\n\nThese \"big trees,\" as they are commonly called in Western America,\nbelong to the genus _Sequoia_, and are conifers of the fir family. If\nyou ask the English for their distinguishing name, you will be told\n\"Wellingtonias,\" if you ask the Americans they will reply\n\"Washingtonias.\" But whether they recall the memory of the phlegmatic\nvictor of Waterloo, or of the illustrious founder of the American\nRepublic, they are the hugest products known of the Californian and\nNevadan floras. In certain districts in these states there are entire\nforests of these trees, such as the groups at Mariposa and Calaveras,\nsome of the trees of which measure from sixty to eighty feet in\ncircumference, and some 300 feet in height. One of them, at the entrance\nof the Yosemite Valley, is quite 100 feet round. When living--for it is\nnow prostrate--its first branches could have overtopped Strasburg\nCathedral, or, in other words, were above eighty feet from the ground.\n\nBesides this tree there are \"The Mother of the Forest,\" \"The Beauty of\nthe Forest,\" \"The Hut of the Pioneer,\" \"The Two Sentinels,\" \"General\nGrant,\" \"Miss Emma,\" \"Miss Mary,\" \"Brigham Young and his Wife,\" \"The\nThree Graces,\" \"The Bear,\" &c., &c.; all of them veritable vegetable\nphenomena. One of the trees has been sawn across at its base, and on it\nthere has been built a ball-room, in which a quadrille of eight or ten\ncouples can be danced with ease.\n\nBut the giant of giants, in a forest which is the property of the state,\nabout fifteen miles from Murphy, is \"The Father of the Forest,\" an old\nsequoia, 4000 years old, which rises 452 feet from the ground, higher\nthan the cross of St. Peter's, at Rome, higher than the great pyramid\nof Ghizeh, higher than the iron bell-turret which now caps one of the\ntowers of Rouen Cathedral, and which ought to be looked upon as the\nhighest monument in the world.\n\nIt was a group of some twenty of these colossi that nature had planted\non this point of the island, at the epoch, probably, when Solomon was\nbuilding that temple at Jerusalem which has never risen from its ruins.\nThe largest was, perhaps, 300 feet high, the smallest nearly 200.\n\nSome of them, hollowed out by age, had enormous arches through their\nbases, beneath which a troop of horsemen could have ridden with ease.\n\nGodfrey was struck with admiration in the presence of these natural\nphenomena, as they are not generally found at altitudes of less than\nfrom 5000 to 6000 feet above the level of the sea. He even thought that\nthe view alone was worth the journey. Nothing he had seen was comparable\nto these columns of clear brown, which outlined themselves almost\nwithout sensible diminution of their diameters to their lowest fork. The\ncylindrical trunks rising from 80 to 100 feet above the earth, ramified\ninto such thick branches that they themselves looked like tree-stems of\nhuge dimensions bearing quite a forest in the air.\n\nOne of these specimens of _Sequoia gigantea_--one of the biggest in the\ngroup--more particularly attracted Godfrey's attention.\n\nGazing at its base it displayed an opening of from four to five feet in\nwidth, and ten feet high, which gave entrance to its interior. The\ngiant's heart had disappeared, the alburnum had been dissipated into\nsoft whitish dust; but if the tree did not depend so much on its\npowerful roots as on its solid bark, it could still keep its position\nfor centuries.\n\n\"In default of a cavern or a grotto,\" said Godfrey, \"here is a\nready-made dwelling. A wooden house, a tower, such as there is in no\ninhabited land. Here we can be sheltered and shut in. Come along,\nTartlet! come!\"\n\nAnd the young man, catching hold of his companion, dragged him inside\nthe sequoia.\n\nThe base was covered with a bed of vegetable dust, and in diameter could\nnot be less than twenty feet.\n\nAs for the height to which its vault extended, the gloom prevented even\nan estimate. For not a ray of light found its way through the bark wall.\nNeither cleft nor fault was there through which the wind or rain could\ncome. Our two Crusoes would therein find themselves in a position to\nbrave with impunity the inclemency of the weather. No cave could be\nfirmer, or drier, or compacter. In truth it would have been difficult to\nhave anywhere found a better.\n\n\"Eh, Tartlet, what do you think of our natural house?\" asked Godfrey.\n\n\"Yes, but the chimney?\" answered Tartlet.\n\n\"Before we talk about the chimney,\" replied Godfrey, \"let us wait till\nwe have got the fire!\"\n\nThis was only logical.\n\nGodfrey went to reconnoitre the neighbourhood. As we have said, the\nprairie extended to this enormous mass of sequoias which formed its\nedge. The small stream meandering through the grassy carpet gave a\nhealthy freshness to its borders, and thereon grew shrubs of different\nkinds; myrtles, mastic bushes, and among others a quantity of\nmanzanillas, which gave promise of a large crop of their wild apples.\n\nFarther off, on ground that grew gradually higher, were scattered\nseveral clumps of trees, made up of oaks and beeches, sycamores and\nnettle-trees, but trees of great stature as they were, they seemed but\nsimple underwood by the side of the \"mammoths,\" whose huge shadows the\nsun was throwing even into the sea. Across the prairie lay minor lines\nof bushes, and vegetable clumps and verdant thickets, which Godfrey\nresolved to investigate on the following day.\n\nIf the site pleased him, it did not displease the domestic animals.\nAgouties, goats, and sheep had soon taken possession of this domain,\nwhich offered them roots to nibble at, and grass to browse on far beyond\ntheir needs. As for the fowls they were greedily pecking away at the\nseeds and worms in the banks of the rivulet. Animal life was already\nmanifesting itself in such goings and comings, such flights and gambols,\nsuch bleatings and gruntings and cluckings as had doubtless never been\nheard of in these parts before.\n\nThen Godfrey returned to the clump of sequoias, and made a more\nattentive examination of the tree in which he had chosen to take up his\nabode. It appeared to him that it would be difficult, if not impossible,\nto climb into the first branches, at least by the exterior; for the\ntrunk presented no protuberances. Inside it the ascent might be easier,\nif the tree were hollow up to the fork.\n\nIn case of danger it would be advisable to seek refuge among the thick\nboughs borne by the enormous trunk. But this matter could be looked into\nlater on.\n\nWhen he had finished his inquiries the sun was low on horizon, and it\nseemed best to put off till to-morrow the preparations for their\ndefinitely taking up their abode.\n\nBut, after a meal with dessert composed of wild apples, what could they\ndo better than pass the night on a bed of the vegetable dust which\ncovered the ground inside the sequoia?\n\nAnd this, under the keeping of Providence, was what was done, but not\nuntil after Godfrey, in remembrance of his uncle, William W. Kolderup,\nhad given to the giant the name of \"Will Tree,\" just as its prototypes\nin the forests of California and the neighbouring states bear the names\nof the great citizens of the American Republic.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nWHICH ENDS WITH A THUNDER-BOLT.\n\n\nIt must be acknowledged that Godfrey was in a fair way to become a new\nman in this completely novel position to one so frivolous, so\nlight-minded, and so thoughtless. He had hitherto only had to allow\nhimself to live. Never had care for the morrow disquieted his rest. In\nthe opulent mansion in Montgomery Street, where he slept his ten hours\nwithout a break, not the fall of a rose leaf had ever troubled his\nslumbers.\n\nIt was so no longer. On this unknown land he found himself thoroughly\nshut off from the rest of the world, left entirely to his own resources,\nobliged to face the necessities of life under conditions in which a man\neven much more practical might have been in great difficulty. Doubtless\nwhen it was found that the _Dream_ did not return, a search for him\nwould be made. But what were these two? Less than a needle in a hayrick\nor a sand-grain on the sea-bottom! The incalculable fortune of Uncle\nKolderup could not do everything.\n\nWhen Godfrey had found his fairly acceptable shelter, his sleep in it\nwas by no means undisturbed. His brain travelled as it had never done\nbefore. Ideas of all kinds were associated together: those of the past\nwhich he bitterly regretted, those of the present of which he sought the\nrealization, those of the future which disquieted him more than all!\n\nBut in these rough trials, the reason and, in consequence, the reasoning\nwhich naturally flows from it, were little by little freed from the\nlimbo in which they had hitherto slept. Godfrey was resolved to strive\nagainst his ill-luck, and to do all he could to get out of his\ndifficulties. If he escaped, the lesson would certainly not be lost on\nhim for the future.\n\nAt daybreak he was astir, with the intention of proceeding to a more\ncomplete installation. The question of food, above all that of fire,\nwhich was connected with it, occupied the first place; then there were\ntools or arms to make, clothes to procure, unless they were anxious of\nsoon appearing attired in Polynesian costume.\n\nTartlet still slumbered. You could not see him in the shadow, but you\ncould hear him. That poor man, spared from the wreck, remained as\nfrivolous at forty-five as his pupil had formerly been. He was a gain\nin no sense. He even might be considered an incubus, for he had to be\ncared for in all ways. But he was a companion!\n\nHe was worth more in that than the most intelligent dog, although he was\nprobably of less use! He was a creature able to talk--although only at\nrandom; to converse--if the matter were never serious; to complain--and\nthis he did most frequently! As it was, Godfrey was able to hear a human\nvoice. That was worth more than the parrot's in Robinson Crusoe! Even\nwith a Tartlet he would not be alone, and nothing was so disheartening\nas the thought of absolute solitude.\n\n\"Crusoe before Friday, Crusoe after Friday; what a difference!\" thought\nhe.\n\nHowever, on this morning, that of June 29th, Godfrey was not sorry to be\nalone, so as to put into execution his project of exploring the group of\nsequoias. Perhaps he would be fortunate enough to discover some fruit,\nsome edible root, which he could bring back--to the extreme satisfaction\nof the professor. And so he left Tartlet to his dreams, and set out.\n\nA light fog still shrouded the shore and the sea, but already it had\ncommenced to lift in the north and east under the influence of the solar\nrays, which little by little were condensing it. The day promised to be\nfine. Godfrey, after having cut himself a substantial walking-stick,\nwent for two miles along that part of the beach which he did not know,\nand whose return formed the outstretched point of Phina Island.\n\nThere he made a first meal of shell-fish, mussels, clams, and especially\nsome capital little oysters which he found in great abundance.\n\n\"If it comes to the worst,\" he said to himself, \"we need never die of\nhunger! Here are thousands of dozens of oysters to satisfy the calls of\nthe most imperious stomach! If Tartlet complains, it is because he does\nnot like mollusks! Well, he will have to like them!\"\n\nDecidedly, if the oyster did not absolutely replace bread and meat, it\nfurnished an aliment in no whit less nutritive and in a condition\ncapable of being absorbed in large quantities. But as this mollusk is of\nvery easy digestion, it is somewhat dangerous in its use, to say nothing\nof its abuse.\n\nThis breakfast ended, Godfrey again seized his stick, and struck off\nobliquely towards the south-east, so as to walk up the right bank of the\nstream. In this direction, he would cross the prairie up to the groups\nof trees observed the night before beyond the long lines of shrubs and\nunderwood, which he wished to carefully examine.\n\nGodfrey then advanced in this direction for about two miles. He\nfollowed the bank of the stream, carpeted with short herbage and smooth\nas velvet. Flocks of aquatic birds noisily flew round this being, who,\nnew to them, had come to trouble their domain. Fish of many kinds were\nseen darting about in the limpid waters of the brook, here abouts some\nfour or five yards wide.\n\nIt was evident that there would be no difficulty in catching these fish,\nbut how to cook them? Always this insoluble question!\n\nFortunately, when Godfrey reached the first line of shrubs he recognized\ntwo sorts of fruits or roots. One sort had to pass through the fiery\ntrial before being eaten, the other was edible in its natural state. Of\nthese two vegetables the American Indians make constant use.\n\nThe first was a shrub of the kind called \"camas,\" which thrives even in\nlands unfit for culture. With these onion-like roots, should it not be\nfound preferable to treat them as potatoes, there is made a sort of\nflour very rich and glutinous. But either way, they have to be subjected\nto a certain cooking, or drying.\n\nThe other bush produces a species of bulb of oblong form, bearing the\nindigenous name of \"yamph,\" and if it possesses less nutritive\nprinciples than the camas, it is much the better for one thing,--it can\nbe eaten raw.\n\nGodfrey, highly pleased at his discovery, at once satisfied his hunger\non a few of these excellent roots, and not forgetting Tartlet's\nbreakfast, collected a large bundle, and throwing it over his shoulder,\nretook the road to Will Tree.\n\nThat he was well received on his arrival with the crop of yamphs need\nnot be insisted on. The professor greedily regaled himself, and his\npupil had to caution him to be moderate.\n\n\"Ah!\" he said. \"We have got some roots to-day. Who knows whether we\nshall have any to-morrow?\"\n\n\"Without any doubt,\" replied Godfrey, \"to-morrow and the day after, and\nalways. There is only the trouble of going and fetching them.\"\n\n\"Well, Godfrey, and the camas?\"\n\n\"Of the camas we will make flour and bread when we have got a fire.\"\n\n\"Fire!\" exclaimed the professor, shaking his head. \"Fire! And how shall\nwe make it?\"\n\n\"I don't know yet, but somehow or other we will get at it.\"\n\n\"May Heaven hear you, my dear Godfrey! And when I think that there are\nso many fellows in this world who have only got to rub a bit of wood on\nthe sole of their boot to get it, it annoys me! No! Never would I have\nbelieved that ill-luck would have reduced me to this state! You need\nnot take three steps down Montgomery Street, before you will meet with a\ngentleman, cigar in mouth, who thinks it a pleasure to give you a light,\nand here--\"\n\n\"Here we are not in San Francisco, Tartlet, nor in Montgomery Street,\nand I think it would be wiser for us not to reckon on the kindness of\nthose we meet!\"\n\n\"But, why is cooking necessary for bread and meat? Why did not nature\nmake us so that we might live upon nothing?\"\n\n\"That will come, perhaps!\" answered Godfrey with a good-humoured smile.\n\n\"Do you think so?\"\n\n\"I think that our scientists are probably working out the subject.\"\n\n\"Is it possible! And how do they start on their research as to this new\nmode of alimentation?\"\n\n\"On this line of reasoning,\" answered Godfrey, \"as the functions of\ndigestion and respiration are connected, the endeavour is to substitute\none for the other. Hence the day when chemistry has made the aliments\nnecessary for the food of man capable of assimilation by respiration,\nthe problem will be solved. There is nothing wanted beyond rendering the\nair nutritious. You will breathe your dinner instead of eating it, that\nis all!\"\n\n\"Ah! Is it not a pity that this precious discovery is not yet made!\"\nexclaimed the professor. \"How cheerfully would I breathe half a dozen\nsandwiches and a silverside of beef, just to give me an appetite!\"\n\nAnd Tartlet plunged into a semi-sensuous reverie, in which he beheld\nsucculent atmospheric dinners, and at them unconsciously opened his\nmouth and breathed his lungs full, oblivious that he had scarcely the\nwherewithal to feed upon in the ordinary way.\n\nGodfrey roused him from his meditation, and brought him back to the\npresent. He was anxious to proceed to a more complete installation in\nthe interior of Will Tree.\n\nThe first thing to do was to clean up their future dwelling-place. It\nwas at the outset necessary to bring out several bushels of that\nvegetable dust which covered the ground and in which they sank almost up\nto their knees. Two hours' work hardly sufficed to complete this\ntroublesome task, but at length the chamber was clear of the pulverulent\nbed, which rose in clouds at the slightest movement.\n\nThe ground was hard and firm, as if floored with joists, the large roots\nof the sequoia ramifying over its surface. It was uneven but solid. Two\ncorners were selected for the beds and of these several bundles of\nherbage, thoroughly dried in the sun, were to form the materials. As for\nother furniture, benches, stools, or tables, it was not impossible to\nmake the most indispensable things, for Godfrey had a capital knife,\nwith its saw and gimlet. The companions would have to keep inside during\nrough weather, and they could eat and work there. Daylight did not fail\nthem, for it streamed through the opening. Later on, if it became\nnecessary to close this aperture for greater safety, Godfrey could try\nand pierce one or two embrasures in the bark of the sequoia to serve as\nwindows.\n\nAs for discovering to what height the opening ran up into the trunk,\nGodfrey could not do so without a light. All that he could do was to\nfind out with the aid of a pole ten or twelve feet long, held above his\nhead, that he could not touch the top.\n\nThe question, however, was not an urgent one. It would be solved\neventually.\n\nThe day passed in these labours, which were not ended at sunset. Godfrey\nand Tartlet, tired as they were, found their novel bed-clothes formed of\nthe dried herbage, of which they had an ample supply, most excellent;\nbut they had to drive away the poultry who would willingly have roosted\nin the interior of Will Tree. Then occurred to Godfrey the idea of\nconstructing a poultry-house in some other sequoia, as, to keep them out\nof the common room, he was building up a hurdle of brushwood.\nFortunately neither the sheep nor the agouties, nor the goats\nexperienced the like temptation. These animals remained quietly outside,\nand had no fancy to get through the insufficient barrier.\n\nThe following days were employed in different jobs, in fitting up the\nhouse or bringing in food; eggs and shell-fish were collected, yamph\nroots and manzanilla apples were brought in, and oysters, for which each\nmorning they went to the bank or the shore. All this took time, and the\nhours passed away quickly.\n\nThe \"dinner things\" consisted now of large bivalve shells, which served\nfor dishes or plates. It is true that for the kind of food to which the\nhosts of Will Tree were reduced, others were not needed.\n\nThere was also the washing of the linen in the clear water of the\nstream, which occupied the leisure of Tartlet. It was to him that this\ntask fell; but he only had to see to the two shirts, two handkerchiefs,\nand two pairs of socks, which composed the entire wardrobe of both.\n\nWhile this operation was in progress, Godfrey and Tartlet had to wear\nonly waistcoat and trousers, but in the blazing sun of that latitude the\nclothes quickly dried. And so matters went on without either rain or\nwind till July 3rd. Already they had begun to be fairly comfortable in\ntheir new home, considering the condition in which they had been cast on\nthe island.\n\nHowever, it was advisable not to neglect the chances of safety which\nmight come from without. Each day Godfrey examined the whole sector of\nsea which extended from the east to the north-west beyond the\npromontory.\n\nThis part of the Pacific was always deserted. Not a vessel, not a\nfishing-boat, not a ribbon of smoke detaching itself from the horizon,\nproclaimed the passage of a steamer. It seemed that Phina Island was\nsituated out of the way of all the itineraries of commerce. All they\ncould do was to wait, trusting in the Almighty who never abandons the\nweak.\n\nMeanwhile, when their immediate necessities allowed them leisure,\nGodfrey, incited by Tartlet, returned to that important and vexed\nquestion of the fire.\n\nHe tried at first to replace amadou, which he so unfortunately lacked,\nby another and analogous material. It was possible that some of the\nvarieties of mushrooms which grew in the crevices of the old trees,\nafter having been subjected to prolonged drying, might be transformed\ninto a combustible substance.\n\nMany of these mushrooms were collected and exposed to the direct action\nof the sun, until they were reduced to powder. Then with the back of his\nknife, Godfrey endeavoured to strike some sparks off with a flint, so\nthat they might fall on this substance. It was useless. The spongy\nstuff would not catch fire. Godfrey then tried to use that fine\nvegetable dust, dried during so many centuries, which he had found in\nthe interior of Will Tree. The result was equally discouraging.\n\nIn desperation he then, by means of his knife and flint, strove to\nsecure the ignition of a sort of sponge which grew under the rocks. He\nfared no better. The particle of steel, lighted by the impact of the\nsilex, fell on to the substance, but went out immediately. Godfrey and\nTartlet were in despair. To do without fire was impossible. Of their\nfruits and mollusks they were getting tired, and their stomachs began to\nrevolt at such food. They eyed, the professor especially, the sheep,\nagouties, and fowls which went and came round Will Tree. The pangs of\nhunger seized them as they gazed. With their eyes they ate the living\nmeat!\n\nNo! It could not go on like this!\n\nBut an unexpected circumstance, a providential one if you will, came to\ntheir aid.\n\nIn the night of the 3rd of July the weather, which had been on the\nchange for a day or so, grew stormy, after an oppressive heat which the\nsea-breeze had been powerless to temper.\n\nGodfrey and Tartlet at about one o'clock in the morning were awakened by\nheavy claps of thunder, and most vivid flashes of lightning. It did not\nrain as yet, but it soon promised to do so, and then regular cataracts\nwould be precipitated from the cloudy zone, owing to the rapid\ncondensation of the vapour.\n\nGodfrey got up and went out so as to observe the state of the sky.\n\nThere seemed quite a conflagration above the domes of the giant trees\nand the foliage appeared on fire against the sky, like the fine network\nof a Chinese shadow.\n\nSuddenly, in the midst of the general uproar, a vivid flash illuminated\nthe atmosphere. The thunder-clap followed immediately, and Will Tree was\npermeated from top to bottom with the electric force.\n\nGodfrey, staggered by the return shock, stood in the midst of a rain of\nfire which showered around him. The lightning had ignited the dry\nbranches above him. They were incandescent particles of carbon which\ncrackled at his feet.\n\nGodfrey with a shout awoke his companion.\n\n\"Fire! Fire!\"\n\n\"Fire!\" answered Tartlet. \"Blessed be Heaven which sends it to us!\"\n\nInstantly they possessed themselves of the flaming twigs, of which some\nstill burned, while others had been consumed in the flames. Hurriedly,\nat the same time, did they heap together a quantity of dead wood such\nas was never wanting at the foot of the sequoia, whose trunk had not\nbeen touched by the lightning.\n\nThen they returned into their gloomy habitation as the rain, pouring\ndown in sheets, extinguished the fire which threatened to devour the\nupper branches of Will Tree.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nIN WHICH GODFREY AGAIN SEES A SLIGHT SMOKE OVER ANOTHER PART OF THE\nISLAND.\n\n\nThat was a storm which came just when it was wanted! Godfrey and Tartlet\nhad not, like Prometheus, to venture into space to bring down the\ncelestial fire! \"It was,\" said Tartlet, \"as if the sky had been obliging\nenough to send it down to them on a lightning flash.\"\n\nWith them now remained the task of keeping it!\n\n\"No! we must not let it go out!\" Godfrey had said.\n\n\"Not until the wood fails us to feed it!\" had responded Tartlet, whose\nsatisfaction showed itself in little cries of joy.\n\n\"Yes! but who will keep it in?\"\n\n\"I! I will! I will watch it day and night, if necessary,\" replied\nTartlet, brandishing a flaming bough.\n\nAnd he did so till the sun rose.\n\nDry wood, as we have said, abounded beneath the sequoias. Until the dawn\nGodfrey and the professor, after heaping up a considerable stock, did\nnot spare to feed the fire. By the foot of one of the large trees in a\nnarrow space between the roots the flames leapt up, crackling clearly\nand joyously. Tartlet exhausted his lungs blowing away at it, although\nhis doing so was perfectly useless. In this performance he assumed the\nmost characteristic attitudes in following the greyish smoke whose\nwreaths were lost in the foliage above.\n\nBut it was not that they might admire it that they had so longingly\nasked for this indispensable fire, not to warm themselves at it. It was\ndestined for a much more interesting use. There was to be an end of\ntheir miserable meals of raw mollusks and yamph roots, whose nutritive\nelements boiling water and simple cooking in the ashes had never\ndeveloped. It was in this way that Godfrey and Tartlet employed it\nduring the morning.\n\n\"We could eat a fowl or two!\" exclaimed Tartlet, whose jaws moved in\nanticipation. \"Not to mention an agouti ham, a leg of mutton, a quarter\nof goat, some of the game on the prairie, without counting two or three\nfreshwater fish and a sea fish or so.\"\n\n\"Not so fast,\" answered Godfrey, whom the declaration of this modest\nbill of fare had put in good humour. \"We need not risk indigestion to\nsatisfy a fast! We must look after our reserves, Tartlet! Take a couple\nof fowls--one apiece--and if we want bread, I hope that our camsa roots\ncan be so prepared as to replace it with advantage!\" This cost the lives\nof two innocent hens, who, plucked, trussed, and dressed by the\nprofessor, were stuck on a stick, and soon roasted before the crackling\nflames.\n\nMeanwhile, Godfrey was getting the camas roots in a state to figure\ncreditably at the first genuine breakfast on Phina Island. To render\nthem edible it was only necessary to follow the Indian method, which the\nCalifornians were well acquainted with.\n\nThis was what Godfrey did.\n\nA few flat stones selected from the beach were thrown in the fire so as\nto get intensely hot. Tartlet seemed to think it a great shame to use\nsuch a good fire \"to cook stones with,\" but as it did not hinder the\npreparation of his fowls in any way he had no other complaint to make.\n\nWhile the stones were getting warm Godfrey selected a piece of ground\nabout a yard square from which he tore up the grass; then with his hands\narmed with large scallop shells he dug the soil to the depth of about\nten inches. That done he laid at the bottom of the cavity a fire of dry\nwood, which he so arranged as to communicate to the earth heaped up at\nits bottom some considerable heat.\n\nWhen all the wood had been consumed and the cinders taken away, the\ncamas roots, previously cleaned and scraped, were strewn in the hole, a\nthin layer of sods thrown over them and the glowing stones placed on the\ntop, so as to serve as the basis of a new fire which was lighted on\ntheir surface.\n\nIn fact, it was a kind of oven which had been prepared; and in a very\nshort time--about half an hour or so--the operation was at an end.\n\nBeneath the double layer of stones and sods lay the roots cooked by this\nviolent heating. On crushing them there was obtainable a flour well\nfitted for making into bread, but, even eaten as they were, they proved\nmuch like potatoes of highly nutritive quality.\n\nIt was thus that this time the roots were served and we leave our\nreaders to imagine what a breakfast our two friends made on the chickens\nwhich they devoured to the very bones, and on the excellent camas roots,\nof which they had no need to be sparing. The field was not far off where\nthey grew in abundance. They could be picked up in hundreds by simply\nstooping down for them.\n\nThe repast over, Godfrey set to work to prepare some of the flour, which\nkeeps for any length of time, and which could be transformed into bread\nfor their daily wants.\n\nThe day was passed in different occupations. The fire was kept up with\ngreat care. Particularly was the fuel heaped on for the night; and\nTartlet, nevertheless, arose on many occasions to sweep the ashes\ntogether and provoke a more active combustion. Having done this, he\nwould go to bed again, to get up as soon as the fire burnt low, and thus\nhe occupied himself till the day broke. The night passed without\nincident, the cracklings of the fire and the crow of the cock awoke\nGodfrey and his companion, who had ended his performances by falling off\nto sleep.\n\nAt first Godfrey was surprised at feeling a current of air coming down\nfrom above in the interior of Will Tree. He was thus led to think that\nthe sequoia was hollow up to the junction of the lower branches where\nthere was an opening which they would have to stop up if they wished to\nbe snug and sheltered.\n\n\"But it is very singular!\" said Godfrey to himself.\n\n\"How was it that during the preceding nights I did not feel this current\nof air? Could it have been the lightning?\"\n\nAnd to get an answer to this question, the idea occurred to him to\nexamine the trunk of the sequoia from the out side.\n\nWhen he had done so, he understood what had happened during the storm.\n\nThe track of the lightning was visible on the tree, which had had a\nlong strip of its bark torn off from the fork down to the roots.\n\nHad the electric spark found its way into the interior of the sequoia in\nplace of keeping to the outside, Godfrey and his companion would have\nbeen struck. Most decidedly they had had a narrow escape.\n\n\"It is not a good thing to take refuge under trees during a storm,\" said\nGodfrey. \"That is all very well for people who can do otherwise. But\nwhat way have we to avoid the danger who live inside the tree? We must\nsee!\"\n\nThen examining the sequoia from the point where the long lightning trace\nbegan--\"It is evident,\" said he, \"that where the flash struck the tree\nhas been cracked. But since the air penetrates by this orifice the tree\nmust be hollow along its whole length and only lives in its bark? Now\nthat is what I ought to see about!\"\n\nAnd Godfrey went to look for a resinous piece of wood that might do for\na torch.\n\nA bundle of pine twigs furnished him with the torch he needed, as from\nthem exuded a resin which, once inflamed, gave forth a brilliant light.\n\nGodfrey then entered the cavity which served him for his house. To\ndarkness immediately succeeded light, and it was easy to see the state\nof the interior of Will Tree. A sort of vault of irregular formation\nstretched across in a ceiling some fifteen feet above the ground.\nLifting his torch Godfrey distinctly saw that into this there opened a\nnarrow passage whose further development was lost in the shadow. The\ntree was evidently hollow throughout its length; but perhaps some\nportion of the alburnum still remained intact. In that case, by the help\nof the protuberances it would be possible if not easy to get up to the\nfork.\n\nGodfrey, who was thinking of the future, resolved to know without delay\nif this were so.\n\nHe had two ends in view; one, to securely close the opening by which the\nrain and wind found admission, and so render Will Tree almost habitable;\nthe other, to see if in case of danger, or an attack from animals or\nsavages, the upper branches of the tree would not afford a convenient\nrefuge.\n\nHe could but try. If he encountered any insurmountable obstacle in the\nnarrow passage, Godfrey could be got down again.\n\nAfter firmly sticking his torch between two of the roots below, behold\nhim then commencing to raise himself on to the first interior knots of\nthe bark. He was lithe, strong, and accustomed to gymnastics like all\nyoung Americans. It was only sport to him. Soon he had reached in this\nuneven tube a part much narrower, in which, with the aid of his back and\nknees, he could work his way upwards like a chimney-sweep. All he feared\nwas that the hole would not continue large enough for him to get up.\n\nHowever, he kept on, and each time he reached a projection he would stop\nand take breath.\n\nThree minutes after leaving the ground, Godfrey had mounted about sixty\nfeet, and consequently could only have about twenty feet further to go.\n\nIn fact, he already felt the air blowing more strongly on his face. He\ninhaled it greedily, for the atmosphere inside the sequoia was not,\nstrictly speaking, particularly fresh.\n\nAfter resting for a minute, and shaking off the fine dust which he had\nrubbed on to him off the wall, Godfrey started again up the long tunnel,\nwhich gradually narrowed.\n\nBut at this moment his attention was attracted by a peculiar noise,\nwhich appeared to him somewhat suspicious. There was a sound as of\nscratching, up the tree. Almost immediately a sort of hissing was heard.\n\nGodfrey stopped.\n\n\"What is that?\" he asked. \"Some animal taken refuge in the sequoia? Was\nit a snake? No! We have not yet seen one on the island! Perhaps it is a\nbird that wants to get out!\"\n\nGodfrey was not mistaken; and as he continued to mount, a cawing,\nfollowed by a rapid flapping of wings, showed him that it was some bird\nensconced in the tree whose sleep he was doubtless disturbing.\n\nMany a \"frrr-frrr!\" which he gave out with the whole power of his lungs,\nsoon determined the intruder to clear off.\n\nIt proved to be a kind of jackdaw, of huge stature, which scuttled out\nof the opening, and disappeared into the summit of Will Tree.\n\nA few seconds afterwards, Godfrey's head appeared through the same\nopening, and he soon found himself quite at his ease, installed on a\nfork of the tree where the lower branches gave off, at about eighty feet\nfrom the ground.\n\nThere, as has been said, the enormous stem of the sequoia supported\nquite a forest. The capricious network of its upper boughs presented the\naspect of a wood crowded with trees, which no gap rendered passable.\n\nHowever, Godfrey managed, not without difficulty, to get along from one\nbranch to another, so as to gain little by little the upper story of\nthis vegetable phenomenon.\n\nA number of birds with many a cry flew off at his approach, and hastened\nto take refuge in the neighbouring members of the group, above which\nWill Tree towered by more than a head.\n\nGodfrey continued to climb as well as he could, and did not stop until\nthe ends of the higher branches began to bend beneath his weight.\n\nA huge horizon of water surrounded Phina Island, which lay unrolled like\na relief-map at his feet. Greedily his eyes examined that portion of the\nsea. It was still deserted. He had to conclude once more, that the\nisland lay away from the trade routes of the Pacific.\n\nGodfrey uttered a heavy sigh; then his look fell on the narrow domain on\nwhich fate had condemned him to live, doubtless for long, perhaps for\never.\n\nBut what was his surprise when he saw, this time away to the north, a\nsmoke similar to that which he had already thought he had seen in the\nsouth. He watched it with the keenest attention.\n\n[Illustration: There was the column of smoke. _page 152_]\n\nA very light vapour, calm and pure, greyish blue at its tip, rose\nstraight in the air.\n\n\"No! I am not mistaken!\" exclaimed Godfrey. \"There is a smoke, and\ntherefore a fire which produces it! And that fire could not have been\nlighted except by--By whom?\"\n\nGodfrey then with extreme precision took the bearings of the spot in\nquestion.\n\nThe smoke was rising in the north-east of the island, amid the high\nrocks which bordered the beach. There was no mistake about that. It was\nless than five miles from Will Tree. Striking straight to the north-east\nacross the prairie, and then following the shore, he could not fail\nto find the rocks above which the vapour rose.\n\nWith beating heart Godfrey made his way down the scaffolding of branches\nuntil he reached the fork. There he stopped an instant to clear off the\nmoss and leaves which clung to him, and that done he slid down the\nopening, which he enlarged as much as possible, and rapidly gained the\nground. A word to Tartlet not to be uneasy at his absence, and Godfrey\nhastened off in the north-easterly direction so as to reach the shore.\n\nIt was a two hours' walk across the verdant prairie, through clumps of\nscattered trees, or hedges of spiny shrubs, and then along the beach. At\nlength the last chain of rocks was reached.\n\nBut the smoke which Godfrey had seen from the top of the tree he\nsearched for in vain when he had reached the ground. As he had taken the\nbearings of the spot with great care, he came towards it without any\nmistake.\n\nThere Godfrey began his search. He carefully explored every nook and\ncorner of this part of the shore. He called. No one answered to his\nshout. No human being appeared on the beach. Not a rock gave him a trace\nof a newly lighted fire--nor of a fire now extinct, which could have\nbeen fed by sea herbs and dry algæ thrown up by the tide.\n\n\"But it is impossible that I should have been mistaken!\" repeated\nGodfrey to himself. \"I am sure it was smoke that I saw! And besides!--\"\n\nAs Godfrey could not admit that he had been the dupe of a delusion, he\nbegan to think that there must exist some well of heated water, or kind\nof intermittent geyser, which he could not exactly find, but which had\ngiven forth the vapour.\n\nThere was nothing to show that in the island there were not many of such\nnatural wells, and the apparition of the column of smoke could be easily\nexplained by so simple a geological phenomenon.\n\nGodfrey left the shore and returned towards Will Tree, observing the\ncountry as he went along a little more carefully than he had done as he\ncame. A few ruminants showed themselves, amongst others some wapiti, but\nthey dashed past with such speed that it was impossible to get near\nthem.\n\nIn about four hours Godfrey got back. Just before he reached the tree he\nheard the shrill \"twang! squeak!\" of the kit, and soon found himself\nface to face with Professor Tartlet, who, in the attitude of a vestal,\nwas watching the sacred fire confided to his keeping.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nWHEREIN GODFREY FINDS SOME WRECKAGE, TO WHICH HE AND HIS COMPANION GIVE\nA HEARTY WELCOME.\n\n\nTo put up with what you cannot avoid is a philosophical principle, that\nmay not perhaps lead you to the accomplishment of great deeds, but is\nassuredly eminently practical. On this principle Godfrey had resolved to\nact for the future. If he had to live in this island, the wisest thing\nfor him to do was to live there as comfortably as possible until an\nopportunity offered for him to leave it.\n\nAnd so, without delay, he set to work to get the interior of Will Tree\ninto some order. Cleanliness was of the first importance. The beds of\ndried grass were frequently renewed. The plates and dishes were only\nscallop shells, it is true, but no American kitchen could show cleaner\nones. It should be said to his praise that Professor Tartlet was a\ncapital washer. With the help of his knife Godfrey, by flattening out a\nlarge piece of bark, and sticking four uprights into the ground, had\ncontrived a table in the middle of the room. Some large stumps served\nfor stools. The comrades were no longer reduced to eating on their\nknees, when the weather prevented their dining in the open air.\n\nThere was still the question of clothing, which was of great interest to\nthem, and they did the best they could. In that climate, and under that\nlatitude, there was no reason why they should not go about half naked;\nbut, at length, trousers, waistcoat, and linen shirt were all worn out.\nHow could they replace them? Were the sheep and the goats to provide\nthem with skins for clothing, after furnishing them with flesh for food?\nIt looked like it. Meanwhile, Godfrey had the few garments he possessed\nfrequently washed. It was on Tartlet, transformed into a laundress, that\nthis task fell, and he acquitted himself of it to the general\nsatisfaction.\n\nGodfrey busied himself specially in providing food, and in arranging\nmatters generally. He was, in fact, the caterer. Collecting the edible\nroots and the manzanilla fruit occupied him some hours every day; and so\ndid fishing with plaited rushes, sometimes in the waters of the stream,\nand sometimes in the hollows of the rocks on the beach when the tide had\ngone out. The means were primitive, no doubt, but from time to time a\nfine crustacean or a succulent fish figured on the table of Will Tree,\nto say nothing of the mollusks, which were easily caught by hand.\n\nBut we must confess that the pot--of all the pieces in the battery of\nthe cook undoubtedly the most essential--the simple iron pot, was\nwanting. Its absence could not but be deeply felt. Godfrey knew not how\nto replace the vulgar pipkin, whose use is universal. No hash, no stew,\nno boiled meat, no fish, nothing but roasts and grills. No soup appeared\nat the beginning of a meal. Constantly and bitterly did Tartlet\ncomplain--but how to satisfy the poor man?\n\nGodfrey was busied with other cares. In visiting the different trees of\nthe group he had found a second sequoia of great height, of which the\nlower part, hollowed out by the weather, was very rugged and uneven.\n\nHere he devised his poultry-house, and in it the fowls took up their\nabode. The hens soon became accustomed to their home, and settled\nthemselves to set on eggs placed in the dried grass, and chickens began\nto multiply. Every evening the broods were driven in and shut up, so as\nto keep them from birds of prey, who, aloft in the branches, watched\ntheir easy victims, and would, if they could, have ended by destroying\nthem.\n\nAs for the agoutis, the sheep, and the goats, it would have been useless\nthen to have looked out a stable or a shelter for them. When the bad\nweather came, there would be time enough to see to that. Meanwhile they\nprospered on the luxuriant pasturage of the prairie, with its abundance\nof sainfoin and edible roots, of which the porcine representatives\nshowed genuine appreciation. A few kids had been dropped since the\narrival in the island, and as much milk as possible was left to the\ngoats with which to nourish their little ones.\n\nFrom all this it resulted that the surroundings of Will Tree were quite\nlively. The well-fed domestic animals came during the warm hours of the\nday to find there a refuge from the heat of the sun. No fear was there\nof their wandering abroad, or of their falling a prey to wild beasts, of\nwhich Phina Island seemed to contain not a single specimen.\n\nAnd so things went on, with a present fairly comfortable perhaps, but a\nfuture very disquieting, when an unexpected incident occurred which\nbettered the position considerably.\n\nIt was on the 29th of July.\n\nGodfrey was strolling in the morning along that part of the shore which\nformed the beach of the large bight to which he had given the name of\nDream Bay. He was exploring it to see if it was as rich in shell-fish as\nthe coast on the north. Perhaps he still hoped that he might yet come\nacross some of the wreck, of which it seemed to him so strange that the\ntide had as yet brought in not a single fragment.\n\nOn this occasion he had advanced to the northern point which terminated\nin a sandy spit, when his attention was attracted by a rock of curious\nshape, rising near the last group of algæ and sea-weeds.\n\nA strange presentiment made him hasten his steps. What was his surprise,\nand his joy, when he saw that what he had taken for a rock was a box,\nhalf buried in the sand.\n\nWas it one of the packages of the _Dream_? Had it been here ever since\nthe wreck? Was it not rather all that remained of another and more\nrecent catastrophe? It was difficult to say. In any case no matter\nwhence it came or what it held, the box was a valuable prize.\n\nGodfrey examined it outwardly. There was no trace of an address not even\na name, not even one of those huge initials cut out of thin sheet metal\nwhich ornament the boxes of the Americans. Perhaps he would find inside\nit some paper which would indicate the origin, or nationality, or name\nof the proprietor? Any how it was apparently hermetically sealed, and\nthere was hope that its contents had not been spoiled by their sojourn\nin the sea-water. It was a very strong wooden box, covered with thick\nleather, with copper corner plates at the angles, and large straps all\nover it.\n\nImpatient as he was to view the contents of the box, Godfrey did not\nthink of damaging it, but of opening it after destroying the lock; as to\ntransporting it from the bottom of Dream Bay to Will Tree, its weight\nforbade it, and he never gave that a thought.\n\n\"Well,\" said Godfrey to himself, \"we must empty it where it is, and make\nas many journeys as may be necessary to take away all that is inside.\"\n\nIt was about four miles from the end of the promontory to the group of\nsequoias. It would therefore take some time to do this, and occasion\nconsiderable fatigue. Time did not press, however. As for the fatigue,\nit was hardly worth thinking about.\n\nWhat did the box contain? Before returning to Will Tree, Godfrey had a\ntry at opening it.\n\nHe began by unbuckling the straps, and once they were off he very\ncarefully lifted the leather shield which protected the lock. But how\nwas he to force it?\n\nIt was a difficult job. Godfrey had no lever with which to bring his\nstrength to bear. He had to guard against the risk of breaking his\nknife, and so he looked about for a heavy stone with which he could\nstart the staple.\n\nThe beach was strewn with lumps of hard silex in every form which could\ndo for a hammer.\n\nGodfrey picked out one as thick as his wrist, and with it he gave a\ntremendous whack on the plate of copper.\n\nTo his extreme surprise the bolt shot through the staple immediately\ngave way.\n\nEither the staple was broken by the blow, or the lock was not turned.\n\nGodfrey's heart beat high as he stooped to lift up the box lid.\n\nIt rose unchecked, and in truth had Godfrey had to get it to pieces he\nwould not have done so without trouble. The trunk was a regular\nstrong-box. The interior was lined with sheet zinc, so that the\nsea-water had failed to penetrate. The objects it contained, however\ndelicate they might be, would be found in a perfect state of\npreservation.\n\nAnd what objects! As he took them out Godfrey could not restrain\nexclamations of joy! Most assuredly the box must have belonged to some\nhighly practical traveller, who had reckoned on getting into a country\nwhere he would have to trust to his own resources.\n\nIn the first place there was linen--shirts, table-cloths, sheets,\ncounterpanes; then clothes--woollen jerseys, woollen socks, cotton\nsocks, cloth trousers, velveteen trousers, knitted waistcoats,\nwaistcoats of good heavy stuffs; then two pairs of strong boots, and\nhunting-shoes and felt hats.\n\nThen came a few kitchen and toilet utensils; and an iron pot--the famous\npot which was wanted so badly--a kettle, a coffee-pot, a tea-pot, some\nspoons, some forks, some knives, a looking-glass, and brushes of all\nkinds, and, what was by no means to be despised, three cans, containing\nabout fifteen pints of brandy and tafia, and several pounds of tea and\ncoffee.\n\nThen, in the third place, came some tools--an auger, a gimlet, a\nhandsaw, an assortment of nails and brads, a spade, a shovel, a pickaxe,\na hatchet, an adze, &c., &c.\n\nIn the fourth place, there were some weapons, two hunting-knives in\ntheir leather sheaths, a carbine and two muskets, three six-shooter\nrevolvers, a dozen pounds of powder, many thousand caps, and an\nimportant stock of lead and bullets, all the arms seeming to be of\nEnglish make. There was also a small medicine-chest, a telescope, a\ncompass, and a chronometer. There were also a few English books, several\nquires of blank paper, pencils, pens, and ink, an almanac, a Bible with\na New York imprint, and a \"Complete Cook's Manual.\"\n\nVerily this is an inventory of what under the circumstances was an\ninestimable prize.\n\nGodfrey could not contain himself for joy. Had he expressly ordered the\ntrousseau for the use of shipwrecked folks in difficulties, he could not\nhave made it more complete.\n\nAbundant thanks were due for it to Providence. And Providence had the\nthanks, and from an overflowing heart.\n\nGodfrey indulged himself in the pleasure of spreading out all his\ntreasure on the beach. Every object was looked over, but not a scrap of\npaper was there in the box to indicate to whom it belonged, or the ship\non which it had been embarked.\n\nAround, the sea showed no signs of a recent wreck.\n\nNothing was there on the rocks, nothing on the sands. The box must have\nbeen brought in by the flood, after being afloat for perhaps many days.\nIn fact, its size in proportion to its weight had assured for it\nsufficient buoyancy.\n\nThe two inhabitants of Phina Island would for some time be kept provided\nin a large measure with the material wants of life,--tools, arms,\ninstruments, utensils, clothes--due to the luckiest of chances.\n\nGodfrey did not dream of taking all the things to Will Tree at once.\nTheir transport would necessitate several journeys but he would have to\nmake haste for fear of bad weather.\n\nGodfrey then put back most of the things in the box. A gun, a revolver,\na certain quantity of powder and lead, a hunting-knife, the telescope,\nand the iron pot, he took as his first load.\n\nThe box was carefully closed and strapped up, and with a rapid step\nGodfrey strode back along the shore.\n\nAh! What a reception he had from Tartlet, an hour later! And the delight\nof the Professor when his pupil ran over the list of their new riches!\nThe pot--that pot above everything--threw him into transports of joy,\nculminating in a series of \"hornpipes\" and \"cellar-flaps,\" wound up by a\ntriumphant \"six-eight breakdown.\"\n\nIt was only noon as yet. Godfrey wished after the meal to get back at\nonce to Dream Bay. He would never rest until the whole was in safety at\nWill Tree.\n\nTartlet made no objection, and declared himself ready to start. It was\nno longer necessary to watch the fire. With the powder they could always\nget a light. But the Professor was desirous that during their absence\nthe soup which he was thinking about might be kept gently on the simmer.\nThe wonderful pot was soon filled with water from the stream, a whole\nquarter of a goat was thrown in, accompanied by a dozen yamph roots, to\ntake the place of vegetables, and then a pinch or two of salt found in\nthe crevices of the rocks gave seasoning to the mixture.\n\n\"It must skim itself,\" exclaimed Tartlet, who seemed highly satisfied\nat his performance.\n\nAnd off they started for Dream Bay by the shortest road. The box had not\nbeen disturbed. Godfrey opened it with care. Amid a storm of admiring\nexclamations from Tartlet, he began to pick out the things.\n\nIn this first journey Godfrey and his companion, transformed into beasts\nof burden, carried away to Will Tree the arms, the ammunition, and a\npart of the wearing apparel.\n\nThen they rested from their fatigue beside the table, on which there\nsmoked the stewed agouti, which they pronounced most excellent. As for\nthe meat, to listen to the Professor it would have been difficult even\nto imagine anything more exquisite! Oh! the marvellous effect of\nprivation!\n\nOn the 30th, the next day, Godfrey and Tartlet set forth at dawn, and in\nthree other journeys succeeded in emptying and carrying away all that\nthe box contained. Before the evening, tools, weapons, instruments,\nutensils, were all brought, arranged, and stowed away in Will Tree.\n\nOn the 1st of August, the box itself, dragged along the beach not\nwithout difficulty, found a place in the tree, and was transformed into\na linen-closet.\n\nTartlet, with the fickleness of his mind, now looked upon the future\nthrough none but rosy glasses. We can hardly feel astonished then that\non this day, with his kit in his hand, he went out to find his pupil,\nand said to him in all seriousness, as if he were in the drawing-room of\nKolderup's mansion,--\n\n\"Well, Godfrey, my boy, don't you think it is time to resume our dancing\nlessons?\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nIN WHICH THERE HAPPENS WHAT HAPPENS AT LEAST ONCE IN THE LIFE OF EVERY\nCRUSOE, REAL OR IMAGINARY.\n\n\nAnd now the future looked less gloomy. But if Tartlet saw in the\npossession of the instruments, the tools, and the weapons only the means\nof making their life of isolation a little more agreeable, Godfrey was\nalready thinking of how to escape from Phina Island. Could he not now\nconstruct a vessel strong enough to enable them to reach if not some\nneighbouring land, at least some ship passing within sight of the\nisland?\n\nMeanwhile the weeks which followed were principally spent in carrying\nout not these ideas, but those of Tartlet. The wardrobe at Will Tree was\nnow replenished, but it was decided to use it with all the discretion\nwhich the uncertainty of the future required. Never to wear any of the\nclothes unless necessity compelled him to do so, was the rule to which\nthe professor was forced to submit.\n\n\"What is the good of that?\" grumbled he. \"It is a great deal too\nstingy, my dear Godfrey! Are we savages, that we should go about half\nnaked?\"\n\n\"I beg your pardon, Tartlet,\" replied Godfrey; \"we are savages, and\nnothing else.\"\n\n\"As you please; but you will see that we shall leave the island before\nwe have worn the clothes!\"\n\n\"I know nothing about it, Tartlet, and it is better to have than to\nwant.\"\n\n\"But on Sunday now, surely on Sunday, we might dress up a little?\"\n\n\"Very well, on Sundays then, and perhaps on public holidays,\" answered\nGodfrey, who did not wish to anger his frivolous companion; \"but as to\nday is Monday we shall have to wait a whole week before we come out in\nour best.\"\n\nWe need hardly mention that from the moment he arrived on the island\nGodfrey had not omitted to mark each day as it passed. By the aid of the\ncalendar he found in the box he was able to verify that the day was\nreally Monday.\n\nEach performed his daily task according to his ability. It was no longer\nnecessary for them to keep watch by day and night over a fire which they\nhad now the means of relighting.\n\nTartlet therefore abandoned, not without regret, a task which suited\nhim so well. Henceforwards he took charge of the provisioning with yamph\nand camas roots--of that in short which formed the daily bread of the\nestablishment, so that the professor went every day and collected them,\nup to the lines of shrubs with which the prairie was bordered behind\nWill Tree. It was one or two miles to walk, but he accustomed himself to\nit. Between whiles he occupied his time in collecting oysters or other\nmollusks, of which they consumed a great quantity.\n\nGodfrey reserved for himself the care of the domestic animals and the\npoultry. The butchering trade was hardly to his taste, but he soon\novercame his repugnance. Thanks to him, boiled meats appeared frequently\non the table, followed by an occasional joint of roast meat to afford a\nsufficiently varied bill of fare. Game abounded in the woods of Phina\nIsland, and Godfrey proposed to begin his shooting when other more\npressing cares allowed him time. He thought of making good use of the\nguns, powder, and bullets in his arsenal, but he in the first place\nwished to complete his preparations. His tools enabled him to make\nseveral benches inside and outside Will Tree. The stools were cut out\nroughly with the axe, the table made a little less roughly became more\nworthy of the dishes and dinner things with which Professor Tartlet\nadorned it. The beds were arranged in wooden boxes and their litter of\ndry grass assumed a more inviting aspect. If mattresses and palliasses\nwere still wanting, counterpanes at least were not. The various cooking\nutensils stood no longer on the ground, but had their places on planks\nfixed along the walls. Stores, linen, and clothes were carefully put\naway in cavities hollowed out in the bark of the sequoia. From strong\npegs were suspended the arms and instruments, forming quite a trophy on\nthe walls.\n\nGodfrey was also desirous of putting a door to the house, so that the\nother living creatures--the domestic animals--should not come during the\nnight and trouble their sleep. As he could not cut out boards with his\nonly saw, the handsaw, he used large and thick pieces of bark, which he\ngot off very easily. With these he made a door sufficiently massive to\nclose the opening into Will Tree, at the same time he made two little\nwindows, one opposite to the other, so as to let light and air into the\nroom. Shutters allowed him to close them at night, but from the morning\nto the evening it was no longer necessary to take refuge in flaring\nresinous torches which filled the dwelling with smoke. What Godfrey\nwould think of to yield them light during the long nights of winter he\nhad as yet no idea. He might take to making candles with the mutton fat,\nor he might be contented with resinous torches more carefully prepared.\nWe shall see.\n\nAnother of his anxieties was how to construct a chimney in Will Tree.\nWhile the fine weather lasted, the fire outside among the roots of the\nsequoia sufficed for all the wants of the kitchen, but when the bad\nweather came and the rain fell in torrents, and they would have to\nbattle with the cold, whose extreme rigour during a certain time they\nreasonably feared, they would have to have a fire inside their house,\nand the smoke from it must have some vent. This important question\ntherefore had to be settled.\n\nOne very useful work which Godfrey undertook was to put both banks of\nthe river in communication with each other on the skirt of the\nsequoia-trees.\n\nHe managed, after some difficulty, to drive a few stakes into the\nriver-bed, and on them he fixed a staging of planks, which served for a\nbridge. They could thus get away to the northern shore without crossing\nthe ford, which led them a couple of miles out of their road.\n\nBut if Godfrey took all these precautions so as to make existence a\nlittle more possible on this lone isle of the Pacific, in case he and\nhis companion were destined to live on it for some time, or perhaps live\non it for ever, he had no intention of neglecting in any way the chances\nof rescue.\n\nPhina Island was not on the routes taken by the ships--that was only too\nevident. It offered no port of call, nor means of revictualling. There\nwas nothing to encourage ships to take notice of it. At the same time\nit was not impossible that a war-ship or a merchant-vessel might come in\nsight. It was advisable therefore to find some way of attracting\nattention, and showing that the island was inhabited.\n\nWith this object Godfrey erected a flagstaff at the end of the cape\nwhich ran out to the north, and for a flag he sacrificed a piece of one\nof the cloths found in the trunk. As he thought that the white colour\nwould only be visible in a strong light, he tried to stain his flag with\nthe berries of a sort of shrub which grew at the foot of the dunes. He\nobtained a very vivid red, which he could not make indelible owing to\nhis having no mordant, but he could easily re-dye the cloth when the\nwind or rain had faded it.\n\nThese varied employments occupied him up to the 15th of August. For many\nweeks the sky had been constantly clear, with the exception of two or\nthree storms of extreme violence which had brought down a large quantity\nof water, to be greedily drunk in by the soil.\n\nAbout this time Godfrey began his shooting expeditions. But if he was\nskilful enough in the use of the gun, he could not reckon on Tartlet,\nwho had yet to fire his first shot.\n\nMany days of the week did Godfrey devote to the pursuit of fur and\nfeather, which, without being abundant, were yet plentiful enough for\nthe requirements of Will Tree.\n\nA few partridges, some of the red-legged variety, and a few snipes, came\nas a welcome variation of the bill of fare. Two or three antelopes fell\nto the prowess of the young stalker; and although he had had nothing to\ndo with their capture, the professor gave them a no less welcome than he\ndid when they appeared as haunches and cutlets.\n\nBut while he was out shooting, Godfrey did not forget to take a more\ncomplete survey of the island. He penetrated the depths of the dense\nforests which occupied the central districts. He ascended the river to\nits source. He again mounted the summit of the cone, and redescended by\nthe talus on the eastern shore, which he had not, up to then, visited.\n\n\"After all these explorations,\" repeated Godfrey to himself, \"there can\nbe no doubt that Phina Island has no dangerous animals, neither wild\nbeasts, snakes, nor saurians! I have not caught sight of one! Assuredly\nif there had been any, the report of the gun would have woke them up! It\nis fortunate, indeed. If it were to become necessary to fortify Will\nTree against their attacks, I do not know how we should get on!\"\n\nThen passing on to quite a natural deduction--\n\n\"It must also be concluded,\" continued he, \"that the island is not\ninhabited at all. Either natives or people shipwrecked here would have\nappeared before now at the sound of the gun! There is, however, that\ninexplicable smoke which I twice thought I saw.\"\n\nThe fact is, that Godfrey had never been able to trace any fire. As for\nthe hot water springs to which he attributed the origin of the vapour he\nhad noticed, Phina Island being in no way volcanic did not appear to\ncontain any, and he had to content himself with thinking that he had\ntwice been the victim of an illusion.\n\nBesides, this apparition of the smoke or the vapour was not repeated.\nWhen Godfrey the second time ascended the central cone, as also when he\nagain climbed up into Will Tree, he saw nothing to attract his\nattention. He ended by forgetting the circumstance altogether.\n\nMany weeks passed in different occupations about the tree, and many\nshooting excursions were undertaken. With every day their mode of life\nimproved.\n\nEvery Sunday, as had been agreed, Tartlet donned his best clothes. On\nthat day he did nothing but walk about under the big trees, and indulge\nin an occasional tune on the kit. Many were the glissades he performed,\ngiving lessons to himself, as his pupil had positively refused to\ncontinue his course.\n\n\"What is the good of it?\" was Godfrey's answer to the entreaties of the\nprofessor. \"Can you imagine Robinson Crusoe taking lessons in dancing\nand deportment?\"\n\n\"And why not?\" asked Tartlet seriously. \"Why should Robinson Crusoe\ndispense with deportment? Not for the good of others, but of himself, he\nshould acquire refined manners.\"\n\nTo which Godfrey made no reply. And as he never came for his lesson, the\nprofessor became professor \"emeritus.\"\n\nThe 13th of September was noted for one of the greatest and cruellest\ndeceptions to which, on a desert island, the unfortunate survivors of a\nshipwreck could be subjected.\n\nGodfrey had never again seen that inexplicable and undiscoverable smoke\non the island; but on this day, about three o'clock in the afternoon,\nhis attention was attracted by a long line of vapour, about the origin\nof which he could not be deceived.\n\nHe had gone for a walk to the end of Flag Point--the name which he had\ngiven to the cape on which he had erected his flagstaff. While he was\nlooking through his glass he saw above the horizon a smoke driven by the\nwest wind towards the island.\n\nGodfrey's heart beat high.\n\n\"A ship!\" he exclaimed.\n\nBut would this ship, this steamer, pass in sight of Phina Island? And if\nit passed, would it come near enough for the signal thereon to be seen\non board?\n\nOr would not rather the semi-visible smoke disappear with the vessel\ntowards the north-west or south-west of the horizon?\n\nFor two hours Godfrey was a prey to alternating emotions more easy to\nindicate than to describe.\n\nThe smoke got bigger and bigger. It increased when the steamer re-stoked\nher fires, and diminished almost to vanishing-point as the fuel was\nconsumed. Continually did the vessel visibly approach. About four\no'clock her hull had come up on the line between the sky and the sea.\n\nShe was a large steamer, bearing north-east. Godfrey easily made that\nout. If that direction was maintained, she would inevitably approach\nPhina Island.\n\nGodfrey had at first thought of running back to Will Tree to inform\nTartlet. What was the use of doing so? The sight of one man making\nsignals could do as much good as that of two. He remained there, his\nglass at his eye, losing not a single movement of the ship.\n\nThe steamer kept on her course towards the coast, her bow steered\nstraight for the cape. By five o'clock the horizon-line was already\nabove her hull, and her rig was visible. Godfrey could even recognize\nthe colours at her gaff.\n\nShe carried the United States' ensign.\n\n\"But if I can see their flag, cannot they see mine? The wind keeps it\nout, so that they could easily see my flag with their glasses. Shall I\nmake signals, by raising it and lowering it a few times, so as to show\nthat I want to enter into communication with them? Yes! I have not an\ninstant to lose.\"\n\nIt was a good idea. Godfrey ran to the end of Flag Point, and began to\nhaul his flag up and down, as if he were saluting. Then he left it\nhalf-mast high, so as to show, in the way usual with seafaring people,\nthat he required help and succour.\n\nThe steamer still approached to within three miles of the shore, but her\nflag remained immovable at the peak, and replied not to that on Flag\nPoint. Godfrey felt his heart sink. He would not be noticed! It was\nhalf-past six, and the sun was about to set!\n\nThe steamer was now about two miles from the cape, which she was rapidly\nnearing. At this moment the sun disappeared below the horizon. With the\nfirst shadows of night, all hope of being seen had to be given up.\n\nGodfrey again, with no more success, began to raise and lower his flag.\nThere was no reply.\n\nHe then fired his gun two or three times, but the distance was still\ngreat, and the wind did not set in that direction! No report would be\nheard on board!\n\nThe night gradually came on; soon the steamer's hull grew invisible.\nDoubtless in another hour she would have passed Phina Island.\n\nGodfrey, not knowing what to do, thought of setting fire to a group of\nresinous trees which grew at the back of Flag Point. He lighted a heap\nof dry leaves with some gunpowder, and then set light to the group of\npines, which flared up like an enormous torch.\n\nBut no fire on the ship answered to the one on the land, and Godfrey\nreturned sadly to Will Tree, feeling perhaps more desolate than he had\never felt till then.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nIN WHICH SOMETHING HAPPENS WHICH CANNOT FAIL TO SURPRISE THE READER.\n\n\nTo Godfrey the blow was serious. Would this unexpected chance which had\njust escaped him ever offer again? Could he hope so? No! The\nindifference of the steamer as she passed in sight of the island,\nwithout even taking a look at it, was obviously shared in by all the\nvessels venturing in this deserted portion of the Pacific. Why should\nthey put into port more than she had done? The island did not possess a\nsingle harbour.\n\nGodfrey passed a sorrowful night. Every now and then jumping up as if he\nheard a cannon out at sea, he would ask himself if the steamer had not\ncaught sight of the huge fire which still burnt on the coast, and if she\nwere not endeavouring to answer the signal by a gun-shot?\n\nGodfrey listened. It was only an illusion of his over-excited brain.\nWhen the day came, he had come to look upon the apparition of the ship\nas but a dream, which had commenced about three o'clock on the previous\nafternoon.\n\nBut no! He was only too certain that a ship had been in sight of Phina\nIsland, maybe within two miles of it, and certainly she had not put in.\n\nOf this deception Godfrey said not a word to Tartlet. What was the good\nof talking about it? Besides, his frivolous mind could not see more than\ntwenty-four hours ahead. He was no longer thinking of the chances of\nescaping from the island which might offer. He no longer imagined that\nthe future had great things in store for them. San Francisco was fading\nout of his recollection. He had no sweetheart waiting for him, no Uncle\nWill to return to. If at this end of the world he could only commence a\ncourse of lessons on dancing, his happiness would be complete--were it\nonly with one pupil.\n\nIf the professor dreamt not of immediate danger, such as to compromise\nhis safety in this island--bare, as it was, of wild beasts and\nsavages--he was wrong. This very day his optimism was to be put to a\nrude test.\n\nAbout four o'clock in the afternoon Tartlet had gone, according to his\ncustom, to collect some oysters and mussels, on that part of the shore\nbehind Flag Point, when Godfrey saw him coming back as fast as his legs\ncould carry him to Will Tree. His hair stood on end round his\ntemples. He looked like a man in flight, who dared not turn his head to\nthe right or to the left.\n\n\"What is the matter?\" shouted Godfrey, not without alarm, running to\nmeet his companion.\n\n\"There! there!\" answered Tartlet, pointing with his finger towards the\nnarrow strip of sea visible to the north between the trees.\n\n\"But what is it?\" asked Godfrey, whose first movement was to run to the\nedge of the sequoias.\n\n\"A canoe!\"\n\n[Illustration: \"A Canoe!\" _page 181_]\n\n\"A canoe?\"\n\n\"Yes! Savages! Quite a fleet of savages! Cannibals, perhaps!\"\n\nGodfrey looked in the direction pointed out.\n\nIt was not a fleet, as the distracted Tartlet had said; but he was only\nmistaken about the quantity.\n\nIn fact, there was a small vessel gliding through the water, now very\ncalm, about half-a-mile from the coast, so as to double Flag Point.\n\n\"And why should they be cannibals?\" asked Godfrey, turning towards the\nprofessor.\n\n\"Because in Crusoe Islands,\" answered Tartlet, \"there are always\ncannibals, who arrive sooner or later.\"\n\n\"Is it not a boat from some merchant-ship?\"\n\n\"From a ship?\"\n\n\"Yes. From a steamer which passed here yesterday afternoon, in sight of\nour island?\"\n\n\"And you said nothing to me about it!\" exclaimed Tartlet, lifting his\nhands to the sky.\n\n\"What good should I have done?\" asked Godfrey. \"Besides, I thought that\nthe vessel had disappeared! But that boat might belong to her! Let us go\nand see!\"\n\nGodfrey ran rapidly back to Will Tree, and, seizing his glass, returned\nto the edge of the trees.\n\nHe then examined with extreme attention the little vessel, which would\nere then have perceived the flag on Flag Point as it fluttered in the\nbreeze.\n\nThe glass fell from his hands.\n\n\"Savages! Yes! They are really savages!\" he exclaimed.\n\nTartlet felt his knees knock together, and a tremor of fright ran\nthrough his body.\n\nIt was a vessel manned by savages which Godfrey saw approaching the\nisland. Built like a Polynesian canoe, she carried a large sail of woven\nbamboo; an outrigger on the weather side kept her from capsizing as she\nheeled down to the wind.\n\nGodfrey easily distinguished the build of the vessel. She was a proa,\nand this would indicate that Phina Island was not far from Malaysia. But\nthey were not Malays on board; they were half-naked blacks, and there\nwere about a dozen of them.\n\nThe danger of being found was thus great. Godfrey regretted that he had\nhoisted the flag, which had not been seen by the ship, but would be by\nthese black fellows. To take it down now would be too late.\n\nIt was, in truth, very unfortunate. The savages had probably come to the\nisland thinking it was uninhabited, as indeed it had been before the\nwreck of the _Dream_. But there was the flag, indicating the presence of\nhuman beings on the coast! How were they to escape them if they landed?\n\nGodfrey knew not what to do. Anyhow his immediate care must be to watch\nif they set foot on the island. He could think of other things\nafterwards.\n\nWith his glass at his eye he followed the proa; he saw it turn the point\nof the promontory, then run along the shore and then approach the mouth\nof the small stream, which, two miles up, flowed past Will Tree.\n\nIf the savages intended to paddle up the river, they would soon reach\nthe group of sequoias--and nothing could hinder them. Godfrey and\nTartlet ran rapidly back to their dwelling. They first of all set about\nguarding them selves against surprise, and giving themselves time to\nprepare their defence.\n\nAt least that is what Godfrey thought of. The ideas of the professor\ntook quite a different turn.\n\n\"Ah!\" he exclaimed. \"It is destiny! This is as it was written? We could\nnot escape it! You cannot be a Crusoe without a canoe coming to your\nisland, without cannibals appearing one day or another! Here we have\nbeen for only three months, and there they are already! Assuredly,\nneither Defoe, nor De Wyss exaggerated matters! You can make yourself a\nCrusoe, if you like!\"\n\nWorthy Tartlet, folks do not make themselves Crusoes, they become\nCrusoes, and you are not sure that you are wise in comparing your\nposition with that of the heroes of the two English and Swiss romances!\n\nThe precautions taken by Godfrey as soon as he returned to Will Tree\nwere as follows. The fire burning among the roots of the sequoia was\nextinguished, and the embers scattered broadcast, so as to leave no\ntrace; cocks, hens, and chickens were already in their house for the\nnight, and the entrance was hidden with shrubs and twigs as much as\npossible; the other animals, the goats, agoutis, and sheep, were driven\non to the prairie, but it was unlucky that there was no stable to shut\nthem up in; all the instruments and tools were taken into the tree.\nNothing was left outside that could indicate the presence or the passage\nof human beings.\n\nThen the door was closely shut, after Godfrey and Tartlet had gone in.\nThe door made of the sequoia bark was indistinguishable from the bark of\nthe trunk, and might perhaps escape the eyes of the savages, who would\nnot look at it very closely. It was the same with the two windows, in\nwhich the lower boards were shut. Then all light was extinguished in the\ndwelling, and our friends remained in total darkness. How long that\nnight was! Godfrey and Tartlet heard the slightest sounds outside. The\ncreaking of a dry branch, even a puff of wind, made them start. They\nthought they heard some one walking under the trees. It seemed that they\nwere prowling round Will Tree. Then Godfrey climbed up to one of the\nwindows, opened one of the boards, and anxiously peered into the gloom.\n\nNothing!\n\nHowever, Godfrey at last heard footsteps on the ground. His ear could\nnot deceive him this time. He still looked, but could only see one of\nthe goats come for shelter beneath the trees.\n\nHad any of the savages happened to discover the house hidden in the\nenormous sequoia, Godfrey had made up his mind what to do: he would drag\nup Tartlet with him by the chimney inside, and take refuge in the higher\nbranches, where he would be better able to resist. With guns and\nrevolvers in his possession, and ammunition in abundance, he would\nthere have some chance against a dozen savages devoid of fire-arms.\n\nIf in the event of their being armed with bows and arrows they attacked\nfrom below, it was not likely that they would have the best of it\nagainst fire-arms aimed from above. If on the other hand they forced the\ndoor of the dwelling and tried to reach the branches from the inside,\nthey would find it very difficult to get there, owing to the narrow\nopening, which the besieged could easily defend.\n\nGodfrey said nothing about this to Tartlet. The poor man had been almost\nout of his mind with fright since he had seen the proa. The thought that\nhe might be obliged to take refuge in the upper part of a tree, as if in\nan eagle's nest, would not have soothed him in the least. If it became\nnecessary, Godfrey decided to drag him up before he had time to think\nabout it.\n\nThe night passed amid these alternations of fear and hope. No attack\noccurred. The savages had not yet come to the sequoia group. Perhaps\nthey would wait for the day before venturing to cross the island.\n\n\"That is probably what they will do,\" said Godfrey, \"since our flag\nshows that it is inhabited! But there are only a dozen of them, and they\nwill have to be cautious! How are they to know that they have only to\ndeal with a couple of shipwrecked men? No! They will risk nothing\nexcept by daylight--at least, if they are going to stop.\"\n\n\"Supposing they go away when the daylight comes?\" answered Tartlet.\n\n\"Go away? Why should they have come to Phina Island for one night?\"\n\n\"I do not know,\" replied the professor, who in his terror could only\nexplain the arrival of the blacks by supposing that they had come to\nfeed on human flesh.\n\n\"Anyhow,\" continued Godfrey; \"to-morrow morning, if they have not come\nto Will Tree, we will go out and reconnoitre.\"\n\n\"We?\"\n\n\"Yes! we! Nothing would be more imprudent than for us to separate! Who\nknows whether we may not have to run to the forest in the centre of the\nisland and hide there for some days--until the departure of the proa!\nNo! We will keep together, Tartlet!\"\n\n\"Hush!\" said the professor in a low voice; \"I think I hear something\noutside.\"\n\nGodfrey climbed up again to the window, and got down again almost\nimmediately.\n\n\"No!\" he said. \"Nothing suspicious! It is only our cattle coming back to\nthe wood.\"\n\n\"Hunted perhaps!\" exclaimed Tartlet.\n\n\"They seem very quiet then,\" replied Godfrey; \"I fancy they have only\ncome in search of shelter against the morning dew.\"\n\n\"Ah!\" murmured Tartlet in so piteous a tone that Godfrey could hardly\nhelp laughing, \"these things could not happen at your uncle's place in\nMontgomery Street!\"\n\n\"Day will soon break,\" said Godfrey, after a pause. \"In an hour's time,\nif the savages have not appeared, we will leave Will Tree and\nreconnoitre towards the north of the island. You are able to carry a\ngun, Tartlet?\"\n\n\"Carry? Yes!\"\n\n\"And to fire it in a stated direction?\"\n\n\"I do not know! I have never tried such a thing, and you may be sure,\nGodfrey, that my bullet will not go--\"\n\n\"Who knows if the report alone might not frighten the savages?\"\n\nAn hour later, it was light enough to see beyond the sequoias.\n\nGodfrey then cautiously reopened the shutters.\n\nFrom that looking to the south he saw nothing extraordinary. The\ndomestic animals wandered peacefully under the trees, and did not appear\nin the least alarmed. The survey completed, Godfrey carefully shut this\nwindow. Through the opening to the north there was a view up to the\nshore. Two miles off even the end of Flag Point could be seen; but the\nmouth of the river at the place where the savages had landed the evening\nbefore was not visible. Godfrey at first looked around without using his\nglass, so as to examine the environs of Will Tree on this side of Phina\nIsland.\n\nAll was quite peaceful.\n\nGodfrey then taking his glass swept round the coast to the promontory at\nFlag Point. Perhaps, as Tartlet had said, though it was difficult to\nfind the reason, the savages had embarked, after a night spent on shore,\nwithout attempting to see if the island were inhabited.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nIN WHICH PROFESSOR TARTLET'S GUN REALLY DOES MARVELS.\n\n\nBut Godfrey suddenly uttered an exclamation which made the professor\njump. There could be no doubt that the savages knew the island was\ninhabited, for the flag hitherto hoisted at the extremity of the cape\nhad been carried away by them and no longer floated on the mast at Flag\nPoint. The moment had then come to put the project into execution, to\nreconnoitre if the savages were still in the island, and to see what\nthey were doing.\n\n\"Let us go,\" said he to his companion.\n\n\"Go! But--\" answered Tartlet.\n\n\"Would you rather stay here?\"\n\n\"With you, Godfrey--yes!\"\n\n\"No--alone!\"\n\n\"Alone! Never!\"\n\n\"Come along then!\"\n\nTartlet, thoroughly understanding that Godfrey would not alter his\ndecision, resolved to accompany him. He had not courage enough to stay\nbehind at Will Tree.\n\nBefore starting, Godfrey assured himself that the fire-arms were ready\nfor action. The two guns were loaded, and one passed into the hands of\nthe professor, who seemed as much embarrassed with it as might have been\na savage of Pomotou. He also hung one of the hunting-knives to his belt,\nto which he had already attached his cartridge-pouch. The thought had\noccurred to him to also take his fiddle, imagining perhaps that they\nwould be sensible to the charm of its squeaking, of which all the talent\nof a virtuoso could not conceal the harshness.\n\nGodfrey had some trouble in getting him to abandon this idea, which was\nas ridiculous as it was impracticable.\n\nIt was now six o'clock in the morning. The summits of the sequoias were\nglowing in the first rays of the sun.\n\nGodfrey opened the door; he stepped outside; he scanned the group of\ntrees.\n\nComplete solitude.\n\nThe animals had returned to the prairie. There they were, tranquilly\nbrowsing, about a quarter of a mile away. Nothing about them denoted the\nleast uneasiness.\n\nGodfrey made a sign to Tartlet to join him. The professor, as clumsy as\ncould be in his fighting harness, followed--not without some hesitation.\n\nThen Godfrey shut the door, and saw that it was well hidden in the bark\nof the sequoia. Then, having thrown at the foot of the tree a bundle of\ntwigs, which he weighted with a few large stones, he set out towards the\nriver, whose banks he intended to descend, if necessary, to its mouth.\nTartlet followed him not without giving before each of his steps an\nuneasy stare completely round him up to the very limits of the horizon;\nbut the fear of being left alone impelled him to advance.\n\nArrived at the edge of the group of trees, Godfrey stopped.\n\nTaking his glasses from their case, he scanned with extreme attention\nall that part of the coast between the Flag Point promontory and the\nnorth-east angle of the island.\n\nNot a living being showed itself, not a single smoke wreath was rising\nin the air.\n\nThe end of the cape was equally deserted, but they would there doubtless\nfind numberless footprints freshly made. As for the mast, Godfrey had\nnot been deceived. If the staff still rose above the last rock on the\ncape, it was bereft of its flag. Evidently the savages after coming to\nthe place had gone off with the red cloth which had excited their\ncovetousness, and had regained their boat at the mouth of the river.\n\nGodfrey then turned off so as to examine the western shore.\n\nIt was nothing but a vast desert from Flag Point right away beyond the\ncurve of Dream Bay.\n\nNo boat of any kind appeared on the surface of the sea. If the savages\nhad taken to their proa, it only could be concluded that they were\nhugging the coast sheltered by the rocks, and so closely that they could\nnot be seen.\n\nHowever, Godfrey could not and would not remain in doubt. He was\ndetermined to ascertain, yes or no, if the proa had definitely left the\nisland.\n\nTo do this it was necessary to visit the spot where the savages had\nlanded the night before, that is to say, the narrow creek at the mouth\nof the river.\n\nThis he immediately attempted.\n\nThe borders of the small watercourse were shaded by occasional clumps of\ntrees encircled by shrubs, for a distance of about two miles. Beyond\nthat for some five or six hundred yards down to the sea the river ran\nbetween naked banks. This state of affairs enabled him to approach close\nto the landing-place without being perceived. It might be, however, that\nthe savages had ascended the stream, and to be prepared for this\neventuality the advance had to be made with extreme caution.\n\nGodfrey, however thought, not without reason, that, at this early hour\nthe savages, fatigued by their long voyage, would not have quitted their\nanchorage. Perhaps they were still sleeping either in their canoe or on\nland; in which case it would be seen if they could not be surprised.\n\nThis idea was acted upon at once. It was important that they should get\non quickly. In such circumstances the advantage is generally gained at\nthe outset. The fire-arms were again examined, the revolvers were\ncarefully looked at, and then Godfrey and Tartlet commenced the descent\nof the left bank of the river in Indian file. All around was quiet.\nFlocks of birds flew from one bank to the other, pursuing each other\namong the higher branches without showing any uneasiness.\n\nGodfrey went first, but it can easily be believed that his companion\nfound the attempt to cover step rather tiring. Moving from one tree to\nanother they advanced towards the shore without risk of discovery. Here\nthe clumps of bushes hid them from the opposite bank, there even their\nheads disappeared amid the luxurious vegetation. But no matter where\nthey were, an arrow from a bow or a stone from a sling might at any\nmoment reach them. And so they had to be constantly on their guard.\n\nHowever, in spite of the recommendations which were addressed to him,\nTartlet, tripping against an occasional stump, had two or three falls\nwhich might have complicated matters. Godfrey was beginning to regret\nhaving brought such a clumsy assistant. Indeed, the poor man could not\nbe much help to him. Doubtless he would have been worth more left behind\nat Will Tree; or, if he would not consent to that, hidden away in some\nnook in the forest. But it was too late. An hour after he had left the\nsequoia group, Godfrey and his companion had come a mile--only a\nmile--for the path was not easy beneath the high vegetation and between\nthe luxuriant shrubs. Neither one nor the other of our friends had seen\nanything suspicious.\n\nHereabouts the trees thinned out for about a hundred yards or less, the\nriver ran between naked banks, the country round was barer.\n\nGodfrey stopped. He carefully observed the prairie to the right and left\nof the stream.\n\nStill there was nothing to disquiet him, nothing to indicate the\napproach of savages. It is true that as they could not but believe the\nisland inhabited, they would not advance without precaution, in fact\nthey would be as careful in ascending the little river as Godfrey was in\ndescending it. It was to be supposed therefore that if they were\nprowling about the neighbourhood, they would also profit by the shelter\nof the trees or the high bushes of mastics and myrtles which formed such\nan excellent screen.\n\nIt was a curious though very natural circumstance that, the farther they\nadvanced, Tartlet, perceiving no enemy, little by little lost his\nterror, and began to speak with scorn of \"those cannibal\nlaughing-stocks.\" Godfrey, on the contrary, became more anxious, and it\nwas with greater precaution than ever that he crossed the open space and\nregained the shadow of the trees. Another hour led them to the place\nwhere the banks, beginning to feel the effects of the sea's vicinity,\nwere only bordered with stunted shrubs, or sparse grasses.\n\nUnder these circumstances it was difficult to keep hidden or rather\nimpossible to proceed without crawling along the ground.\n\nThis is what Godfrey did, and also what he advised Tartlet to do.\n\n\"There are not any savages! There are not any cannibals! They have all\ngone!\" said the professor.\n\n\"There are!\" answered Godfrey quickly, in a low voice, \"They ought to be\nhere! Down Tartlet, get down! Be ready to fire, but don't do so till I\ntell you.\"\n\nGodfrey had said these words in such a tone of authority that the\nprofessor, feeling his limbs give way under him, had no difficulty in at\nonce assuming the required position.\n\nAnd he did well!\n\nIn fact, it was not without reason that Godfrey had spoken as he had.\n\nFrom the spot which they then occupied, they could see neither the\nshore, nor the place where the river entered the sea. A small spur of\nhills shut out the view about a hundred yards ahead, but above this near\nhorizon a dense smoke was rising straight in the air.\n\nGodfrey, stretched at full length in the grass, with his finger on the\ntrigger of his musket, kept looking towards the coast.\n\n\"This smoke,\" he said, \"is it not of the same kind that I have already\nseen twice before? Should I conclude that savages have previously landed\non the north and south of the island, and that the smoke came from fires\nlighted by them? But no! That is not possible, for I found no cinders,\nnor traces of a fireplace, nor embers! Ah! this time I'll know the\nreason of it.\"\n\nAnd by a clever reptilian movement, which Tartlet imitated as well as he\ncould, he managed, without showing his head above the grass, to reach\nthe bend of the river.\n\nThence he could command, at his ease, every part of the bank through\nwhich the river ran.\n\nAn exclamation could not but escape him! His hand touched the\nprofessor's shoulder to prevent any movement of his! Useless to go\nfurther! Godfrey saw what he had come to see!\n\nA large fire of wood was lighted on the beach, among the lower rocks,\nand from it a canopy of smoke rose slowly to the sky. Around the fire,\nfeeding it with fresh armfuls of wood, of which they had made a heap,\nwent and came the savages who had landed the evening before. Their canoe\nwas moored to a large stone, and, lifted by the rising tide, oscillated\non the ripples of the shore.\n\nGodfrey could distinguish all that was passing on the sands without\nusing his glasses. He was not more than two hundred yards from the fire,\nand he could even hear it crackling. He immediately perceived that he\nneed fear no surprise from the rear, for all the blacks he had counted\nin the proa were in the group.\n\nTen out of the twelve were occupied in looking after the fire and\nsticking stakes in the ground with the evident intention of rigging up a\nspit in the Polynesian manner. An eleventh, who appeared to be the\nchief, was walking along the beach, and constantly turning his glances\ntowards the interior of the island, as if he were afraid of an attack.\n\nGodfrey recognized as a piece of finery on his shoulders the red stuff\nof his flag.\n\nThe twelfth savage was stretched on the ground, tied tightly to a post.\n\nGodfrey recognized at once the fate in store for the wretched man. The\nspit was for him! The fire was to roast him at! Tartlet had not been\nmistaken, when, the previous evening, he had spoken of these folks as\ncannibals!\n\nIt must be admitted that neither was he mistaken in saying that the\nadventures of Crusoes, real or imaginary, were all copied one from the\nother!\n\nMost certainly Godfrey and he did then find themselves in the same\nposition as the hero of Daniel Defoe when the savages landed on his\nisland. They were to assist, without doubt, at the same scene of\ncannibalism.\n\nGodfrey decided to act as this hero did! He would not permit the\nmassacre of the prisoner for which the stomachs of the cannibals were\nwaiting! He was well armed. His two muskets--four shots--his two\nrevolvers--a dozen shots--could easily settle these eleven rascals, whom\nthe mere report of one of the fire-arms might perhaps be sufficient to\nscatter. Having taken his decision he coolly waited for the moment to\ninterfere like a thunder-clap.\n\nHe had not long to wait!\n\nTwenty minutes had barely elapsed, when the chief approached the fire.\nThen by a gesture he pointed out the prisoner to the savages who were\nexpecting his orders.\n\nGodfrey rose. Tartlet, without knowing why, followed the example. He did\nnot even comprehend where his companion was going, for he had said\nnothing to him of his plans.\n\nGodfrey imagined, evidently, that at sight of him the savages would\nmake some movement, perhaps to rush to their boat, perhaps to rush at\nhim.\n\nThey did nothing. It did not even seem as though they saw him; but at\nthis moment the chief made a significant gesture. Three of his\ncompanions went towards the prisoner, unloosed him, and forced him near\nthe fire.\n\nHe was still a young man, who, feeling that his last hour had come,\nresisted with all his might.\n\nAssuredly, if he could, he would sell his life dearly. He began by\nthrowing off the savages who held him, but he was soon knocked down, and\nthe thief, seizing a sort of stone axe, jumped forward to beat in his\nhead.\n\nGodfrey uttered a cry, followed by a report. A bullet whistled through\nthe air, and it seemed as though the chief were mortally wounded, for he\nfell on the ground.\n\nAt the report, the savages, surprised as though they had never heard the\nsound of fire-arms, stopped. At the sight of Godfrey those who held the\nprisoner instantly released him.\n\nImmediately the poor fellow arose, and ran towards the place where he\nperceived his unexpected liberator.\n\nAt this moment a second report was heard.\n\nIt was Tartlet, who, without looking--for the excellent man kept his\neyes shut--had just fired, and the stock of the musket on his right\nshoulder delivered the hardest knock which had ever been received by the\nprofessor of dancing and deportment.\n\nBut--what a chance it was!--a second savage fell close to his chief.\n\nThe rout at once began. Perhaps the savages thought they had to do with\na numerous troop of natives whom they could not resist. Perhaps they\nwere simply terrified at the sight of the two white men who seemed to\nkeep the lightning in their pockets. There they were, seizing the two\nwho were wounded, carrying them off, rushing to the proa, driving it by\ntheir paddles out of the little creek, hoisting their sail, steering\nbefore the wind, making for the Flag Point promontory, and doubling it\nin hot haste.\n\nGodfrey had no thought of pursuing them. What was the good of killing\nthem? They had saved the victim. They had put them to flight, that was\nthe important point. This had been done in such a way that the cannibals\nwould never dare to return to Phina Island.\n\nAll was then for the best. They had only to rejoice in their victory, in\nwhich Tartlet did not hesitate to claim the greatest share.\n\nMeanwhile the prisoner had come to his rescuer. For an instant he\nstopped, with the fear inspired in him by superior beings, but almost\nimmediately he resumed his course. When he arrived before the two\nwhites, he bowed to the ground; then catching hold of Godfrey's foot, he\nplaced it on his head in sign of servitude.\n\nOne would almost have thought that this Polynesian savage had also read\nRobinson Crusoe!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nWHICH TREATS OF THE MORAL AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION OF A SIMPLE NATIVE OF\nTHE PACIFIC.\n\n\nGodfrey at once raised the poor fellow, who lay prostrate before him. He\nlooked in his face.\n\nHe was a man of thirty-five or more, wearing only a rag round his loins.\nIn his features, as in the shape of his head, there could be recognized\nthe type of the African negro. It was not possible to confound him with\nthe debased wretches of the Polynesian islands, who, with their\ndepressed crania and elongated arms, approach so strangely to the\nmonkey.\n\nNow, as he was a negro from Soudan or Abyssinia who had fallen into the\nhands of the natives of an archipelago of the Pacific, it might be that\nhe could speak English or one or two words of the European languages\nwhich Godfrey understood. But it was soon apparent that the unhappy man\nonly used an idiom that was absolutely incomprehensible--probably the\nlanguage of the aborigines among whom he had doubtless arrived when very\nyoung. In fact, Godfrey had immediately interrogated him in English,\nand had obtained no reply. He then made him understand by signs, not\nwithout difficulty, that he would like to know his name.\n\nAfter many fruitless essays, the negro, who had a very intelligent and\neven honest face, replied to the demand which was made of him in a\nsingle word,--\n\n\"Carefinotu.\"\n\n\"Carefinotu!\" exclaimed Tartlet. \"Do you hear the name? I propose that\nwe call him 'Wednesday,' for to-day is Wednesday, and that is what they\nalways do in these Crusoe islands! Is he to be allowed to call himself\nCarefinotu?\"\n\n\"If that is his name,\" said Godfrey; \"why should he not keep it?\"\n\nAnd at the moment he felt a hand placed on his chest, while all the\nblack's physiognomy seemed to ask him what his name was.\n\n\"Godfrey!\" answered he.\n\nThe black endeavoured to say the word, but although Godfrey repeated it\nseveral times, he could not succeed in pronouncing it in an intelligible\nfashion. Then he turned towards the professor, as if to know his name.\n\n\"Tartlet,\" was the reply of that individual in a most amiable tone.\n\n\"Tartlet!\" repeated Carefinotu.\n\nAnd it seemed as though this assemblage of syllables was more agreeable\nto his vocal chords, for he pronounced it distinctly.\n\nThe professor appeared to be extremely flattered. In truth he had reason\nto be.\n\nThen Godfrey, wishing to put the intelligence of the black to some\nprofit, tried to make him understand that he wished to know the name of\nthe island. He pointed with his hand to the woods and prairies and\nhills, and then the shore which bound them, and then the horizon of the\nsea, and he interrogated him with a look.\n\nCarefinotu did not at first understand what was meant, and imitating the\ngesture of Godfrey he also turned and ran his eyes over the space.\n\n\"Arneka,\" said he at length.\n\n\"Arneka?\" replied Godfrey, striking the soil with his foot so as to\naccentuate his demand.\n\n\"Arneka!\" repeated the negro.\n\nThis told Godfrey nothing, neither the geographical name borne by the\nisland, nor its position in the Pacific. He could not remember such a\nname; it was probably a native one, little known to geographers.\n\nHowever, Carefinotu did not cease from looking at the two white men, not\nwithout some stupor, going from one to the other as if he wished to fix\nin his mind the differences which characterized them. The smile on his\nmouth disclosed abundant teeth of magnificent whiteness which Tartlet\ndid not examine without a certain reserve.\n\n\"If those teeth,\" he said, \"have never eaten human flesh may my fiddle\nburst up in my hand.\"\n\n\"Anyhow, Tartlet,\" answered Godfrey; \"our new companion no longer looks\nlike the poor beggar they were going to cook and feed on! That is the\nmain point!\"\n\nWhat particularly attracted the attention of Carefinotu were the weapons\ncarried by Godfrey and Tartlet--as much the musket in the hand as the\nrevolver in the belt.\n\nGodfrey easily understood this sentiment of curiosity. It was evident\nthat the savage had never seen a fire-arm. He said to himself that this\nwas one of those iron tubes which had launched the thunder-bolt that had\ndelivered him? There could be no doubt of it.\n\nGodfrey, wishing to give him, not without reason, a high idea of the\npower of the whites, loaded his gun, and then, showing to Carefinotu a\nred-legged partridge that was flying across the prairie about a hundred\nyards away, he shouldered it quickly, and fired. The bird fell.\n\nAt the report the black gave a prodigious leap, which Tartlet could not\nbut admire from a choregraphic point of view. Then repressing his fear,\nand seeing the bird with broken wing running through the grass, he\nstarted off and swift as a greyhound ran towards it, and with many a\ncaper, half of joy, half of stupefaction, brought it back to his master.\n\nTartlet then thought of displaying to Carefinotu that the Great Spirit\nhad also favoured him with the power of the lightning; and perceiving a\nkingfisher tranquilly seated on an old stump near the river was bringing\nthe stock up to his cheek, when Godfrey stopped him with,--\n\n\"No! Don't fire, Tartlet!\"\n\n\"Why not?\"\n\n\"Suppose that by some mishap you were not to hit the bird, think how we\nwould fall in the estimation of the nigger!\"\n\n\"And why should I not hit him?\" replied Tartlet with some acerbity. \"Did\nI not, during the battle, at more than a hundred paces, the very first\ntime I handled a gun, hit one of the cannibals full in the chest?\"\n\n\"You touched him evidently,\" said Godfrey; \"for he fell. But take my\nadvice, Tartlet, and in the common interest do not tempt fortune twice!\"\n\nThe professor, slightly annoyed, allowed himself to be convinced; he\nthrew the gun on to his shoulder with a swagger, and both our heroes,\nfollowed by Carefinotu, returned to Will Tree.\n\nThere the new guest of Phina Island met with quite a surprise in the\nhabitation so happily contrived in the lower part of the sequoia. First\nhe had to be shown, by using them while he looked on, the use of the\ntools, instruments, and utensils. It was obvious that Carefinotu\nbelonged to, or had lived amongst savages in the lowest rank of the\nhuman scale, for fire itself seemed to be unknown to him. He could not\nunderstand why the pot did not take fire when they put it on the blazing\nwood; he would have hurried away from it, to the great displeasure of\nTartlet, who was watching the different phases of the cooking of the\nsoup. At a mirror, which was held out to him, he betrayed consummate\nastonishment; he turned round, and turned it round to see if he himself\nwere not behind it.\n\n\"The fellow is hardly a monkey!\" exclaimed the professor with a\ndisdainful grimace.\n\n\"No, Tartlet,\" answered Godfrey; \"he is more than a monkey, for his\nlooks behind the mirror show good reasoning power.\"\n\n\"Well, I will admit that he is not a monkey,\" said Tartlet, shaking his\nhead as if only half convinced; \"but we shall see if such a being can be\nof any good to us.\"\n\n\"I am sure he will be!\" replied Godfrey.\n\nIn any case Carefinotu showed himself quite at home with the food placed\nbefore him. He first tore it apart, and then tasted it; and then I\nbelieve that the whole breakfast of which they partook the--agouti soup,\nthe partridge killed by Godfrey, and the shoulder of mutton with camas\nand yamph roots--would hardly have sufficed to calm the hunger which\ndevoured him.\n\n\"The poor fellow has got a good appetite!\" said Godfrey.\n\n\"Yes,\" responded Tartlet; \"and we shall have to keep a watch on his\ncannibal instinct.\"\n\n\"Well, Tartlet! We shall make him get over the taste of human flesh if\nhe ever had it!\"\n\n\"I would not swear that,\" replied the professor. \"It appears that once\nthey have acquired this taste--\"\n\nWhile they were talking, Carefinotu was listening with extreme\nattention. His eyes sparkled with intelligence. One could see that he\nunderstood what was being said in his presence. He then spoke with\nextreme volubility, but it was only a succession of onomatopoeias\ndevoid of sense, of harsh interjections with _a_ and _ou_ predominant,\nas in the majority of Polynesian idioms.\n\nWhatever the negro was, he was a new companion; he might become a\ndevoted servant, which the most unexpected chance had sent to the hosts\nof Will Tree.\n\nHe was powerful, adroit, active; no work came amiss to him. He showed a\nreal aptitude to imitate what he saw being done. It was in this way\nthat Godfrey proceeded with his education. The care of the domestic\nanimals, the collection of the roots and fruits, the cutting up of the\nsheep or agouties, which were to serve for food for the day, the\nfabrication of a sort of cider they extracted from the wild manzanilla\napples,--he acquitted himself well in all these tasks, after having seen\nthem done.\n\nWhatever Tartlet thought, Godfrey felt no distrust in the savage, and\nnever seemed to regret having come across him. What disquieted him was\nthe possible return of the cannibals who now knew the situation of Phina\nIsland.\n\nFrom the first, a bed had been reserved for Carefinotu in the room at\nWill Tree, but generally, unless it was raining, he preferred to sleep\noutside in some hole in the tree, as though he were on guard over the\nhouse.\n\nDuring the fortnight which followed his arrival on the island,\nCarefinotu many times accompanied Godfrey on his shooting excursions.\nHis surprise was always extreme when he saw the game fall hit at such a\ndistance; but in his character of retriever, he showed a dash and daring\nwhich no obstacles, hedge or bush, or stream, could stop.\n\nGradually, Godfrey became greatly attached to this negro. There was only\none part of his progress in which Carefinotu showed refractoriness; that\nwas in learning the English language. Do what he might he could not be\nprevailed upon to pronounce the most ordinary words which Godfrey, and\nparticularly Professor Tartlet tried to teach him.\n\nSo the time passed. But if the present was fairly supportable, thanks to\na happy accident, if no immediate danger menaced them, Godfrey could not\nhelp asking himself, if they were ever to leave this island, by what\nmeans they were to rejoin their country! Not a day passed but he thought\nof Uncle Will and his betrothed. It was not without secret apprehension\nthat he saw the bad season approaching, which would put between his\nfriends and him a barrier still more impassable.\n\nOn the 27th of September a circumstance occurred deserving of note.\n\nIf it gave more work to Godfrey and his two companions, it at least\nassured them of an abundant reserve of food.\n\nGodfrey and Carefinotu were busied in collecting the mollusks, at the\nextreme end of Dream Bay, when they perceived out at sea an innumerable\nquantity of small moving islets which the rising tide was bringing\ngently to shore. It was a sort of floating archipelago, on the surface\nof which there walked, or flew, a few of those sea-birds, with great\nexpanse of wing, known as sea-hawks.\n\nWhat then were these masses which floated landwards, rising and falling\nwith the undulations of the waves?\n\nGodfrey did not know what to think, when Carefinotu threw himself down\non his stomach, and then drawing his head back into his shoulders,\nfolded beneath him his arms and legs, and began to imitate the movements\nof an animal crawling slowly along the ground.\n\nGodfrey looked at him without understanding these extraordinary\ngymnastics. Then suddenly--\n\n\"Turtles!\" he exclaimed.\n\nCarefinotu was right. There was quite a square mile of myriads of\nturtles, swimming on the surface of the water.\n\nAbout a hundred fathoms from the shore the greater part of them dived\nand disappeared, and the sea-hawks, finding their footing gone, flew up\ninto the air in large spirals. But luckily about a hundred of the\namphibians came on to the beach.\n\nGodfrey and the negro had quickly run down in front of these creatures,\neach of which measured at the least from three to four feet in diameter.\nNow the only way of preventing turtles from regaining the sea is to turn\nthem on their backs; and it was in this rough work that Godfrey and\nCarefinotu employed themselves, not without great fatigue.\n\nThe following days were spent in collecting the booty. The flesh of the\nturtle, which is excellent either fresh or preserved, could perhaps be\nkept for a time in both forms. In preparation for the winter, Godfrey\nhad the greater part salted in such a way as to serve for the needs of\neach day. But for some time the table was supplied with turtle soup, on\nwhich Tartlet was not the only one to regale himself.\n\nBarring this incident, the monotony of existence was in no way ruffled.\nEvery day the same hours were devoted to the same work. Would not the\nlife become still more depressing when the winter season would oblige\nGodfrey and his companions to shut themselves up in Will Tree? Godfrey\ncould not think of it without anxiety. But what could he do?\n\nMeanwhile, he continued the exploration of the island, and all the time\nnot occupied with more pressing tasks he spent in roaming about with his\ngun. Generally Carefinotu accompanied him, Tartlet remaining behind at\nthe dwelling. Decidedly he was no hunter, although his first shot had\nbeen a master-stroke!\n\nNow on one of these occasions an unexpected incident happened, of a\nnature to gravely compromise the future safety of the inmates of Will\nTree.\n\nGodfrey and the black had gone out hunting in the central forest, at the\nfoot of the hill which formed the principal ridge of Phina Island. Since\nthe morning they had seen nothing pass but two or three antelopes\nthrough the high underwood, but at too great a distance for them to fire\nwith any chance of hitting them.\n\nAs Godfrey was not in search of game for dinner, and did not seek to\ndestroy for destruction's sake, he resigned himself to return\nempty-handed. If he regretted doing so it was not so much for the meat\nof the antelope, as for the skin, of which he intended to make good use.\n\nIt was about three o'clock in the afternoon. He and his companion after\nlunch were no more fortunate than before. They were preparing to return\nto Will Tree for dinner, when, just as they cleared the edge of the\nwood, Carefinotu made a bound; then precipitating himself on Godfrey, he\nseized him by the shoulders, and dragged him along with such vigour that\nresistance was impossible.\n\nAfter going about twenty yards they stopped. Godfrey took breath, and,\nturning towards Carefinotu, interrogated him with a look.\n\nThe black, exceedingly frightened, stretched out his hand towards an\nanimal which was standing motionless about fifty yards off.\n\nIt was a grizzly bear, whose paws held the trunk of a tree, and who was\nswaying his big head up and down, as if he were going to rush at the two\nhunters.\n\nImmediately, without pausing to think, Godfrey loaded his gun, and fired\nbefore Carefinotu could hinder him.\n\nWas the enormous plantigrade hit by the bullet? Probably. Was he killed?\nThey could not be sure, but his paws unclasped, and he rolled at the\nfoot of the tree. Delay was dangerous. A struggle with so formidable an\nanimal might have the worst results. In the forests of California the\npursuit of the grizzly is fraught with the greatest danger, even to\nprofessional hunters of the beast.\n\nAnd so the black seized Godfrey by the arms to drag him away in the\ndirection of Will Tree, and Godfrey, understanding that he could not be\ntoo cautious, made no resistance.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nIN WHICH THE SITUATION ALREADY GRAVELY COMPROMISED BECOMES MORE AND MORE\nCOMPLICATED.\n\n\nThe presence of a formidable wild beast in Phina Island was, it must be\nconfessed, calculated to make our friends think the worst of the\nill-fortune which had fallen on them.\n\nGodfrey--perhaps he was wrong--did not consider that he ought to hide\nfrom Tartlet what had passed.\n\n\"A bear!\" screamed the professor, looking round him with a bewildered\nglare as if the environs of Will Tree were being assailed by a herd of\nwild beasts. \"Why, a bear? Up to now we had not even got a bear in our\nisland! If there is one there may be many, and even numbers of other\nferocious beasts--jaguars, panthers, tigers, hyænas, lions!\"\n\nTartlet already beheld Phina Island given over to quite a menagerie\nescaped from their cages.\n\nGodfrey answered that there was no need for him to exaggerate. He had\nseen one bear, that was certain. Why one of these animals had never been\nseen before in his wanderings on the island he could not explain, and it\nwas indeed inexplicable. But to conclude from this that wild animals of\nall kinds were prowling in the woods and prairies was to go too far.\nNevertheless, they would have to be cautious and never go out unarmed.\n\nUnhappy Tartlet! From this day there commenced for him an existence of\nanxieties, emotions, alarms, and irrational terrors which gave him\nnostalgia for his native land in a most acute form.\n\n\"No!\" repeated he. \"No! If there are animals--I have had enough of it,\nand I want to get off!\"\n\nHe had not the power.\n\nGodfrey and his companions then had henceforth to be on their guard. An\nattack might take place not only on the shore side or the prairie side,\nbut even in the group of sequoias. This is why serious measures were\ntaken to put the habitation in a state to repel a sudden attack. The\ndoor was strengthened, so as to resist the clutches of a wild beast. As\nfor the domestic animals Godfrey would have built a stable to shut them\nup in at least at night, but it was not easy to do so. He contented\nhimself at present with making a sort of enclosure of branches not far\nfrom Will Tree, which would keep them as in a fold. But the enclosure\nwas not solid enough nor high enough to hinder a bear or hyæna from\nupsetting it or getting over it.\n\nNotwithstanding the remonstrances made to him, Carefinotu persisted in\nwatching outside during the night, and Godfrey hoped thus to receive\nwarning of a direct attack.\n\nDecidedly Carefinotu endangered his life in thus constituting himself\nthe guardian of Will Tree; but he had understood that he could thus be\nof service to his liberators, and he persisted, in spite of all Godfrey\nsaid to him, in watching as usual over the general safety.\n\nA week passed without any of these formidable visitors appearing in the\nneighbourhood. Godfrey did not go very far from the dwelling, unless\nthere was a necessity for his doing so. While the sheep and goats grazed\non the neighbouring prairie, they were never allowed out of sight.\nGenerally Carefinotu acted as shepherd. He did not take a gun, for he\ndid not seem to understand the management of fire-arms, but one of the\nhunting-knives hung from his belt, and he carried an axe in his right\nhand. Thus armed the active negro would not have hesitated to throw\nhimself before a tiger or any animal of the worst description.\n\nHowever, as neither a bear nor any of his congeners had appeared since\nthe last encounter Godfrey began to gather confidence. He gradually\nresumed his hunting expeditions, but without pushing far into the\ninterior of the island. Frequently the black accompanied him; Tartlet,\nsafe in Will Tree, would not risk himself in the open, not even if he\nhad the chance of giving a dancing lesson. Sometimes Godfrey would go\nalone, and then the professor had a companion to whose instruction he\nobstinately devoted himself.\n\nYes! Tartlet had at first thought of teaching Carefinotu the most\nordinary words in the English language, but he had to give this up, as\nthe negro seemed to lack the necessary phonetic apparatus for that kind\nof pronunciation. \"Then,\" had Tartlet said, \"if I cannot be his\nprofessor, I will be his pupil!\"\n\nAnd he it was who attempted to learn the idiom spoken by Carefinotu.\nGodfrey had warned him that the accomplishment would be of little use.\nTartlet was not dissuaded. He tried to get Carefinotu to name the\nobjects he pointed at with his hand. In truth Tartlet must have got on\nexcellently, for at the end of fifteen days he actually knew fifteen\nwords! He knew that Carefinotu said \"birsi\" for fire, \"aradore\" for the\nsky, \"mervira\" for the sea, \"doura\" for a tree, &c. He was as proud of\nthis as if he had taken the first prize for Polynesian at some\nexamination!\n\nIt was then with a feeling of gratitude that he wished to make some\nrecognition of what had been done for him, and instead of torturing the\nnegro with English words, he resolved on teaching him deportment and the\ntrue principles of European choregraphy.\n\nAt this Godfrey could not restrain his peals of laughter. After all it\nwould pass the time away, and on Sunday, when there was nothing else to\ndo, he willingly assisted at the course of lectures delivered by the\ncelebrated Professor Tartlet of San Francisco. Indeed, we ought to have\nseen them! The unhappy Carefinotu perspired profusely as he went through\nthe elementary exercises. He was docile and willing, nevertheless; but\nlike all his fellows, his shoulders did not set back, nor did his chest\nthrow out, nor did his knees or his feet point apart! To make a Vestris\nor a Saint Leon of a savage of this sort!\n\nThe professor pursued his task in quite a fury. Carefinotu, tortured as\nhe was, showed no lack of zeal. What he suffered, even to get his feet\ninto the first position can be imagined! And when he passed to the\nsecond and then to the third, it was still more agonizing.\n\n\"But look at me, you blockhead!\" exclaimed Tartlet, who added example to\nprecept. \"Put your feet out! Further out! The heel of one to the heel of\nthe other! Open your knees, you duffer! Put back your shoulders, you\nidiot! Stick up your head! Round your elbows!\"\n\n\"But you ask what is impossible!\" said Godfrey.\n\n\"Nothing is impossible to an intelligent man!\" was Tartlet's invariable\nresponse.\n\n\"But his build won't allow of it.\"\n\n\"Well, his build must allow of it! He will have to do it sooner or\nlater, for the savage must at least know how to present himself properly\nin a drawing-room!\"\n\n\"But, Tartlet, he will never have the opportunity of appearing in a\ndrawing-room!\"\n\n\"Eh! How do you know that, Godfrey?\" replied the professor, drawing\nhimself up. \"Do you know what the future may bring forth?\"\n\nThis was the last word in all discussions with Tartlet. And then the\nprofessor taking his kit would with the bow extract from it some squeaky\nlittle air to the delight of Carefinotu. It required but this to excite\nhim. Oblivious of choregraphic rules, what leaps, what contortions, what\ncapers!\n\nAnd Tartlet, in a reverie, as he saw this child of Polynesia so demean\nhimself, inquired if these steps, perhaps a little too characteristic,\nwere not natural to the human being, although outside all the principles\nof his art.\n\nBut we must leave the professor of dancing and deportment to his\nphilosophical meditations, and return to questions at once more\npractical and pressing.\n\nDuring his last excursions into the plain, either by himself or with\nCarefinotu, Godfrey had seen no wild animal. He had even come upon no\ntraces of such. The river to which they would come to drink bore no\nfootprint on its banks. During the night there were no howlings nor\nsuspicious noises. Besides the domestic animals continued to give no\nsigns of uneasiness.\n\n\"This is singular,\" said Godfrey several times; \"but I was not mistaken!\nCarefinotu certainly was not! It was really a bear that he showed me! It\nwas really a bear that I shot! Supposing I killed him, was he the last\nrepresentative of the plantigrades on the island?\"\n\nIt was quite inexplicable! Besides, if Godfrey had killed this bear, he\nwould have found the body where he had shot it. Now they searched for it\nin vain! Were they to believe then that the animal mortally wounded had\ndied far off in some den. It was possible after all, but then at this\nplace, at the foot of this tree, there would have been traces of blood,\nand there were none.\n\n\"Whatever it is,\" thought Godfrey, \"it does not much matter; and we must\nkeep on our guard.\"\n\nWith the first days of November it could be said that the wet season had\ncommenced in this unknown latitude. Cold rains fell for many hours.\nLater on probably they would experience those interminable showers which\ndo not cease for weeks at a time, and are characteristic of the rainy\nperiod of winter in these latitudes.\n\nGodfrey had then to contrive a fireplace in the interior of Will\nTree--an indispensable fireplace that would serve as well to warm the\ndwelling during the winter months as to cook their food in shelter from\nthe rain and tempest.\n\nThe hearth could at any time be placed in a corner of the chamber\nbetween big stones, some placed on the ground and others built up round\nthem; but the question was how to get the smoke out, for to leave it to\nescape by the long chimney, which ran down the centre of the sequoia,\nproved impracticable.\n\nGodfrey thought of using as a pipe some of those long stout bamboos\nwhich grew on certain parts of the river banks. It should be said that\non this occasion he was greatly assisted by Carefinotu. The negro, not\nwithout effort, understood what Godfrey required. He it was who\naccompanied him for a couple of miles from Will Tree to select the\nlarger bamboos, he it was who helped him build his hearth. The stones\nwere placed on the ground opposite to the door; the bamboos, emptied of\ntheir pith and bored through at the knots, afforded, when joined one to\nanother, a tube of sufficient length, which ran out through an aperture\nmade for it in the sequoia bark, and would serve every purpose, provided\nit did not catch fire. Godfrey soon had the satisfaction of seeing a\ngood fire burning without filling the interior of Will Tree with smoke.\n\nHe was quite right in hastening on these preparations, for from the 3rd\nto the 10th of November the rain never ceased pouring down. It would\nhave been impossible to keep a fire going in the open air. During these\nmiserable days they had to keep indoors and did got venture out except\nwhen the flocks and poultry urgently required them to do so. Under these\ncircumstances the reserve of camas roots began to fail; and these were\nwhat took the place of bread, and of which the want would be immediately\nfelt.\n\nGodfrey then one day, the 10th of November, informed Tartlet that as\nsoon as the weather began to mend a little he and Carefinotu would go\nout and collect some. Tartlet, who was never in a hurry to run a couple\nof miles across a soaking prairie, decided to remain at home during\nGodfrey's absence.\n\nIn the evening the sky began to clear of the heavy clouds which the west\nwind had been accumulating since the commencement of the month, the rain\ngradually ceased, the sun gave forth a few crepuscular rays. It was to\nbe hoped that the morning would yield a lull in the storm, of which it\nwas advisable to make the most.\n\n\"To-morrow,\" said Godfrey, \"I will go out, and Carefinotu will go with\nme.\"\n\n\"Agreed!\" answered Tartlet.\n\nThe evening came, and when supper was finished and the sky, cleared of\nclouds, permitted a few brilliant stars to appear, the black wished to\ntake up his accustomed place outside, which he had had to abandon during\nthe preceding rainy nights. Godfrey tried to make him understand that he\nhad better remain indoors, that there was no necessity to keep a watch\nas no wild animal had been noticed; but Carefinotu was obstinate. He\ntherefore had to have his way.\n\nThe morning was as Godfrey had foreseen, no rain had fallen since the\nprevious evening, and when he stepped forth from Will Tree, the first\nrays of the sun were lightly gilding the thick dome of the sequoias.\n\nCarefinotu was at his post, where he had passed the night. He was\nwaiting. Immediately, well armed and provided with large sacks, the two\nbid farewell to Tartlet, and started for the river, which they intended\nascending along the left bank up to the camas bushes.\n\nAn hour afterwards they arrived there without meeting with any\nunpleasant adventure.\n\nThe roots were rapidly torn up and a large quantity obtained, so as to\nfill the sacks. This took three hours, so that it was about eleven\no'clock in the morning when Godfrey and his companion set out on their\nreturn to Will Tree.\n\nWalking close together, keeping a sharp look-out, for they could not\ntalk to each other, they had reached a bend in the small river where\nthere were a few large trees, grown like a natural cradle across the\nstream, when Godfrey suddenly stopped.\n\nThis time it was he who showed to Carefinotu a motionless animal at the\nfoot of a tree whose eyes were gleaming with a singular light.\n\n\"A tiger!\" he exclaimed.\n\nHe was not mistaken. It was really a tiger of large stature resting on\nits hind legs with its forepaws on the trunk of a tree, and ready to\nspring.\n\nIn a moment Godfrey had dropped his sack of roots. The loaded gun passed\ninto his right hand; he cocked it, presented it, aimed it, and fired.\n\n\"Hurrah! hurrah!\" he exclaimed.\n\nThis time there was no room for doubt; the tiger, struck by the bullet,\nhad bounded backwards. But perhaps he was not mortally wounded, perhaps\nrendered still more furious by his wound he would spring on to them!\n\nGodfrey held his gun pointed, and threatened the animal with his second\nbarrel.\n\nBut before Godfrey could stop him, Carefinotu had rushed at the place\nwhere the tiger disappeared, his hunting-knife in his hand.\n\nGodfrey shouted for him to stop, to come back! It was in vain. The\nblack, resolved even at the risk of his life to finish the animal which\nperhaps was only wounded, did not or would not hear.\n\nGodfrey rushed after him.\n\nWhen he reached the bank, he saw Carefinotu struggling with the tiger,\nholding him by the throat, and at last stabbing him to the heart with a\npowerful blow.\n\nThe tiger then rolled into the river, of which the waters, swollen by\nthe rains, carried it away with the quickness of a torrent. The corpse,\nwhich floated only for an instant, was swiftly borne off towards the\nsea.\n\nA bear! A tiger! There could be no doubt that the island did contain\nformidable beasts of prey!\n\nGodfrey, after rejoining Carefinotu, found that in the struggle the\nblack had only received a few scratches. Then, deeply anxious about the\nfuture, he retook the road to Will Tree.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nIN WHICH TARTLET REITERATES IN EVERY KEY THAT HE WOULD RATHER BE OFF.\n\n\nWhen Tartlet learnt that there were not only bears in the island, but\ntigers too, his lamentations again arose. Now he would never dare to go\nout! The wild beasts would end by discovering the road to Will Tree!\nThere was no longer any safety anywhere! In his alarm the professor\nwanted for his protection quite a fortification! Yes! Stone walls with\nscarps and counterscarps, curtains and bastions, and ramparts, for what\nwas the use of a shelter under a group of sequoias? Above all things, he\nwould at all risks, like to be off.\n\n\"So would I,\" answered Godfrey quietly.\n\nIn fact, the conditions under which the castaways on Phina Island had\nlived up to now were no longer the same. To struggle to the end, to\nstruggle for the necessaries of life, they had been able, thanks to\nfortunate circumstances. Against the bad season, against winter and its\nmenaces, they knew how to act, but to have to defend themselves against\nwild animals, whose attack was possible every minute, was another thing\naltogether; and in fact they could not do it.\n\nThe situation, already complicated, had become very serious, for it had\nbecome intolerable.\n\n\"But,\" repeated Godfrey to himself, without cessation, \"how is it that\nfor four months we did not see a single beast of prey in the island, and\nwhy during the last fortnight have we had to encounter a bear and a\ntiger? What shall we say to that?\"\n\nThe fact might be inexplicable, but it was none the less real.\n\nGodfrey, whose coolness and courage increased, as difficulties grew, was\nnot cast down. If dangerous animals menaced their little colony, it was\nbetter to put themselves on guard against their attacks, and that\nwithout delay.\n\nBut what was to be done?\n\nIt was at the outset decided that excursions into the woods or to the\nsea-shore should be rarer, and that they should never go out unless well\narmed, and only when it was absolutely necessary for their wants.\n\n\"We have been lucky enough in our two encounters!\" said Godfrey\nfrequently; \"but there may come a time when we may not shoot so\nstraight! So there is no necessity for us to run into danger!\"\n\nAt the same time they had not only to settle about the excursions, but\nto protect Will Tree--not only the dwelling, but the annexes, the\npoultry roost, and the fold for the animals, where the wild beasts could\neasily cause irreparable disaster.\n\nGodfrey thought then, if not of fortifying Will Tree according to the\nfamous plans of Tartlet, at least of connecting the four or five large\nsequoias which surrounded it.\n\nIf he could devise a high and strong palisade from one tree to another,\nthey would be in comparative security at any rate from a surprise.\n\nIt was practicable--Godfrey concluded so after an examination of the\nground--but it would cost a good deal of labour. To reduce this as much\nas possible, he thought of erecting the palisade around a perimeter of\nonly some three hundred feet. We can judge from this the number of trees\nhe had to select, cut down, carry, and trim until the enclosure was\ncomplete.\n\nGodfrey did not quail before his task. He imparted his projects to\nTartlet, who approved them, and promised his active co-operation; but\nwhat was more important, he made his plans understood to Carefinotu, who\nwas always ready to come to his assistance.\n\nThey set to work without delay.\n\nThere was at a bend in the stream, about a mile from Will Tree, a small\nwood of stone pines of medium height, whose trunks, in default of beams\nand planks, without wanting to be squared, would, by being placed close\ntogether, form a solid palisade.\n\nIt was to this wood that, at dawn on the 12th of November, Godfrey and\nhis two companions repaired. Though well armed they advanced with great\ncare.\n\n\"You can have too much of this sort of thing,\" murmured Tartlet, whom\nthese new difficulties had rendered still more discontented, \"I would\nrather be off!\"\n\nBut Godfrey did not take the trouble to reply to him.\n\nOn this occasion his tastes were not being consulted, his intelligence\neven was not being appealed to. It was the assistance of his arms that\nthe common interest demanded. In short, he had to resign himself to his\nvocation of beast of burden.\n\nNo unpleasant accident happened in the mile which separated the wood\nfrom Will Tree. In vain they had carefully beaten the underwood, and\nswept the horizon all around them. The domestic animals they had left\nout at pasture gave no sign of alarm. The birds continued their frolics\nwith no more anxiety than usual.\n\nWork immediately began. Godfrey, very properly did not want to begin\ncarrying until all the trees he wanted had been felled. They could work\nat them in greater safety on the spot.\n\nCarefinotu was of great service during this toilsome task. He had become\nvery clever in the use of the axe and saw. His strength even allowed him\nto continue at work when Godfrey was obliged to rest for a minute or so,\nand when Tartlet, with bruised hands and aching limbs, had not even\nstrength left to lift his fiddle.\n\nHowever, although the unfortunate professor of dancing and deportment\nhad been transformed into a wood-cutter, Godfrey had reserved for him\nthe least fatiguing part, that is, the clearing off of the smaller\nbranches. In spite of this, if Tartlet had only been paid half a dollar\na day, he would have stolen four-fifths of his salary!\n\nFor six days, from the 12th to the 17th of November, these labours\ncontinued. Our friends went off in the morning at dawn, they took their\nfood with them, and they did not return to Will Tree until evening. The\nsky was not very clear. Heavy clouds frequently accumulated over it. It\nwas harvest weather, with alternating showers and sunshine; and during\nthe showers the wood-cutters would take shelter under the trees, and\nresume their task when the rain had ceased.\n\nOn the 18th all the trees, topped and cleared of branches, were lying\non the ground, ready for transport to Will Tree.\n\nDuring this time no wild beast had appeared in the neighbourhood of the\nriver. The question was, were there any more in the island, or had the\nbear and the tiger been--a most improbable event--the last of their\nspecies?\n\nWhatever it was, Godfrey had no intention of abandoning his project of\nthe solid palisade so as to be prepared against a surprise from savages,\nor bears, or tigers. Besides, the worst was over, and there only\nremained to take the wood where it was wanted.\n\nWe say \"the worst was over,\" though the carriage promised to be somewhat\nlaborious. If it were not so, it was because Godfrey had had a very\npractical idea, which materially lightened the task; this was to make\nuse of the current of the river, which the flood occasioned by the\nrecent rains had rendered very rapid, to transport the wood. Small rafts\ncould be formed, and they would quietly float down to the sequoias,\nwhere a bar, formed by the small bridge, would stop them. From thence to\nWill Tree was only about fifty-five paces.\n\nIf any of them showed particular satisfaction at this mode of procedure,\nit was Tartlet.\n\nOn the 18th the first rafts were formed, and they arrived at the barrier\nwithout accident. In less than three days on the evening of the 25th,\nthe palisade had been all sent down to its destination.\n\nOn the morrow, the first trunks, sunk two feet in the soil, began to\nrise in such a manner as to connect the principal sequoias which\nsurrounded Will Tree. A capping of strong flexible branches, pointed by\nthe axe, assured the solidity of the wall.\n\nGodfrey saw the work progress with extreme satisfaction, and delayed not\nuntil it was finished.\n\n\"Once the palisade is done,\" he said to Tartlet, \"we shall be really at\nhome.\"\n\n\"We shall not be really at home,\" replied the professor drily, \"until we\nare in Montgomery Street, with your Uncle Kolderup.\"\n\nThere was no disputing this opinion.\n\nOn the 26th of November the palisade was three parts done. It comprised\namong the sequoias attached one to another that in which the poultry had\nestablished themselves, and Godfrey's intention was to build a stable\ninside it.\n\nIn three or four days the fence was finished. There only remained to fit\nin a solid door, which would assure the closure of Will Tree.\n\nBut on the morning of the 27th of November the work was interrupted by\nan event which we had better explain with some detail, for it was one\nof those unaccountable things peculiar to Phina Island.\n\nAbout eight o'clock, Carefinotu had climbed up to the fork of the\nsequoia, so as to more carefully close the hole by which the cold and\nrain penetrated, when he uttered a singular cry.\n\nGodfrey, who was at work at the palisade, raised his head and saw the\nblack, with expressive gestures, motioning to him to join him without\ndelay.\n\nGodfrey, thinking Carefinotu would not have disturbed him unless he had\nserious reason, took his glasses with him and climbed up the interior\npassage, and passing through the hole, seated himself astride of one of\nthe main branches.\n\nCarefinotu, pointing with his arm towards the rounded angle which Phina\nIsland made to the north-east, showed a column of smoke rising in the\nair like a long plume.\n\n\"Again!\" exclaimed Godfrey.\n\nAnd putting his glasses in the direction, he assured himself that this\ntime there was no possible error, that it must escape from some\nimportant fire, which he could distinctly see must be about five miles\noff.\n\nGodfrey turned towards the black.\n\nCarefinotu expressed his surprise, by his looks, his exclamations, in\nfact by his whole attitude.\n\nAssuredly he was no less astounded than Godfrey at this apparition.\n\nBesides, in the offing, there was no ship, not a vessel native or other,\nnothing which showed that a landing had recently been made on the shore.\n\n\"Ah! This time I will find out the fire which produces that smoke!\"\nexclaimed Godfrey.\n\nAnd pointing to the north-east angle of the island, and then to the foot\nof the tree, he gesticulated to Carefinotu that he wished to reach the\nplace without losing an instant.\n\nCarefinotu understood him. He even gave him to understand that he\napproved of the idea.\n\n\"Yes,\" said Godfrey to himself, \"if there is a human being there, we\nmust know who he is and whence he comes! We must know why he hides\nhimself! It will be for the safety of all!\"\n\nA moment afterwards Carefinotu and he descended to the foot of Will\nTree. Then Godfrey, informing Tartlet of what had passed and what he was\ngoing to do, proposed for him to accompany them to the north coast.\n\nA dozen miles to traverse in one day was not a very tempting suggestion\nto a man who regarded his legs as the most precious part of his body,\nand only designed for noble exercises. And so he replied that he would\nprefer to remain at Will Tree.\n\n\"Very well, we will go alone,\" answered Godfrey, \"but do not expect us\nuntil the evening.\"\n\nSo saying, and Carefinotu and he carrying some provisions for lunch on\nthe road, they set out, after taking leave of the professor, whose\nprivate opinion it was that they would find nothing, and that all their\nfatigue would be useless.\n\nGodfrey took his musket and revolver; the black the axe and the\nhunting-knife which had become his favourite weapon. They crossed the\nplank bridge to the right bank of the river, and then struck off across\nthe prairie to the point on the shore where the smoke had been seen\nrising amongst the rocks.\n\nIt was rather more easterly than the place which Godfrey had uselessly\nvisited on his second exploration.\n\nThey progressed rapidly, not without a sharp look-out that the wood was\nclear and that the bushes and underwood did not hide some animal whose\nattack might be formidable.\n\nNothing disquieting occurred.\n\nAt noon, after having had some food, without, however, stopping for an\ninstant, they reached the first line of rocks which bordered the beach.\nThe smoke, still visible, was rising about a quarter of a mile ahead.\nThey had only to keep straight on to reach their goal.\n\nThey hastened their steps, but took precautions so as to surprise, and\nnot be surprised.\n\nTwo minutes afterwards the smoke disappeared, as if the fire had been\nsuddenly extinguished.\n\nBut Godfrey had noted with exactness the spot whence it arose. It was at\nthe point of a strangely formed rock, a sort of truncated pyramid,\neasily recognizable. Showing this to his companion, he kept straight on.\n\nThe quarter of a mile was soon traversed, then the last line was\nclimbed, and Godfrey and Carefinotu gained the beach about fifty paces\nfrom the rock.\n\nThey ran up to it. Nobody! But this time half-smouldering embers and\nhalf-burnt wood proved clearly that the fire had been alight on the\nspot.\n\n\"There has been some one here!\" exclaimed Godfrey. \"Some one not a\nmoment ago! We must find out who!\"\n\nHe shouted. No response! Carefinotu gave a terrible yell. No one\nappeared!\n\nBehold them then hunting amongst the neighbouring rocks, searching a\ncavern, a grotto, which might serve as a refuge for a shipwrecked man,\nan aboriginal, a savage--\n\nIt was in vain that they ransacked the slightest recesses of the shore.\nThere was neither ancient nor recent camp in existence, not even the\ntraces of the passage of a man.\n\n\"But,\" repeated Godfrey, \"it was not smoke from a warm spring this\ntime! It was from a fire of wood and grass, and that fire could not\nlight itself.\"\n\nVain was their search. Then about two o'clock Godfrey and Carefinotu, as\nweary as they were disconcerted at their fruitless endeavours, retook\ntheir road to Will Tree.\n\nThere was nothing astonishing in Godfrey being deep in thought. It\nseemed to him that the island was now under the empire of some occult\npower. The reappearance of this fire, the presence of wild animals, did\nnot all this denote some extraordinary complication?\n\nAnd was there not cause for his being confirmed in this idea when an\nhour after he had regained the prairie, he heard a singular noise, a\nsort of hard jingling.\n\nCarefinotu pushed him aside at the same instant as a serpent glided\nbeneath the herbage, and was about to strike at him.\n\n\"Snakes, now. Snakes in the island, after the bears and the tigers!\" he\nexclaimed.\n\nYes! It was one of those reptiles well-known by the noise they make, a\nrattlesnake of the most venomous species: a giant of the Crotalus\nfamily!\n\nCarefinotu threw himself between Godfrey and the reptile, which hurried\noff under a thick bush.\n\nBut the negro pursued it and smashed in its head with a blow of the axe.\nWhen Godfrey rejoined him, the two halves of the reptile were writhing\non the blood-stained soil.\n\nThen other serpents, not less dangerous, appeared in great abundance on\nthis part of the prairie which was separated by the stream from Will\nTree.\n\nWas it then a sudden invasion of reptiles? Was Phina Island going to\nbecome the rival of ancient Tenos, whose formidable ophidians rendered\nit famous in antiquity, and which gave its name to the viper?\n\n\"Come on! come on!\" exclaimed Godfrey, motioning to Carefinotu to\nquicken the pace.\n\nHe was uneasy. Strange presentiments agitated him without his being able\nto control them.\n\nUnder their influence, fearing some approaching misfortune, he had\nhastened his return to Will Tree.\n\nBut matters became serious when he reached the planks across the river.\n\nScreams of terror resounded from beneath the sequoias--cries for help in\na tone of agony which it was impossible to mistake!\n\n\"It is Tartlet!\" exclaimed Godfrey. \"The unfortunate man has been\nattacked! Quick! quick!\"\n\nOnce over the bridge, about twenty paces further on, Tartlet was\nperceived running as fast as his legs could carry him.\n\nAn enormous crocodile had come out of the river and was pursuing him\nwith its jaws wide open. The poor man, distracted, mad with fright,\ninstead of turning to the right or the left, was keeping in a straight\nline, and so running the risk of being caught. Suddenly he stumbled. He\nfell. He was lost.\n\nGodfrey halted. In the presence of this imminent danger his coolness\nnever forsook him for an instant. He brought his gun to his shoulder,\nand aimed at the crocodile. The well-aimed bullet struck the monster,\nand it made a bound to one side and fell motionless on the ground.\n\nCarefinotu rushed towards Tartlet and lifted him up. Tartlet had escaped\nwith a fright! But what a fright!\n\nIt was six o'clock in the evening.\n\nA moment afterwards Godfrey and his two companions had reached Will\nTree.\n\nHow bitter were their reflections during their evening repast! What long\nsleepless hours were in store for the inhabitants of Phina Island, on\nwhom misfortunes were now crowding.\n\nAs for the professor, in his anguish he could only repeat the words\nwhich expressed the whole of his thoughts, \"I had much rather be off!\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nWHICH ENDS WITH QUITE A SURPRISING REFLECTION BY THE NEGRO CAREFINOTU.\n\n\nThe winter season, so severe in these latitudes, had come at last. The\nfirst frosts had already been felt, and there was every promise of\nrigorous weather. Godfrey was to be congratulated on having established\nhis fireplace in the tree. It need scarcely be said that the work at the\npalisade had been completed, and that a sufficiently solid door now\nassured the closure of the fence.\n\nDuring the six weeks which followed, that is to say, until the middle of\nDecember, there had been a good many wretched days on which it was\nimpossible to venture forth. At the outset there came terrible squalls.\nThey shook the group of sequoias to their very roots. They strewed the\nground with broken branches, and so furnished an ample reserve for the\nfire.\n\nThen it was that the inhabitants of Will Tree clothed themselves as\nwarmly as they could. The woollen stuffs found in the box were used\nduring the few excursions necessary for revictualling, until the weather\nbecame so bad that even these were forbidden. All hunting was at an end,\nand the snow fell in such quantity that Godfrey could have believed\nhimself in the inhospitable latitudes of the Arctic Ocean.\n\nIt is well known that Northern America, swept by the Polar winds, with\nno obstacle to check them, is one of the coldest countries on the globe.\nThe winter there lasts until the month of April. Exceptional precautions\nhave to be taken against it. It was the coming of the winter as it did\nwhich gave rise to the thought that Phina Island was situated in a\nhigher latitude than Godfrey had supposed.\n\nHence the necessity of making the interior of Will Tree as comfortable\nas possible. But the suffering from rain and cold was cruel. The\nreserves of provisions were unfortunately insufficient, the preserved\nturtle flesh gradually disappeared. Frequently there had to be\nsacrificed some of the sheep or goats or agouties, whose numbers had but\nslightly increased since their arrival in the island.\n\nWith these new trials, what sad thoughts haunted Godfrey!\n\nIt happened also that for a fortnight he fell into a violent fever.\nWithout the tiny medicine-chest which afforded the necessary drugs for\nhis treatment, he might never have recovered. Tartlet was ill-suited to\nattend to the petty cares that were necessary during the continuance of\nthe malady. It was to Carefinotu that he mainly owed his return to\nhealth.\n\nBut what remembrances and what regrets! Who but himself could he blame\nfor having got into a situation of which he could not even see the end?\nHow many times in his delirium did he call Phina, whom he never should\nsee again, and his Uncle Will, from whom he beheld himself separated for\never! Ah! he had to alter his opinion of this Crusoe life which his\nboyish imagination had made his ideal! Now he was contending with\nreality! He could no longer even hope to return to the domestic hearth.\n\nSo passed this miserable December, at the end of which Godfrey began to\nrecover his strength.\n\nAs for Tartlet, by special grace, doubtless, he was always well. But\nwhat incessant lamentations! What endless jeremiads! As the grotto of\nCalypso after the departure of Ulysses, Will Tree \"resounded no more to\nhis song\"--that of his fiddle--for the cold had frozen the strings!\n\nIt should be said too that one of the gravest anxieties of Godfrey was\nnot only the re-appearance of dangerous animals, but the fear of the\nsavages returning in great numbers to Phina Island, the situation of\nwhich was known to them. Against such an invasion the palisade was but\nan insufficient barrier. All things considered, the refuge offered by\nthe high branches of the sequoia appeared much safer, and the rendering\nthe access less difficult was taken in hand. It would always be easy to\ndefend the narrow orifice by which the top of the trunk was reached.\n\nWith the aid of Carefinotu Godfrey began to cut regular ledges on each\nside, like the steps of a staircase, and these, connected by a long cord\nof vegetable fibre, permitted of rapid ascent up the interior.\n\n\"Well,\" said Godfrey, when the work was done, \"that gives us a town\nhouse below and a country house above!\"\n\n\"I had rather have a cellar, if it was in Montgomery Street!\" answered\nTartlet.\n\nChristmas arrived. Christmas kept in such style throughout the United\nStates of America! The New Year's Day, full of memories of childhood,\nrainy, snowy, cold, and gloomy, began the new year under the most\nmelancholy auspices.\n\nIt was six months since the survivors of the _Dream_ had remained\nwithout communication with the rest of the world.\n\nThe commencement of the year was not very cheering. It made Godfrey and\nhis companions anticipate that they would still have many trials to\nencounter.\n\nThe snow never ceased falling until January 18th. The flocks had to be\nlet out to pasture to get what feed they could. At the close of the day,\na very cold damp night enveloped the island, and the space shaded by the\nsequoias was plunged in profound obscurity.\n\nTartlet and Carefinotu, stretched on their beds inside Will Tree, were\ntrying in vain to sleep. Godfrey, by the struggling light of a torch,\nwas turning over the pages of his Bible.\n\nAbout ten o'clock a distant noise, which came nearer and nearer, was\nheard outside away towards the north. There could be no mistake. It was\nthe wild beasts prowling in the neighbourhood, and, alarming to relate,\nthe howling of the tiger and of the hyæna, and the roaring of the\npanther and the lion were this time blended in one formidable concert.\n\nGodfrey, Tartlet, and the negro sat up, each a prey to indescribable\nanguish. If at this unaccountable invasion of ferocious animals\nCarefinotu shared the alarm of his companions, his astonishment was\nquite equal to his fright.\n\nDuring two mortal hours all three kept on the alert. The howlings\nsounded at times close by; then they suddenly ceased, as if the beasts,\nnot knowing the country, were roaming about all over it. Perhaps then\nWill Tree would escape an attack!\n\n\"It doesn't matter if it does,\" thought Godfrey. \"If we do not destroy\nthese animals to the very last one, there will be no safety for us in\nthe island!\"\n\nA little after midnight the roaring began again in full strength at a\nmoderate distance away. Impossible now to doubt but that the howling\narmy was approaching Will Tree!\n\nYes! It was only too certain! But whence came these wild animals? They\ncould not have recently landed on Phina Island! They must have been\nthere then before Godfrey's arrival! But how was it that all of them had\nremained hidden during his walks and hunting excursions, as well across\nthe centre as in the most out-of-the-way parts to the south? For Godfrey\nhad never found a trace of them. Where was the mysterious den which\nvomited forth lions, hyænas, panthers, tigers? Amongst all the\nunaccountable things up to now this was indeed the most unaccountable.\n\nCarefinotu could not believe what he heard. We have said that his\nastonishment was extreme. By the light of the fire which illuminated the\ninterior of Will Tree there could be seen on his black face the\nstrangest of grimaces.\n\nTartlet in the corner, groaned and lamented, and moaned again. He would\nhave asked Godfrey all about it, but Godfrey was not in the humour to\nreply. He had a presentiment of a very great danger, he was seeking for\na way to retreat from it.\n\nOnce or twice Carefinotu and he went out to the centre of the palisade.\nThey wished to see that the door was firmly and strongly shut.\n\nSuddenly an avalanche of animals appeared with a huge tumult along the\nfront of Will Tree.\n\nIt was only the goats and sheep and agouties. Terrified at the howling\nof the wild beasts, and scenting their approach, they had fled from\ntheir pasturage to take shelter behind the palisade.\n\n\"We must open the door!\" exclaimed Godfrey.\n\nCarefinotu nodded his head. He did not want to know the language to\nunderstand what Godfrey meant.\n\nThe door was opened, and the frightened flock rushed into the enclosure.\n\nBut at that instant there appeared through the opening a gleaming of\neyes in the depths of the darkness which the shadow of the sequoias\nrendered still more profound.\n\nThere was no time to close the enclosure!\n\nTo jump at Godfrey, seize him in spite of himself, push him into the\ndwelling and slam the door, was done by Carefinotu like a flash of\nlightning.\n\nNew roarings indicated that three or four wild beasts had just cleared\nthe palisade.\n\nThen these horrible roarings were mingled with quite a concert of\nbleatings and groanings of terror. The domestic flock were taken as in a\ntrap and delivered over to the clutches of the assailants.\n\nGodfrey and Carefinotu, who had climbed up to the two small windows in\nthe bark of the sequoia, endeavoured to see what was passing in the\ngloom.\n\nEvidently the wild animals--tigers or lions, panthers or hyænas, they\ndid not know which yet--had thrown themselves on the flock and begun\ntheir slaughter.\n\nAt this moment, Tartlet, in a paroxysm of blind terror, seized one of\nthe muskets, and would have taken a chance shot out of one of the\nwindows.\n\nGodfrey stopped him.\n\n\"No!\" said he. \"In this darkness our shots will be lost, and we must not\nwaste our ammunition! Wait for daylight!\"\n\nHe was right. The bullets would just as likely have struck the domestic\nas the wild animals--more likely in fact, for the former were the most\nnumerous. To save them was now impossible. Once they were sacrificed,\nthe wild beasts, thoroughly gorged, might quit the enclosure before\nsunrise. They would then see how to act to guard against a fresh\ninvasion.\n\nIt was most important too, during the dark night, to avoid as much as\npossible revealing to these animals the presence of human beings, whom\nthey might prefer to the flock. Perhaps they would thus avoid a direct\nattack against Will Tree.\n\nAs Tartlet was incapable of understanding either this reasoning or any\nother, Godfrey contented himself with depriving him of his weapon. The\nprofessor then went and threw himself on his bed and freely\nanathematized all travels and travellers and maniacs who could not\nremain quietly at their own firesides.\n\nBoth his companions resumed their observations at the windows.\n\nThence they beheld, without the power of interference, the horrible\nmassacre which was taking place in the gloom. The cries of the sheep and\nthe goats gradually diminished as the slaughter of the animals was\nconsummated, although the greater part had escaped outside, where death,\nnone the less certain, awaited them. This loss was irreparable for the\nlittle colony; but Godfrey was not then anxious about the future. The\npresent was disquieting enough to occupy all his thoughts.\n\nThere was nothing they could do, nothing they could try, to hinder this\nwork of destruction.\n\nGodfrey and Carefinotu kept constant watch, and now they seemed to see\nnew shadows coming up and passing into the palisade, while a fresh\nsound of footsteps struck on their ears.\n\nEvidently certain belated beasts, attracted by the odour of the blood\nwhich impregnated the air, had traced the scent up to Will Tree.\n\nThey ran to and fro, they rushed round and round the tree and gave forth\ntheir hoarse and angry growls. Some of the shadows jumped on the ground\nlike enormous cats. The slaughtered flock had not been sufficient to\nsatisfy their rage.\n\nNeither Godfrey nor his companions moved. In keeping completely\nmotionless they might avoid a direct attack.\n\nAn unlucky shot suddenly revealed their presence and exposed them to the\ngreatest danger.\n\nTartlet, a prey to a veritable hallucination, had risen. He had seized a\nrevolver; and this time, before Godfrey and Carefinotu could hinder him,\nand not knowing himself what he did, but believing that he saw a tiger\nstanding before him, he had fired! The bullet passed through the door of\nWill Tree.\n\n\"Fool!\" exclaimed Godfrey, throwing himself on Tartlet, while the negro\nseized the weapon.\n\nIt was too late. The alarm was given, and growlings still more violent\nresounded without. Formidable talons were heard tearing the bark of the\nsequoia. Terrible blows shook the door, which was too feeble to resist\nsuch an assault.\n\n\"We must defend ourselves!\" shouted Godfrey.\n\nAnd, with his gun in his hand and his cartridge-pouch round his waist,\nhe took his post at one of the windows.\n\nTo his great surprise, Carefinotu had done the same! Yes! the black,\nseizing the second musket--a weapon which he had never before\nhandled--had filled his pockets with cartridges and taken his place at\nthe second window.\n\nThen the reports of the guns began to echo from the embrasures. By the\nflashes, Godfrey on the one side, and Carefinotu on the other, beheld\nthe foes they had to deal with.\n\nThere, in the enclosure, roaring with rage, howling at the reports,\nrolling beneath the bullets which struck many of them, leapt of lions\nand tigers, and hyænas and panthers, at least a score. To their roarings\nand growlings which reverberated from afar, there echoed back those of\nother ferocious beasts running up to join them. Already the now distant\nroaring could be heard as they approached the environs of Will Tree. It\nwas as though quite a menagerie of wild animals had been suddenly set\nfree on the island!\n\n[Illustration: Of lions and tigers quite a score. _page 252_]\n\nHowever, Godfrey and Carefinotu, without troubling themselves about\nTartlet, who could be of no use, were keeping as cool as they could, and\nrefraining from firing unless they were certain of their aim. Wishing to\nwaste not a shot, they waited till a shadow passed in front of them.\nThen came the flash and the report, and then a growl of grief told them\nthat the animal had been hit.\n\nA quarter of an hour elapsed, and then came a respite. Had the wild\nbeasts given up the attack which had cost the lives of so many amongst\nthem? Were they waiting for the day to recommence the attempt under more\nfavourable conditions?\n\nWhatever might be the reason, neither Godfrey nor Carefinotu desired to\nleave his post. The black had shown himself no less ready with the gun\nthan Godfrey. If that was due only to the instinct of imitation, it must\nbe admitted that it was indeed surprising.\n\nAbout two o'clock in the morning there came a new alarm--more furious\nthan before. The danger was imminent, the position in the interior of\nWill Tree was becoming untenable. New growlings resounded round the foot\nof the sequoia. Neither Godfrey nor Carefinotu, on account of the\nsituation of the windows, which were cut straight through, could see the\nassailants, nor, in consequence, could they fire with any chance of\nsuccess.\n\nIt was now the door which the beasts attacked, and it was only too\nevident that it would be beaten in by their weight or torn down by their\nclaws.\n\nGodfrey and the black had descended to the ground. The door was already\nshaking beneath the blows from without. They could feel the heated\nbreath making its way in through the cracks in the bark.\n\nGodfrey and Carefinotu attempted to prop back the door with the stakes\nwhich kept up the beds, but these proved quite useless.\n\nIt was obvious that in a little while it would be driven in, for the\nbeasts were mad with rage--particularly as no shots could reach them.\n\nGodfrey was powerless. If he and his companions were inside Will Tree\nwhen the assailants broke in, their weapons would be useless to protect\nthem.\n\nGodfrey had crossed his arms. He saw the boards of the door open little\nby little. He could do nothing. In a moment of hesitation, he passed his\nhand across his forehead, as if in despair. But soon recovering his\nself-possession, he shouted,--\n\n\"Up we go! Up! All of us!\"\n\nAnd he pointed to the narrow passage which led up to the fork inside\nWill Tree.\n\nCarefinotu and he, taking their muskets and revolvers, supplied\nthemselves with cartridges.\n\nAnd now he turned to make Tartlet follow them into these heights where\nhe had never ventured before.\n\nTartlet was no longer there. He had started up while his companions were\nfiring.\n\n\"Up!\" repeated Godfrey.\n\nIt was a last retreat, where they would assuredly be sheltered from the\nwild beasts. If any tiger or panther attempted to come up into the\nbranches of the sequoia, it would be easy to defend the hole through\nwhich he would have to pass.\n\nGodfrey and Carefinotu had scarcely ascended thirty feet, when the\nroaring was heard in the interior of Will Tree. A few moments more and\nthey would have been surprised. The door had just fallen in. They both\nhurried along, and at last reached the upper end of the hole.\n\nA scream of terror welcomed them. It was Tartlet, who imagined he saw a\npanther or tiger! The unfortunate professor was clasping a branch,\nfrightened almost out of his life lest he should fall.\n\nCarefinotu went to him, and compelled him to lean against an upright\nbough, to which he firmly secured him with his belt.\n\nThen, while Godfrey selected a place whence he could command the\nopening, Carefinotu went to another spot whence he could deliver a cross\nfire.\n\nAnd they waited.\n\nUnder these circumstances it certainly looked as though the besieged\nwere safe from attack.\n\nGodfrey endeavoured to discover what was passing beneath them; but the\nnight was still too dark. Then he tried to hear; and the growlings,\nwhich never ceased, showed that the assailants had no thought of\nabandoning the place.\n\nSuddenly, towards four o'clock in the morning, a great light appeared at\nthe foot of the tree. At once it shot out through the door and windows.\nAt the same time a thick smoke spread forth from the upper opening and\nlost itself in the higher branches.\n\n\"What is that now?\" exclaimed Godfrey.\n\nIt was easily explained. The wild beasts, in ravaging the interior of\nWill Tree, had scattered the remains of the fire. The fire had spread to\nthe things in the room. The flame had caught the bark, which had dried\nand become combustible. The gigantic sequoia was ablaze below.\n\nThe position was now more terrible than it had ever been. By the light\nof the flames, which illuminated the space beneath the grove, they could\nsee the wild beasts leaping round the foot of Will Tree.\n\nAt the same instant, a fearful explosion occurred. The sequoia,\nviolently wrenched, trembled from its roots to its summit.\n\nIt was the reserve of gunpowder which had exploded inside Will Tree, and\nthe air, violently expelled from the opening, rushed forth like the gas\nfrom a discharging cannon.\n\nGodfrey and Carefinotu were almost torn from their resting-places. Had\nTartlet not been lashed to the branch, he would assuredly have been\nhurled to the ground.\n\nThe wild beasts, terrified at the explosion, and more or less wounded,\nhad taken to flight.\n\nBut at the same time the conflagration, fed by the sudden combustion of\nthe powder, had considerably extended. It swiftly grew in dimensions as\nit crept up the enormous stem.\n\nLarge tongues of flame lapped the interior, and the highest soon reached\nthe fork, and the dead wood snapped and crackled like shots from a\nrevolver. A huge glare lighted up, not only the group of giant trees,\nbut even the whole of the coast from Flag Point to the southern cape of\nDream Bay.\n\nSoon the fire had reached the lower branches of the sequoia, and\nthreatened to invade the spot where Godfrey and his companions had taken\nrefuge. Were they then to be devoured by the flames, with which they\ncould not battle, or had they but the last resource of throwing\nthemselves to the ground to escape being burnt alive? In either case\nthey must die!\n\nGodfrey sought about for some means of escape. He saw none!\n\nAlready the lower branches were ablaze and a dense smoke was struggling\nwith the first gleams of dawn which were rising in the east.\n\nAt this moment there was a horrible crash of rending and breaking. The\nsequoia, burnt to the very roots, cracked violently--it toppled over--it\nfell!\n\nBut as it fell the stem met the stems of the trees which environed it;\ntheir powerful branches were mingled with its own, and so it remained\nobliquely cradled at an angle of about forty-five degrees from the\nground.\n\nAt the moment that the sequoia fell, Godfrey and his companions believed\nthemselves lost!\n\n\"Nineteenth of January!\" exclaimed a voice, which Godfrey, in spite of\nhis astonishment, immediately recognized.\n\nIt was Carefinotu! Yes, Carefinotu had just pronounced these words, and\nin that English language which up to then he had seemed unable to speak\nor to understand!\n\n\"What did you say?\" asked Godfrey, as he followed him along the\nbranches.\n\n\"I said, Mr. Morgan,\" answered Carefinotu, \"that to-day your Uncle Will\nought to reach us, and that if he doesn't turn up we are done for!\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\nWHICH CONCLUDES BY EXPLAINING WHAT UP TO NOW HAD APPEARED INEXPLICABLE.\n\n\nAt that instant, and before Godfrey could reply, the report of fire-arms\nwas heard not far from Will Tree.\n\nAt the same time one of those rain storms, regular cataracts in their\nfury, fell in a torrential shower just as the flames devouring the lower\nbranches were threatening to seize upon the trees against which Will\nTree was resting.\n\nWhat was Godfrey to think after this series of inexplicable events?\nCarefinotu speaking English like a cockney, calling him by his name,\nannouncing the early arrival of Uncle Will, and then the sudden report\nof the fire-arms?\n\nHe asked himself if he had gone mad; but he had no time for insoluble\nquestions, for below him--hardly five minutes after the first sound of\nthe guns--a body of sailors appeared hurrying through the trees.\n\nGodfrey and Carefinotu slipped down along the stem, the interior of\nwhich was still burning.\n\nBut the moment that Godfrey touched the ground, he heard himself spoken\nto, and by two voices which even in his trouble it was impossible for\nhim not to recognize.\n\n\"Nephew Godfrey, I have the honour to salute you!\"\n\n\"Godfrey! Dear Godfrey!\"\n\n\"Uncle Will! Phina! You!\" exclaimed Godfrey, astounded.\n\nThree seconds afterwards he was in somebody's arms, and was clasping\nthat somebody in his own.\n\nAt the same time two sailors, at the order of Captain Turcott who was in\ncommand, climbed up along the sequoia to set Tartlet free, and, with all\ndue respect, pluck him from the branch as if he were a fruit.\n\nAnd then the questions, the answers, the explanations which passed!\n\n\"Uncle Will! You?\"\n\n\"Yes! me!\"\n\n\"And how did you discover Phina Island?\"\n\n\"Phina Island!\" answered William W. Kolderup. \"You should say Spencer\nIsland! Well, it wasn't very difficult. I bought it six months ago!\"\n\n\"Spencer Island!\"\n\n\"And you gave my name to it, you dear Godfrey!\" said the young lady.\n\n\"The new name is a good one, and we will keep to it,\" answered the\nuncle; \"but for geographers this is Spencer Island, only three days'\njourney from San Francisco, on which I thought it would be a good plan\nfor you to serve your apprenticeship to the Crusoe business!\"\n\n\"Oh! Uncle! Uncle Will! What is it you say?\" exclaimed Godfrey. \"Well,\nif you are in earnest, I can only answer that I deserved it! But then,\nUncle Will, the wreck of the _Dream_?\"\n\n\"Sham!\" replied William W. Kolderup, who had never seemed in such a good\nhumour before. \"The _Dream_ was quietly sunk by means of her water\nballast, according to the instructions I had given Turcott. You thought\nshe sank for good, but when the captain saw that you and Tartlet had got\nsafely to land he brought her up and steamed away. Three days later he\ngot back to San Francisco, and he it is who has brought us to Spencer\nIsland on the date we fixed!\"\n\n\"Then none of the crew perished in the wreck?\"\n\n\"None--unless it was the unhappy Chinaman who hid himself away on board\nand could not be found!\"\n\n\"But the canoe?\"\n\n\"Sham! The canoe was of my own make.\"\n\n\"But the savages?\"\n\n\"Sham! The savages whom luckily you did not shoot!\"\n\n\"But Carefinotu?\"\n\n\"Sham! Carefinotu was my faithful Jup Brass, who played his part of\nFriday marvellously well, as I see.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" answered Godfrey. \"He twice saved my life--once from a bear, once\nfrom a tiger--\"\n\n\"The bear was sham! the tiger was sham!\" laughed William W. Kolderup.\n\"Both of them were stuffed with straw, and landed before you saw them\nwith Jup Brass and his companions!\"\n\n\"But he moved his head and his paws!\"\n\n\"By means of a spring which Jup Brass had fixed during the night a few\nhours before the meetings which were prepared for you.\"\n\n\"What! all of them?\" repeated Godfrey, a little ashamed at having been\ntaken in by these artifices.\n\n\"Yes! Things were going too smoothly in your island, and we had to get\nup a little excitement!\"\n\n\"Then,\" answered Godfrey, who had begun to laugh, \"if you wished to make\nmatters unpleasant for us, why did you send us the box which contained\neverything we wanted?\"\n\n\"A box?\" answered William W. Kolderup. \"What box? I never sent you a\nbox! Perhaps by chance--\"\n\nAnd as he said so he looked towards Phina, who cast down her eyes and\nturned away her head.\n\n\"Oh! indeed!--a box! but then Phina must have had an accomplice--\"\n\nAnd Uncle Will turned towards Captain Turcott, who laughingly\nanswered,--\n\n\"What could I do, Mr. Kolderup? I can sometimes resist you--but Miss\nPhina--it was too difficult! And four months ago, when you sent me to\nlook round the island, I landed the box from my boat--\"\n\n\"Dearest Phina!\" said Godfrey, seizing the young lady's hand.\n\n\"Turcott, you promised to keep the secret!\" said Phina with a blush.\n\nAnd Uncle William W. Kolderup, shaking his big head, tried in vain to\nhide that he was touched.\n\nBut if Godfrey could not restrain his smiles as he listened to the\nexplanations of Uncle Will, Professor Tartlet did not laugh in the\nleast! He was excessively mortified at what he heard! To have been the\nobject of such a mystification, he, a professor of dancing and\ndeportment! And so advancing with much dignity he observed,--\n\n\"Mr. William Kolderup will hardly assert, I imagine, that the enormous\ncrocodile, of which I was nearly the unhappy victim, was made of\npasteboard and wound up with a spring?\"\n\n\"A crocodile?\" replied the uncle.\n\n\"Yes, Mr. Kolderup,\" said Carefinotu, to whom we had better return his\nproper name of Jup Brass. \"Yes, a real live crocodile, which went for\nMr. Tartlet, and which I did not have in my collection!\"\n\nGodfrey then related what had happened, the sudden appearance of the\nwild beasts in such numbers, real lions, real tigers, real panthers, and\nthen the invasion of the snakes, of which during four months they had\nnot seen a single specimen in the island!\n\nWilliam W. Kolderup at this was quite disconcerted. He knew nothing\nabout it. Spencer Island--it had been known for a long time--never had\nany wild beasts, did not possess even a single noxious animal; it was so\nstated in the deeds of sale.\n\nNeither did he understand what Godfrey told him of the attempts he had\nmade to discover the origin of the smoke which had appeared at different\npoints on the island. And he seemed very much troubled to find that all\nhad not passed on the island according to his instructions, and that the\nprogramme had been seriously interfered with.\n\nAs for Tartlet, he was not the sort of man to be humbugged. For his part\nhe would admit nothing, neither the sham shipwreck, nor the sham\nsavages, nor the sham animals, and above all he would never give up the\nglory which he had gained in shooting with the first shot from his gun\nthe chief of the Polynesian tribe--one of the servants of the Kolderup\nestablishment, who turned out to be as well as he was.\n\nAll was described, all was explained, except the serious matter of the\nreal wild beasts and the unknown smoke. Uncle Will became very\nthoughtful about this. But, like a practical man, he put off, by an\neffort of the will, the solution of the problems, and addressing his\nnephew,--\n\n\"Godfrey,\" said he, \"you have always been so fond of islands, that I am\nsure it will please you to hear that this is yours--wholly yours! I make\nyou a present of it! You can do what you like with it! I never dreamt of\nbringing you away by force; and I would not take you away from it! Be\nthen a Crusoe for the rest of your life, if your heart tells you to--\"\n\n\"I!\" answered Godfrey. \"I! All my life!\"\n\nPhina stepped forward.\n\n\"Godfrey,\" she asked, \"would you like to remain on your island?\"\n\n\"I would rather die!\" he exclaimed.\n\nBut immediately he added, as he took the young lady's hand,--\n\n\"Well, yes, I will remain; but on three conditions. The first is, you\nstay with me, dearest Phina; the second is, that Uncle Will lives with\nus; and the third is, that the chaplain of the _Dream_ marries us this\nvery day!\"\n\n\"There is no chaplain on board the _Dream_, Godfrey!\" replied Uncle\nWill. \"You know that very well. But I think there is still one left in\nSan Francisco, and that we can find some worthy minister to perform the\nservice! I believe I read your thoughts when I say that before to-morrow\nwe shall put to sea again!\"\n\nThen Phina and Uncle Will asked Godfrey to do the honours of his island.\nBehold them then walking under the group of sequoias, along the stream\nup to the little bridge.\n\nAlas! of the habitation at Will Tree nothing remained. The fire had\ncompletely devoured the dwelling in the base of the tree! Without the\narrival of William W. Kolderup, what with the approaching winter, the\ndestruction of their stores, and the genuine wild beasts in the island,\nour Crusoes would have deserved to be pitied.\n\n\"Uncle Will!\" said Godfrey. \"If I gave the island the name of Phina, let\nme add that I gave our dwelling the name of Will Tree!\"\n\n\"Well,\" answered the uncle, \"we will take away some of the seed, and\nplant it in my garden at 'Frisco!\"\n\nDuring the walk they noticed some wild animals in the distance; but they\ndared not attack so formidable a party as the sailors of the _Dream_.\nBut none the less was their presence absolutely incomprehensible.\n\nThen they returned on board, not without Tartlet asking permission to\nbring off \"his crocodile\"--a permission which was granted.\n\nThat evening the party were united in the saloon of the _Dream_, and\nthere was quite a cheerful dinner to celebrate the end of the adventures\nof Godfrey Morgan and his marriage with Phina Hollaney.\n\nOn the morrow, the 20th of January, the _Dream_ set sail under the\ncommand of Captain Turcott. At eight o'clock in the morning Godfrey, not\nwithout emotion, saw the horizon in the west wipe out, as if it were a\nshadow, the island on which he had been to school for six months--a\nschool of which he never forgot the lessons.\n\nThe passage was rapid; the sea magnificent; the wind favourable. This\ntime the _Dream_ went straight to her destination! There was no one to\nbe mystified! She made no tackings without number as on the first\nvoyage! She did not lose during the night what she had gained during the\nday!\n\nAnd so on the 23rd of January, after passing at noon through the Golden\nGate, she entered the vast bay of San Francisco, and came alongside the\nwharf in Merchant Street.\n\nAnd what did they then see?\n\nThey saw issue from the hold a man who, having swum to the _Dream_\nduring the night while she was anchored at Phina Island, had succeeded\nin stowing himself away for the second time!\n\nAnd who was this man?\n\nIt was the Chinaman, Seng Vou, who had made the passage back as he had\nmade the passage out!\n\nSeng Vou advanced towards William W. Kolderup.\n\n\"I hope Mr. Kolderup will pardon me,\" said he very politely. \"When I\ntook my passage in the _Dream_, I thought she was going direct to\nShanghai, and then I should have reached my country, but I leave her\nnow, and return to San Francisco.\"\n\nEvery one, astounded at the apparition, knew not what to answer, and\nlaughingly gazed at the intruder.\n\n\"But,\" said William W. Kolderup at last, \"you have not remained six\nmonths in the hold, I suppose?\"\n\n\"No!\" answered Seng Vou.\n\n\"Where have you been, then?\"\n\n\"On the island!\"\n\n\"You!\" exclaimed Godfrey.\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Then the smoke?\"\n\n\"A man must have a fire!\"\n\n\"And you did not attempt to come to us, to share our living?\"\n\n\"A Chinaman likes to live alone,\" quietly replied Seng Vou. \"He is\nsufficient for himself, and he wants no one!\"\n\nAnd thereupon this eccentric individual bowed to William W. Kolderup,\nlanded, and disappeared.\n\n\"That is the stuff they make real Crusoes of!\" observed Uncle Will.\n\"Look at him and see if you are like him! It does not matter, the\nEnglish race would do no good by absorbing fellows of that stamp!\"\n\n\"Good!\" said Godfrey, \"the smoke is explained by the presence of Seng\nVou; but the beasts?\"\n\n\"And my crocodile!\" added Tartlet; \"I should like some one to explain my\ncrocodile!\"\n\nWilliam W. Kolderup seemed much embarrassed, and feeling in turn quite\nmystified, passed his hand over his forehead as if to clear the clouds\naway.\n\n\"We shall know later on,\" he said. \"Everything is found by him who knows\nhow to seek!\"\n\nA few days afterwards there was celebrated with great pomp the wedding\nof the nephew and pupil of William W. Kolderup. That the young couple\nwere made much of by all the friends of the wealthy merchant can easily\nbe imagined.\n\nAt the ceremony Tartlet was perfect in bearing, in everything, and the\npupil did honour to the celebrated professor of dancing and deportment.\n\nNow Tartlet had an idea. Not being able to mount his crocodile on a\nscarf-pin--and much he regretted it--he resolved to have it stuffed. The\nanimal prepared in this fashion--hung from the ceiling, with the jaws\nhalf open, and the paws outspread--would make a fine ornament for his\nroom. The crocodile was consequently sent to a famous taxidermist, and\nhe brought it back to Tartlet a few days afterwards. Every one came to\nadmire the monster who had almost made a meal of Tartlet.\n\n\"You know, Mr. Kolderup, where the animal came from?\" said the\ncelebrated taxidermist, presenting his bill.\n\n\"No, I do not,\" answered Uncle Will.\n\n\"But it had a label underneath its carapace.\"\n\n\"A label!\" exclaimed Godfrey.\n\n\"Here it is,\" said the celebrated taxidermist.\n\nAnd he held out a piece of leather on which, in indelible ink, were\nwritten these words,--\n\n\n     _\"From Hagenbeck, Hamburg,\n          \"To J. R. Taskinar, Stockton, U.S.A.\"_\n\n\nWhen William W. Kolderup had read these words he burst into a shout of\nlaughter. He understood all.\n\nIt was his enemy, J. R. Taskinar, his conquered competitor, who, to be\nrevenged, had bought a cargo of wild beasts, reptiles, and other\nobjectionable creatures from a well-known purveyor to the menageries of\nboth hemispheres, and had landed them at night in several voyages to\nSpencer Island. It had cost him a good deal, no doubt, to do so; but he\nhad succeeded in infesting the property of his rival, as the English did\nMartinique, if we are to believe the legend, before it was handed over\nto France.\n\nThere was thus no more to explain of the remarkable occurrences on\nPhina Island.\n\n\"Well done!\" exclaimed William W. Kolderup. \"I could not have done\nbetter myself!\"\n\n\"But with those terrible creatures,\" said Phina, \"Spencer Island--\"\n\n\"Phina Island--\" interrupted Godfrey.\n\n\"Phina Island,\" continued the bride, with a smile, \"is quite\nuninhabitable.\"\n\n\"Bah!\" answered Uncle Will; \"we can wait till the last lion has eaten up\nthe last tiger!\"\n\n\"And then, dearest Phina,\" said Godfrey, \"you will not be afraid to pass\na season there with me?\"\n\n\"With you, my dear husband, I fear nothing from anywhere,\" answered\nPhina, \"and as you have not had your voyage round the world--\"\n\n\"We will have it together,\" said Godfrey, \"and if an unlucky chance\nshould ever make me a real Crusoe--\"\n\n\"You will ever have near you the most devoted of Crusoe-esses!\"\n\n\nTHE END."