Part 24

He therefore resolved to manufacture and use pyroxylin, while acknowledging its rather serious drawbacks, that is to say, a great irregularity of effect, an excessive inflammability, since it ignites at one hundred and seventy degrees instead of two hundred and forty, and finally too instantaneous a deflagration which may damage firearms. On the other hand, the advantages of pyroxylin consisted in this: that it is not altered by moisture, that it does not foul the barrels of rifles, and that its propulsive force is fourfold that of ordinary powder.

To make pyroxylin, it suffices to plunge cellulose for a quarter of an hour into fuming nitric acid, then to wash it in plenty of water and let it dry. As may be seen, nothing is simpler.

Cyrus Smith had at his disposal only ordinary nitric acid, and not fuming or monohydrated nitric acid, that is to say, the acid which emits whitish vapors on contact with humid air; but by substituting for the latter ordinary nitric acid, mixed in the proportion of three volumes to five volumes of concentrated sulfuric acid, the engineer should obtain the same result, and he obtained it. The hunters of the island therefore soon had at their disposal a perfectly prepared substance, which, used with discretion, gave excellent results.

About this time, the colonists cleared three acres of the Grand-View plateau, and the rest was kept as meadows for the maintenance of the onaggas. Several excursions were made into the forests of the Jacamar and the Far-West, and there was brought back a veritable harvest of wild vegetables, spinach, cress, horseradish, turnips, which intelligent cultivation would soon modify, and which were to temper the nitrogenous diet to which the colonists of Lincoln Island had hitherto been subjected. Notable quantities of wood and charcoal were also transported. Each excursion was at the same time a means of improving the roads, whose pavement gradually compacted under the wheels of the wagon.

The warren still furnished its contingent of rabbits to the larder of Granite House. As it was situated a little outside the point where the Glycerine Creek began, its inhabitants could not penetrate the reserved plateau, nor therefore ravage the newly made plantings. As for the oyster-bed, arranged amid the rocks of the beach and whose products were frequently renewed, it daily gave excellent mollusks. Moreover, fishing, whether in the waters of the lake or in the current of the Mercy, soon became fruitful, for Pencroff had set out lines of bottom, armed with iron hooks, on which were frequently caught fine trout and certain fish, extremely savory, whose silvery flanks were sprinkled with small yellowish spots. Thus master Nab, charged with culinary cares, could agreeably vary the menu of each meal. Only bread was still lacking on the colonists' table, and, as has been said, it was a privation to which they were truly sensitive.

There was also, about this time, a hunt for marine turtles, which frequented the beaches of Cape Mandibule. In this place, the shore was bristling with small swellings, containing perfectly spherical eggs, with white hard shell, and whose albumen has the property of not coagulating like that of birds' eggs. It was the sun which undertook to hatch them, and their number was naturally very considerable, since each turtle can lay up to two hundred and fifty annually.

"A veritable egg-field," observed Gideon Spilett, "and one has only to gather them."

But they were not content with the products; they also hunted the producers, a hunt which permitted them to bring back to Granite House a dozen of these chelonians, truly very estimable from the alimentary point of view. Turtle soup, heightened with aromatic herbs and garnished with some crucifers, often attracted deserved praise to master Nab, its preparer.

There must also be cited here a fortunate circumstance, which permitted new reserves to be made for the winter. Salmon came in bands to venture into the Mercy and ascended its course for several miles. It was the season when the females, going to seek suitable places to spawn, preceded the males and made great noise through the fresh waters. A thousand of these fish, which measured up to two and a half feet in length, thus rushed into the river, and it sufficed to establish some barriers to retain a great quantity. Several hundred were thus taken, which were salted and put in reserve for the time when winter, freezing the watercourses, would render all fishing impracticable.

It was about this time that the very intelligent Jup was raised to the functions of valet de chambre. He had been clothed in a jacket, short breeches of white linen, and an apron whose pockets were his delight, for he thrust his hands into them and would not suffer anyone to rummage there. The dexterous orang had been marvelously trained by Nab, and one would have said that the negro and the ape understood each other when they talked together. Jup, moreover, had for Nab a real sympathy, and Nab returned it. Unless his services were needed, whether to carry wood or to climb to the top of some tree, Jup passed the greater part of his time in the kitchen and sought to imitate Nab in all that he saw him do. The master, moreover, showed a patience and even an extreme zeal to instruct his pupil, and the pupil deployed a remarkable intelligence in profiting from the lessons his master gave him.

Judge then of the satisfaction that master Jup procured one day for the guests of Granite House, when, the napkin on his arm, he came, without their having been warned, to serve them at table. Dexterous, attentive, he acquitted himself of his service with perfect skill, changing the plates, bringing the dishes, pouring to drink, all with a seriousness which amused the colonists exceedingly and with which Pencroff was enthusiastic.

"Jup, some soup!"

"Jup, a bit of agouti!"

"Jup, a plate!"

"Jup! Brave Jup! Honest Jup!"

Nothing was heard but that, and Jup, never disconcerted, answered to all, watched over all, and he nodded his intelligent head, when Pencroff, repeating his jest of the first day, said to him:

"Decidedly, Jup, we shall have to double your wages!"

Needless to say that the orang was then absolutely acclimated to Granite House, and that he often accompanied his masters into the forest, never manifesting any desire to flee. He had to be seen, then, walking in the most amusing fashion, with a cane that Pencroff had made him and which he carried on his shoulder like a gun! If some fruit was to be gathered at the top of a tree, how quick he was up there! If the wagon wheel came to be stuck in the mud, with what vigor Jup, with a single shoulder, put it back on the right road!

"What a fellow!" Pencroff often cried. "If he were as wicked as he is good, there would be no way to get the better of him!"

It was toward the end of January that the colonists undertook great works in the central part of the island. It had been decided that, toward the sources of the Red Creek, at the foot of Mount Franklin, a corral should be founded, intended to contain the ruminants, whose presence would have been inconvenient at Granite House, and more particularly those mouflons, which were to furnish the wool destined for the making of winter garments.

Each morning, the colony, sometimes all together, most often represented only by Cyrus Smith, Harbert and Pencroff, went to the sources of the creek, and, the onaggas helping, it was no more than a walk of five miles, under a dome of verdure, by this newly traced road, which took the name of "Corral Road."

There, a vast space had been chosen, on the southern flank of the mountain itself. It was a meadow, planted with clumps of trees, situated at the foot of a spur which closed it on one side. A small rio, born on its slopes, after watering it diagonally, went to lose itself in the Red Creek. The grass was fresh, and the trees which grew here and there allowed the air to circulate freely over its surface. It sufficed therefore to surround said meadow with a palisade arranged circularly, which would lean at each extremity on the spur, and high enough so that animals, even the most agile, could not clear it. This enclosure could contain, at the same time as a hundred horned animals, mouflons or wild goats, the young that should be born thereafter.

The perimeter of the corral was therefore traced by the engineer, and they had to proceed to the felling of the trees necessary for the construction of the palisade; but, as the cutting of the road had already necessitated the sacrifice of a certain number of trunks, they were hauled, and they furnished a hundred stakes, which were solidly implanted in the ground.

At the front part of the palisade, a fairly wide entrance was contrived and closed by a door with two leaves made of strong planks, which exterior bars were to consolidate.

The construction of this corral demanded no less than three weeks, for, besides the palisade works, Cyrus Smith raised vast plank sheds, under which the ruminants could take refuge.

Moreover, it had been necessary to establish these constructions with extreme solidity, for mouflons are robust animals, and their first violences were to be feared. The stakes, pointed at their upper extremity, which had been hardened by fire, had been made integral by means of bolted crosspieces, and, at intervals, props assured the solidity of the whole.

The corral finished, it was necessary to operate a great drive at the foot of Mount Franklin, amid the pastures frequented by the ruminants. This operation took place on February 7, on a fine summer day, and everyone took part in it. The two onaggas, already fairly well trained and mounted by Gideon Spilett and Harbert, rendered great service on this occasion.

The maneuver consisted solely in driving back the mouflons and goats, gradually tightening the circle of the drive around them. Thus Cyrus Smith, Pencroff, Nab, Jup posted themselves at various points of the wood, while the two horsemen and Top galloped in a radius of half a mile around the corral.

The mouflons were numerous in this portion of the island. These fine animals, as large as fallow deer, horns stronger than those of the ram, the fleece greyish and mixed with long hairs, resembled argalis.

It was a fatiguing day, that day of hunting! what comings and goings, what runs and counter-runs, what cries uttered! Of a hundred mouflons that were driven back, more than two thirds escaped the beaters; but, in the end, some thirty of these ruminants and a dozen wild goats, gradually pushed back toward the corral, whose open door seemed to offer them an exit, threw themselves in and could be imprisoned. In sum, the result was satisfactory, and the colonists had no cause to complain. Most of these mouflons were females, some of whom should not delay in giving birth. It was therefore certain that the flock would prosper, and that not only the wool, but also the skins would abound in no distant time.

That evening, the hunters returned exhausted to Granite House. However, the next day, they nonetheless returned to visit the corral. The prisoners had indeed tried to overturn the palisade, but they had not succeeded, and they soon kept more quiet.

During this month of February, no event of any importance occurred. The daily works pursued methodically, and, at the same time as they improved the roads of the corral and of Balloon Harbor, a third was begun, which, starting from the enclosure, directed itself toward the western coast. The still unknown portion of Lincoln Island was always that of those great woods which covered the Serpentine peninsula, where the wild beasts took refuge, of which Gideon Spilett counted on purging his domain.

Before the cold season reappeared, the most assiduous cares were likewise given to the culture of the wild plants which had been transplanted from the forest onto the Grand-View plateau. Harbert hardly returned from an excursion without bringing back some useful vegetables. One day, it was samples of the tribe of chicoraceous plants, whose very seed could furnish by pressure an excellent oil; another, it was a common sorrel, whose anti-scorbutic properties were not to be disdained; then, some of those precious tubers which have been cultivated from all time in South America, those potatoes, of which today more than two hundred species are counted. The kitchen garden, now well maintained, well watered, well defended against the birds, was divided into small squares, where grew lettuces, vitelottes, sorrel, turnips, horseradish and other crucifers. The earth, on this plateau, was prodigiously fertile, and one could hope that the harvests there would be abundant.

Varied drinks were not lacking either, and, on condition of not demanding wine, the most difficult should not complain. To the Oswego tea furnished by the didymous monardes, and to the fermented liquor extracted from the roots of the dragon-tree, Cyrus Smith had added a veritable beer; he fabricated it with the young shoots of the "abies nigra," which, after having boiled and fermented, gave this agreeable and particularly hygienic beverage which the Anglo-Americans name "spring-beer," that is to say, fir beer.

Toward the end of summer, the poultry yard possessed a fine pair of bustards, which belonged to the "houbara" species, characterized by a sort of mantle of feathers, a dozen shovelers, whose upper mandible was prolonged on each side by a membranous appendage, and magnificent cocks, black of crest, of caruncle and of epidermis, similar to the cocks of Mozambique, which strutted on the bank of the lake.

Thus everything succeeded, thanks to the activity of these courageous and intelligent men. Providence did much for them, no doubt; but, faithful to the great precept, they helped themselves first, and heaven then came to their aid.

After these warm summer days, in the evening, when the works were finished, at the moment when the sea breeze rose, they loved to sit on the edge of the Grand-View plateau, under a sort of veranda covered with climbing plants, which Nab had raised with his own hands. There, they talked, they instructed one another, they made plans, and the sailor's hearty good humor incessantly rejoiced this little world, in which the most perfect harmony had never ceased to reign.

They also spoke of the country, of the dear and great America. Where stood this war of secession?

It had evidently not been able to prolong itself! Richmond had quickly fallen, no doubt, into the hands of General Grant! The taking of the capital of the Confederates must have been the last act of this fatal struggle! Now, the North had triumphed for the good cause. Ah! how a newspaper would have been welcome to the exiles of Lincoln Island! It was eleven months since all communication between them and the rest of humankind had been interrupted, and, before long, on March 24, arrived the anniversary of the day when the balloon threw them onto this unknown coast! They were then only shipwrecked men, not even knowing if they could dispute their miserable life with the elements! And now, thanks to the knowledge of their chief, thanks to their own intelligence, they were veritable colonists, provided with arms, tools, instruments, who had known how to transform to their profit the animals, plants and minerals of the island, that is to say, the three kingdoms of nature!

Yes! They often talked of all these things and still formed many projects of the future!

As for Cyrus Smith, most of the time silent, he listened to his companions more often than he spoke. Sometimes, he smiled at some reflection of Harbert, at some sally of Pencroff, but, always and everywhere, he thought of those inexplicable facts, of that strange enigma whose secret still escaped him!

CHAPTER IX

The weather changed during the first week of March.

There had been full moon at the beginning of the month, and the heats were still excessive. One felt that the atmosphere was impregnated with electricity, and a more or less long period of stormy weather was really to be feared. Indeed, on the 2nd, the thunder rumbled with extreme violence. The wind blew from the east, and the hail struck directly the facade of Granite House, crackling like a volley of grapeshot. It was necessary to hermetically close the door and the shutters of the windows, otherwise everything would have been flooded inside the rooms. On seeing these hailstones fall, some of which were the size of a pigeon's egg, Pencroff had but one idea: that his wheat field was running the most serious dangers.

And immediately he ran to his field, where the ears were already beginning to lift their little green head, and, by means of a large cloth, he managed to protect his harvest. He was pelted in its place, but he did not complain.

This bad weather lasted eight days, during which the thunder never ceased to roll in the depths of the sky. Between two storms, one still heard it rumble dully outside the limits of the horizon; then, it resumed with a new fury. The sky was striped with lightning, and the thunderbolt struck several trees of the island, among others an enormous pine which rose near the lake, at the edge of the forest. Two or three times also, the beach was reached by the electric fluid, which melted the sand and vitrified it. On finding these fulgurites, the engineer was led to believe that it would be possible to fit the windows with thick and solid panes, which could defy the wind, the rain and the hail.

The colonists, having no urgent works to do outside, profited from the bad weather to work inside Granite House, whose arrangement perfected and completed itself day by day. The engineer installed a lathe, which permitted him to turn some toilet or kitchen utensils, and particularly buttons, whose lack was keenly felt. A rack had been installed for the weapons, which were maintained with extreme care, and neither the shelves nor the cupboards left anything to be desired. They sawed, planed, filed, turned, and during all this period of bad weather nothing was heard but the creaking of tools or the humming of the lathe, which answered the rumblings of the thunder.

Master Jup had not been forgotten, and he occupied a separate room, near the general storeroom, a sort of cabin with a frame always filled with good litter, which suited him perfectly.

"With this brave Jup, never any recrimination," Pencroff often repeated, "never any unseemly answer! what a servant, Nab, what a servant!"

"My pupil," answered Nab, "and soon my equal!"

"Your superior," the sailor retorted laughing, "for after all you, Nab, you speak, and he, does not speak!"

It goes without saying that Jup was now versed in the service. He beat the clothes, he turned the spit, he swept the rooms, he served at table, he arranged the wood, and -- a detail which enchanted Pencroff -- he never went to bed without having come to tuck in the worthy sailor in his bed.

As for the health of the members of the colony, bipeds or bimanes, quadrumanes or quadrupeds, it left nothing to be desired. With this life in the open air, on this salubrious soil, under this temperate zone, working with the head and the hand, they could not believe that illness should ever reach them.

All were marvelously well, indeed.

Harbert had already grown two inches in a year. His face was forming and becoming more manly, and he promised to be a man as accomplished physically as morally. Moreover, he profited to instruct himself of all the leisure that his manual occupations left him, he read the few books found in the case, and, after the practical lessons which resulted from the very necessity of his position, he found in the engineer for the sciences, in the reporter for languages, masters who pleased to complete his education.

The fixed idea of the engineer was to transmit to the young boy all that he knew, to instruct him by example as much as by word, and Harbert largely profited from the lessons of his professor.

"If I die," thought Cyrus Smith, "it is he who will replace me!"

The tempest ended toward March 9, but the sky remained covered with clouds during all this last month of summer. The atmosphere, violently troubled by these electric commotions, could not recover its former purity, and there were almost invariably rains and fogs, save three or four fine days which favored excursions of all sorts.

About this time, the female onagga foaled a little one of the same sex as its mother, and it came marvelously. At the corral, there was, in the same circumstances, increase of the mouflon flock, and several lambs were already bleating under the sheds, to the great joy of Nab and Harbert, who each had their favorite among the new-born.

An attempt at domestication was also made for the peccaries, an attempt which fully succeeded. A stable was constructed near the poultry yard and soon counted several little ones in train of civilizing themselves, that is to say, of fattening under the care of Nab.

Master Jup, charged with bringing them their daily food, dishwater, kitchen parings, etc., conscientiously acquitted himself of his task. It did happen to him, sometimes, to amuse himself at the expense of his little boarders and to pull their tails, but it was mischief and not wickedness, for these little twisted tails amused him like a toy, and his instinct was that of a child. One day of this month of March, Pencroff, talking with the engineer, recalled to Cyrus Smith a promise that the latter had not yet had time to fulfill.

"You had spoken of an apparatus which would suppress the long ladders of Granite House, Mr. Cyrus," he said to him. "Will you not establish it some day?"

"You mean a sort of elevator!" answered Cyrus Smith.

"Let us call that an elevator, if you wish," answered the sailor. "The name matters nothing, provided that it raises us without fatigue to our dwelling."

"Nothing will be easier, Pencroff, but is it truly useful?"

"Certainly, Mr. Cyrus. After giving ourselves the necessary, let us think a little of the comfortable. For persons, that will be luxury, if you will; but for things, it is indispensable! It is not already so convenient to climb a long ladder, when one is heavily loaded!"

"Well, Pencroff, we are going to try to satisfy you," answered Cyrus Smith.

"But you have no machine at your disposal."

"We shall make one."

"A steam machine?"

"No, a water machine."

And, indeed, to maneuver his apparatus, a natural force was there at the disposition of the engineer, and which the latter could utilize without great difficulty.

For that, it sufficed to increase the outflow of the small diversion made from the lake which furnished water inside Granite House. The orifice arranged between the stones and the grasses, at the upper extremity of the spillway, was therefore enlarged, which produced at the bottom of the corridor a strong fall, whose overflow poured by the interior well. Below this fall, the engineer installed a paddle cylinder which connected on the outside with a wheel wound with a strong cable supporting a basket. In this way, by means of a long rope which fell to the ground and which permitted to engage or disengage the hydraulic motor, one could rise in the basket to the door of Granite House.

It was on March 17 that the elevator functioned for the first time, to the common satisfaction.

“Stories of the world, in your language.”