The Mysterious Island (50 page)

"My friend," answered Harding, who always intentionally made use of this
cordial appellation, "you must let us judge what it will be best to do
in this respect."

"Thank you, sir," replied the stranger as he withdrew.

The engineer then made known to his companions the proposal which had
been made to him, and it was agreed that they should build a wooden
house at the corral, which they would make as comfortable as possible.

That very day the colonists repaired to the corral with the necessary
tools, and a week had not passed before the house was ready to receive
its tenant. It was built about twenty feet from the sheds, and from
there it was easy to overlook the flock of sheep, which then numbered
more than eighty. Some furniture, a bed, table, bench, cupboard, and
chest were manufactured, and a gun, ammunition, and tools were carried
to the corral.

The stranger, however, had seen nothing of his new dwelling, and he
had allowed the settlers to work there without him, while he occupied
himself on the plateau, wishing, doubtless, to put the finishing stroke
to his work. Indeed, thanks to him, all the ground was dug up and ready
to he sowed when the time came.

It was on the 20th of December that all the arrangements at the corral
were completed. The engineer announced to the stranger that his dwelling
was ready to receive him, and the latter replied that he would go and
sleep there that very evening.

On this evening the colonists were gathered in the diningroom of Granite
House. It was then eight o'clock, the hour at which their companion was
to leave them. Not wishing to trouble him by their presence, and thus
imposing on him the necessity of saying farewells which might perhaps be
painful to him, they had left him alone and ascended to Granite House.

Now, they had been talking in the room for a few minutes, when a light
knock was heard at the door. Almost immediately the stranger entered,
and without any preamble,—

"Gentlemen," said he, "before I leave you, it is right that you should
know my history. I will tell it you."

These simple words profoundly impressed Cyrus Harding and his
companions. The engineer rose.

"We ask you nothing, my friend," said he; "it is your right to be
silent."

"It is my duty to speak."

"Sit down, then."

"No, I will stand."

"We are ready to hear you," replied Harding.

The stranger remained standing in a corner of the room, a little in the
shade. He was bareheaded, his arms folded across his chest, and it
was in this posture that in a hoarse voice, speaking like some one
who obliges himself to speak, he gave the following recital, which his
auditors did not once interrupt:—

"On the 20th of December, 1854, a steam-yacht, belonging to a Scotch
nobleman, Lord Glenarvan, anchored off Cape Bernouilli, on the western
coast of Australia, in the thirty-seventh parallel. On board this yacht
were Lord Glenarvan and his wife, a major in the English army, a French
geographer, a young girl, and a young boy. These two last were the
children of Captain Grant, whose ship, the 'Britannia,' had been lost,
crew and cargo, a year before. The 'Duncan' was commanded by Captain
John Mangles, and manned by a crew of fifteen men.

"This is the reason the yacht at this time lay off the coast of
Australia. Six months before, a bottle, enclosing a document written in
English, German, and French, had been found in the Irish Sea, and picked
up by the 'Duncan.' This document stated in substance that there still
existed three survivors from the wreck of the 'Britannia,' that these
survivors were Captain Grant and two of his men, and that they had found
refuge on some land, of which the document gave the latitude, but of
which the longitude, effaced by the sea, was no longer legible.

"This latitude was 37deg 11' south; therefore, the longitude being
unknown, if they followed the thirty-seventh parallel over continents
and seas, they would be certain to reach the spot inhabited by Captain
Grant and his two companions. The English Admiralty having hesitated to
undertake this search, Lord Glenarvan resolved to attempt everything to
find the captain. He communicated with Mary and Robert Grant, who joined
him. The 'Duncan' yacht was equipped for the distant voyage, in which
the nobleman's family and the captain's children wished to take part,
and the 'Duncan,' leaving Glasgow, proceeded towards the Atlantic,
passed through the Straits of Magellan, and ascended the Pacific as
far as Patagonia, where, according to a previous interpretation of the
document, they supposed that Captain Grant was a prisoner among the
Indians.

"The 'Duncan' disembarked her passengers on the western coast of
Patagonia, and sailed to pick them up again on the eastern coast at
Cape Corrientes. Lord Glenarvan traversed Patagonia, following the
thirty-seventh parallel, and having found no trace of the captain, he
re-embarked on the 13th of November, so as to pursue his search through
the Ocean.

"After having unsuccessfully visited the islands of Tristan d'Acunha and
Amsterdam, situated in her course, the 'Duncan,' as I have said, arrived
at Cape Bernouilli, on the Australian coast, on the 20th of December,
1854.

"It was Lord Glenarvan's intention to traverse Australia as he had
traversed America, and he disembarked. A few miles from the coast was
established a farm, belonging to an Irishman, who offered hospitality to
the travelers. Lord Glenarvan made known to the Irishman the cause
which had brought him to these parts, and asked if he knew whether a
three-masted English vessel, the 'Britannia,' had been lost less than
two years before on the west coast of Australia.

"The Irishman had never heard of this wreck, but, to the great surprise
of the bystanders, one of his servants came forward and said,—

"'My lord, praise and thank God! If Captain Grant is still living, he is
living on the Australian shores.'

"'Who are you?' asked Lord Glenarvan.

"'A Scotchman like yourself, my lord,' replied the man; 'I am one of
Captain Grant's crew—one of the castaways of the "Britannia.'"

"This man was called Ayrton. He was, in fact, the boatswain's mate of
the 'Britannia,' as his papers showed. But, separated from Captain Grant
at the moment when the ship struck upon the rocks, he had till then
believed that the captain with all his crew had perished, and that he,
Ayrton, was the sole survivor of the 'Britannia.'

"'Only,' he added, 'it was not on the west coast, but on the east coast
of Australia that the vessel was lost, and if Captain Grant is still
living, as his document indicates, he is a prisoner among the natives,
and it is on the other coast that he must be looked for.'

"This man spoke in a frank voice and with a confident look; his words
could not be doubted. The irishman, in whose service he had been for
more than a year, answered for his trustworthiness. Lord Glenarvan,
therefore, believed in the fidelity of this man and, by his advice,
resolved to cross Australia, following the thirty-seventh parallel. Lord
Glenarvan, his wife, the two children, the major, the Frenchman, Captain
Mangles, and a few sailors composed the little band under the command
of Ayrton, while the 'Duncan,' under charge of the mate, Tom Austin,
proceeded to Melbourne, there to await Lord Glenarvan's instructions.

"They set out on the 23rd of December, 1854.

"It is time to say that Ayrton was a traitor. He was, indeed, the
boatswain's mate of the 'Britannia,' but, after some dispute with his
captain, he endeavored to incite the crew to mutiny and seize the ship,
and Captain Grant had landed him, on the 8th of April, 1852, on the
west coast of Australia, and then sailed, leaving him there, as was only
just.

"Therefore this wretched man knew nothing of the wreck of the
'Britannia'; he had just heard of it from Glenarvan's account. Since his
abandonment, he had become, under the name of Ben Joyce, the leader of
the escaped convicts; and if he boldly maintained that the wreck had
taken place on the east coast, and led Lord Glenarvan to proceed in that
direction, it was that he hoped to separate him from his ship, seize the
'Duncan,' and make the yacht a pirate in the Pacific."

Here the stranger stopped for a moment. His voice trembled, but he
continued,—

"The expedition set out and proceeded across Australia. It was
inevitably unfortunate, since Ayrton, or Ben Joyce, as he may be
called, guided it, sometimes preceded, sometimes followed by his band of
convicts, who had been told what they had to do.

"Meanwhile, the 'Duncan' had been sent to Melbourne for repairs. It was
necessary, then, to get Lord Glenarvan to order her to leave Melbourne
and go to the east coast of Australia, where it would be easy to seize
her. After having led the expedition near enough to the coast, in the
midst of vast forests with no resources, Ayrton obtained a letter, which
he was charged to carry to the mate of the 'Duncan'—a letter which
ordered the yacht to repair immediately to the east coast, to Twofold
Bay, that is to say a few days' journey from the place where the
expedition had stopped. It was there that Ayrton had agreed to meet his
accomplices, and two days after gaining possession of the letter, he
arrived at Melbourne.

"So far the villain had succeeded in his wicked design. He would be able
to take the 'Duncan' into Twofold Bay, where it would be easy for the
convicts to seize her, and her crew massacred, Ben Joyce would become
master of the seas. But it pleased God to prevent the accomplishment of
these terrible projects.

"Ayrton, arrived at Melbourne, delivered the letter to the mate, Tom
Austin, who read it and immediately set sail, but judge of Ayrton's rage
and disappointment, when the next day he found that the mate was taking
the vessel, not to the east coast of Australia, to Twofold Bay, but to
the east coast of New Zealand. He wished to stop him, but Austin showed
him the letter!... And indeed, by a providential error of the French
geographer, who had written the letter, the east coast of New Zealand
was mentioned as the place of destination.

"All Ayrton's plans were frustrated! He became outrageous. They put him
in irons. He was then taken to the coast of New Zealand, not knowing
what would become of his accomplices, or what would become of Lord
Glenarvan.

"The 'Duncan' cruised about on this coast until the 3rd of March. On
that day Ayrton heard the report of guns. The guns on the 'Duncan' were
being fired, and soon Lord Glenarvan and his companions came on board.

"This is what had happened.

"After a thousand hardships, a thousand dangers, Lord Glenarvan had
accomplished his journey, and arrived on the east coast of Australia, at
Twofold Bay. 'No "Duncan!"' He telegraphed to Melbourne. They answered,
"Duncan" sailed on the 18th instant. Destination unknown.'

"Lord Glenarvan could only arrive at one conclusion; that his honest
yacht had fallen into the hands of Ben Joyce, and had become a pirate
vessel!

"However, Lord Glenarvan would not give up. He was a bold and generous
man. He embarked in a merchant vessel, sailed to the west coast of New
Zealand, traversed it along the thirty-seventh parallel, without
finding any trace of Captain Grant; but on the other side, to his
great surprise, and by the will of Heaven, he found the 'Duncan,' under
command of the mate, who had been waiting for him for five weeks!

"This was on the 3rd of March, 1855. Lord Glenarvan was now on board the
'Duncan,' but Ayrton was there also. He appeared before the nobleman,
who wished to extract from him all that the villain knew about Captain
Grant. Ayrton refused to speak. Lord Glenarvan then told him, that at
the first port they put into, he would be delivered up to the English
authorities. Ayrton remained mute.

"The 'Duncan' continued her voyage along the thirty-seventh parallel.
In the meanwhile, Lady Glenarvan undertook to vanquish the resistance of
the ruffian.

"At last, her influence prevailed, and Ayrton, in exchange for what he
could tell, proposed that Lord Glenarvan should leave him on some island
in the Pacific, instead of giving him up to the English authorities.
Lord Glenarvan, resolving to do anything to obtain information about
Captain Grant, consented.

"Ayrton then related all his life, and it was certain that he knew
nothing from the day on which Captain Grant had landed him on the
Australian coast.

"Nevertheless, Lord Glenarvan kept the promise which he had given. The
'Duncan' continued her voyage and arrived at Tabor Island. It was there
that Ayrton was to be landed, and it was there also that, by a
veritable miracle, they found Captain Grant and two men, exactly on the
thirty-seventh parallel.

"The convict, then, went to take their place on this desert islet, and
at the moment he left the yacht these words were pronounced by Lord
Glenarvan:—

"'Here, Ayrton, you will be far from any land, and without any possible
communication with your fellow-creatures. You cannot escape from this
islet on which the 'Duncan' leaves you. You will be alone, under the eye
of a God who reads the depths of the heart, but you will be neither
lost nor forgotten, as was Captain Grant. Unworthy as you are to be
remembered by men, men will remember you. I know where you are Ayrton,
and I know where to find you. I will never forget it!

"And the 'Duncan,' making sail, soon disappeared. This was 18th of
March, 1855.

(The events which have just been briefly related are taken
from a work which some of our readers have no doubt read,
and which is entitled, "Captain Grant's children." They will
remark on this occasion, as well as later, some discrepancy
in the dates; but later again, they will understand why the
real dates were not at first given.)

"Ayrton was alone, but he had no want of either ammunition, weapons,
tools, or seeds.