The Mysterious Island | Page 7

tempests of the
ocean, he was not to be hindered on account of the hurricane.
Captain Harding had listened to the sailor without saying a word, but
his eyes shone with satisfaction. Here was the long-sought-for
opportunity--he was not a man to let it pass. The plan was feasible,
though, it must be confessed, dangerous in the extreme. In the night, in
spite of their guards, they might approach the balloon, slip into the car,
and then cut the cords which held it. There was no doubt that they
might be killed, but on the other hand they might succeed, and without
this storm!--Without this storm the balloon would have started already
and the looked-for opportunity would not have then presented itself.
"I am not alone!" said Harding at last.
"How many people do you wish to bring with you?" asked the sailor.
"Two; my friend Spilett, and my servant Neb."
"That will be three," replied Pencroft; "and with Herbert and me five.
But the balloon will hold six--"
"That will be enough, we will go," answered Harding in a firm voice.
This "we" included Spilett, for the reporter, as his friend well knew,
was not a man to draw back, and when the project was communicated
to him he approved of it unreservedly. What astonished him was, that
so simple an idea had not occurred to him before. As to Neb, he
followed his master wherever his master wished to go.
"This evening, then," said Pencroft, "we will all meet out there."
"This evening, at ten o'clock," replied Captain Harding; "and Heaven
grant that the storm does not abate before our departure."
Pencroft took leave of the two friends, and returned to his lodging,
where young Herbert Brown had remained. The courageous boy knew
of the sailor's plan, and it was not without anxiety that he awaited the

result of the proposal being made to the engineer. Thus five determined
persons were about to abandon themselves to the mercy of the
tempestuous elements!
No! the storm did not abate, and neither Jonathan Forster nor his
companions dreamed of confronting it in that frail car.
It would be a terrible journey. The engineer only feared one thing; it
was that the balloon, held to the ground and dashed about by the wind,
would be torn into shreds. For several hours he roamed round the
nearly- deserted square, surveying the apparatus. Pencroft did the same
on his side, his hands in his pockets, yawning now and then like a man
who did not know how to kill the time, but really dreading, like his
friend, either the escape or destruction of the balloon. Evening arrived.
The night was dark in the extreme. Thick mists passed like clouds close
to the ground. Rain fell mingled with snow. it was very cold. A mist
hung over Richmond. it seemed as if the violent storm had produced a
truce between the besiegers and the besieged, and that the cannon were
silenced by the louder detonations of the storm. The streets of the town
were deserted. It had not even appeared necessary in that horrible
weather to place a guard in the square, in the midst of which plunged
the balloon. Everything favored the departure of the prisoners, but what
might possibly be the termination of the hazardous voyage they
contemplated in the midst of the furious elements?--
"Dirty weather!" exclaimed Pencroft, fixing his hat firmly on his head
with a blow of his fist; "but pshaw, we shall succeed all the same!"
At half-past nine, Harding and his companions glided from different
directions into the square, which the gas-lamps, extinguished by the
wind, had left in total obscurity. Even the enormous balloon, almost
beaten to the ground, could not be seen. Independently of the sacks of
ballast, to which the cords of the net were fastened, the car was held by
a strong cable passed through a ring in the pavement. The five prisoners
met by the car. They had not been perceived, and such was the darkness
that they could not even see each other.
Without speaking a word, Harding, Spilett, Neb, and Herbert took their

places in the car, while Pencroft by the engineer's order detached
successively the bags of ballast. It was the work of a few minutes only,
and the sailor rejoined his companions.
The balloon was then only held by the cable, and the engineer had
nothing to do but to give the word.
At that moment a dog sprang with a bound into the car. It was Top, a
favorite of the engineer. The faithful creature, having broken his chain,
had followed his master. He, however, fearing that its additional weight
might impede their ascent, wished to send away the animal.
"One more will make but little difference, poor beast!"