The Mysterious Island | Page 8

exclaimed
Pencroft, heaving out two bags of sand, and as he spoke letting go the
cable; the balloon ascending in an oblique direction, disappeared, after
having dashed the car against two chimneys, which it threw down as it
swept by them.
Then, indeed, the full rage of the hurricane was exhibited to the
voyagers. During the night the engineer could not dream of descending,
and when day broke, even a glimpse of the earth below was intercepted
by fog.
Five days had passed when a partial clearing allowed them to see the
wide extending ocean beneath their feet, now lashed into the maddest
fury by the gale.
Our readers will recollect what befell these five daring individuals who
set out on their hazardous expedition in the balloon on the 20th of
March. Five days afterwards four of them were thrown on a desert
coast, seven thousand miles from their country! But one of their
number was missing, the man who was to be their guide, their leading
spirit, the engineer, Captain Harding! The instant they had recovered
their feet, they all hurried to the beach in the hopes of rendering him
assistance.

Chapter 3
The engineer, the meshes of the net having given way, had been carried
off by a wave. His dog also had disappeared. The faithful animal had
voluntarily leaped out to help his master. "Forward," cried the reporter;
and all four, Spilett, Herbert, Pencroft, and Neb, forgetting their fatigue,
began their search. Poor Neb shed bitter tears, giving way to despair at
the thought of having lost the only being he loved on earth.
Only two minutes had passed from the time when Cyrus Harding
disappeared to the moment when his companions set foot on the ground.
They had hopes therefore of arriving in time to save him. "Let us look
for him! let us look for him!" cried Neb.
"Yes, Neb," replied Gideon Spilett, "and we will find him too!"
"Living, I trust!"
"Still living!"
"Can he swim?" asked Pencroft.
"Yes," replied Neb, "and besides, Top is there."
The sailor, observing the heavy surf on the shore, shook his head.
The engineer had disappeared to the north of the shore, and nearly half
a mile from the place where the castaways had landed. The nearest
point of the beach he could reach was thus fully that distance off.
It was then nearly six o'clock. A thick fog made the night very dark.
The castaways proceeded toward the north of the land on which chance
had thrown them, an unknown region, the geographical situation of
which they could not even guess. They were walking upon a sandy soil,
mingled with stones, which appeared destitute of any sort of vegetation.
The ground, very unequal and rough, was in some places perfectly
riddled with holes, making walking extremely painful. From these
holes escaped every minute great birds of clumsy flight, which flew in

all directions. Others, more active, rose in flocks and passed in clouds
over their heads. The sailor thought he recognized gulls and cormorants,
whose shrill cries rose above the roaring of the sea.
From time to time the castaways stopped and shouted, then listened for
some response from the ocean, for they thought that if the engineer had
landed, and they had been near to the place, they would have heard the
barking of the dog Top, even should Harding himself have been unable
to give any sign of existence. They stopped to listen, but no sound
arose above the roaring of the waves and the dashing of the surf. The
little band then continued their march forward, searching into every
hollow of the shore.
After walking for twenty minutes, the four castaways were suddenly
brought to a standstill by the sight of foaming billows close to their feet.
The solid ground ended here. They found themselves at the extremity
of a sharp point on which the sea broke furiously.
"It is a promontory," said the sailor; "we must retrace our steps, holding
towards the right, and we shall thus gain the mainland."
"But if he is there," said Neb, pointing to the ocean, whose waves
shone of a snowy white in the darkness. "Well, let us call again," and
all uniting their voices, they gave a vigorous shout, but there came no
reply. They waited for a lull, then began again; still no reply.
The castaways accordingly returned, following the opposite side of the
promontory, over a soil equally sandy and rugged. However, Pencroft
observed that the shore was more equal, that the ground rose, and he
declared that it was joined by a long slope to a hill, whose massive
front he thought that he could see looming indistinctly through the mist.
The birds were less numerous on this part of the shore; the sea was