The Secret of the Island

by Jules Verne

  CHAPTER FOUR.

  THE COLONISTS ON THE BEACH--AYRTON AND PENCROFT WORK AMID THE WRECK--CONVERSATION DURING BREAKFAST--PENCROFT'S ARGUMENTS--MINUTE EXAMINATIONOF THE BRIG'S HULL--THE POWDER-MAGAZINE UNTOUCHED--NEW RICHES--THE LASTOF THE WRECK--A BROKEN PIECE OF CYLINDER.

  "She has blown up!" cried Herbert.

  "Yes! blown up, just as if Ayrton had set fire to the powder!" returnedPencroft, throwing himself into the lift together with Neb and the lad.

  "But what has happened?" asked Gideon Spilett, quite stunned by thisunexpected catastrophe.

  "Oh! this time, we shall know," answered the engineer quickly.

  "What shall we know?--"

  "Later! later! Come, Spilett. The main point is that these pirateshave been exterminated!"

  And Cyrus Harding, hurrying away the reporter and Ayrton, joinedPencroft, Neb, and Herbert on the beach.

  Nothing could be seen of the brig, not even her masts. After havingbeen raised by the water-spout, she had fallen on her side, and had sunkin that position, doubtless in consequence of some enormous leak. Butas in that place the channel was not more than twenty feet in depth, itwas certain that the sides of the submerged brig would reappear atlow-water.

  A few things from the wreck floated on the surface of the water. A raftcould be seen consisting of spare spars, coops of poultry with theiroccupants still living, boxes and barrels, which gradually came to thesurface, after having escaped through the hatchways, but no pieces ofthe wreck appeared, neither planks from the deck, nor timber from thehull,--which rendered the sudden disappearance of the _Speedy_ perfectlyinexplicable.

  However, the two masts, which had been broken and escaped from theshrouds and stays, came up, with their sails, some furled and the othersspread. But it was not necessary to wait for the tide to bring up theseriches, and Ayrton and Pencroft, jumped into the boat with the intentionof towing the pieces of wreck either to the beach or to the islet. Butjust as they were shoving off an observation from Gideon Spilettarrested them.

  "What about those six convicts who disembarked on the right bank of theMercy?" said he.

  In fact, it would not do to forget that the six men whose boat had goneto pieces on the rocks, had landed at Flotsam Point.

  They looked in that direction. None of the fugitives were visible. Itwas probable that, having seen their vessel engulfed in the channel,they had fled into the interior of the island.

  "We will deal with them later," said Harding. "As they are armed, theywill still be dangerous; but as it is six against six, the chances areequal. To the most pressing business first."

  Ayrton and Pencroft pulled vigorously towards the wreck.

  The sea was calm and the tide very high, as there had been a new moonbut two days before. A whole hour at least would elapse before the hullof the brig could emerge from the water of the channel.

  Ayrton and Pencroft were able to fasten the masts and spars by means ofropes, the ends of which were carried to the beach. There, by theunited efforts of the settlers the pieces of wreck were hauled up. Thenthe boat picked up all that was floating, coops, barrels, and boxes,which were immediately carried to the Chimneys.

  Several bodies floated also. Amongst them, Ayrton recognised that ofBob Harvey, which he pointed out to his companion, saying with someemotion--

  "That is what I have been, Pencroft."

  "But what you are no longer, brave Ayrton!" returned the sailor warmly.

  It was singular enough that so few bodies floated. Only five or sixwere counted, which were already being carried by the current towardsthe open sea. Very probably the convicts had not had time to escape,and the ship lying over on her side, the greater number of them hadremained below. Now the current, by carrying the bodies of thesemiserable men out to sea, would spare the colonists the sad task ofburying them in some corner of their island.

  For two hours, Cyrus Harding and his companions were solely occupied inhauling up the spars onto the sand, and then in spreading the sails,which were perfectly uninjured, to dry. They spoke little, for theywere absorbed in their work, but what thoughts occupied their minds!

  The possession of this brig, or rather all that she contained, was aperfect mine of wealth. In fact, a ship is like a little world inminiature, and the stores of the colony would be increased by a largenumber of useful articles. It would be, on a large scale, equivalent tothe chest found at Flotsam Point.

  "And besides," thought Pencroft, "why should it be impossible to refloatthe brig? If she has only a leak, that may be stopped up; a vessel fromthree to four hundred tons, why she is a regular ship compared to our_Bonadventure_! And we could go a long distance in her! We could goanywhere we liked! Captain Harding, Ayrton and I must examine her! Shewould be well worth the trouble!"

  In fact, if the brig was still fit to navigate, the colonists' chancesof returning to their native land was singularly increased. But, todecide this important question, it was necessary to wait until the tidewas quite low, so that every part of the brig's hull might be examined.

  When their treasures had been safely conveyed on shore, Harding and hiscompanions agreed to devote some minutes to breakfast. They were almostfamished: fortunately, the larder was not far off, and Neb was noted forbeing an expeditious cook. They breakfasted, therefore, near theChimneys, and during their repast, as may be supposed, nothing wastalked of but the unexpected event which had so miraculously saved thecolony.

  "Miraculous is the word," repeated Pencroft, "for it must beacknowledged that those rascals blew up just at the right moment!Granite House was beginning to be uncomfortable as a habitation!"

  "And can you guess, Pencroft," asked the reporter, "how it happened, orwhat can have occasioned the explosion?"

  "Oh! Mr Spilett, nothing is more simple," answered Pencroft. "Aconvict vessel is not disciplined like a man-of-war! Convicts are notsailors. Of course the powder-magazine was open, and as they werefiring incessantly, some careless or clumsy fellow just blew up thevessel!"

  "Captain Harding," said Herbert, "what astonishes me is that theexplosion has not produced more effect. The report was not loud, andbesides there are so few planks and timbers torn out. It seems as ifthe ship had rather foundered than blown up."

  "Does that astonish you, my boy?" asked the engineer.

  "Yes, captain."

  "And it astonishes me also Herbert," replied he, "but when we visit thehull of the brig, we shall no doubt find the explanation of the matter."

  "Why, captain," said Pencroft, "you don't suppose that the _Speedy_simply foundered like a ship which has struck on a rock?"

  "Why not," observed Neb, "if there are rocks in the channel?"

  "Nonsense, Neb," answered Pencroft, "you did not look at the rightmoment. An instant before she sank, the brig, as I saw perfectly well,rose on an enormous wave, and fell back on her larboard side. Now, ifshe had only struck, she would have sunk quietly and gone to the bottomlike an honest vessel."

  "It was just because she was not an honest vessel!" returned Neb.

  "Well, we shall soon see, Pencroft," said the engineer.

  "We shall soon see," rejoined the sailor, "but I would wager my headthere are no rocks in the channel. Look here, captain, to speakcandidly, do you mean to say that there is anything marvellous in theoccurrence?"

  Cyrus Harding did not answer.

  "At any rate," said Gideon Spilett, "whether rock or explosion, you willagree, Pencroft, that it occurred just in the nick of time!"

  "Yes! yes!" replied the sailor, "but that is not the question. I askCaptain Harding if he sees anything supernatural in all this."

  "I cannot say, Pencroft," said the engineer. "That is all the answer Ican make."

  A reply which did not satisfy Pencroft at all. He stuck to "anexplosion," and did not wish to give it up. He would never consent toadmit that in that channel, with its fine sandy bed, just like thebeach, which he had often crossed at low-water, there could be anunknown rock.

/>   And besides, at the time the brig foundered, it was high-water, that isto say, there was enough water to carry the vessel clear over any rockswhich would not be uncovered at low tide. Therefore, there could nothave been a collision. Therefore, the vessel had not struck.Therefore, she had blown up.

  And it must be confessed that the sailor's arguments were not withoutreason.

  Towards half-past one, the colonists embarked in the boat to visit thewreck. It was to be regretted that the brig's two boats had not beensaved; but one, as has been said, had gone to pieces at the mouth of theMercy, and was absolutely useless; the other had disappeared when thebrig went down, and had not again been seen, having doubtless beencrushed.

  The hull of the _Speedy_ was just beginning to issue from the water.The brig was lying right over on her side, for her masts being broken,pressed down by the weight of the ballast displaced by the shock, thekeel was visible along her whole length. She had been regularly turnedover by the inexplicable but frightful submarine action, which had beenat the same time manifested by an enormous water-spout.

  The settlers rowed round the hull, and, in proportion as the tide wentdown, they could ascertain, if not the cause which had occasioned thecatastrophe, at least the effect produced.

  Towards the bows, on both sides of the keel, seven or eight feet fromthe beginning of the stem, the sides of the brig were frightfully torn.Over a length of at least twenty feet there opened two large leaks,which it would be impossible to stop up. Not only had the coppersheathing and the planks disappeared, reduced, no doubt, to powder, butalso the ribs, the iron bolts, and tree-nails which united them. Fromthe entire length of the hull to the stern the false keel had beenseparated with unaccountable violence, and the keel itself, torn fromthe carline in several places, was split in all its length.

  "I've a notion!" exclaimed Pencroft, "that this vessel will be difficultto get afloat again."

  "It will be impossible," said Ayrton.

  "At any rate," observed Gideon Spilett to the sailor, "the explosion, ifthere has been one, has produced singular effects! It has split thelower part of the hull, instead of blowing up the deck and topsides!These great rents appear rather to have been made by a rock than by theexplosion of a powder-magazine."

  "There is not a rock in the channel!" answered the sailor. "I willadmit anything you like, except the rock."

  "Let us try to penetrate into the interior of the brig," said theengineer; "perhaps we shall then know what to think of the cause of herdestruction."

  This was the best thing to be done, and it was agreed, besides, to takean inventory of all the treasures on board, and to arrange for theirpreservation.

  Access to the interior of the brig was now easy. The tide was stillgoing down, and the deck was practicable. The ballast, composed ofheavy masses of iron, had broken through in several places. The noiseof the sea could be heard as it rushed out at the holes in the hull.

  Cyrus Harding and his companions, hatchets in hand, advanced along theshattered deck. Cases of all sorts encumbered it, and, as they had beenbut a very short time in the water, their contents were perhapsuninjured.

  They then busied themselves in placing all this cargo in safety. Thewater would not return for several hours, and these hours must beemployed in the most profitable way. Ayrton and Pencroft had, at theentrance made in the hull, discovered tackle, which would serve to hoistup the barrels and chests. The boat received them and transported themto the shore. They took the articles as they came, intending to sortthem afterwards.

  At any rate, the settlers saw at once, with extreme satisfaction, thatthe brig possessed a very varied cargo--an assortment of all sorts ofarticles, utensils, manufactured goods, and tools--such as the shipswhich make the great coasting-trade of Polynesia are usually laden with.It was probable that they would find a little of everything, and theyagreed that it was exactly what was necessary for the colony of LincolnIsland.

  However--and Cyrus Harding observed it in silent astonishment--not only,as has been said, had the hull of the brig enormously suffered from theshock, whatever it was, that had occasioned the catastrophe, but theinterior arrangements had been destroyed, especially towards the bows.Partitions and staunchions were smashed, as if some tremendous shell hadburst in the interior of the brig. The colonists could easily go foreand aft, after having removed the cases as they were extricated. Theywere not heavy bales, which would have been difficult to remove, butsimple packages, of which the stowage, besides, was no longerrecognisable.

  The colonists then reached the stern of the brig--the part formerlysurmounted by the poop. It was there that, following Ayrton'sdirections, they must look for the powder-magazine. Cyrus Hardingthought that it had not exploded; that it was possible some barrelsmight be saved, and that the powder, which is usually enclosed in metalcoverings, might not have suffered from contact with the water.

  This, in fact, was just what had happened. They extricated from amongsta large number of shot twenty barrels, the insides of which were linedwith copper. Pencroft was convinced by the evidence of his own eyesthat the destruction of the _Speedy_ could not be attributed to anexplosion. That part of the hull in which the magazine was situatedwas, moreover, that which had suffered least.

  "It may be so," said the obstinate sailor; "but as to a rock, there isnot one in the channel!"

  "Then, how did it happen?" asked Herbert.

  "I don't know," answered Pencroft, "Captain Harding doesn't know, andnobody knows or ever will know!"

  Several hours had passed during these researches, and the tide began toflow. Work must be suspended for the present. There was no fear of thebrig being carried away by the sea, for she was already fixed as firmlyas if moored by her anchors.

  They could therefore, without inconvenience, wait until the next day toresume operations; but, as to the vessel herself, she was doomed, and itwould be best to hasten to save the remains of her hull, as she wouldnot be long in disappearing in the quicksands of the channel.

  It was now five o'clock in the evening. It had been a hard day's workfor the men. They ate with good appetite, and, notwithstanding theirfatigue, they could not resist, after dinner, their desire of inspectingthe cases which composed the cargo of the _Speedy_.

  Most of them contained clothes, which, as may be believed, were wellreceived. There were enough to clothe a whole colony--linen for everyone's use, shoes for every one's feet.

  "We are too rich!" exclaimed Pencroft. "But what are we going to dowith all this?"

  And every moment burst forth the hurrahs of the delighted sailor when hecaught sight of the barrels of gunpowder, fire-arms and side-arms, ballsof cotton, implements of husbandry, carpenter's, joiner's, andblacksmith's tools, and boxes of all kinds of seeds, not in the leastinjured by their short sojourn in the water. Ah, two years before, howthese things would have been prized! And now, even although theindustrious colonists had provided themselves with tools, thesetreasures would find their use.

  There was no want of space in the store-rooms of Granite House, but thatdaytime would not allow them to stow away the whole. It would not doalso to forget that the six survivors of the _Speedy's_ crew had landedon the island, for they were in all probability scoundrels of thedeepest dye, and it was necessary that the colonists should be on theirguard against them. Although the bridges over the Mercy were raised,the convicts would not be stopped by a river or a stream, and, rendereddesperate, these wretches would be capable of anything.

  They would see later what plan it would be best to follow; but in themeantime it was necessary to mount guard over cases and packages heapedup near the Chimneys, and thus the settlers employed themselves in turnduring the night.

  The morning came, however, without the convicts having attempted anyattack. Master Jup and Top, on guard at the foot of Granite House,would have quickly given the alarm. The three following days--the 19th,20th, and 21st of October--were employed in saving everything of value,or of any use whatever, eit
her from the cargo or rigging of the brig.At low tide they overhauled the hold--at high tide they stowed away therescued articles. A great part of the copper sheathing had been tornfrom the hull, which every day sank lower. But before the sand hadswallowed the heavy things which had fallen through the bottom, Ayrtonand Pencroft, diving to the bed of the channel, recovered the chains andanchors of the brig, the iron of her ballast, and even four guns, which,floated by means of empty casks, were brought to shore.

  It may be seen that the arsenal of the colony had gained by the wreck,as well as the store-rooms of Granite House. Pencroft, alwaysenthusiastic in his projects, already spoke of constructing a battery tocommand the channel and the mouth of the river. With four guns, heengaged to prevent any fleet, "however powerful it might be," fromventuring into the waters of Lincoln Island!

  In the meantime, when nothing remained of the brig but a useless hulk,bad weather came on, which soon finished her. Cyrus Harding hadintended to blow her up, so as to collect the remains on the shore, buta strong gale from the north-east and a heavy sea compelled him toeconomise his powder.

  In fact, on the night of the 23rd, the hull entirely broke up, and someof the wreck was cast up on the beach.

  As to the papers on board, it is useless to say that, although hecarefully searched the lockers of the poop, Harding did not discover anytrace of them. The pirates had evidently destroyed everything thatconcerned either the captain or the owners of the _Speedy_, and, as thename of her port was not painted on her counter, there was nothing whichwould tell them her nationality. However, by the shape of her boatsAyrton and Pencroft believed that the brig was of English build.

  A week after the catastrophe--or, rather, after the fortunate, thoughinexplicable, event to which the colony owed its preservation--nothingmore could be seen of the vessel, even at low tide. The wreck haddisappeared, and Granite House was enriched by nearly all it hadcontained.

  However, the mystery which enveloped its strange destruction woulddoubtless never have been cleared away if, on the 30th of November, Neb,strolling on the beach, had not found a piece of a thick iron cylinder,bearing traces of explosion. The edges of this cylinder were twistedand broken, as if they had been subjected to the action of someexplosive substance.

  Neb brought this piece of metal to his master, who was then occupiedwith his companions in the workshop of the Chimneys.

  Cyrus Harding examined the cylinder attentively, then, turning toPencroft--

  "You persist, my friend," said he, "in maintaining that the _Speedy_ wasnot lost in consequence of a collision?"

  "Yes, captain," answered the sailor. "You know as well as I do thatthere are no rocks in the channel."

  "But suppose she had run against this piece of iron?" said the engineer,showing the broken cylinder.

  "What, that bit of pipe!" exclaimed Pencroft in a tone of perfectincredulity.

  "My friends," resumed Harding, "you remember that before she founderedthe brig rose on the summit of a regular water-spout?"

  "Yes, captain," replied Herbert.

  "Well, would you like to know what occasioned that water-spout? It wasthis," said the engineer, holding up the broken tube.

  "That?" returned Pencroft.

  "Yes! This cylinder is all that remains of a torpedo!"

  "A torpedo!" exclaimed the engineer's companions.

  "And who put the torpedo there?" demanded Pencroft, who did not like toyield.

  "All that I can tell you is, that it was not I," answered Cyrus Harding;"but it was there, and you have been able to judge of its incomparablepower!"