Godfrey Morgan

 

 

GODFREY MORGAN

A CALIFORNIAN MYSTERY

BY

JULES VERNE

ILLUSTRATED

_AUTHOR'S COPYRIGHT EDITION_

LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY, _Limited_.

[Illustration: "Going! Going!" _page 15_]

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAGEIn which the reader has the opportunity of buying an Island inthe Pacific Ocean 1

CHAPTER II.

How William W. Kolderup, of San Francisco, was at loggerheadswith J. R. Taskinar, of Stockton 11

CHAPTER III.

The conversation of Phina Hollaney and Godfrey Morgan, witha piano accompaniment 24

CHAPTER IV.

In which T. Artelett, otherwise Tartlet, is duly introducedto the reader 35

CHAPTER V.

In which they prepare to go, and at the end of which they gofor good 43

CHAPTER VI.

In which the reader makes the acquaintance of a new personage 53

CHAPTER VII.

In which it will be seen that William W. Kolderup was probablyright in insuring his ship 62

CHAPTER VIII.

Which leads Godfrey to bitter reflections on the mania fortravelling 77

CHAPTER IX.

In which it is shown that Crusoes do not have everything asthey wish 91

CHAPTER X.

In which Godfrey does what any other shipwrecked man wouldhave done under the circumstances 104

CHAPTER XI.

In which the question of lodging is solved as well as itcould be 117

CHAPTER XII.

Which ends with a thunder-bolt 129

CHAPTER XIII.

In which Godfrey again sees a slight smoke over another partof the Island 143

CHAPTER XIV.

Wherein Godfrey finds some wreckage, to which he and hiscompanion give a hearty welcome 155

CHAPTER XV.

In which there happens what happens at least once in the lifeof every Crusoe, real or imaginary 167

CHAPTER XVI.

In which something happens which cannot fail to surprise thereader 179

CHAPTER XVII.

In which Professor Tartlet's gun really does marvels 190

CHAPTER XVIII.

Which treats of the moral and physical education of a simplenative of the Pacific 203

CHAPTER XIX.

In which the situation already gravely compromised becomesmore and more complicated 216

CHAPTER XX.

In which Tartlet reiterates in every key that he would ratherbe off 228

CHAPTER XXI.

Which ends with quite a surprising reflection by the negroCarefinotu 242

CHAPTER XXII.

Which concludes by explaining what up to now had appearedinexplicable 260

GODFREY MORGAN.

CHAPTER I.

IN WHICH THE READER HAS THE OPPORTUNITY OF BUYING AN ISLAND IN THEPACIFIC OCEAN.

"An island to sell, for cash, to the highest bidder!" said Dean Felporg, the auctioneer, standing behind his rostrum in the room where theconditions of the singular sale were being noisily discussed.

"Island for sale! island for sale!" repeated in shrill tones again andagain Gingrass, the crier, who was threading his way in and out of theexcited crowd closely packed inside the largest saloon in the auctionmart at No. 10, Sacramento Street.

The crowd consisted not only of a goodly number of Americans from theStates of Utah, Oregon, and California, but also of a few Frenchmen, whoform quite a sixth of the population.

Mexicans were there enveloped in their sarapes; Chinamen in theirlarge-sleeved tunics, pointed shoes, and conical hats; one or twoKanucks from the coast; and even a sprinkling of Black Feet, Grosventres, or Flatheads, from the banks of the Trinity river.

The scene is in San Francisco, the capital of California, but not at theperiod when the placer-mining fever was raging--from 1849 to 1852. SanFrancisco was no longer what it had been then, a caravanserai, aterminus, an _inn_, where for a night there slept the busy men who werehastening to the gold-fields west of the Sierra Nevada. At the end ofsome twenty years the old unknown Yerba-Buena had given place to a townunique of its kind, peopled by 100, 000 inhabitants, built under theshelter of a couple of hills, away from the shore, but stretching off tothe farthest heights in the background--a city in short which hasdethroned Lima, Santiago, Valparaiso, and every other rival, and whichthe Americans have made the queen of the Pacific, the "glory of thewestern coast!"

It was the 15th of May, and the weather was still cold. In California, subject as it is to the direct action of the polar currents, the firstweeks of this month are somewhat similar to the last weeks of March inCentral Europe. But the cold was hardly noticeable in the thick of theauction crowd. The bell with its incessant clangour had broughttogether an enormous throng, and quite a summer temperature caused thedrops of perspiration to glisten on the foreheads of the spectatorswhich the cold outside would have soon solidified.

Do not imagine that all these folks had come to the auction-room withthe intention of buying. I might say that all of them had but come tosee. Who was going to be mad enough, even if he were rich enough, topurchase an isle of the Pacific, which the government had in someeccentric moment decided to sell? Would the reserve price ever bereached? Could anybody be found to work up the bidding? If not, it wouldscarcely be the fault of the public crier, who tried his best to temptbuyers by his shoutings and gestures, and the flowery metaphors of hisharangue. People laughed at him, but they did not seem much influencedby him.

"An island! an isle to sell!" repeated Gingrass.

"But not to buy!" answered an Irishman, whose pocket did not hold enoughto pay for a single pebble.

"An island which at the valuation will not fetch six dollars an acre!"said the auctioneer.

"And which won't pay an eighth per cent. !" replied a big farmer, who waswell acquainted with agricultural speculations.

"An isle which measures quite sixty-four miles round and has an area oftwo hundred and twenty-five thousand acres!"

"Is it solid on its foundation?" asked a Mexican, an old customer at theliquor-bars, whose personal solidity seemed rather doubtful at themoment.

"An isle with forests still virgin!" repeated the crier, "with prairies, hills, watercourses--"

"Warranted?" asked a Frenchman, who seemed rather inclined to nibble.

"Yes! warranted!" added Felporg, much too old at his trade to be movedby the chaff of the public.

"For two years?"

"To the end of the world!"

"Beyond that?"

"A freehold island!" repeated the crier, "an island without a singlenoxious animal, no wild beasts, no reptiles!--"

"No birds?" added a wag.

"No insects?" inquired another.

"An island for the highest bidder!" said Dean Felporg, beginning again. "Come, gentlemen, come! Have a little courage in your pockets! Who wantsan island in perfect state of repair, never been used, an island in thePacific, that ocean of oceans? The valuation is a mere nothing! It isput at eleven hundred thousand dollars, is there any one will bid? Whospeaks first? You, sir?--you, over there nodding your head like aporcelain mandarin? Here is an island! a really good island! Who says anisland?"

"Pass it round!" said a voice as if they were dealing with a picture ora vase.

And the room shouted with laughter, but not a half-dollar was bid.

However, if the lot could not be passed round, the map of the island wasat the public disposal. The whereabouts of the portion of the globeunder consideration could be accurately ascertained. There was neithersurprise nor disappointment to be feared in that respect. Situation, orientation, outline, altitudes, levels, hydrography, climatology, linesof communication, all these were easily to be verified in advance. People were not buying a pig in a poke, and most undoubtedly there couldbe no mistake as to the nature of the goods on sale. Moreover, theinnumerable journals of the United States, especially those ofCalifornia, with their dailies, bi-weeklies, weeklies, bi-monthlies, monthlies, their reviews, magazines, bulletins, &c. , had been forseveral months directing constant attention to the island whose sale byauction had been authorized by Act of Congress.

The island was Spencer Island, which lies in the west-south-west of theBay of San Francisco, about 460 miles from the Californian coast, in 32�15' north latitude, and 145� 18' west longitude, reckoning fromGreenwich. It would be impossible to imagine a more isolated position, quite out of the way of all maritime or commercial traffic, althoughSpencer Island was relatively, not very far off, and situatedpractically in American waters. But thereabouts the regular currentsdiverging to the north and south have formed a kind of lake of calms, which is sometimes known as the "Whirlpool of Fleurieu. "

It is in the centre of this enormous eddy, which has hardly anappreciable movement, that Spencer Island is situated. And so it issighted by very few ships. The main routes of the Pacific, which jointhe new to the old continent, and lead away to China or Japan, run in amore southerly direction. Sailing-vessels would meet with endless calmsin the Whirlpool of Fleurieu; and steamers, which always take theshortest road, would gain no advantage by crossing it. Hence ships ofneither class know anything of Spencer Island, which rises above thewaters like the isolated summit of one of the submarine mountains of thePacific. Truly, for a man wishing to flee from the noise of the world, seeking quiet in solitude, what could be better than this island, lostwithin a few hundred miles of the coast? For a voluntary RobinsonCrusoe, it would be the very ideal of its kind! Only of course he mustpay for it.

And now, why did the United States desire to part with the island? Wasit for some whim? No! A great nation cannot act on caprice in anymatter, however simple. The truth was this: situated as it was, SpencerIsland had for a long time been known as a station perfectly useless. There could be no practical result from settling there. In a militarypoint of view it was of no importance, for it only commanded anabsolutely deserted portion of the Pacific. In a commercial point ofview there was a similar want of importance, for the products would notpay the freight either inwards or outwards. For a criminal colony it wastoo far from the coast. And to occupy it in any way, would be a veryexpensive undertaking. So it had remained deserted from time immemorial, and Congress, composed of "eminently practical" men, had resolved to putit up for sale--on one condition only, and that was, that its purchasershould be a free American citizen. There was no intention of giving awaythe island for nothing, and so the reserve price had been fixed at$1, 100, 000. This amount for a financial society dealing with suchmatters was a mere bagatelle, if the transaction could offer anyadvantages; but as we need hardly repeat, it offered none, and competentmen attached no more value to this detached portion of the UnitedStates, than to one of the islands lost beneath the glaciers of thePole.

In one sense, however, the amount was considerable. A man must be richto pay for this hobby, for in any case it would not return him ahalfpenny per cent. He would even have to be immensely rich for thetransaction was to be a "cash" one, and even in the United States it isas yet rare to find citizens with $1, 100, 000 in their pockets, who wouldcare to throw them into the water without hope of return.

And Congress had decided not to sell the island under the price. Elevenhundred thousand dollars, not a cent less, or Spencer Island wouldremain the property of the Union.

It was hardly likely that any one would be mad enough to buy it on theterms.

Besides, it was expressly reserved that the proprietor, if one offered, should not become king of Spencer Island, but president of a republic. He would gain no right to have subjects, but only fellow-citizens, whocould elect him for a fixed time, and would be free from re-electing himindefinitely. Under any circumstances he was forbidden to play atmonarchy. The Union could never tolerate the foundation of a kingdom, nomatter how small, in American waters.

This reservation was enough to keep off many an ambitious millionaire, many an aged nabob, who might like to compete with the kings of theSandwich, the Marquesas, and the other archipelagoes of the Pacific.

In short, for one reason or other, nobody presented himself. Time wasgetting on, the crier was out of breath in his efforts to secure abuyer, the auctioneer orated without obtaining a single specimen ofthose nods which his estimable fraternity are so quick to discover; andthe reserve price was not even mentioned.

However, if the hammer was not wearied with oscillating above therostrum, the crowd was not wearied with waiting around it. The jokingcontinued to increase, and the chaff never ceased for a moment. Oneindividual offered two dollars for the island, costs included. Anothersaid that a man ought to be paid that for taking it.

And all the time the crier was heard with, --

"An island to sell! an island for sale!"

And there was no one to buy it.

"Will you guarantee that there are flats there?" said Stumpy, the grocerof Merchant Street, alluding to the deposits so famous in alluvialgold-mining.

"No, " answered the auctioneer, "but it is not impossible that there are, and the State abandons all its rights over the gold lands. "

"Haven't you got a volcano?" asked Oakhurst, the bar-keeper ofMontgomery Street.

"No volcanoes, " replied Dean Felporg, "if there were, we could not sellat this price!"

An immense shout of laughter followed.

"An island to sell! an island for sale!" yelled Gingrass, whose lungstired themselves out to no purpose.

"Only a dollar! only a half-dollar! only a cent above the reserve!" saidthe auctioneer for the last time, "and I will knock it down! Once!Twice!"

Perfect silence.

"If nobody bids we must put the lot back! Once! Twice!

"Twelve hundred thousand dollars!"

The four words rang through the room like four shots from a revolver.

The crowd, suddenly speechless, turned towards the bold man who haddared to bid.

It was William W. Kolderup, of San Francisco.

CHAPTER II.

HOW WILLIAM W. KOLDERUP, OF SAN FRANCISCO, WAS AT LOGGERHEADS WITH J. R. TASKINAR, OF STOCKTON.

A man extraordinarily rich, who counted dollars by the million as othermen do by the thousand; such was William W. Kolderup.

People said he was richer than the Duke of Westminster, whose income issome $4, 000, 000 a year, and who can spend his $10, 000 a day, or sevendollars every minute; richer than Senator Jones, of Nevada, who has$35, 000, 000 in the funds; richer than Mr. Mackay himself, whose annual$13, 750, 000 give him $1560 per hour, or half-a-dollar to spend everysecond of his life.

I do not mention such minor millionaires as the Rothschilds, theVanderbilts, the Dukes of Northumberland, or the Stewarts, nor thedirectors of the powerful bank of California, and other opulentpersonages of the old and new worlds whom William W. Kolderup would havebeen able to comfortably pension. He could, without inconvenience, havegiven away a million just as you and I might give away a shilling.

It was in developing the early placer-mining enterprises in Californiathat our worthy speculator had laid the solid foundations of hisincalculable fortune. He was the principal associate of Captain Sutter, the Swiss, in the localities, where, in 1848, the first traces werediscovered. Since then, luck and shrewdness combined had helped him on, and he had interested himself in all the great enterprises of bothworlds. He threw himself boldly into commercial and industrialspeculations. His inexhaustible funds were the life of hundreds offactories, his ships were on every sea. His wealth increased not inarithmetical but in geometrical progression. People spoke of him as oneof those few "milliardaires" who never know how much they are worth. Inreality he knew almost to a dollar, but he never boasted of it.

At this very moment when we introduce him to our readers with all theconsideration such a many-sided man merits, William W. Kolderup had 2000branch offices scattered over the globe, 80, 000 employ�s in America, Europe, and Australia, 300, 000 correspondents, a fleet of 500 shipswhich continually ploughed the ocean for his profit, and he was spendingnot less than a million a year in bill-stamps and postages. In short, hewas the honour and glory of opulent Frisco--the nickname familiarlygiven by the Americans to the Californian capital.

A bid from William W. Kolderup could not but be a serious one. And whenthe crowd in the auction room had recognized who it was that by $100, 000had capped the reserve price of Spencer Island, there was anirresistible sensation, the chaffing ceased instantly, jokes gave placeto interjections of admiration, and cheers resounded through the saloon. Then a deep silence succeeded to the hubbub, eyes grew bigger, and earsopened wider. For our part had we been there we would have had to holdour breath that we might lose nothing of the exciting scene which wouldfollow should any one dare to bid against William W. Kolderup.

But was it probable? Was it even possible?

No! And at the outset it was only necessary to look at William W. Kolderup to feel convinced that he could never yield on a question wherehis financial gallantry was at stake.

He was a big, powerful man, with huge head, large shoulders, well-builtlimbs, firmly knit, and tough as iron. His quiet but resolute look wasnot willingly cast downwards, his grey hair, brushed up in front, was asabundant as if he were still young. The straight lines of his noseformed a geometrically-drawn right-angled triangle. No moustache; hisbeard cut in Yankee fashion bedecked his chin, and the two upper pointsmet at the opening of the lips and ran up to the temples inpepper-and-salt whiskers; teeth of snowy whiteness were symmetricallyplaced on the borders of a clean-cut mouth. The head of one of thosetrue kings of men who rise in the tempest and face the storm. Nohurricane could bend that head, so solid was the neck which supportedit. In these battles of the bidders each of its nods meant an additionalhundred thousand dollars.

There was no one to dispute with him.

"Twelve hundred thousand dollars--twelve hundred thousand!" said theauctioneer, with that peculiar accent which men of his vocation findmost effective.

"Going at twelve hundred thousand dollars!" repeated Gingrass the crier.

"You could safely bid more than that, " said Oakhurst, the bar-keeper;"William Kolderup will never give in. "

"He knows no one will chance it, " answered the grocer from MerchantStreet.

Repeated cries of "Hush!" told the two worthy tradesmen to be quiet. Allwished to hear. All hearts palpitated. Dare any one raise his voice inanswer to the voice of William W. Kolderup? He, magnificent to lookupon, never moved. There he remained as calm as if the matter had nointerest for him. But--and this those near to him noticed--his eyes werelike revolvers loaded with dollars, ready to fire.

"Nobody speaks?" asked Dean Felporg.

Nobody spoke.

"Once! Twice!"

"Once! Twice!" repeated Gingrass, quite accustomed to this littledialogue with his chief.

"Going!"

"Going!"

"For twelve--hundred--thousand--dollars--Spencer--Island--com--plete!"

"For twelve--hundred--thousand--dollars!"

"That is so? No mistake?"

"No withdrawal?"

"For twelve hundred thousand dollars, Spencer Island!"

The waistcoats rose and fell convulsively. Could it be possible that atthe last second a higher bid would come? Felporg with his right handstretched on the table was shaking his ivory hammer--one rap, two raps, and the deed would be done.

The public could not have been more absorbed in the face of a summaryapplication of the law of Justice Lynch!

The hammer slowly fell, almost touched the table, rose again, hoveredan instant like a sword which pauses ere the drawer cleaves the victimin twain; then it flashed swiftly downwards.

But before the sharp rap could be given, a voice was heard givingutterance to these four words, --

"Thirteen--hundred--thousand--dollars!"

There was a preliminary "Ah!" of general stupefaction, then a second"Ah!" of not less general satisfaction. Another bidder had presentedhimself! There was going to be a fight after all!

But who was the reckless individual who had dared to come to dollarstrokes with William W. Kolderup of San Francisco?

It was J. R. Taskinar, of Stockton.

J. R. Taskinar was rich, but he was more than proportionately fat. Heweighed 490 lbs. If he had only run second in the last fat-man show atChicago, it was because he had not been allowed time to finish hisdinner, and had lost about a dozen pounds.

This colossus, who had had to have special chairs made for his portlyperson to rest upon, lived at Stockton, on the San Joachim. Stockton isone of the most important cities in California, one of the dep�t centresfor the mines of the south, the rival of Sacramento the centre for themines of the north. There the ships embark the largest quantity ofCalifornian corn.

Not only had the development of the mines and speculations in wheatfurnished J. R. Taskinar with the occasion of gaining an enormousfortune, but petroleum, like another Pactolus, had run through histreasury. Besides, he was a great gambler, a lucky gambler, and he hadfound "poker" most prodigal of its favours to him.

But if he was a Croesus, he was also a rascal; and no one would haveaddressed him as "honourable, " although the title in those parts is somuch in vogue. After all, he was a good war-horse, and perhaps more wasput on his back than was justly his due. One thing was certain, and thatwas that on many an occasion he had not hesitated to use his"Derringer"--the Californian revolver.

Now J. R. Taskinar particularly detested William W. Kolderup. He enviedhim for his wealth, his position, and his reputation. He despised him asa fat man despises a lean one. It was not the first time that themerchant of Stockton had endeavoured to do the merchant of San Franciscoout of some business or other, good or bad, simply owing to a feeling ofrivalry. William W. Kolderup thoroughly knew his man, and on alloccasions treated him with scorn enough to drive him to distraction.

The last success which J. R. Taskinar could not forgive his opponentwas that gained in the struggle over the state elections. Notwithstanding his efforts, his threats, and his libels, not to mentionthe millions of dollars squandered by his electoral courtiers, it wasWilliam W. Kolderup who sat in his seat in the Legislative Council ofSacramento.

J. R. Taskinar had learnt--how, I cannot tell--that it was the intentionof William W. Kolderup to acquire possession of Spencer Island. Thisisland seemed doubtless as useless to him as it did to his rival. Nomatter. Here was another chance for fighting, and perhaps forconquering. J. R. Taskinar would not allow it to escape him.

And that is why J. R. Taskinar had come to the auction room among thecurious crowd who could not be aware of his designs, why at all pointshe had prepared his batteries, why before opening fire, he had waitedtill his opponent had covered the reserve, and why when William W. Kolderup had made his bid of--

"Twelve hundred thousand dollars!"

J. R. Taskinar at the moment when William W. Kolderup thought he haddefinitely secured the island, woke up with the words shouted instentorian tones, --

"Thirteen hundred thousand dollars!"

Everybody as we have seen turned to look at him.

"Fat Taskinar!"

The name passed from mouth to mouth. Yes. Fat Taskinar! He was knownwell enough! His corpulence had been the theme of many an article in thejournals of the Union.

I am not quite sure which mathematician it was who had demonstrated bytranscendental calculations, that so great was his mass that it actuallyinfluenced that of our satellite and in an appreciable manner disturbedthe elements of the lunar orbit.

But it was not J. R. Taskinar's physical composition which interestedthe spectators in the room. It was something far different which excitedthem; it was that he had entered into direct public rivalry with WilliamW. Kolderup. It was a fight of heroes, dollar versus dollar, which hadopened, and I do not know which of the two coffers would turn out to bebest lined. Enormously rich were both these mortal enemies! After thefirst sensation, which was rapidly suppressed, renewed silence fell onthe assembly. You could have heard a spider weaving his web.

It was the voice of Dean Felporg which broke the spell.

"For thirteen hundred thousand dollars, Spencer Island!" declaimed he, drawing himself up so as to better command the circle of bidders.

William W. Kolderup had turned towards J. R. Taskinar. The bystandersmoved back, so as to allow the adversaries to behold each other. Theman of Stockton and the man of San Francisco were face to face, mutuallystaring, at their ease. Truth compels me to state that they made themost of the opportunity. Never would one of them consent to lower hiseyes before those of his rival.

"Fourteen hundred thousand dollars, " said William W. Kolderup.

"Fifteen hundred thousand!" retorted J. R. Taskinar.

"Sixteen hundred thousand!"

"Seventeen hundred thousand!"

Have you ever heard the story of the two mechanics of Glasgow, who triedwhich should raise the other highest up the factory chimney at the riskof a catastrophe? The only difference was that here the chimney was ofingots of gold.

Each time after the capping bid of J. R. Taskinar, William W. Kolderuptook a few moments to reflect before he bid again. On the contraryTaskinar burst out like a bomb, and did not seem to require a second tothink.

"Seventeen hundred thousand dollars!" repeated the auctioneer. "Now, gentlemen, that is a mere nothing! It is giving it away!"

And one can well believe that, carried away by the jargon of hisprofession, he was about to add, --

"The frame alone is worth more than that!" When--

"Seventeen hundred thousand dollars!" howled Gingrass, the crier.

"Eighteen hundred thousand!" replied William W. Kolderup.

"Nineteen hundred thousand!" retorted J. R. Taskinar.

"Two millions!" quoth William W. Kolderup, and so quickly that this timehe evidently had not taken the trouble to think. His face was a littlepale when these last words escaped his lips, but his whole attitude wasthat of a man who did not intend to give in.

J. R. Taskinar was simply on fire. His enormous face was like one ofthose gigantic railway bull's-eyes which, screened by the red, signalthe stoppage of the train. But it was highly probable that his rivalwould disregard the block, and decline to shut off steam.

This J. R. Taskinar felt. The blood mounted to his brows, and seemedapoplectically congested there. He wriggled his fat fingers, coveredwith diamonds of great price, along the huge gold chain attached to hischronometer. He glared at his adversary, and then shutting his eyes soas to open them with a more spiteful expression a moment afterwards.

"Two million, four hundred thousand dollars!" he remarked, hoping bythis tremendous leap to completely rout his rival.

"Two million, seven hundred thousand!" replied William W. Kolderup in apeculiarly calm voice.

"Two million, nine hundred thousand!"

"Three millions!"

Yes! William W. Kolderup, of San Francisco, said three millions ofdollars!

Applause rang through the room, hushed, however, at the voice of theauctioneer, who repeated the bid, and whose oscillating hammerthreatened to fall in spite of himself by the involuntary movement ofhis muscles. It seemed as though Dean Felporg, surfeited with thesurprises of public auction sales, would be unable to contain himselfany longer.

All glances were turned on J. R. Taskinar. That voluminous personage wassensible of this, but still more was he sensible of the weight of thesethree millions of dollars, which seemed to crush him. He would havespoken, doubtless to bid higher--but he could not. He would have likedto nod his head--he could do so no more.

After a long pause, however, his voice was heard; feeble it is true, butsufficiently audible.

"Three millions, five hundred thousand!"

"Four millions, " was the answer of William W. Kolderup.

It was the last blow of the bludgeon. J. R. Taskinar succumbed. Thehammer gave a hard rap on the marble table and--

Spencer Island fell for four millions of dollars to William W. Kolderup, of San Francisco.

"I will be avenged!" muttered J. R. Taskinar, and throwing a glance ofhatred at his conqueror, he returned to the Occidental Hotel.

But "hip, hip, hurrah, " three times thrice, smote the ears of William W. Kolderup, then cheers followed him to Montgomery Street, and such wasthe delirious enthusiasm of the Americans that they even forgot tofavour him with the customary bars of "Yankee Doodle. "

CHAPTER III.

THE CONVERSATION OF PHINA HOLLANEY AND GODFREY MORGAN, WITH A PIANOACCOMPANIMENT.

William W. Kolderup had returned to his mansion in Montgomery Street. This thoroughfare is the Regent Street, the Broadway, the Boulevard desItaliens of San Francisco. Throughout its length, the great artery whichcrosses the city parallel with its quays is astir with life andmovement; trams there are innumerable; carriages with horses, carriageswith mules; men bent on business, hurrying to and fro over its stonepavements, past shops thronged with customers; men bent on pleasure, crowding the doors of the "bars, " where at all hours are dispensed theCalifornian's drinks.

There is no need for us to describe the mansion of a Frisco nabob. Withso many millions, there was proportionate luxury. More comfort thantaste. Less of the artistic than the practical. One cannot haveeverything.

So the reader must be contented to know that there was a magnificentreception-room, and in this reception-room a piano, whose chords werepermeating the mansion's warm atmosphere when the opulent Kolderupwalked in.

"Good!" he said. "She and he are there! A word to my cashier, and thenwe can have a little chat. "

And he stepped towards his office to arrange the little matter ofSpencer Island, and then dismiss it from his mind. He had only torealize a few certificates in his portfolio and the acquisition wassettled for. Half-a-dozen lines to his broker--no more. Then William W. Kolderup devoted himself to another "combination" which was much more tohis taste.

Yes! she and he were in the drawing-room--she, in front of the piano;he, half reclining on the sofa, listening vaguely to the pearlyarpeggios which escaped from the fingers of the charmer.

"Are you listening?" she said.

"Of course. "

"Yes! but do you understand it?"

"Do I understand it, Phina! Never have you played those 'Auld RobinGray' variations more superbly. "

"But it is not 'Auld Robin Gray, ' Godfrey: it is 'Happy Moments. '"

"Oh! ah! yes! I remember!" answered Godfrey, in a tone of indifferencewhich it was difficult to mistake. The lady raised her two hands, heldthem suspended for an instant above the keys as if they were about tograsp another chord, and then with a half-turn on her music-stool sheremained for a moment looking at the too tranquil Godfrey, whose eyesdid their best to avoid hers.

Phina Hollaney was the goddaughter of William W. Kolderup. An orphan, hehad educated her, and given her the right to consider herself hisdaughter, and to love him as her father. She wanted for nothing. She wasyoung, "handsome in her way" as people say, but undoubtedly fascinating, a blonde of sixteen with the ideas of a woman much older, as one couldread in the crystal of her blue-black eyes. Of course, we must compareher to a lily, for all beauties are compared to lilies in the bestAmerican society. She was then a lily, but a lily grafted into aneglantine. She certainly had plenty of spirit, but she had also plentyof practical common-sense, a somewhat selfish demeanour, and but littlesympathy with the illusions and dreams so characteristic of her sex andage.

Her dreams were when she was asleep, not when she was awake. She was notasleep now, and had no intention of being so.

"Godfrey?" she continued.

"Phina?" answered the young man.

"Where are you now?"

"Near you--in this room--"

"Not near me, Godfrey! Not in this room! But far far away, over theseas, is it not so?"

And mechanically Phina's hand sought the key-board and rippled along aseries of sinking sevenths, which spoke of a plaintive sadness, unintelligible perhaps to the nephew of William W. Kolderup.

For such was this young man, such was the relationship he bore towardsthe master of the house. The son of a sister of this buyer of islands, fatherless and motherless for a good many years, Godfrey Morgan, likePhina, had been brought up in the house of his uncle, in whom the feverof business had still left a place for the idea of marrying these two toeach other.

Godfrey was in his twenty-third year. His education now finished, hadleft him with absolutely nothing to do. He had graduated at theUniversity, but had found it of little use. For him life opened out butpaths of ease; go where he would, to the right or the left, whicheverway he went, fortune would not fail him.

Godfrey was of good presence, gentlemanly, elegant--never tying hiscravat in a ring, nor starring his fingers, his wrists or hisshirt-front with those jewelled gimcracks so dear to hisfellow-citizens.

I shall surprise no one in saying that Godfrey Morgan was going tomarry Phina Hollaney. Was he likely to do otherwise? All the proprietieswere in favour of it. Besides, William W. Kolderup desired the marriage. The two people whom he loved most in this world were sure of a fortunefrom him, without taking into consideration whether Phina cared forGodfrey, or Godfrey cared for Phina. It would also simplify thebookkeeping of the commercial house. Ever since their births an accounthad been opened for the boy, another for the girl. It would then be onlynecessary to rule these off and transfer the balances to a joint accountfor the young couple. The worthy merchant hoped that this would soon bedone, and the balances struck without error or omission.

But it is precisely that there had been an omission and perhaps an errorthat we are about to show.

An error, because at the outset Godfrey felt that he was not yet oldenough for the serious undertaking of marriage; an omission, because hehad not been consulted on the subject.

In fact, when he had finished his studies Godfrey had displayed a quitepremature indifference to the world, in which he wanted for nothing, inwhich he had no wish remaining ungratified, and nothing whatever to do. The thought of travelling round the world was always present to him. Ofthe old and new continents he knew but one spot--San Francisco, where hewas born, and which he had never left except in a dream. What harm wasthere in a young man making the tour of the globe twice orthrice--especially if he were an American? Would it do him any good?Would he learn anything in the different adventures he would meet within a voyage of any length? If he were not already satiated with a lifeof adventure, how could he be answered? Finally, how many millions ofleagues of observation and instruction were indispensable for thecompletion of the young man's education?

Things had reached this pass; for a year or more Godfrey had beenimmersed in books of voyages of recent date, and had passionatelydevoured them. He had discovered the Celestial Empire with Marco Polo, America with Columbus, the Pacific with Cook, the South Pole with Dumontd'Urville. He had conceived the idea of going where these illustrioustravellers had been without him. In truth, he would not have consideredan exploring expedition of several years to cost him too dear at theprice of a few attacks of Malay pirates, several ocean collisions, and ashipwreck or two on a desert island where he could live the life of aSelkirk or a Robinson Crusoe! A Crusoe! To become a Crusoe! What youngimagination has not dreamt of this in reading as Godfrey had often, toooften done, the adventures of the imaginary heroes of Daniel de Foe andDe Wyss?

Yes! The nephew of William W. Kolderup was in this state when his unclewas thinking of binding him in the chains of marriage. To travel in thisway with Phina, then become Mrs. Morgan, would be clearly impossible! Hemust go alone or leave it alone. Besides, once his fancy had passedaway, would not she be better disposed to sign the settlements? Was itfor the good of his wife that he had not been to China or Japan, noteven to Europe? Decidedly not.

And hence it was that Godfrey was now absent in the presence of Phina, indifferent when she spoke to him, deaf when she played the airs whichused to please him; and Phina, like a thoughtful, serious girl, soonnoticed this.

To say that she did not feel a little annoyance mingled with somechagrin, is to do her a gratuitous injustice. But accustomed to lookthings in the face, she had reasoned thus, --

"If we must part, it had better be before marriage than afterwards!"

And thus it was that she had spoken to Godfrey in these significantwords.

"No! You are not near me at this moment--you are beyond the seas!"

Godfrey had risen. He had walked a few steps without noticing Phina, and unconsciously his index finger touched one of the keys of the piano. A loud C# of the octave below the staff, a note dismal enough, answeredfor him.


Phina had understood him, and without more discussion was about to bringmatters to a crisis, when the door of the room opened.

William W. Kolderup appeared, seemingly a little preoccupied as usual. Here was the merchant who had just finished one negotiation and wasabout to begin another.

"Well, " said he, "there is nothing more now than for us to fix thedate. "

"The date?" answered Godfrey, with a start. "What date, if you please, uncle?"

"The date of your wedding!" said William W. Kolderup. "Not the date ofmine, I suppose!"

"Perhaps that is more urgent?" said Phina.

"Hey?--what?" exclaimed the uncle--"what does that matter? We are onlytalking of current affairs, are we not?"

"Godfather Will, " answered the lady. "It is not of a wedding that we aregoing to fix the date to-day, but of a departure. "

"A departure!"

"Yes, the departure of Godfrey, " continued Phina, "of Godfrey who, before he gets married, wants to see a little of the world!"

"You want to go away--you?" said William W. Kolderup, stepping towardsthe young man and raising his arms as if he were afraid that this"rascal of a nephew" would escape him.

"Yes; I do, uncle, " said Godfrey gallantly.

"And for how long?"

"For eighteen months, or two years, or more, if--"

"If--"

"If you will let me, and Phina will wait for me. "

"Wait for you! An intended who intends until he gets away!" exclaimedWilliam W. Kolderup.

"You must let Godfrey go, " pleaded Phina; "I have thought it carefullyover. I am young, but really Godfrey is younger. Travel will age him, and I do not think it will change his taste! He wishes to travel, lethim travel! The need of repose will come to him afterwards, and he willfind me when he returns. "

"What!" exclaimed William W. Kolderup, "you consent to give your birdhis liberty?"

"Yes, for the two years he asks. "

"And you will wait for him?"

"Uncle Will, if I could not wait for him I could not love him!" and sosaying Phina returned to the piano, and whether she willed it or no, her fingers softly played a portion of the then fashionable "D�part duFianc�, " which was very appropriate under the circumstances. But Phina, without perceiving it perhaps, was playing in "A minor, " whereas it waswritten in "A major, " and all the sentiment of the melody wastransformed, and its plaintiveness chimed in well with her hiddenfeelings.

But Godfrey stood embarrassed, and said not a word. His uncle took himby the head and turning it to the light looked fixedly at him for amoment or two. In this way he questioned him without having to speak, and Godfrey was able to reply without having occasion to utter asyllable.

And the lamentations of the "D�part du Fianc�" continued their sorrowfultheme, and then William W. Kolderup, having made the turn of the room, returned to Godfrey, who stood like a criminal before the judge. Thenraising his voice, --

"You are serious, " he asked.

"Quite serious!" interrupted Phina, while Godfrey contented himself withmaking a sign of affirmation.

"You want to try travelling before you marry Phina! Well! You shall tryit, my nephew!"

He made two or three steps and stopping with crossed arms beforeGodfrey, asked, --

"Where do you want to go to?"

"Everywhere. "

"And when do you want to start?"

"When you please, Uncle Will. "

"All right, " replied William W. Kolderup, fixing a curious look on hisnephew.

Then he muttered between his teeth, --

"The sooner the better. "

At these last words came a sudden interruption from Phina. The littlefinger of her left hand touched a G#, and the fourth had, instead offalling on the key-note, rested on the "sensible, " like Ralph in the"Huguenots, " when he leaves at the end of his duet with Valentine.

Perhaps Phina's heart was nearly full, she had made up her mind to saynothing.

It was then that William W. Kolderup, without noticing Godfrey, approached the piano.

"Phina, " said he gravely, "you should never remain on the 'sensible'!"

And with the tip of his large finger he dropped vertically on to one ofthe keys and an "A natural" resounded through the room.

CHAPTER IV.

IN WHICH T. ARTELETT, OTHERWISE TARTLET, IS DULY INTRODUCED TO THEREADER.

If T. Artelett had been a Parisian, his compatriots would not havefailed to nickname him Tartlet, but as he had already received thistitle we do not hesitate to describe him by it. If Tartlet was not aFrenchman he ought to have been one.

In his "Itin�raire de Paris � J�rusalem, " Chateaubriand tells of alittle man "powdered and frizzed in the old-fashioned style, with a coatof apple green, a waistcoat of drouget, shirt-frill and cuffs of muslin, who scraped a violin and made the Iroquois dance 'Madeleine Friquet. '"

The Californians are not Iroquois, far from it; but Tartlet was none theless professor of dancing and deportment in the capital of their state. If they did not pay him for his lessons, as they had his predecessor inbeaver-skins and bear-hams, they did so in dollars. If in speaking ofhis pupils he did not talk of the "bucks and their squaws, " it wasbecause his pupils were highly civilized, and because in his opinion hehad contributed considerably to their civilization.

Tartlet was a bachelor, and aged about forty-five at the time weintroduce him to our readers. But for a dozen years or so his marriagewith a lady of somewhat mature age had been expected to take place.

Under present circumstances it is perhaps advisable to give "two orthree lines" concerning his age, appearance, and position in life. Hewould have responded to such a request we imagine as follows, and thuswe can dispense with drawing his portrait from a moral and physicalpoint of view.

"He was born on the 17th July, 1835, at a quarter-past three in themorning.

"His height is five feet, two inches, three lines.

"His girth is exactly two feet, three inches.

"His weight, increased by some six pounds during the last year, is onehundred and fifty one pounds, two ounces.

"He has an oblong head.

"His hair, very thin above the forehead, is grey chestnut, his foreheadis high, his face oval, his complexion fresh coloured.

"His eyes--sight excellent--a greyish brown, eyelashes and eyebrowsclear chestnut, eyes themselves somewhat sunk in their orbits beneaththe arches of the brows.

"His nose is of medium size, and has a slight indentation towards theend of the left nostril.

"His cheeks and temples are flat and hairless.

"His ears are large and flat.

"His mouth, of middling size, is absolutely free from bad teeth.

"His lips, thin and slightly pinched, are covered with a heavy moustacheand imperial, his chin is round and also shaded with a many-tintedbeard.

"A small mole ornaments his plump neck--in the nape.

"Finally, when he is in the bath it can be seen that his skin is whiteand smooth.

"His life is calm and regular. Without being robust, thanks to his greattemperance, he has kept his health uninjured since his birth. His lungsare rather irritable, and hence he has not contracted the bad habit ofsmoking. He drinks neither spirits, coffee, liqueurs, nor neat wine. Ina word, all that could prejudicially affect his nervous system isvigorously excluded from his table. Light beer, and weak wine and waterare the only beverages he can take without danger. It is on account ofhis carefulness that he has never had to consult a doctor since his lifebegan.

"His gesture is prompt, his walk quick, his character frank and open. His thoughtfulness for others is extreme, and it is on account of thisthat in the fear of making his wife unhappy, he has never entered intomatrimony. "

Such would have been the report furnished by Tartlet, but desirable ashe might be to a lady of a certain age, the projected union had hithertofailed. The professor remained a bachelor, and continued to give lessonsin dancing and deportment.

It was in this capacity that he entered the mansion of William W. Kolderup. As time rolled on his pupils gradually abandoned him, and heended by becoming one wheel more in the machinery of the wealthyestablishment.

After all, he was a brave man, in spite of his eccentricities. Everybodyliked him. He liked Godfrey, he liked Phina, and they liked him. He hadonly one ambition in the world, and that was to teach them all thesecrets of his art, to make them in fact, as far as deportment wasconcerned, two highly accomplished individuals.

Now, what would you think? It was he, this Professor Tartlet, whomWilliam W. Kolderup had chosen as his nephew's companion during theprojected voyage. Yes! He had reason to believe that Tartlet had not alittle contributed to imbue Godfrey with this roaming mania, so as toperfect himself by a tour round the world. William W. Kolderup hadresolved that they should go together. On the morrow, the 16th of April, he sent for the professor to his office.

The request of the nabob was an order for Tartlet. The professor lefthis room, with his pocket violin--generally known as a kit--so as to beready for all emergencies. He mounted the great staircase of the mansionwith his feet academically placed as was fitting for a dancing-master;knocked at the door of the room, entered--his body half inclined, hiselbows rounded, his mouth on the grin--and waited in the third position, after having crossed his feet one before the other, at half theirlength, his ankles touching and his toes turned out. Any one butProfessor Tartlet placed in this sort of unstable equilibrium would havetottered on his base, but the professor preserved an absoluteperpendicularity.

"Mr. Tartlet, " said William W. Kolderup, "I have sent for you to tellyou some news which I imagine will rather surprise you. "

"As you think best!" answered the professor.

"My nephew's marriage is put off for a year or eighteen months, andGodfrey, at his own request, is going to visit the different countriesof the old and new world. "

"Sir, " answered Tartlet, "my pupil, Godfrey, will do honour to thecountry of his birth, and--"

"And, to the professor of deportment who has initiated him intoetiquette, " interrupted the merchant, in a tone of which the guilelessTartlet failed to perceive the irony.

And, in fact, thinking it the correct thing to execute an "assembl�e, "he first moved one foot and then the other, by a sort of semi-circularside slide, and then with a light and graceful bend of the knee, hebowed to William W. Kolderup.

"I thought, " continued the latter, "that you might feel a little regretat separating from your pupil?"

"The regret will be extreme, " answered Tartlet, "but should it benecessary--"

"It is not necessary, " answered William W. Kolderup, knitting his bushyeyebrows.

"Ah!" replied Tartlet.

Slightly troubled, he made a graceful movement to the rear, so as topass from the third to the fourth position; but he left the breadth of afoot between his feet, without perhaps being conscious of what he wasdoing.

"Yes!" added the merchant in a peremptory tone, which admitted not ofthe ghost of a reply; "I have thought it would really be cruel toseparate a professor and a pupil so well made to understand each other!"

"Assuredly!--the journey?" answered Tartlet, who did not seem to want tounderstand.

"Yes! Assuredly!" replied William W. Kolderup; "not only will histravels bring out the talents of my nephew, but the talents of theprofessor to whom he owes so correct a bearing. "

Never had the thought occurred to this great baby that one day he wouldleave San Francisco, California, America, to roam the seas. Such an ideahad never entered the brain of a man more absorbed in choregraphy thangeography, and who was still ignorant of the suburbs of the capitalbeyond ten miles radius. And now this was offered to him. He was tounderstand that _nolens volens_ he was to expatriate himself, he himselfwas to experience with all their costs and inconveniences the veryadventures he had recommended to his pupil! Here, decidedly, wassomething to trouble a brain much more solid than his, and theunfortunate Tartlet for the first time in his life felt an involuntaryyielding in the muscles of his limbs, suppled as they were bythirty-five years' exercise.

"Perhaps, " said he, trying to recall to his lips the stereotyped smileof the dancer which had left him for an instant, --"perhaps--am I not--"

"You will go!" answered William W. Kolderup like a a man with whomdiscussion was useless.

To refuse was impossible. Tartlet did not even think of such a thing. What was he in the house? A thing, a parcel, a package to be sent toevery corner of the world. But the projected expedition troubled him nota little.

"And when am I to start?" demanded he, trying to get back into anacademical position.

"In a month. "

"And on what raging ocean has Mr. Kolderup decided that his vesselshould bear his nephew and me?"

"The Pacific, at first. "

"And on what point of the terrestrial globe shall I first set foot?"

"On the soil of New Zealand, " answered William W. Kolderup; "I haveremarked that the New Zealanders always stick their elbows out! Now youcan teach them to turn them in!"

And thus was Professor Tartlet selected as the travelling-companion ofGodfrey Morgan.

A nod from the merchant gave him to understand that the audience hadterminated. He retired, considerably agitated, and the performance ofthe special graces which he usually displayed in this difficult act lefta good deal to be desired. In fact, for the first time in his life, Professor Tartlet, forgetting in his preoccupation the most elementaryprinciples of his art, went out with his toes turned in!

CHAPTER V.

IN WHICH THEY PREPARE TO GO, AND AT THE END OF WHICH THEY GO FOR GOOD.

Before the long voyage together through life, which men call marriage, Godfrey then was to make the tour of the world--a journey sometimes evenmore dangerous. But he reckoned on returning improved in every respect;he left a lad, he would return a man. He would have seen, noted, compared. His curiosity would be satisfied. There would only remain forhim to settle down quietly, and live happily at home with his wife, whomno temptation would take him from. Was he wrong or right? Was he tolearn a valuable lesson? The future will show.

In short, Godfrey was enchanted.

Phina, anxious without appearing to be so, was resigned to thisapprenticeship.

Professor Tartlet, generally so firm on his limbs, had lost all hisdancing equilibrium. He had lost all his usual self-possession, andtried in vain to recover it; he even tottered on the carpet of his roomas if he were already on the floor of a cabin, rolling and pitching onthe ocean.

As for William W. Kolderup, since he had arrived at a decision, he hadbecome very uncommunicative, especially to his nephew. The closed lips, and eyes half hidden beneath their lids, showed that there was somefixed idea in the head where generally floated the highest commercialspeculations.

"Ah! you want to travel, " muttered he every now and then; "travelinstead of marrying and staying at home! Well, you shall travel. "

Preparations were immediately begun.

In the first place, the itinerary had to be projected, discussed, andsettled.

Was Godfrey to go south, or east, or west? That had to be decided in thefirst place.

If he went southwards, the Panama, California and British ColumbiaCompany, or the Southampton and Rio Janeiro Company would have to takehim to Europe.

If he went eastwards, the Union Pacific Railway would take him in a fewdays to New York, and thence the Cunard, Inman, White Star, Hamburg-American, or French-Transatlantic Companies would land him onthe shores of the old world.

If he went westwards, the Golden Age Steam Transoceanic would render iteasy for him to reach Melbourne, and thence he could get to the Isthmusof Suez by the boats of the Peninsular and Oriental Company.

The means of transport were abundant, and thanks to their mathematicalagreement the round of the world was but a simple pleasure tour.

But it was not thus that the nephew and heir of the nabob of Frisco wasto travel.

No! William W. Kolderup possessed for the requirements of his businessquite a fleet of steam and sailing-vessels. He had decided that one ofthese ships should be "put at the disposal" of Godfrey Morgan, as if hewere a prince of the blood, travelling for his pleasure--at the expenseof his father's subjects.

By his orders the _Dream_, a substantial steamer of 600 tons and 200horse-power, was got ready. It was to be commanded by Captain Turcott, atough old salt, who had already sailed in every latitude in every sea. Athorough sailor, this friend of tornadoes, cyclones, and typhoons, hadalready spent of his fifty years of life, forty at sea. To bring to in ahurricane was quite child's play to this mariner, who was neverdisconcerted, except by land-sickness when he was in port. Hisincessantly unsteady existence on a vessel's deck had endowed him withthe habit of constantly balancing himself to the right or the left, orbehind or in front, as though he had the rolling and pitching variety ofSt. Vitus's dance.

A mate, an engineer, four stokers, a dozen seamen, eighteen men in all, formed the crew of the _Dream_. And if the ship was contented to getquietly through eight miles an hour, she possessed a great manyexcellent nautical qualities. If she was not swift enough to race thewaves when the sea was high, the waves could not race over her, and thatwas an advantage which quite compensated for the mediocrity of herspeed, particularly when there was no hurry. The _Dream_ was brigantinerigged, and in a favourable wind, with her 400 square yards of canvas, her steaming rate could be considerably increased.

It should be borne in mind all through that the voyage of the _Dream_was carefully planned, and would be punctually performed. William W. Kolderup was too practical a man not to put to some purpose a journey of15, 000 or 16, 000 leagues across all the oceans of the globe. His shipwas to go without cargo, undoubtedly, but it was easy to get her down toher right trim by means of water ballast, and even to sink her to herdeck, if it proved necessary.

The _Dream_ was instructed to communicate with the different branchestablishments of the wealthy merchant. She was to go from one market toanother.

Captain Turcott, never fear, would not find it difficult to pay theexpenses of the voyage! Godfrey Morgan's whim would not cost theavuncular purse a single dollar! That is the way they do business in thebest commercial houses!

All this was decided at long, very secret interviews between William W. Kolderup and Captain Turcott. But it appeared that the regulation ofthis matter, simple as it seemed, could not be managed alone, for thecaptain paid numerous visits to the merchant's office. When he cameaway, it would be noticed that his face bore a curious expression, thathis hair stood on end as if he had been ruffling it up with feveredhands, and that all his body rolled and pitched more than usual. Highwords were constantly heard, proving that the interviews were stormy. Captain Turcott, with his plain speaking, knew how to withstand WilliamW. Kolderup, who loved and esteemed him enough to permit him tocontradict him.

And now all was arranged. Who had given in? William W. Kolderup orTurcott? I dare not say, for I do not even know the subject of theirdiscussion. However, I rather think it must have been the captain.

Anyhow, after eight days of interviewing, the merchant and the captainwere in accord, but Turcott did not cease to grumble between his teeth.

"May five hundred thousand Davy Joneses drag me to the bottom if ever Ihad a job like this before!"

However, the _Dream_ fitted out rapidly, and her captain neglectednothing which would enable him to put to sea in the first fortnight inJune. She had been into dock, and the hull had been gone over withcomposition, whose brilliant red contrasted vividly with the black ofher upper works.

A great number of vessels of all kinds and nationalities came into theport of San Francisco. In a good many years the old quays of the town, built straight along the shore, would have been insufficient for theembarkation and disembarkation of their cargoes, if engineers had notdevised subsidiary wharves. Piles of red deal were driven into thewater, and many square miles of planks were laid on them and formed hugeplatforms. A good deal of the bay was thus taken up, but the bay isenormous. There were also regular landing-stages, with numberless cranesand crabs, at which steamers from both oceans, steamboats from theCalifornian rivers, clippers from all countries, and coasters from theAmerican seaboard were ranged in proper order, so as not to interfereone with the other.

It was at one of these artificial quays, at the extremity of MissionWharf Street, that the _Dream_ had been securely moored after she hadcome out of dock.

Nothing was neglected, and the steamer would start under the mostfavourable conditions. Provisioning, outfit, all were minutely studied. The rigging was perfect, the boilers had been tested and the screw wasan excellent one. A steam launch was even carried, to facilitatecommunication with the shore, and this would probably be of greatservice during the voyage.

Everything was ready on the 10th of June. They had only to put to sea. The men shipped by Captain Turcott to work the sails or drive the enginewere a picked crew, and it would have been difficult to find a betterone. Quite a stock of live animals, agouties, sheep, goats, poultry, &c. , were stowed between decks, the material wants of the travellerswere likewise provided for by numerous cases of preserved meats of thebest brands.

The route the _Dream_ was to follow had doubtless been the subject ofthe long conferences which William W. Kolderup had had with his captain. All knew that they were first bound for Auckland, in New Zealand, unlesswant of coal necessitated by the persistence of contrary winds obligedthem to refill perhaps at one of the islands of the Pacific or someChinese port.

All this detail mattered little to Godfrey once he was on the sea, andstill less to Tartlet, whose troubled spirit exaggerated from day to daythe dangers of navigation. There was only one formality to be gonethrough--the formality of being photographed.

An engaged man could not decently start on a long voyage round the worldwithout taking with him the image of her he loved, and in return leavinghis own image behind him.

Godfrey in tourist costume accordingly handed himself over to MessrsStephenson and Co. , photographers of Montgomery Street, and Phina, inher walking-dress, confided in like manner to the sun the task of fixingher charming but somewhat sorrowing features on the plate of those ableoperators.

It is also the custom to travel together, and so Phina's portrait hadits allotted place in Godfrey's cabin, and Godfrey's portrait itsspecial position in Phina's room. As for Tartlet, who had no betrothedand who was not thinking of having one at present, he thought it betterto confide his image to sensitised paper. But although great was thetalent of the photographers they failed to present him with asatisfactory proof. The negative was a confused fog in which it wasimpossible to recognize the celebrated professor of dancing anddeportment.

This was because the patient could not keep himself still, in spite ofall that was said about the invariable rule in studios devoted tooperations of this nature.

They tried other means, even the instantaneous process. Impossible. Tartlet pitched and rolled in anticipation as violently as the captainof the _Dream_.

The idea of obtaining a picture of the features of this remarkable manhad thus to be abandoned. Irreparable would be the misfortune if--butfar from us be the thought!--if in imagining he was leaving the newworld for the old world Tartlet had left the new world for the otherworld from which nobody returns.

On the 9th of June all was ready. The _Dream_ was complete. Her papers, bills of lading, charter-party, assurance policy, were all in order, andtwo days before the ship-broker had sent on the last signatures.

On that day a grand farewell breakfast was given at the mansion inMontgomery Street. They drank to the happy voyage of Godfrey and hissafe return.

Godfrey was rather agitated, and he did not strive to hide it. Phinashowed herself much the most composed. As for Tartlet he drowned hisapprehensions in several glasses of champagne, whose influence wasperceptible up to the moment of departure. He even forgot his kit, whichwas brought to him as they were casting off the last hawsers of the_Dream_.

The last adieux were said on board, the last handshakings took place onthe poop, then the engine gave two or three turns of the screw and thesteamer was under way.

"Good-bye, Phina!"

"Good-bye, Godfrey!"

"May Heaven protect you!" said the uncle.

"And above all may it bring us back!" murmured Professor Tartlet.

"And never forget, Godfrey, " added William W. Kolderup, "the devicewhich the _Dream_ bears on her stern, 'Confide, recte agens. '"

"Never, Uncle Will! Good-bye, Phina!"

"Good-bye, Godfrey!"

The steamer moved off, handkerchiefs were shaken as long as she remainedin sight from the quay, and even after. Soon the bay of San Francisco, the largest in the world, was crossed, the _Dream_ passed the narrowthroat of the Golden Gate and then her prow cleft the waters of thePacific Ocean. It was as though the Gates of Gold had closed upon her.

CHAPTER VI.

IN WHICH THE READER MAKES THE ACQUAINTANCE OF A NEW PERSONAGE.

The voyage had begun. There had not been much difficulty so far, it mustbe admitted.

Professor Tartlet, with incontestable logic, often repeated, --

"Any voyage can begin! But where and how it finishes is the importantpoint. "

The cabin occupied by Godfrey was below the poop of the _Dream_ andopened on to the dining-saloon. Our young traveller was lodged there ascomfortably as possible. He had given Phina's photograph the best placeon the best lighted panel of his room. A cot to sleep on, a lavatory fortoilet purposes, some chests of drawers for his clothes and his linen, atable to work at, an armchair to sit upon, what could a young man in histwenty-second year want more? Under such circumstances he might havegone twenty-two times round the world! Was he not at the age of thatpractical philosophy which consists in good health and good humour? Ah!young people, travel if you can, and if you cannot--travel all the same!

Tartlet was not in a good humour. His cabin, near that of his pupil, seemed to him too narrow, his bed too hard, the six square yards whichhe occupied quite insufficient for his steps and strides. Would not thetraveller in him absorb the professor of dancing and deportment? No! Itwas in the blood, and when Tartlet reached the hour of his last sleephis feet would be found placed in a horizontal line with the heels oneagainst the other, in the first position.

Meals were taken in common. Godfrey and Tartlet sat opposite to eachother, the captain and mate occupying each end of the rolling table. This alarming appellation, the "rolling table, " is enough to warn usthat the professor's place would too often be vacant.

At the start, in the lovely month of June, there was a beautiful breezefrom the north-east, and Captain Turcott was able to set his canvas soas to increase his speed. The _Dream_ thus balanced hardly rolled atall, and as the waves followed her, her pitching was but slight. Thismode of progressing was not such as to affect the looks of thepassengers and give them pinched noses, hollow eyes, livid foreheads, orcolourless cheeks. It was supportable. They steered south-west over asplendid sea, hardly lifting in the least, and the American coast soondisappeared below the horizon.

For two days nothing occurred worthy of mention. The _Dream_ made goodprogress. The commencement of the voyage promised well--so that CaptainTurcott seemed occasionally to feel an anxiety which he tried in vain tohide. Each day as the sun crossed the meridian he carefully took hisobservations. But it could be noticed that immediately afterwards heretired with the mate into his cabin, and then they remained in secretconclave as if they were discussing some grave eventuality. Thisperformance passed probably unnoticed by Godfrey, who understood nothingabout the details of navigation, but the boatswain and the crew seemedsomewhat astonished at it, particularly as for two or three times duringthe first week, when there was not the least necessity for themanoeuvre, the course of the _Dream_ at night was completely altered, and resumed again in the morning. In a sailing-ship this might beintelligible; but in a steamer, which could keep on the great circleline and only use canvas when the wind was favourable, it was somewhatextraordinary.

During the morning of the 12th of June a very unexpected incidentoccurred on board.

Captain Turcott, the mate, and Godfrey, were sitting down to breakfastwhen an unusual noise was heard on deck. Almost immediately afterwardsthe boatswain opened the door and appeared on the threshold.

"Captain!" he said.

"What's up?" asked Turcott, sailor as he was, always on the alert.

"Here's a--Chinee!" said the boatswain.

"A Chinese!"

"Yes! a genuine Chinese we have just found by chance at the bottom ofthe hold!"

"At the bottom of the hold!" exclaimed Turcott. "Well, by allthe--somethings--of Sacramento, just send him to the bottom of the sea!"

"All right!" answered the boatswain.

And that excellent man with all the contempt of a Californian for a sonof the Celestial Empire, taking the order as quite a natural one, wouldhave had not the slightest compunction in executing it.

However, Captain Turcott rose from his chair, and followed by Godfreyand the mate, left the saloon and walked towards the forecastle of the_Dream_.

There stood a Chinaman, tightly handcuffed, and held by two or threesailors, who were by no means sparing of their nudges and knocks. He wasa man of from five-and-thirty to forty, with intelligent features, wellbuilt, of lithe figure, but a little emaciated, owing to his sojourn forsixteen hours at the bottom of a badly ventilated hold.

Captain Turcott made a sign to his men to leave the unhappy intruderalone.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"A son of the sun. "

"And what is your name?"

"Seng Vou, " answered the Chinese, whose name in the Celestial languagesignifies "he who does not live. "

"And what are you doing on board here?"

"I am out for a sail!" coolly answered Seng Vou, "but am doing you aslittle harm as I can. "

"Really! as little harm!--and you stowed yourself away in the hold whenwe started?"

"Just so, captain. "

"So that we might take you for nothing from America to China, on theother side of the Pacific?"

"If you will have it so. "

"And if I don't wish to have it so, you yellow-skinned nigger. If I willhave it that you have to swim to China. "

"I will try, " said the Chinaman with a smile, "but I shall probably sinkon the road!"

"Well, John, " exclaimed Captain Turcott, "I am going to show you how tosave your passage-money. "

And Captain Turcott, much more angry than circumstances necessitated, was perhaps about to put his threat into execution, when Godfreyintervened.

"Captain, " he said, "one more Chinee on board the _Dream_ is one Chineeless in California, where there are too many. "

"A great deal too many!" answered Captain Turcott.

"Yes, too many. Well, if this poor beggar wishes to relieve SanFrancisco of his presence, he ought to be pitied! Bah! we can throw himon shore at Shanghai, and there needn't be any fuss about it!"

In saying that there were too many Chinese in California Godfrey heldthe same language as every true Californian. The emigration of the sonsof the Celestial Empire--there are 300, 000, 000 in China as against30, 000, 000 of Americans in the United States--has become dangerous tothe provinces of the Far West; and the legislators of these States ofCalifornia, Lower California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and even Congressitself, are much concerned at this new epidemic of invasion, to whichthe Yankees have given the name of the "yellow-plague. "

At this period there were more than 50, 000 Chinese, in the State ofCalifornia alone. These people, very industrious at gold-washing, verypatient, living on a pinch of rice, a mouthful of tea, and a whiff ofopium, did an immense deal to bring down the price of manual labour, tothe detriment of the native workmen. They had to submit to special laws, contrary to the American constitution--laws which regulated theirimmigration, and withheld from them the right of naturalization, owingto the fear that they would end by obtaining a majority in the Congress. Generally ill-treated, much as Indians or negroes, so as to justify thetitle of "pests" which was applied to them, they herded together in asort of ghetto, where they carefully kept up the manners and customs ofthe Celestial Empire.

In the Californian capital, it is in the Sacramento Street district, decked with their banners and lanterns, that this foreign race has takenup its abode. There they can be met in thousands, trotting along intheir wide-sleeved blouses, conical hats, and turned-up shoes. Here, forthe most part, they live as grocers, gardeners, or laundresses--unlessthey are working as cooks or belong to one of those dramatic troupeswhich perform Chinese pieces in the French theatre at San Francisco.

And--there is no reason why we should conceal the fact--Seng Vouhappened to form part of one of these troupes, in which he filled ther�le of "comic lead, " if such a description can apply to any Chineseartiste. As a matter of fact they are so serious, even in their fun, that the Californian romancer, Bret Harte, has told us that he neversaw a genuine Chinaman laugh, and has even confessed that he is unableto say whether one of the national pieces he witnessed was a tragedy ora farce.

In short, Seng Vou was a comedian. The season had ended, crowned withsuccess--perhaps out of proportion to the gold pieces he had amassed--hewished to return to his country otherwise than as a corpse, for Chinamenalways like to get buried at home and there are special steamers whocarry dead Celestials and nothing else. At all risks, therefore, he hadsecretly slipped on board the _Dream_.

Loaded with provisions, did he hope to get through, incognito, a passageof several weeks, and then to land on the coast of China without beingseen?

It is just possible. At any rate, the case was hardly one for a deathpenalty.

So Godfrey had good reason to interfere in favour of the intruder, andCaptain Turcott, who pretended to be angrier than he really was, gave upthe idea of sending Seng Vou overboard to battle with the waves of thePacific.

Seng Vou, however, did not return to his hiding-place in the hold, though he was rather an incubus on board. Phlegmatic, methodic, and byno means communicative, he carefully avoided the seamen, who had alwayssome prank to play off on him, and he kept to his own provisions. Hewas thin enough in all conscience, and his additional weight butimperceptibly added to the cost of navigating the _Dream_. If Seng Vougot a free passage it was obvious that his carriage did not cost WilliamW. Kolderup very much.

His presence on board put into Captain Turcott's head an idea which hismate probably was the only one to understand thoroughly.

"He will bother us a bit--this confounded Chinee!--after all, so muchthe worse for him. "

"What ever made him stow himself away on board the _Dream_?" answeredthe mate.

"To get to Shanghai!" replied Captain Turcott. "Bless John and allJohn's sons too!"

CHAPTER VII.

IN WHICH IT WILL BE SEEN THAT WILLIAM W. KOLDERUP WAS PROBABLY RIGHT ININSURING HIS SHIP.

During the following days, the 13th, 14th, and 15th of June, thebarometer slowly fell, without an attempt to rise in the slightestdegree, and the weather became variable, hovering between rain and windor storm. The breeze strengthened considerably, and changed tosouth-westerly. It was a head-wind for the _Dream_, and the waves hadnow increased enormously, and lifted her forward. The sails were allfurled, and she had to depend on her screw alone; under half steam, however, so as to avoid excessive labouring.

Godfrey bore the trial of the ship's motion without even losing hisgood-humour for a moment. Evidently he was fond of the sea.

But Tartlet was not fond of the sea, and it served him out.

It was pitiful to see the unfortunate professor of deportment deportinghimself no longer, the professor of dancing dancing contrary to everyrule of his art. Remain in his cabin, with the seas shaking the shipfrom stem to stern, he could not.


"Air! air!" he gasped.

And so he never left the deck. A roll sent him rolling from one side tothe other, a pitch sent him pitching from one end to the other. He clungto the rails, he clutched the ropes, he assumed every attitude that isabsolutely condemned by the principles of the modern choregraphic art. Ah! why could he not raise himself into the air by some balloon-likemovement, and escape the eccentricities of that moving plane? A dancerof his ancestors had said that he only consented to set foot to theground so as not to humiliate his companions, but Tartlet wouldwillingly never have come down at all on the deck, whose perpetualagitation threatened to hurl him into the abyss.

What an idea it was for the rich William W. Kolderup to send him here.

"Is this bad weather likely to last?" asked he of Captain Turcott twentytimes a day.

"Dunno! barometer is not very promising!" was the invariable answer ofthe captain, knitting his brows.

"Shall we soon get there?"

"Soon, Mr. Tartlet? Hum! soon!"

"And they call this the Pacific Ocean!" repeated the unfortunate man, between a couple of shocks and oscillations.

It should be stated that, not only did Professor Tartlet suffer fromsea-sickness, but also that fear had seized him as he watched the greatseething waves breaking into foam level with the bulwarks of the_Dream_, and heard the valves, lifted by the violent beats, letting thesteam off through the waste-pipes, as he felt the steamer tossing like acork on the mountains of water.

"No, " said he with a lifeless look at his pupil, "it is not impossiblefor us to capsize. "

"Take it quietly, Tartlet, " replied Godfrey. "A ship was made to float!There are reasons for all this. "

"I tell you there are none. "

And, thinking thus, the professor had put on his life-belt. He wore itnight and day, tightly buckled round his waist. He would not have takenit off for untold gold. Every time the sea gave him a moment's respitehe would replenish it with another puff. In fact, he never blew it outenough to please him.

We must make some indulgence for the terrors of Tartlet. To thoseunaccustomed to the sea, its rolling is of a nature to cause somealarm, and we know that this passenger-in-spite-of-himself had not eventill then risked his safety on the peaceable waters of the Bay of SanFrancisco; so that we can forgive his being ill on board a ship in astiffish breeze, and his feeling terrified at the playfulness of thewaves.

The weather became worse and worse, and threatened the _Dream_ with agale, which, had she been near the shore, would have been announced toher by the semaphores.

During the day the ship was dreadfully knocked about, though running athalf steam so as not to damage her engines. Her screw was continuallyimmerging and emerging in the violent oscillations of her liquid bed. Hence, powerful strokes from its wings in the deeper water, or fearfultremors as it rose and ran wild, causing heavy thunderings beneath thestern, and furious gallopings of the pistons which the engineer couldmaster but with difficulty.

One observation Godfrey made, of which at first he could not discoverthe cause. This was, that during the night the shocks experienced by thesteamer were infinitely less violent than during the day. Was he then toconclude that the wind then fell, and that a calm set in after sundown?

This was so remarkable that, on the night between the 21st and 22nd ofJune, he endeavoured to find out some explanation of it. The day hadbeen particularly stormy, the wind had freshened, and it did not appearat all likely that the sea would fall at night, lashed so capriciouslyas it had been for so many hours.

Towards midnight then Godfrey dressed, and, wrapping himself up warmly, went on deck.

The men on watch were forward, Captain Turcott was on the bridge.

The force of the wind had certainly not diminished. The shock of thewaves, which should have dashed on the bows of the _Dream_, was, however, very much less violent. But in raising his eyes towards the topof the funnel, with its black canopy of smoke, Godfrey saw that thesmoke, instead of floating from the bow aft, was, on the contrary, floating from aft forwards, and following the same direction as theship.

"Has the wind changed?" he said to himself.

And extremely glad at the circumstance he mounted the bridge. Steppingup to Turcott, --

"Captain!" he said.

The latter, enveloped in his oilskins, had not heard him approach, andat first could not conceal a movement of annoyance in seeing him closeto him.

"You, Mr. Godfrey, you--on the bridge?"

"Yes, I, captain. I came to ask--"

"What?" answered Captain Turcott sharply.

"If the wind has not changed?"

"No, Mr. Godfrey, no. And, unfortunately, I think it will turn to astorm!"

"But we now have the wind behind us!"

"Wind behind us--yes--wind behind us!" replied the captain, visiblydisconcerted at the observation. "But it is not my fault. "

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that in order not to endanger the vessel's safety I have had toput her about and run before the storm. "

"That will cause us a most lamentable delay!" said Godfrey.

"Very much so, " answered Captain Turcott, "but when day breaks, if thesea falls a little, I shall resume our westerly route. I shouldrecommend you, Mr. Godfrey, to get back to your cabin. Take my advice, try and sleep while we are running before the wind. You will be lessknocked about. "

Godfrey made a sign of affirmation; turning a last anxious glance at thelow clouds which were chasing each other with extreme swiftness, he leftthe bridge, returned to his cabin, and soon resumed his interruptedslumbers. The next morning, the 22nd of June, as Captain Turcott hadsaid, the wind having sensibly abated, the _Dream_ was headed in properdirection.

This navigation towards the west during the day, towards the east duringthe night, lasted for forty-eight hours more; but the barometer showedsome tendency to rise, its oscillations became less frequent; it was tobe presumed that the bad weather would end in northerly winds. And so infact it happened.

On the 25th of June, about eight o'clock in the morning, when Godfreystepped on deck, a charming breeze from the north-east had swept awaythe clouds, the sun's rays were shining through the rigging and tippingits projecting points with touches of fire. The sea, deep green incolour, glittered along a large section of its surface beneath thedirect influence of its beams. The wind blew only in feeble gusts whichlaced the wave-crests with delicate foam. The lower sails were set.

Properly speaking, they were not regular waves on which the sea rose andfell, but only lengthened undulations which gently rocked the steamer.

Undulations or waves, it is true, it was all one to Professor Tartlet, as unwell when it was "too mild, " as when it was "too rough. " There hewas, half crouching on the deck, with his mouth open like a carp faintedout of water.

The mate on the poop, his telescope at his eye, was looking towards thenorth-east.

Godfrey approached him.

"Well, sir, " said he gaily, "to-day is a little better than yesterday. "

"Yes, Mr. Godfrey, " replied the mate, "we are now in smooth water. "

"And the _Dream_ is on the right road!"

"Not yet. "

"Not yet? and why?"

"Because we have evidently drifted north-eastwards during this lastspell, and we must find out our position exactly. "

"But there is a good sun and a horizon perfectly clear. "

"At noon in taking its height we shall get a good observation, and thenthe captain will give us our course. "

"Where is the captain?" asked Godfrey.

"He has gone off. "

"Gone off?"

"Yes! our look-outs saw from the whiteness of the sea that there weresome breakers away to the east; breakers which are not shown on thechart. So the steam launch was got out, and with the boatswain and threemen, Captain Turcott has gone off to explore. "

"How long ago?"

"About an hour and a half!"

"Ah!" said Godfrey, "I am sorry he did not tell me. I should like tohave gone too. "

"You were asleep, Mr. Godfrey, " replied the mate, "and the captain didnot like to wake you. "

"I am sorry; but tell me, which way did the launch go?"

"Over there, " answered the mate, "over the starboard bow, north-eastwards. "

"And can you see it with the telescope?"

"No, she is too far off. "

"But will she be long before she comes back?"

"She won't be long, for the captain is going to take the sights himself, and to do that he must be back before noon. "

At this Godfrey went and sat on the forecastle, having sent some one forhis glasses. He was anxious to watch the return of the launch. CaptainTurcott's reconnaissance did not cause him any surprise. It was naturalthat the _Dream_ should not be run into danger on a part of the seawhere breakers had been reported.

Two hours passed. It was not until half-past ten that a light line ofsmoke began to rise on the horizon.

It was evidently the steam launch which, having finished thereconnaissance, was making for the ship.

It amused Godfrey to follow her in the field of his glasses. He saw herlittle by little reveal herself in clearer outline, he saw her grow onthe surface of the sea, and then give definite shape to her smokewreath, as it mingled with a few curls of steam on the clear depth ofthe horizon.

She was an excellent little vessel, of immense speed, and as she camealong at full steam, she was soon visible to the naked eye. Towardseleven o'clock, the wash from her bow as she tore through the waves wasperfectly distinct, and behind her the long furrow of foam graduallygrowing wider and fainter like the tail of a comet.

At a quarter-past eleven, Captain Turcott hailed and boarded the_Dream_.

"Well, captain, what news?" asked Godfrey, shaking his hand.

"Ah! Good morning, Mr. Godfrey!"

"And the breakers?"

"Only show!" answered Captain Turcott. "We saw nothing suspicious, ourmen must have been deceived, but I am rather surprised at that, all thesame. "

"We are going ahead then?" said Godfrey.

"Yes, we are going on now, but I must first take an observation. "

"Shall we get the launch on board?" asked the mate.

"No, " answered the captain, "we may want it again. Leave it in tow!"

The captain's orders were executed, and the launch, still under steam, dropped round to the stern of the _Dream_.

Three-quarters of an hour afterwards, Captain Turcott, with his sextantin his hand, took the sun's altitude, and having made his observation, he gave the course. That done, having given a last look at the horizon, he called the mate, and taking him into his cabin, the two remainedthere in a long consultation.

The day was a very fine one. The sails had been furled, and the _Dream_steamed rapidly without their help. The wind was very slight, and withthe speed given by the screw there would not have been enough to fillthem.

Godfrey was thoroughly happy. This sailing over a beautiful sea, under abeautiful sky, could anything be more cheering, could anything give moreimpulse to thought, more satisfaction to the mind? And it is scarcely tobe wondered at that Professor Tartlet also began to recover himself alittle. The state of the sea did not inspire him with immediateinquietude, and his physical being showed a little reaction. He tried toeat, but without taste or appetite. Godfrey would have had him take offthe life-belt which encircled his waist, but this he absolutely refusedto do. Was there not a chance of this conglomeration of wood and iron, which men call a vessel, gaping asunder at any moment.

The evening came, a thick mist spread over the sky, without descendingto the level of the sea. The night was to be much darker than would havebeen thought from the magnificent daytime.

There was no rock to fear in these parts, for Captain Turcott had justfixed his exact position on the charts; but collisions are alwayspossible, and they are much more frequent on foggy nights.

The lamps were carefully put into place as soon as the sun set. Thewhite one was run up the mast, and the green light to the right and thered one to the left gleamed in the shrouds. If the _Dream_ was run down, at the least it would not be her fault--that was one consolation. Tofounder even when one is in order is to founder nevertheless, and if anyone on board made this observation it was of course Professor Tartlet. However, the worthy man, always on the roll and the pitch, had regainedhis cabin, Godfrey his; the one with the assurance, the other in thehope that he would pass a good night, for the _Dream_ scarcely moved onthe crest of the lengthened waves.

Captain Turcott, having handed over the watch to the mate, also cameunder the poop to take a few hours' rest. All was in order. The steamercould go ahead in perfect safety, although it did not seem as thoughthe thick fog would lift.

In about twenty minutes Godfrey was asleep, and the sleepless Tartlet, who had gone to bed with his clothes on as usual, only betrayed himselfby distant sighs. All at once--at about one in the morning--Godfrey wasawakened by a dreadful clamour.

He jumped out of bed, slipped on his clothes, his trousers, hiswaistcoat and his sea-boots.

Almost immediately a fearful cry was heard on deck, "We are sinking! weare sinking!"

In an instant Godfrey was out of his cabin and in the saloon. There hecannoned against an inert mass which he did not recognize. It wasProfessor Tartlet.

The whole crew were on deck, hurrying about at the orders of the mateand captain.

"A collision?" asked Godfrey.

"I don't know, I don't know--this beastly fog--" answered the mate; "butwe are sinking!"

"Sinking?" exclaimed Godfrey.

And in fact the _Dream_, which had doubtless struck on a rock wassensibly foundering. The water was creeping up to the level of the deck. The engine fires were probably already out below.

"To the sea! to the sea, Mr. Morgan!" exclaimed the captain. "There isnot a moment to lose! You can see the ship settling down! It will drawyou down in the eddy!"

"And Tartlet?"

"I'll look after him!--We are only half a cable from the shore!"

"But you?"

"My duty compels me to remain here to the last, and I remain!" said thecaptain. "But get off! get off!"

Godfrey still hesitated to cast himself into the waves, but the waterwas already up to the level of the deck.

Captain Turcott knowing that Godfrey swam like a fish, seized him by theshoulders, and did him the service of throwing him overboard.

It was time! Had it not been for the darkness, there would doubtlesshave been seen a deep raging vortex in the place once occupied by the_Dream_.

But Godfrey, in a few strokes in the calm water, was able to get swiftlyclear of the whirlpool, which would have dragged him down like themaelstrom.

All this was the work of a minute.

A few minutes afterwards, amid shouts of despair, the lights on boardwent out one after the other.

Doubt existed no more; the _Dream_ had sunk head downwards!

As for Godfrey he had been able to reach a large lofty rock away fromthe surf. There, shouting vainly in the darkness, hearing no voice inreply to his own, not knowing if he should find himself on an isolatedrock or at the extremity of a line of reefs, and perhaps the solesurvivor of the catastrophe, he waited for the dawn.

CHAPTER VIII.

WHICH LEADS GODFREY TO BITTER REFLECTIONS ON THE MANIA FOR TRAVELLING.

Three long hours had still to pass before the sun reappeared above thehorizon. These were such hours that they might rather be calledcenturies.

The trial was a rough one to begin with, but, we repeat, Godfrey had notcome out for a simple promenade. He himself put it very well when hesaid he had left behind him quite a lifetime of happiness and repose, which he would never find again in his search for adventures. He triedhis utmost therefore to rise to the situation.

He was, temporarily, under shelter. The sea after all could not drivehim off the rock which lay anchored alone amid the spray of the surf. Was there any fear of the incoming tide soon reaching him? No, for onreflection he concluded that the wreck had taken place at the highesttide of the new moon.

But was the rock isolated? Did it command a line of breakers scatteredon this portion of the sea? What was this coast which Captain Turcotthad thought he saw in the darkness? To which continent did it belong? Itwas only too certain that the _Dream_ had been driven out of her routeduring the storm of the preceding days. The position of the ship couldnot have been exactly fixed. How could there be a doubt of this when thecaptain had two hours before affirmed that his charts bore no indicationof breakers in these parts! He had even done better and had gone himselfto reconnoitre these imaginary reefs which his look-outs had reportedthey had seen in the east.

It nevertheless had been only too true, and Captain Turcott'sreconnaissance would have certainly prevented the catastrophe if it hadonly been pushed far enough. But what was the good of returning to thepast?

The important question in face of what had happened--a question of lifeor death--was for Godfrey to know if he was near to some land. In whatpart of the Pacific there would be time later on to determine. Beforeeverything he must think as soon as the day came of how to leave therock, which in its biggest part could not measure more that twenty yardssquare. But people do not leave one place except to go to another. Andif this other did not exist, if the captain had been deceived in thefog, if around the breakers there stretched a boundless sea, if at theextreme point of view the sky and the water seemed to meet all round thehorizon?

The thoughts of the young man were thus concentrated on this point. Allhis powers of vision did he employ to discover through the black nightif any confused mass, any heap of rocks or cliffs, would reveal theneighbourhood of land to the eastward of the reef.

Godfrey saw nothing. Not a smell of earth reached his nose, not asensation of light reached his eyes, not a sound reached his ears. Not abird traversed the darkness. It seemed that around him there was nothingbut a vast desert of water.

Godfrey did not hide from himself that the chances were a thousand toone that he was lost. He no longer thought of making the tour of theworld, but of facing death, and calmly and bravely his thoughts rose tothat Providence which can do all things for the feeblest of itscreatures, though the creatures can do nothing of themselves. And soGodfrey had to wait for the day to resign himself to his fate, if safetywas impossible; and, on the contrary, to try everything, if there wasany chance of life.

Calmed by the very gravity of his reflections, Godfrey had seatedhimself on the rock. He had stripped off some of his clothes which hadbeen saturated by the sea-water, his woollen waistcoat and his heavyboots, so as to be ready to jump into the sea if necessary.

However, was it possible that no one had survived the wreck? What! notone of the men of the _Dream_ carried to shore? Had they all been suckedin by the terrible whirlpool which the ship had drawn round herself asshe sank? The last to whom Godfrey had spoken was Captain Turcott, resolved not to quit his ship while one of his sailors was still there!It was the captain himself who had hurled him into the sea at the momentthe _Dream_ was disappearing.

But the others, the unfortunate Tartlet, and the unhappy Chinese, surprised without doubt, and swallowed up, the one in the poop, theother in the depths of the hold, what had become of them? Of all thoseon board the _Dream_, was he the only one saved? And had the steamlaunch remained at the stern of the steamer? Could not a few passengersor sailors have saved themselves therein, and found time to flee fromthe wreck? But was it not rather to be feared that the launch had beendragged down by the ship under several fathoms of water?

Godfrey then said to himself, that if in this dark night he could notsee, he could at least make himself heard. There was nothing to preventhis shouting and hailing in the deep silence. Perhaps the voice of oneof his companions would respond to his.

Over and over again then did he call, giving forth a prolonged shoutwhich should have been heard for a considerable distance round. Not acry answered to his.

He began again, many times, turning successively to every point of thehorizon.

Absolute silence.

"Alone! alone!" he murmured.

Not only had no cry answered to his, but no echo had sent him back thesound of his own voice. Had he been near a cliff, not far from a groupof rocks, such as generally border the shore, it was certain that hisshouts, repelled by the obstacles, would have returned to him. Eithereastwards of the reef, therefore, stretched a low-lying shoreill-adapted for the production of an echo, or there was no land in hisvicinity, the bed of breakers on which he had found refuge was isolated.

Three hours were passed in these anxieties. Godfrey, quite chilled, walked about the top of the rock, trying to battle with the cold. Atlast a few pale beams of light tinged the clouds in the zenith. It wasthe reflection of the first colouring of the horizon.

Godfrey turned to this side--the only one towards which there could beland--to see if any cliff outlined itself in the shadow. With its earlyrays the rising sun might disclose its features more distinctly.

But nothing appeared through the misty dawn. A light fog was risingover the sea, which did not even admit of his discovering the extent ofthe breakers.

[Illustration: Nothing appeared through the mist. _page 82_]

He had, therefore, to satisfy himself with illusions. If Godfrey werereally cast on an isolated rock in the Pacific, it was death to himafter a brief delay, death by hunger, by thirst, or if necessary, deathat the bottom of the sea as a last resource!

However, he kept constantly looking, and it seemed as though theintensity of his gaze increased enormously, for all his will wasconcentrated therein.

At length the morning mist began to fade away. Godfrey saw the rockswhich formed the reef successively defined in relief on the sea, like atroop of marine monsters. It was a long and irregular assemblage of darkboulders, strangely worn, of all sizes and forms, whose direction wasalmost west and east. The enormous block on the top of which Godfreyfound himself emerged from the sea on the western edge of the bankscarcely thirty fathoms from the spot where the _Dream_ had gone down. The sea hereabouts appeared to be very deep, for of the steamer nothingwas to be seen, not even the ends of her masts. Perhaps by someunder-current she had been drawn away from the reefs.

A glance was enough for Godfrey to take in this state of affairs. There was no safety on that side. All his attention was directed towardsthe other side of the breakers, which the lifting fog was graduallydisclosing. The sea, now that the tide had retired, allowed the rocks tostand out very distinctly. They could be seen to lengthen as there humidbases widened. Here were vast intervals of water, there a few shallowpools. If they joined on to any coast, it would not be difficult toreach it.

Up to the present, however, there was no sign of any shore. Nothing yetindicated the proximity of dry land, even in this direction.

The fog continued to lift, and the field of view persistently watched byGodfrey continued to grow. Its wreaths had now rolled off for about halfa mile or so. Already a few sandy flats appeared among the rocks, carpeted with their slimy sea-weed.

Did not this sand indicate more or less the presence of a beach, and ifthe beach existed, could there be a doubt but what it belonged to thecoast of a more important land? At length a long profile of low hills, buttressed with huge granitic rocks, became clearly outlined and seemedto shut in the horizon on the east. The sun had drunk up all the morningvapours, and his disc broke forth in all its glory.

"Land! land!" exclaimed Godfrey.

And he stretched his hands towards the shore-line, as he knelt on thereef and offered his thanks to Heaven.

It was really land. The breakers only formed a projecting ridge, something like the southern cape of a bay, which curved round for abouttwo miles or more. The bottom of the curve seemed to be a level beach, bordered by trifling hills, contoured here and there with lines ofvegetation, but of no great size.

From the place which Godfrey occupied, his view was able to grasp thewhole of this side.

Bordered north and south by two unequal promontories, it stretched awayfor, at the most, five or six miles. It was possible, however, that itformed part of a large district. Whatever it was, it offered at theleast temporary safety. Godfrey, at the sight, could not conceive adoubt but that he had not been thrown on to a solitary reef, and thatthis morsel of ground would satisfy his earliest wants.

"To land! to land!" he said to himself.

But before he left the reef, he gave a look round for the last time. Hiseyes again interrogated the sea away up to the horizon. Would some raftappear on the surface of the waves, some fragment of the _Dream_, somesurvivor, perhaps?

Nothing. The launch even was not there, and had probably been draggedinto the common abyss.

Then the idea occurred to Godfrey that among the breakers some of hiscompanions might have found a refuge, and were, like him, waiting forthe day to try and reach the shore.

There was nobody, neither on the rocks, nor on the beach! The reef wasas deserted as the ocean!

But in default of survivors, had not the sea thrown up some of thecorpses? Could not Godfrey find among the rocks, along to the utmostboundary of the surf, the inanimate bodies of some of his companions?

No! Nothing along the whole length of the breakers, which the lastripples of the ebb had now left bare.

Godfrey was alone! He could only count on himself to battle with thedangers of every sort which environed him!

Before this reality, however, Godfrey, let it be said to his credit, didnot quail. But as before everything it was best for him to ascertain thenature of the ground from which he was separated by so short a distance, he left the summit of the rock and began to approach the shore.

When the interval which separated the rocks was too great to be clearedat a bound, he got down into the water, and sometimes walking andsometimes swimming he easily gained the one next in order. When therewas but a yard or two between, he jumped from one rock to the other. His progress over these slimy stones, carpeted with glisteningsea-weeds, was not easy, and it was long. Nearly a quarter of a mile hadthus to be traversed.

But Godfrey was active and handy, and at length he set foot on the landwhere there probably awaited him, if not early death, at least amiserable life worse than death. Hunger, thirst, cold, and nakedness, and perils of all kinds; without a weapon of defence, without a gun toshoot with, without a change of clothes--such the extremities to whichhe was reduced.

How imprudent he had been! He had been desirous of knowing if he wascapable of making his way in the world under difficult circumstances! Hehad put himself to the proof! He had envied the lot of a Crusoe! Well, he would see if the lot were an enviable one!

And then there returned to his mind the thought of his happy existence, that easy life in San Francisco, in the midst of a rich and lovingfamily, which he had abandoned to throw himself into adventures. Hethought of his Uncle Will, of his betrothed Phina, of his friends whowould doubtless never see him again.

As he called up these remembrances his heart swelled, and in spite ofhis resolution a tear rose to his eyes.

And again, if he was not alone, if some other survivor of the shipwreckhad managed, like him, to reach the shore, and even in default of thecaptain or the mate, this proved to be Professor Tartlet, how little hecould depend on that frivolous being, and how slightly improved thechances of the future appeared! At this point, however, he still hadhope. If he had found no trace among the breakers, would he meet withany on the beach?

Who else but he had already touched the shore, seeking a companion whowas seeking him?

Godfrey took another long look from north to south. He did not notice asingle human being. Evidently this portion of the earth was uninhabited. In any case there was no sign, not a trace of smoke in the air, not avestige.

"Let us get on!" said Godfrey to himself.

And he walked along the beach towards the north, before venturing toclimb the sand dunes, which would allow him to reconnoitre the countryover a larger extent.

The silence was absolute. The sand had received no other footmark. A fewsea-birds, gulls or guillemots, were skimming along the edge of therocks, the only living things in the solitude.

Godfrey continued his walk for a quarter of an hour. At last he wasabout to turn on to the talus of the most elevated of the dunes, dottedwith rushes and brushwood, when he suddenly stopped.

A shapeless object, extraordinarily distended, something like thecorpse of a sea monster, thrown there, doubtless, by the late storm, waslying about thirty paces off on the edge of the reef.

Godfrey hastened to run towards it.

The nearer he approached the more rapidly did his heart beat. In truth, in this stranded animal he seemed to recognize a human form.

Godfrey was not ten paces away from it, when he stopped as if rooted tothe soil, and exclaimed, --

"Tartlet!"

It was the professor of dancing and deportment.

Godfrey rushed towards his companion, who perhaps still breathed.

A moment afterwards he saw that it was the life-belt which produced thisextraordinary distension, and gave the aspect of a monster of the sea tothe unfortunate professor.

But although Tartlet was motionless, was he dead? Perhaps this natatoryclothing had kept him above water, while the surf had borne him toshore?

Godfrey set to work. He knelt down by Tartlet; he unloosed the life-beltand rubbed him vigorously. He noticed at last a light breath on thehalf-opened lips! He put his hand on his heart! The heart still beat.

Godfrey spoke to him.

Tartlet shook his head, then he gave utterance to a hoarse exclamation, followed by incoherent words.

Godfrey shook him violently.

Tartlet then opened his eyes, passed his left hand over his brow, liftedhis right hand and assured himself that his precious kit and bow, whichhe tightly held, had not abandoned him.

"Tartlet! My dear Tartlet!" shouted Godfrey, lightly raising his head.

The head with his mass of tumbled hair gave an affirmative nod.

"It is I! I! Godfrey!"

"Godfrey?" asked the professor.

And then he turned over, and rose on to his knees, and looked about, andsmiled, and rose to his feet! He had discovered that at last he was on asolid base! He had gathered that he was no longer on the ship's deck, exposed to all the uncertainties of its pitches and its rolls! The seahad ceased to carry him! He stood on firm ground!

And then Professor Tartlet recovered the aplomb which he had lost sincehis departure; his feet placed themselves naturally, with their toesturned out, in the regulation position; his left hand seized his kit, his right hand grasped his bow.

Then, while the strings, vigorously attacked, gave forth a humid soundof melancholy sonorousness, these words escaped his smiling lips, --

"In place, miss!"

The good man was thinking of Phina.

CHAPTER IX.

IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT CRUSOES DO NOT HAVE EVERYTHING AS THEY WISH.

That done, the professor and his pupil rushed into one another's arms.

"My dear Godfrey!" exclaimed Tartlet.

"My good Tartlet!" replied Godfrey.

"At last we are arrived in port!" observed the professor in the tone ofa man who had had enough of navigation and its accidents.

He called it arriving in port!

Godfrey had no desire to contradict him.

"Take off your life-belt, " he said. "It suffocates you and hampers yourmovements. "

"Do you think I can do so without inconvenience?" asked Tartlet.

"Without any inconvenience, " answered Godfrey. "Now put up your fiddle, and let us take a look round. "

"Come on, " replied the professor; "but if you don't mind, Godfrey, letus go to the first restaurant we see. I am dying of hunger, and a dozensandwiches washed down with a glass or two of wine will soon set me onmy legs again. "

"Yes! to the first restaurant!" answered Godfrey, nodding his head; "andeven to the last, if the first does not suit us. "

"And, " continued Tartlet, "we can ask some fellow as we go along theroad to the telegraph office so as to send a message off to your UncleKolderup. That excellent man will hardly refuse to send on somenecessary cash for us to get back to Montgomery Street, for I have notgot a cent with me!"

"Agreed, to the first telegraph office, " answered Godfrey, "or if thereisn't one in this country, to the first post office. Come on, Tartlet. "

The professor took off his swimming apparatus, and passed it over hisshoulder like a hunting-horn, and then both stepped out for the edge ofthe dunes which bordered the shore.

What more particularly interested Godfrey, whom the encounter withTartlet had imbued with some hope, was to see if they too were the onlysurvivors of the _Dream_.

A quarter of an hour after the explorers had left the edge of the reefthey had climbed a dune about sixty or eighty feet high, and stood onits crest. Thence they looked on a large extent of coast, and examinedthe horizon in the east, which till then had been hidden by the hills onthe shore.

Two or three miles away in that direction a second line of hills formedthe background, and beyond them nothing was seen of the horizon.

Towards the north the coast trended off to a point, but it could not beseen if there was a corresponding cape behind. On the south a creek ransome distance into the shore, and on this side it looked as though theocean closed the view. Whence this land in the Pacific was probably apeninsula, and the isthmus which joined it to the continent would haveto be sought for towards the north or north-east.

The country, however, far from being barren, was hidden beneath anagreeable mantle of verdure; long prairies, amid which meandered manylimpid streams, and high and thick forests, whose trees rose above oneanother to the very background of hills. It was a charming landscape.

But of houses forming town, village, or hamlet, not one was in sight! Ofbuildings grouped and arranged as a farm of any sort, not a sign! Ofsmoke in the sky, betraying some dwelling hidden among the trees, not atrace. Not a steeple above the branches, not a windmill on an isolatedhill. Not even in default of houses a cabin, a hut, an ajoupa, or awigwam? No! nothing. If human beings inhabited this unknown land, theymust live like troglodytes, below, and not above the ground. Not a roadwas visible, not a footpath, not even a track. It seemed that the footof man had never trod either a rock of the beach or a blade of the grasson the prairies.

"I don't see the town, " remarked Tartlet, who, however, remained ontiptoe.

"That is perhaps because it is not in this part of the province!"answered Godfrey.

"But a village?"

"There's nothing here. "

"Where are we then?"

"I know nothing about it. "

"What! You don't know! But Godfrey, we had better make haste and findout. "

"Who is to tell us?"

"What will become of us then?" exclaimed Tartlet, rounding his arms andlifting them to the sky.

"Become a couple of Crusoes!"

At this answer the professor gave a bound such as no clown had everequalled.

Crusoes! They! A Crusoe! He! Descendants of that Selkirk who had livedfor long years on the island of Juan Fernandez! Imitators of theimaginary heroes of Daniel Defoe and De Wyss whose adventures they hadso often read! Abandoned, far from their relatives, their friends;separated from their fellow-men by thousands of miles, destined todefend their lives perhaps against wild beasts, perhaps against savageswho would land there, wretches without resources, suffering from hunger, suffering from thirst, without weapons, without tools, almost withoutclothes, left to themselves. No, it was impossible!

"Don't say such things, Godfrey, " exclaimed Tartlet. "No! Don't jokeabout such things! The mere supposition will kill me! You are laughingat me, are you not?"

"Yes, my gallant Tartlet, " answered Godfrey. "Reassure yourself. But inthe first place, let us think about matters that are pressing. "

In fact, they had to try and find some cavern, a grotto or hole, inwhich to pass the night, and then to collect some edible mollusks so asto satisfy the cravings of their stomachs.

Godfrey and Tartlet then commenced to descend the talus of the dunes inthe direction of the reef. Godfrey showed himself very ardent in hisresearches, and Tartlet considerably stupefied by his shipwreckexperiences. The first looked before him, behind him, and all aroundhim; the second hardly saw ten paces in front of him.


"If there are no inhabitants on this land, are there any animals?"asked Godfrey.

He meant to say domestic animals, such as furred and feathered game, notwild animals which abound in tropical regions, and with which they werenot likely to have to do.

Several flocks of birds were visible on the shore, bitterns, curlews, bernicle geese, and teal, which hovered and chirped and filled the airwith their flutterings and cries, doubtless protesting against theinvasion of their domain.

Godfrey was justified in concluding that where there were birds therewere nests, and where there were nests there were eggs. The birdscongregated here in such numbers, because rocks provided them withthousands of cavities for their dwelling-places. In the distance a fewherons and some flocks of snipe indicated the neighbourhood of a marsh.

Birds then were not wanting, the only difficulty was to get at themwithout fire-arms. The best thing to do now was to make use of them inthe egg state, and consume them under that elementary but nourishingform.

But if the dinner was there, how were they to cook it? How were they toset about lighting a fire? An important question, the solution of whichwas postponed.

Godfrey and Tartlet returned straight towards the reef, over which somesea-birds were circling. An agreeable surprise there awaited them.

Among the indigenous fowl which ran along the sand of the beach andpecked about among the sea-weed and under the tufts of aquatic plants, was it a dozen hens and two or three cocks of the American breed thatthey beheld? No! There was no mistake, for at their approach did not aresounding cock-a-doodle-do-oo-oo rend the air like the sound of atrumpet?

And farther off, what were those quadrupeds which were gliding in andout of the rocks, and making their way towards the first slopes of thehills, or grubbing beneath some of the green shrubs? Godfrey could notbe mistaken. There were a dozen agouties, five or six sheep, and as manygoats, who were quietly browsing on the first vegetation on the veryedge of the prairie.

"Look there, Tartlet!" he exclaimed.

And the professor looked, but saw nothing, so much was he absorbed withthe thought of this unexpected situation.

A thought flashed across the mind of Godfrey, and it was correct: it wasthat these hens, agouties, goats, and sheep had belonged to the _Dream_. At the moment she went down, the fowls had easily been able to reach thereef and then the beach. As for the quadrupeds, they could easily haveswum ashore.

"And so, " remarked Godfrey, "what none of our unfortunate companionshave been able to do, these simple animals, guided by their instinct, have done! And of all those on board the _Dream_, none have been savedbut a few beasts!"

"Including ourselves!" answered Tartlet naively.

As far as he was concerned, he had come ashore unconsciously, very muchlike one of the animals. It mattered little. It was a very fortunatething for the two shipwrecked men that a certain number of these animalshad reached the shore. They would collect them, fold them, and with thespecial fecundity of their species, if their stay on this land was alengthy one, it would be easy to have quite a flock of quadrupeds, and ayard full of poultry.

But on this occasion, Godfrey wished to keep to such alimentaryresources as the coast could furnish, either in eggs or shell-fish. Professor Tartlet and he set to work to forage among the interstices ofthe stones, and beneath the carpet of sea-weeds, and not withoutsuccess. They soon collected quite a notable quantity of mussels andperiwinkles, which they could eat raw. A few dozen eggs of the berniclegeese were also found among the higher rocks which shut in the bay onthe north. They had enough to satisfy a good many; and, hunger pressing, Godfrey and Tartlet hardly thought of making difficulties about theirfirst repast.

"And the fire?" said the professor.

"Yes! The fire!" said Godfrey.

It was the most serious of questions, and it led to an inventory beingmade of the contents of their pockets. Those of the professor were emptyor nearly so. They contained a few spare strings for his kit, and apiece of rosin for his bow. How would you get a light from that, Ishould like to know? Godfrey was hardly better provided. However, it waswith extreme satisfaction that he discovered in his pocket an excellentknife, whose leather case had kept it from the sea-water. This knife, with blade, gimlet, hook, and saw, was a valuable instrument under thecircumstances. But besides this tool, Godfrey and his companion had onlytheir two hands; and as the hands of the professor had never been usedexcept in playing his fiddle, and making his gestures, Godfrey concludedthat he would have to trust to his own.

He thought, however, of utilizing those of Tartlet for procuring a fireby means of rubbing two sticks of wood rapidly together. A few eggscooked in the embers would be greatly appreciated at their second mealat noon.

While Godfrey then was occupied in robbing the nests in spite of theproprietors, who tried to defend their progeny in the shell, theprofessor went off to collect some pieces of wood which had been driedby the sun at the foot of the dunes. These were taken behind a rocksheltered from the wind from the sea. Tartlet then chose two very drypieces, with the intention of gradually obtaining sufficient heat byrubbing them vigorously and continuously together. What simplePolynesian savages commonly did, why should not the professor, so muchtheir superior in his own opinion, be able to do?

Behold him then, rubbing and rubbing, in a way to dislocate the musclesof his arm and shoulder. He worked himself into quite a rage, poor man!But whether it was that the wood was not right, or its dryness was notsufficient, or the professor held it wrongly, or had not got thepeculiar turn of hand necessary for operations of this kind, if he didnot get much heat out of the wood, he succeeded in getting a good dealout of himself. In short, it was his own forehead alone which smokedunder the vapours of his own perspiration.

When Godfrey returned with his collection of eggs, he found Tartlet in arage, in a state to which his choregraphic exercises had never doubtlessprovoked him.

"Doesn't it do?" he asked.

"No, Godfrey, it does not do, " replied the professor. "And I begin tothink that these inventions of the savages are only imaginations todeceive the world. "

"No, " answered Godfrey. "But in that, as in all things, you must knowhow to do it. "

"These eggs, then?"

"There is another way. If you attach one of these eggs to the end of astring and whirl it round rapidly, and suddenly arrest the movement ofrotation, the movement may perhaps transform itself into heat, andthen--"

"And then the egg will be cooked?"

"Yes, if the rotation has been swift enough and the stoppage suddenenough. But how do you produce the stoppage without breaking the egg?Now, there is a simpler way, dear Tartlet. Behold!"

And carefully taking one of the eggs of the bernicle goose, he broke theshell at its end, and adroitly swallowed the inside without any furtherformalities.

Tartlet could not make up his mind to imitate him, and contented himselfwith the shell-fish.

It now remained to look for a grotto or some shelter in which to passthe night.

"It is an unheard-of thing, " observed the professor, "that Crusoescannot at the least find a cavern, which, later on, they can make theirhome!"

"Let us look, " said Godfrey.

It was unheard of. We must avow, however, that on this occasion thetradition was broken. In vain did they search along the rocky shore onthe southern part of the bay. Not a cavern, not a grotto, not a hole wasthere that would serve as a shelter. They had to give up the idea. Godfrey resolved to reconnoitre up to the first trees in the backgroundbeyond the sandy coast.

Tartlet and he then remounted the first line of sandhills and crossedthe verdant prairies which they had seen a few hours before.

A very odd circumstance, and a very fortunate one at the time, that theother survivors of the wreck voluntarily followed them. Evidently, cocksand hens, and sheep, goats and agouties, driven by instinct, hadresolved to go with them. Doubtless they felt too lonely on the beach, which did not yield sufficient food.

Three-quarters of an hour later Godfrey and Tartlet--they had scarcelyspoken during the exploration--arrived at the outskirt of the trees. Nota trace was there of habitation or inhabitant. Complete solitude. Itmight even be doubted if this part of the country had ever been troddenby human feet.

In this place were a few handsome trees, in isolated groups, and othersmore crowded about a quarter of a mile in the rear formed a veritableforest of different species.

Godfrey looked out for some old trunk, hollowed by age, which couldoffer a shelter among its branches, but his researches were in vain, although he continued them till night was falling.

Hunger made itself sharply felt, and the two contented themselves withmussels, of which they had thoughtfully brought an ample supply from thebeach. Then, quite tired out, they lay down at the foot of a tree, andtrusting to Providence, slept through the night.

CHAPTER X.

IN WHICH GODFREY DOES WHAT ANY OTHER SHIPWRECKED MAN WOULD HAVE DONEUNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES.

The night passed without incident. The two men, quite knocked up withexcitement and fatigue, had slept as peacefully as if they had been inthe most comfortable room in the mansion in Montgomery Street.

On the morrow, the 27th of June, at the first rays of the rising sun, the crow of the cock awakened them.

Godfrey immediately recognized where he was, but Tartlet had to rub hiseyes and stretch his arms for some time before he did so.

"Is breakfast this morning to resemble dinner yesterday?" was his firstobservation.

"I am afraid so, " answered Godfrey. "But I hope we shall dine betterthis evening. "

The professor could not restrain a significant grimace. Where were thetea and sandwiches which had hitherto been brought to him when heawoke? How could he wait till breakfast-time, the bell for which wouldperhaps never sound, without this preparatory repast?

But it was necessary to make a start. Godfrey felt the responsibilitywhich rested on him, on him alone, for he could in no way depend on hiscompanion. In that empty box which served the professor for a craniumthere could be born no practical idea; Godfrey would have to think, contrive, and decide for both.

His first thought was for Phina, his betrothed, whom he had so stupidlyrefused to make his wife; his second for his Uncle Will, whom he had soimprudently left, and then turning to Tartlet, --

"To vary our ordinary, " he said, "here are some shell-fish and half adozen eggs. "

"And nothing to cook them with!"

"Nothing!" said Godfrey. "But if the food itself was missing, what wouldyou say then, Tartlet?"

"I should say that nothing was not enough, " said Tartlet drily.

Nevertheless, they had to be content with this repast.

The very natural idea occurred to Godfrey to push forward thereconnaissance commenced the previous evening. Above all it wasnecessary to know as soon as possible in what part of the Pacific Oceanthe _Dream_ had been lost, so as to discover some inhabited place onthe shore, where they could either arrange the way of returning home orawait the passing of some ship.

Godfrey observed that if he could cross the second line of hills, whosepicturesque outline was visible beyond the first, that he might perhapsbe able to do this. He reckoned that they could get there in an hour ortwo, and it was to this urgent exploration that he resolved to devotethe first hours of the day. He looked round him. The cocks and hens werebeginning to peck about among the high vegetation. Agouties, goats, sheep, went and came on the skirt of the forest.

Godfrey did not care to drag all this flock of poultry and quadrupedsabout with him. But to keep them more safely in this place, it would benecessary to leave Tartlet in charge of them.

Tartlet agreed to remain alone, and for several hours to act as shepherdof the flock.

He made but one observation, --

"If you lose yourself, Godfrey?"

"Have no fear of that, " answered the young man, "I have only this forestto cross, and as you will not leave its edge I am certain to find youagain. "

"Don't forget the telegram to your Uncle Will, and ask him for a goodmany hundred dollars. "

"The telegram--or the letter! It is all one!" answered Godfrey, who solong as he had not fixed on the position of this land was content toleave Tartlet to his illusions.

Then having shaken hands with the professor, he plunged beneath thetrees, whose thick branches scarcely allowed the sun's rays topenetrate. It was their direction, however, which was to guide our youngexplorer towards the high hill whose curtain hid from his view the wholeof the eastern horizon.

Footpath there was none. The ground, however, was not free from allimprint. Godfrey in certain places remarked the tracks of animals. Ontwo or three occasions he even believed he saw some rapid ruminantsmoving off, either elans, deer, or wapiti, but he recognized no trace offerocious animals such as tigers or jaguars, whose absence, however, wasno cause for regret.

The first floor of the forest, that is to say all that portion of thetrees comprised between the first fork and the branches, afforded anasylum to a great number of birds--wild pigeons by the hundred beneaththe trees, ospreys, grouse, aracaris with beaks like a lobster's claw, and higher, hovering above the glades, two or three of thoselammergeiers whose eye resembles a cockade. But none of the birds wereof such special kinds that he could therefrom make out the latitude ofthis continent.

So it was with the trees of this forest. Almost the same species asthose in that part of the United States which comprises LowerCalifornia, the Bay of Monterey, and New Mexico.

Arbutus-trees, large-flowered cornels, maples, birches, oaks, four orfive varieties of magnolias and sea-pines, such as are met with in SouthCarolina, then in the centre of vast clearances, olive-trees, chestnuts, and small shrubs. Tufts of tamarinds, myrtles, and mastic-trees, such asare produced in the temperate zone. Generally, there was enough spacebetween the trees to allow him to pass without being obliged to call onfire or the axe. The sea breeze circulated freely amid the higherbranches, and here and there great patches of light shone on the ground.

And so Godfrey went along striking an oblique line beneath these largetrees. To take any precautions never occurred to him. The desire toreach the heights which bordered the forest on the east entirelyabsorbed him. He sought among the foliage for the direction of the solarrays so as to march straight on his goal. He did not even see theguide-birds, so named because they fly before the steps of thetraveller, stopping, returning, and darting on ahead as if they wereshowing the way. Nothing could distract him.

His state of mind was intelligible. Before an hour had elapsed his fatewould be settled! Before an hour he would know if it were possible toreach some inhabited portion of the continent.

Already Godfrey, reasoning on what had been the route followed and theway made by the _Dream_ during a navigation of seventeen days, hadconcluded that it could only be on the Japanese or Chinese coast thatthe ship had gone down.

Besides the position of the sun, always in the south, rendered it quitecertain that the _Dream_ had not crossed the line.

Two hours after he had started Godfrey reckoned the distance he hadtravelled at about five miles, considering several circuits which he hadhad to make owing to the density of the forest. The second group ofhills could not be far away.

Already the trees were getting farther apart from each other, formingisolated groups, and the rays of light penetrated more easily throughthe lofty branches. The ground began slightly to slope, and thenabruptly to rise.

Although he was somewhat fatigued, Godfrey had enough will not toslacken his pace. He would doubtless have run had it not been for thesteepness of the earlier ascents.

He had soon got high enough to overlook the general mass of the verdantdome which stretched away behind him, and whence several heads of treeshere and there emerged.

But Godfrey did not dream of looking back. His eyes never quitted theline of the denuded ridge, which showed itself about 400 or 500 feetbefore and above him. That was the barrier which all the time hid himfrom the eastern horizon.

A tiny cone, obliquely truncated, overlooked this rugged line and joinedon with its gentle slope to the sinuous crest of the hills.

"There! there!" said Godfrey, "that is the point I must reach! The topof that cone! And from there what shall I see?--A town?--A village?--Adesert?"

Highly excited, Godfrey mounted the hill, keeping his elbows at hischest to restrain the beating of his heart. His panting tired him, buthe had not the patience to stop so as to recover himself. Were he tohave fallen half fainting on the summit of the cone which shot up about100 feet above his head, he would not have lost a minute in hasteningtowards it.

A few minutes more and he would be there. The ascent seemed to him steepenough on his side, an angle perhaps of thirty or thirty-five degrees. He helped himself up with hands and feet; he seized on the tufts ofslender herbs on the hill-side, and on a few meagre shrubs, masticsand myrtles, which stretched away up to the top.

A last effort was made! His head rose above the platform of the cone, and then, lying on his stomach, his eyes gazed at the eastern horizon.

It was the sea which formed it. Twenty miles off it united with the lineof the sky!

He turned round.

Still sea--west of him, south of him, north of him! The immense oceansurrounding him on all sides!

"An island!"

[Illustration: "An Island!" _page 111_]

As he uttered the word Godfrey felt his heart shrink. The thought hadnot occurred to him that he was on an island. And yet such was the case!The terrestrial chain which should have attached him to the continentwas abruptly broken. He felt as though he had been a sleeping man in adrifted boat, who awoke with neither oar nor sail to help him back toshore.

But Godfrey was soon himself again. His part was taken, to accept thesituation. If the chances of safety did not come from without, it wasfor him to contrive them.

He set to work at first then as exactly as possible to ascertain thedisposition of this island which his view embraced over its wholelength. He estimated that it ought to measure about sixty miles round, being, as far as he could see, about twenty miles long from south tonorth, and twelve miles wide from east to west.

Its central part was screened by the green depths of forest whichextended up to the ridge dominated by the cone, whose slope died away onthe shore.

All the rest was prairie, with clumps of trees, or beach with rocks, whose outer ring was capriciously tapered off in the form of capes andpromontories. A few creeks cut out the coast, but could only affordrefuge for two or three fishing-boats.

The bay at the bottom of which the _Dream_ lay shipwrecked was the onlyone of any size, and that extended over some seven or eight miles. Anopen roadstead, no vessel would have found it a safe shelter, at leastunless the wind was blowing from the east.

But what was this island? To what geographical group did it belong? Didit form part of an archipelago, or was it alone in this portion of thePacific?

In any case, no other island, large or small, high or low, appearedwithin the range of vision.

Godfrey rose and gazed round the horizon. Nothing was to be seen alongthe circular line where sea and sky ran into each other. If, then, thereexisted to windward or to leeward any island or coast of a continent, itcould only be at a considerable distance.

Godfrey called up all his geographical reminiscences, in order todiscover what island of the Pacific this could be. In reasoning it outhe came to this conclusion.

The _Dream_ for seventeen days had steered very nearly south-west. Nowwith a speed of from 150 to 180 miles every four-and-twenty hours, sheought to have covered nearly fifty degrees. Now it was obvious that shehad not crossed the equator.

The situation of the island, or of the group to which it belonged, wouldtherefore have to be looked for in that part of the ocean comprisedbetween the 160th and 170th degrees of west longitude.

In this portion of the Pacific it seemed to Godfrey that the map showedno other archipelago than that of the Sandwich Islands, but outside thisarchipelago were there not any isolated islands whose names escaped himand which were dotted here and there over the sea up to the coast of theCelestial Empire?

It was not of much consequence. There existed no means of his going insearch of another spot on the ocean which might prove more hospitable.

"Well, " said Godfrey to himself, "if I don't know the name of thisisland, I'll call it Phina Island, in memory of her I ought never tohave left to run about the world, and perhaps the name will bring ussome luck. "

Godfrey then occupied himself in trying to ascertain if the island wasinhabited in the part which he had not yet been able to visit.

From the top of the cone he saw nothing which betrayed the presence ofaborigines, neither habitations on the prairie nor houses on the skirtof the trees, not even a fisherman's hut on the shore.

But if the island was deserted, the sea which surrounded it was none theless so, for not a ship showed itself within the limits of what, fromthe height of the cone, was a considerable circuit.

Godfrey having finished his exploration had now only to get down to thefoot of the hill and retake the road through the forest so as to rejoinTartlet. But before he did so his eyes were attracted by a sort ofcluster of trees of huge stature, which rose on the boundary of theprairie towards the north. It was a gigantic group, it exceeded by ahead all those which Godfrey had previously seen.

"Perhaps, " he said, "it would be better to take up our quarters overthere, more especially as if I am not mistaken I can see a stream whichshould rise in the central chain and flow across the prairie. "

This was to be looked into on the morrow.

Towards the south the aspect of the island was slightly different. Forests and prairies rapidly gave place to the yellow carpet of thebeach, and in places the shore was bounded with picturesque rocks.

But what was Godfrey's surprise, when he thought he saw a light smoke, which rose in the air beyond this rocky barrier.

"Are there any of our companions?" he exclaimed. "But no, it is notpossible! Why should they have got so far from the bay since yesterday, and round so many miles of reef? Is it a village of fishermen, or theencampment of some indigenous tribe?"

Godfrey watched it with the closest attention. Was this gentle vapourwhich the breeze softly blew towards the west a smoke? Could he bemistaken? Anyhow it quickly vanished, a few minutes afterwards nothingcould be seen of it.

It was a false hope.

Godfrey took a last look in its direction, and then seeing nothing, glided down the slope, and again plunged beneath the trees.

An hour later he had traversed the forest and found himself on itsskirt.

There Tartlet awaited him with his two-footed and four-footed flock. Andhow was the obstinate professor occupying himself? In the same way. Abit of wood was in his right hand another piece in his left, and hestill continued his efforts to set them alight. He rubbed and rubbedwith a constancy worthy of a better fate.

"Well, " he shouted as he perceived Godfrey some distance off--"and thetelegraph office?"

"It is not open!" answered Godfrey, who dared not yet tell him anythingof the situation.

"And the post?"

"It is shut! But let us have something to eat!--I am dying with hunger!We can talk presently. "

And this morning Godfrey and his companion had again to contentthemselves with a too meagre repast of raw eggs and shell-fish.

"Wholesome diet!" repeated Godfrey to Tartlet, who was hardly of thatopinion and picked his food with considerable care.

CHAPTER XI.

IN WHICH THE QUESTION OF LODGING IS SOLVED AS WELL AS IT COULD BE.

The day was already far advanced. Godfrey resolved to defer till themorrow the task of proceeding to a new abode. But to the pressingquestions which the professor propounded on the results of hisexploration he ended by replying that it was an island, Phina Island, onwhich they both had been cast, and that they must think of the means ofliving before dreaming of the means of departing.

"An island!" exclaimed Tartlet.

"Yes! It is an island!"

"Which the sea surrounds?"

"Naturally. "

"But what is it?"

"I have told you, Phina Island, and you understand why I gave it thatname. "

"No, I do not understand!" answered Tartlet, making a grimace; "and Idon't see the resemblance! Miss Phina is surrounded by land, not water!"

After this melancholy reflection, he prepared to pass the night with aslittle discomfort as possible. Godfrey went off to the reef to get a newstock of eggs and mollusks, with which he had to be contented, and then, tired out, he came back to the tree and soon fell asleep, while Tartlet, whose philosophy would not allow him to accept such a state of affairs, gave himself over to the bitterest meditations. On the morrow, the 28thof June, they were both afoot before the cock had interrupted theirslumbers.

To begin with, a hasty breakfast, the same as the day before. Only waterfrom a little brook was advantageously replaced by a little milk givenby one of the goats.

Ah! worthy Tartlet! Where were the "mint julep, " the "port winesangaree, " the "sherry cobbler, " the "sherry cocktail, " which he hardlydrank, but which were served him at all hours in the bars and taverns ofSan Francisco? How he envied the poultry, the agouties, and the sheep, who cheerfully quenched their thirst without the addition of suchsaccharine or alcoholic mixtures to their water from the stream! Tothese animals no fire was necessary to cook their food; roots and herbsand seeds sufficed, and their breakfast was always served to the minuteon their tablecloth of green.

"Let us make a start, " said Godfrey.

And behold the two on their way, followed by a procession of domesticanimals, who refused to be left behind. Godfrey's idea was to explore, in the north of the island, that portion of the coast on which he hadnoticed the group of gigantic trees in his view from the cone. But toget there he resolved to keep along the shore. The surf might perhapshave cast up some fragment of the wreck. Perhaps they might find on thebeach some of their companions in the _Dream_ to which they could giveChristian burial. As for finding any one of them living, it was hardlyto be hoped for, after a lapse of six-and-thirty hours.

The first line of hills was surmounted, and Godfrey and his companionreached the beginning of the reef, which looked as deserted as it hadwhen they had left it. There they renewed their stock of eggs andmollusks, in case they should fail to find even such meagre resourcesaway to the north. Then, following the fringe of sea-weed left by thelast tide, they again ascended the dunes, and took a good look round.

Nothing! always nothing!

We must certainly say that if misfortune had made Crusoes of thesesurvivors of the _Dream_, it had shown itself much more rigorous towardsthem than towards their predecessors, who always had some portion of thevessel left to them, and who, after bringing away crowds of objects ofnecessity had been able to utilize the timbers of the wreck. Victualsfor a considerable period, clothes, tools, weapons, had always been leftthem with which to satisfy the elementary exigencies of existence. Buthere there was nothing of all this! In the middle of that dark night theship had disappeared in the depths of the sea, without leaving on thereefs the slightest traces of its wreck! It had not been possible tosave a thing from her--not even a lucifer-match--and to tell the truth, the want of that match was the most serious of all wants.

I know well, good people comfortably installed in your easy-chairsbefore a comfortable hearth at which is blazing brightly a fire of woodor coals, that you will be apt to say, --

"But nothing was more easy than for them to get a fire! There are athousand ways of doing that! Two pebbles! A little dry moss! A littleburnt rag, "--and how do you burn the rag? "The blade of a knife would dofor a steel, or two bits of wood rubbed briskly together in Polynesianfashion!"

Well, try it!

It was about this that Godfrey was thinking as he walked, and this itwas that occupied his thoughts more than anything else. Perhaps he too, poking his coke fire and reading his travellers' tales, had thought thesame as you good people! But now he had to put matters to the test, andhe saw with considerable disquietude the want of a fire, thatindispensable element which nothing could replace.

He kept on ahead, then, lost in thought, followed by Tartlet, who by hisshouts and gestures, kept together the flock of sheep, agouties, goats, and poultry.

Suddenly his look was attracted by the bright colours of a cluster ofsmall apples which hung from the branches of certain shrubs, growing inhundreds at the foot of the dunes. He immediately recognized them as"manzanillas, " which serve as food to the Indians in certain parts ofCalifornia.

"At last, " he exclaimed, "there is something which will be a change fromour eggs and mussels. "

"What? Do you eat those things?" said Tartlet with his customarygrimace.

"You shall soon see!" answered Godfrey.

And he set to work to gather the manzanillas, and eat them greedily.

They were only wild apples, but even their acidity did not prevent themfrom being agreeable. The professor made little delay in imitating hiscompanion, and did not show himself particularly discontented at thework. Godfrey thought, and with reason, that from these fruits therecould be made a fermented liquor which would be preferable to the water.

The march was resumed. Soon the end of the sand dunes died away in aprairie traversed by a small stream. This was the one Godfrey had seenfrom the top of the cone. The large trees appeared further on, and aftera journey of about nine miles the two explorers, tired enough by theirfour hours' walk, reached them a few minutes after noon.

The site was well worth the trouble of looking at, of visiting, and, doubtless, occupying.

On the edge of a vast prairie, dotted with manzanilla bushes and othershrubs, there rose a score of gigantic trees which could have even bornecomparison with the same species in the forests of California. They werearranged in a semi-circle. The carpet of verdure, which stretched attheir feet, after bordering the stream for some hundreds of feet, gaveplace to a long beach, covered with rocks, and shingle, and sea-weed, which ran out into the water in a narrowing point to the north.

These "big trees, " as they are commonly called in Western America, belong to the genus _Sequoia_, and are conifers of the fir family. Ifyou ask the English for their distinguishing name, you will be told"Wellingtonias, " if you ask the Americans they will reply"Washingtonias. " But whether they recall the memory of the phlegmaticvictor of Waterloo, or of the illustrious founder of the AmericanRepublic, they are the hugest products known of the Californian andNevadan floras. In certain districts in these states there are entireforests of these trees, such as the groups at Mariposa and Calaveras, some of the trees of which measure from sixty to eighty feet incircumference, and some 300 feet in height. One of them, at the entranceof the Yosemite Valley, is quite 100 feet round. When living--for it isnow prostrate--its first branches could have overtopped StrasburgCathedral, or, in other words, were above eighty feet from the ground.

Besides this tree there are "The Mother of the Forest, " "The Beauty ofthe Forest, " "The Hut of the Pioneer, " "The Two Sentinels, " "GeneralGrant, " "Miss Emma, " "Miss Mary, " "Brigham Young and his Wife, " "TheThree Graces, " "The Bear, " &c. , &c. ; all of them veritable vegetablephenomena. One of the trees has been sawn across at its base, and on itthere has been built a ball-room, in which a quadrille of eight or tencouples can be danced with ease.

But the giant of giants, in a forest which is the property of the state, about fifteen miles from Murphy, is "The Father of the Forest, " an oldsequoia, 4000 years old, which rises 452 feet from the ground, higherthan the cross of St. Peter's, at Rome, higher than the great pyramidof Ghizeh, higher than the iron bell-turret which now caps one of thetowers of Rouen Cathedral, and which ought to be looked upon as thehighest monument in the world.

It was a group of some twenty of these colossi that nature had plantedon this point of the island, at the epoch, probably, when Solomon wasbuilding that temple at Jerusalem which has never risen from its ruins. The largest was, perhaps, 300 feet high, the smallest nearly 200.

Some of them, hollowed out by age, had enormous arches through theirbases, beneath which a troop of horsemen could have ridden with ease.

Godfrey was struck with admiration in the presence of these naturalphenomena, as they are not generally found at altitudes of less thanfrom 5000 to 6000 feet above the level of the sea. He even thought thatthe view alone was worth the journey. Nothing he had seen was comparableto these columns of clear brown, which outlined themselves almostwithout sensible diminution of their diameters to their lowest fork. Thecylindrical trunks rising from 80 to 100 feet above the earth, ramifiedinto such thick branches that they themselves looked like tree-stems ofhuge dimensions bearing quite a forest in the air.

One of these specimens of _Sequoia gigantea_--one of the biggest in thegroup--more particularly attracted Godfrey's attention.

Gazing at its base it displayed an opening of from four to five feet inwidth, and ten feet high, which gave entrance to its interior. Thegiant's heart had disappeared, the alburnum had been dissipated intosoft whitish dust; but if the tree did not depend so much on itspowerful roots as on its solid bark, it could still keep its positionfor centuries.

"In default of a cavern or a grotto, " said Godfrey, "here is aready-made dwelling. A wooden house, a tower, such as there is in noinhabited land. Here we can be sheltered and shut in. Come along, Tartlet! come!"

And the young man, catching hold of his companion, dragged him insidethe sequoia.

The base was covered with a bed of vegetable dust, and in diameter couldnot be less than twenty feet.

As for the height to which its vault extended, the gloom prevented evenan estimate. For not a ray of light found its way through the bark wall. Neither cleft nor fault was there through which the wind or rain couldcome. Our two Crusoes would therein find themselves in a position tobrave with impunity the inclemency of the weather. No cave could befirmer, or drier, or compacter. In truth it would have been difficult tohave anywhere found a better.

"Eh, Tartlet, what do you think of our natural house?" asked Godfrey.

"Yes, but the chimney?" answered Tartlet.

"Before we talk about the chimney, " replied Godfrey, "let us wait tillwe have got the fire!"

This was only logical.

Godfrey went to reconnoitre the neighbourhood. As we have said, theprairie extended to this enormous mass of sequoias which formed itsedge. The small stream meandering through the grassy carpet gave ahealthy freshness to its borders, and thereon grew shrubs of differentkinds; myrtles, mastic bushes, and among others a quantity ofmanzanillas, which gave promise of a large crop of their wild apples.

Farther off, on ground that grew gradually higher, were scatteredseveral clumps of trees, made up of oaks and beeches, sycamores andnettle-trees, but trees of great stature as they were, they seemed butsimple underwood by the side of the "mammoths, " whose huge shadows thesun was throwing even into the sea. Across the prairie lay minor linesof bushes, and vegetable clumps and verdant thickets, which Godfreyresolved to investigate on the following day.

If the site pleased him, it did not displease the domestic animals. Agouties, goats, and sheep had soon taken possession of this domain, which offered them roots to nibble at, and grass to browse on far beyondtheir needs. As for the fowls they were greedily pecking away at theseeds and worms in the banks of the rivulet. Animal life was alreadymanifesting itself in such goings and comings, such flights and gambols, such bleatings and gruntings and cluckings as had doubtless never beenheard of in these parts before.

Then Godfrey returned to the clump of sequoias, and made a moreattentive examination of the tree in which he had chosen to take up hisabode. It appeared to him that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to climb into the first branches, at least by the exterior; for thetrunk presented no protuberances. Inside it the ascent might be easier, if the tree were hollow up to the fork.


In case of danger it would be advisable to seek refuge among the thickboughs borne by the enormous trunk. But this matter could be looked intolater on.

When he had finished his inquiries the sun was low on horizon, and itseemed best to put off till to-morrow the preparations for theirdefinitely taking up their abode.

But, after a meal with dessert composed of wild apples, what could theydo better than pass the night on a bed of the vegetable dust whichcovered the ground inside the sequoia?

And this, under the keeping of Providence, was what was done, but notuntil after Godfrey, in remembrance of his uncle, William W. Kolderup, had given to the giant the name of "Will Tree, " just as its prototypesin the forests of California and the neighbouring states bear the namesof the great citizens of the American Republic.

CHAPTER XII.

WHICH ENDS WITH A THUNDER-BOLT.

It must be acknowledged that Godfrey was in a fair way to become a newman in this completely novel position to one so frivolous, solight-minded, and so thoughtless. He had hitherto only had to allowhimself to live. Never had care for the morrow disquieted his rest. Inthe opulent mansion in Montgomery Street, where he slept his ten hourswithout a break, not the fall of a rose leaf had ever troubled hisslumbers.

It was so no longer. On this unknown land he found himself thoroughlyshut off from the rest of the world, left entirely to his own resources, obliged to face the necessities of life under conditions in which a maneven much more practical might have been in great difficulty. Doubtlesswhen it was found that the _Dream_ did not return, a search for himwould be made. But what were these two? Less than a needle in a hayrickor a sand-grain on the sea-bottom! The incalculable fortune of UncleKolderup could not do everything.

When Godfrey had found his fairly acceptable shelter, his sleep in itwas by no means undisturbed. His brain travelled as it had never donebefore. Ideas of all kinds were associated together: those of the pastwhich he bitterly regretted, those of the present of which he sought therealization, those of the future which disquieted him more than all!

But in these rough trials, the reason and, in consequence, the reasoningwhich naturally flows from it, were little by little freed from thelimbo in which they had hitherto slept. Godfrey was resolved to striveagainst his ill-luck, and to do all he could to get out of hisdifficulties. If he escaped, the lesson would certainly not be lost onhim for the future.

At daybreak he was astir, with the intention of proceeding to a morecomplete installation. The question of food, above all that of fire, which was connected with it, occupied the first place; then there weretools or arms to make, clothes to procure, unless they were anxious ofsoon appearing attired in Polynesian costume.

Tartlet still slumbered. You could not see him in the shadow, but youcould hear him. That poor man, spared from the wreck, remained asfrivolous at forty-five as his pupil had formerly been. He was a gainin no sense. He even might be considered an incubus, for he had to becared for in all ways. But he was a companion!

He was worth more in that than the most intelligent dog, although he wasprobably of less use! He was a creature able to talk--although only atrandom; to converse--if the matter were never serious; to complain--andthis he did most frequently! As it was, Godfrey was able to hear a humanvoice. That was worth more than the parrot's in Robinson Crusoe! Evenwith a Tartlet he would not be alone, and nothing was so dishearteningas the thought of absolute solitude.

"Crusoe before Friday, Crusoe after Friday; what a difference!" thoughthe.

However, on this morning, that of June 29th, Godfrey was not sorry to bealone, so as to put into execution his project of exploring the group ofsequoias. Perhaps he would be fortunate enough to discover some fruit, some edible root, which he could bring back--to the extreme satisfactionof the professor. And so he left Tartlet to his dreams, and set out.

A light fog still shrouded the shore and the sea, but already it hadcommenced to lift in the north and east under the influence of the solarrays, which little by little were condensing it. The day promised to befine. Godfrey, after having cut himself a substantial walking-stick, went for two miles along that part of the beach which he did not know, and whose return formed the outstretched point of Phina Island.

There he made a first meal of shell-fish, mussels, clams, and especiallysome capital little oysters which he found in great abundance.

"If it comes to the worst, " he said to himself, "we need never die ofhunger! Here are thousands of dozens of oysters to satisfy the calls ofthe most imperious stomach! If Tartlet complains, it is because he doesnot like mollusks! Well, he will have to like them!"

Decidedly, if the oyster did not absolutely replace bread and meat, itfurnished an aliment in no whit less nutritive and in a conditioncapable of being absorbed in large quantities. But as this mollusk is ofvery easy digestion, it is somewhat dangerous in its use, to say nothingof its abuse.

This breakfast ended, Godfrey again seized his stick, and struck offobliquely towards the south-east, so as to walk up the right bank of thestream. In this direction, he would cross the prairie up to the groupsof trees observed the night before beyond the long lines of shrubs andunderwood, which he wished to carefully examine.

Godfrey then advanced in this direction for about two miles. Hefollowed the bank of the stream, carpeted with short herbage and smoothas velvet. Flocks of aquatic birds noisily flew round this being, who, new to them, had come to trouble their domain. Fish of many kinds wereseen darting about in the limpid waters of the brook, here abouts somefour or five yards wide.

It was evident that there would be no difficulty in catching these fish, but how to cook them? Always this insoluble question!

Fortunately, when Godfrey reached the first line of shrubs he recognizedtwo sorts of fruits or roots. One sort had to pass through the fierytrial before being eaten, the other was edible in its natural state. Ofthese two vegetables the American Indians make constant use.

The first was a shrub of the kind called "camas, " which thrives even inlands unfit for culture. With these onion-like roots, should it not befound preferable to treat them as potatoes, there is made a sort offlour very rich and glutinous. But either way, they have to be subjectedto a certain cooking, or drying.

The other bush produces a species of bulb of oblong form, bearing theindigenous name of "yamph, " and if it possesses less nutritiveprinciples than the camas, it is much the better for one thing, --it canbe eaten raw.

Godfrey, highly pleased at his discovery, at once satisfied his hungeron a few of these excellent roots, and not forgetting Tartlet'sbreakfast, collected a large bundle, and throwing it over his shoulder, retook the road to Will Tree.

That he was well received on his arrival with the crop of yamphs neednot be insisted on. The professor greedily regaled himself, and hispupil had to caution him to be moderate.

"Ah!" he said. "We have got some roots to-day. Who knows whether weshall have any to-morrow?"

"Without any doubt, " replied Godfrey, "to-morrow and the day after, andalways. There is only the trouble of going and fetching them. "

"Well, Godfrey, and the camas?"

"Of the camas we will make flour and bread when we have got a fire. "

"Fire!" exclaimed the professor, shaking his head. "Fire! And how shallwe make it?"

"I don't know yet, but somehow or other we will get at it. "

"May Heaven hear you, my dear Godfrey! And when I think that there areso many fellows in this world who have only got to rub a bit of wood onthe sole of their boot to get it, it annoys me! No! Never would I havebelieved that ill-luck would have reduced me to this state! You neednot take three steps down Montgomery Street, before you will meet with agentleman, cigar in mouth, who thinks it a pleasure to give you a light, and here--"

"Here we are not in San Francisco, Tartlet, nor in Montgomery Street, and I think it would be wiser for us not to reckon on the kindness ofthose we meet!"

"But, why is cooking necessary for bread and meat? Why did not naturemake us so that we might live upon nothing?"

"That will come, perhaps!" answered Godfrey with a good-humoured smile.

"Do you think so?"

"I think that our scientists are probably working out the subject. "

"Is it possible! And how do they start on their research as to this newmode of alimentation?"

"On this line of reasoning, " answered Godfrey, "as the functions ofdigestion and respiration are connected, the endeavour is to substituteone for the other. Hence the day when chemistry has made the alimentsnecessary for the food of man capable of assimilation by respiration, the problem will be solved. There is nothing wanted beyond rendering theair nutritious. You will breathe your dinner instead of eating it, thatis all!"

"Ah! Is it not a pity that this precious discovery is not yet made!"exclaimed the professor. "How cheerfully would I breathe half a dozensandwiches and a silverside of beef, just to give me an appetite!"

And Tartlet plunged into a semi-sensuous reverie, in which he beheldsucculent atmospheric dinners, and at them unconsciously opened hismouth and breathed his lungs full, oblivious that he had scarcely thewherewithal to feed upon in the ordinary way.

Godfrey roused him from his meditation, and brought him back to thepresent. He was anxious to proceed to a more complete installation inthe interior of Will Tree.

The first thing to do was to clean up their future dwelling-place. Itwas at the outset necessary to bring out several bushels of thatvegetable dust which covered the ground and in which they sank almost upto their knees. Two hours' work hardly sufficed to complete thistroublesome task, but at length the chamber was clear of the pulverulentbed, which rose in clouds at the slightest movement.

The ground was hard and firm, as if floored with joists, the large rootsof the sequoia ramifying over its surface. It was uneven but solid. Twocorners were selected for the beds and of these several bundles ofherbage, thoroughly dried in the sun, were to form the materials. As forother furniture, benches, stools, or tables, it was not impossible tomake the most indispensable things, for Godfrey had a capital knife, with its saw and gimlet. The companions would have to keep inside duringrough weather, and they could eat and work there. Daylight did not failthem, for it streamed through the opening. Later on, if it becamenecessary to close this aperture for greater safety, Godfrey could tryand pierce one or two embrasures in the bark of the sequoia to serve aswindows.

As for discovering to what height the opening ran up into the trunk, Godfrey could not do so without a light. All that he could do was tofind out with the aid of a pole ten or twelve feet long, held above hishead, that he could not touch the top.

The question, however, was not an urgent one. It would be solvedeventually.

The day passed in these labours, which were not ended at sunset. Godfreyand Tartlet, tired as they were, found their novel bed-clothes formed ofthe dried herbage, of which they had an ample supply, most excellent;but they had to drive away the poultry who would willingly have roostedin the interior of Will Tree. Then occurred to Godfrey the idea ofconstructing a poultry-house in some other sequoia, as, to keep them outof the common room, he was building up a hurdle of brushwood. Fortunately neither the sheep nor the agouties, nor the goatsexperienced the like temptation. These animals remained quietly outside, and had no fancy to get through the insufficient barrier.

The following days were employed in different jobs, in fitting up thehouse or bringing in food; eggs and shell-fish were collected, yamphroots and manzanilla apples were brought in, and oysters, for which eachmorning they went to the bank or the shore. All this took time, and thehours passed away quickly.

The "dinner things" consisted now of large bivalve shells, which servedfor dishes or plates. It is true that for the kind of food to which thehosts of Will Tree were reduced, others were not needed.

There was also the washing of the linen in the clear water of thestream, which occupied the leisure of Tartlet. It was to him that thistask fell; but he only had to see to the two shirts, two handkerchiefs, and two pairs of socks, which composed the entire wardrobe of both.

While this operation was in progress, Godfrey and Tartlet had to wearonly waistcoat and trousers, but in the blazing sun of that latitude theclothes quickly dried. And so matters went on without either rain orwind till July 3rd. Already they had begun to be fairly comfortable intheir new home, considering the condition in which they had been cast onthe island.

However, it was advisable not to neglect the chances of safety whichmight come from without. Each day Godfrey examined the whole sector ofsea which extended from the east to the north-west beyond thepromontory.

This part of the Pacific was always deserted. Not a vessel, not afishing-boat, not a ribbon of smoke detaching itself from the horizon, proclaimed the passage of a steamer. It seemed that Phina Island wassituated out of the way of all the itineraries of commerce. All theycould do was to wait, trusting in the Almighty who never abandons theweak.

Meanwhile, when their immediate necessities allowed them leisure, Godfrey, incited by Tartlet, returned to that important and vexedquestion of the fire.

He tried at first to replace amadou, which he so unfortunately lacked, by another and analogous material. It was possible that some of thevarieties of mushrooms which grew in the crevices of the old trees, after having been subjected to prolonged drying, might be transformedinto a combustible substance.

Many of these mushrooms were collected and exposed to the direct actionof the sun, until they were reduced to powder. Then with the back of hisknife, Godfrey endeavoured to strike some sparks off with a flint, sothat they might fall on this substance. It was useless. The spongystuff would not catch fire. Godfrey then tried to use that finevegetable dust, dried during so many centuries, which he had found inthe interior of Will Tree. The result was equally discouraging.

In desperation he then, by means of his knife and flint, strove tosecure the ignition of a sort of sponge which grew under the rocks. Hefared no better. The particle of steel, lighted by the impact of thesilex, fell on to the substance, but went out immediately. Godfrey andTartlet were in despair. To do without fire was impossible. Of theirfruits and mollusks they were getting tired, and their stomachs began torevolt at such food. They eyed, the professor especially, the sheep, agouties, and fowls which went and came round Will Tree. The pangs ofhunger seized them as they gazed. With their eyes they ate the livingmeat!

No! It could not go on like this!

But an unexpected circumstance, a providential one if you will, came totheir aid.

In the night of the 3rd of July the weather, which had been on thechange for a day or so, grew stormy, after an oppressive heat which thesea-breeze had been powerless to temper.

Godfrey and Tartlet at about one o'clock in the morning were awakened byheavy claps of thunder, and most vivid flashes of lightning. It did notrain as yet, but it soon promised to do so, and then regular cataractswould be precipitated from the cloudy zone, owing to the rapidcondensation of the vapour.

Godfrey got up and went out so as to observe the state of the sky.

There seemed quite a conflagration above the domes of the giant treesand the foliage appeared on fire against the sky, like the fine networkof a Chinese shadow.

Suddenly, in the midst of the general uproar, a vivid flash illuminatedthe atmosphere. The thunder-clap followed immediately, and Will Tree waspermeated from top to bottom with the electric force.

Godfrey, staggered by the return shock, stood in the midst of a rain offire which showered around him. The lightning had ignited the drybranches above him. They were incandescent particles of carbon whichcrackled at his feet.

Godfrey with a shout awoke his companion.

"Fire! Fire!"

"Fire!" answered Tartlet. "Blessed be Heaven which sends it to us!"

Instantly they possessed themselves of the flaming twigs, of which somestill burned, while others had been consumed in the flames. Hurriedly, at the same time, did they heap together a quantity of dead wood suchas was never wanting at the foot of the sequoia, whose trunk had notbeen touched by the lightning.

Then they returned into their gloomy habitation as the rain, pouringdown in sheets, extinguished the fire which threatened to devour theupper branches of Will Tree.

CHAPTER XIII.

IN WHICH GODFREY AGAIN SEES A SLIGHT SMOKE OVER ANOTHER PART OF THEISLAND.

That was a storm which came just when it was wanted! Godfrey and Tartlethad not, like Prometheus, to venture into space to bring down thecelestial fire! "It was, " said Tartlet, "as if the sky had been obligingenough to send it down to them on a lightning flash. "

With them now remained the task of keeping it!

"No! we must not let it go out!" Godfrey had said.

"Not until the wood fails us to feed it!" had responded Tartlet, whosesatisfaction showed itself in little cries of joy.

"Yes! but who will keep it in?"

"I! I will! I will watch it day and night, if necessary, " repliedTartlet, brandishing a flaming bough.

And he did so till the sun rose.

Dry wood, as we have said, abounded beneath the sequoias. Until the dawnGodfrey and the professor, after heaping up a considerable stock, didnot spare to feed the fire. By the foot of one of the large trees in anarrow space between the roots the flames leapt up, crackling clearlyand joyously. Tartlet exhausted his lungs blowing away at it, althoughhis doing so was perfectly useless. In this performance he assumed themost characteristic attitudes in following the greyish smoke whosewreaths were lost in the foliage above.

But it was not that they might admire it that they had so longinglyasked for this indispensable fire, not to warm themselves at it. It wasdestined for a much more interesting use. There was to be an end oftheir miserable meals of raw mollusks and yamph roots, whose nutritiveelements boiling water and simple cooking in the ashes had neverdeveloped. It was in this way that Godfrey and Tartlet employed itduring the morning.

"We could eat a fowl or two!" exclaimed Tartlet, whose jaws moved inanticipation. "Not to mention an agouti ham, a leg of mutton, a quarterof goat, some of the game on the prairie, without counting two or threefreshwater fish and a sea fish or so. "

"Not so fast, " answered Godfrey, whom the declaration of this modestbill of fare had put in good humour. "We need not risk indigestion tosatisfy a fast! We must look after our reserves, Tartlet! Take a coupleof fowls--one apiece--and if we want bread, I hope that our camsa rootscan be so prepared as to replace it with advantage!" This cost the livesof two innocent hens, who, plucked, trussed, and dressed by theprofessor, were stuck on a stick, and soon roasted before the cracklingflames.

Meanwhile, Godfrey was getting the camas roots in a state to figurecreditably at the first genuine breakfast on Phina Island. To renderthem edible it was only necessary to follow the Indian method, which theCalifornians were well acquainted with.

This was what Godfrey did.

A few flat stones selected from the beach were thrown in the fire so asto get intensely hot. Tartlet seemed to think it a great shame to usesuch a good fire "to cook stones with, " but as it did not hinder thepreparation of his fowls in any way he had no other complaint to make.

While the stones were getting warm Godfrey selected a piece of groundabout a yard square from which he tore up the grass; then with his handsarmed with large scallop shells he dug the soil to the depth of aboutten inches. That done he laid at the bottom of the cavity a fire of drywood, which he so arranged as to communicate to the earth heaped up atits bottom some considerable heat.

When all the wood had been consumed and the cinders taken away, thecamas roots, previously cleaned and scraped, were strewn in the hole, athin layer of sods thrown over them and the glowing stones placed on thetop, so as to serve as the basis of a new fire which was lighted ontheir surface.

In fact, it was a kind of oven which had been prepared; and in a veryshort time--about half an hour or so--the operation was at an end.

Beneath the double layer of stones and sods lay the roots cooked by thisviolent heating. On crushing them there was obtainable a flour wellfitted for making into bread, but, even eaten as they were, they provedmuch like potatoes of highly nutritive quality.

It was thus that this time the roots were served and we leave ourreaders to imagine what a breakfast our two friends made on the chickenswhich they devoured to the very bones, and on the excellent camas roots, of which they had no need to be sparing. The field was not far off wherethey grew in abundance. They could be picked up in hundreds by simplystooping down for them.

The repast over, Godfrey set to work to prepare some of the flour, whichkeeps for any length of time, and which could be transformed into breadfor their daily wants.

The day was passed in different occupations. The fire was kept up withgreat care. Particularly was the fuel heaped on for the night; andTartlet, nevertheless, arose on many occasions to sweep the ashestogether and provoke a more active combustion. Having done this, hewould go to bed again, to get up as soon as the fire burnt low, and thushe occupied himself till the day broke. The night passed withoutincident, the cracklings of the fire and the crow of the cock awokeGodfrey and his companion, who had ended his performances by falling offto sleep.

At first Godfrey was surprised at feeling a current of air coming downfrom above in the interior of Will Tree. He was thus led to think thatthe sequoia was hollow up to the junction of the lower branches wherethere was an opening which they would have to stop up if they wished tobe snug and sheltered.

"But it is very singular!" said Godfrey to himself.

"How was it that during the preceding nights I did not feel this currentof air? Could it have been the lightning?"

And to get an answer to this question, the idea occurred to him toexamine the trunk of the sequoia from the out side.

When he had done so, he understood what had happened during the storm.

The track of the lightning was visible on the tree, which had had along strip of its bark torn off from the fork down to the roots.

Had the electric spark found its way into the interior of the sequoia inplace of keeping to the outside, Godfrey and his companion would havebeen struck. Most decidedly they had had a narrow escape.

"It is not a good thing to take refuge under trees during a storm, " saidGodfrey. "That is all very well for people who can do otherwise. Butwhat way have we to avoid the danger who live inside the tree? We mustsee!"

Then examining the sequoia from the point where the long lightning tracebegan--"It is evident, " said he, "that where the flash struck the treehas been cracked. But since the air penetrates by this orifice the treemust be hollow along its whole length and only lives in its bark? Nowthat is what I ought to see about!"

And Godfrey went to look for a resinous piece of wood that might do fora torch.

A bundle of pine twigs furnished him with the torch he needed, as fromthem exuded a resin which, once inflamed, gave forth a brilliant light.

Godfrey then entered the cavity which served him for his house. Todarkness immediately succeeded light, and it was easy to see the stateof the interior of Will Tree. A sort of vault of irregular formationstretched across in a ceiling some fifteen feet above the ground. Lifting his torch Godfrey distinctly saw that into this there opened anarrow passage whose further development was lost in the shadow. Thetree was evidently hollow throughout its length; but perhaps someportion of the alburnum still remained intact. In that case, by the helpof the protuberances it would be possible if not easy to get up to thefork.

Godfrey, who was thinking of the future, resolved to know without delayif this were so.

He had two ends in view; one, to securely close the opening by which therain and wind found admission, and so render Will Tree almost habitable;the other, to see if in case of danger, or an attack from animals orsavages, the upper branches of the tree would not afford a convenientrefuge.

He could but try. If he encountered any insurmountable obstacle in thenarrow passage, Godfrey could be got down again.

After firmly sticking his torch between two of the roots below, beholdhim then commencing to raise himself on to the first interior knots ofthe bark. He was lithe, strong, and accustomed to gymnastics like allyoung Americans. It was only sport to him. Soon he had reached in thisuneven tube a part much narrower, in which, with the aid of his back andknees, he could work his way upwards like a chimney-sweep. All he fearedwas that the hole would not continue large enough for him to get up.

However, he kept on, and each time he reached a projection he would stopand take breath.

Three minutes after leaving the ground, Godfrey had mounted about sixtyfeet, and consequently could only have about twenty feet further to go.

In fact, he already felt the air blowing more strongly on his face. Heinhaled it greedily, for the atmosphere inside the sequoia was not, strictly speaking, particularly fresh.

After resting for a minute, and shaking off the fine dust which he hadrubbed on to him off the wall, Godfrey started again up the long tunnel, which gradually narrowed.

But at this moment his attention was attracted by a peculiar noise, which appeared to him somewhat suspicious. There was a sound as ofscratching, up the tree. Almost immediately a sort of hissing was heard.

Godfrey stopped.

"What is that?" he asked. "Some animal taken refuge in the sequoia? Wasit a snake? No! We have not yet seen one on the island! Perhaps it is abird that wants to get out!"

Godfrey was not mistaken; and as he continued to mount, a cawing, followed by a rapid flapping of wings, showed him that it was some birdensconced in the tree whose sleep he was doubtless disturbing.

Many a "frrr-frrr!" which he gave out with the whole power of his lungs, soon determined the intruder to clear off.

It proved to be a kind of jackdaw, of huge stature, which scuttled outof the opening, and disappeared into the summit of Will Tree.

A few seconds afterwards, Godfrey's head appeared through the sameopening, and he soon found himself quite at his ease, installed on afork of the tree where the lower branches gave off, at about eighty feetfrom the ground.

There, as has been said, the enormous stem of the sequoia supportedquite a forest. The capricious network of its upper boughs presented theaspect of a wood crowded with trees, which no gap rendered passable.

However, Godfrey managed, not without difficulty, to get along from onebranch to another, so as to gain little by little the upper story ofthis vegetable phenomenon.

A number of birds with many a cry flew off at his approach, and hastenedto take refuge in the neighbouring members of the group, above whichWill Tree towered by more than a head.

Godfrey continued to climb as well as he could, and did not stop untilthe ends of the higher branches began to bend beneath his weight.

A huge horizon of water surrounded Phina Island, which lay unrolled likea relief-map at his feet. Greedily his eyes examined that portion of thesea. It was still deserted. He had to conclude once more, that theisland lay away from the trade routes of the Pacific.

Godfrey uttered a heavy sigh; then his look fell on the narrow domain onwhich fate had condemned him to live, doubtless for long, perhaps forever.

But what was his surprise when he saw, this time away to the north, asmoke similar to that which he had already thought he had seen in thesouth. He watched it with the keenest attention.

[Illustration: There was the column of smoke. _page 152_]

A very light vapour, calm and pure, greyish blue at its tip, rosestraight in the air.

"No! I am not mistaken!" exclaimed Godfrey. "There is a smoke, andtherefore a fire which produces it! And that fire could not have beenlighted except by--By whom?"

Godfrey then with extreme precision took the bearings of the spot inquestion.

The smoke was rising in the north-east of the island, amid the highrocks which bordered the beach. There was no mistake about that. It wasless than five miles from Will Tree. Striking straight to the north-eastacross the prairie, and then following the shore, he could not failto find the rocks above which the vapour rose.

With beating heart Godfrey made his way down the scaffolding of branchesuntil he reached the fork. There he stopped an instant to clear off themoss and leaves which clung to him, and that done he slid down theopening, which he enlarged as much as possible, and rapidly gained theground. A word to Tartlet not to be uneasy at his absence, and Godfreyhastened off in the north-easterly direction so as to reach the shore.

It was a two hours' walk across the verdant prairie, through clumps ofscattered trees, or hedges of spiny shrubs, and then along the beach. Atlength the last chain of rocks was reached.

But the smoke which Godfrey had seen from the top of the tree hesearched for in vain when he had reached the ground. As he had taken thebearings of the spot with great care, he came towards it without anymistake.

There Godfrey began his search. He carefully explored every nook andcorner of this part of the shore. He called. No one answered to hisshout. No human being appeared on the beach. Not a rock gave him a traceof a newly lighted fire--nor of a fire now extinct, which could havebeen fed by sea herbs and dry alg� thrown up by the tide.

"But it is impossible that I should have been mistaken!" repeatedGodfrey to himself. "I am sure it was smoke that I saw! And besides!--"

As Godfrey could not admit that he had been the dupe of a delusion, hebegan to think that there must exist some well of heated water, or kindof intermittent geyser, which he could not exactly find, but which hadgiven forth the vapour.

There was nothing to show that in the island there were not many of suchnatural wells, and the apparition of the column of smoke could be easilyexplained by so simple a geological phenomenon.

Godfrey left the shore and returned towards Will Tree, observing thecountry as he went along a little more carefully than he had done as hecame. A few ruminants showed themselves, amongst others some wapiti, butthey dashed past with such speed that it was impossible to get nearthem.

In about four hours Godfrey got back. Just before he reached the tree heheard the shrill "twang! squeak!" of the kit, and soon found himselfface to face with Professor Tartlet, who, in the attitude of a vestal, was watching the sacred fire confided to his keeping.

CHAPTER XIV.

WHEREIN GODFREY FINDS SOME WRECKAGE, TO WHICH HE AND HIS COMPANION GIVEA HEARTY WELCOME.

To put up with what you cannot avoid is a philosophical principle, thatmay not perhaps lead you to the accomplishment of great deeds, but isassuredly eminently practical. On this principle Godfrey had resolved toact for the future. If he had to live in this island, the wisest thingfor him to do was to live there as comfortably as possible until anopportunity offered for him to leave it.

And so, without delay, he set to work to get the interior of Will Treeinto some order. Cleanliness was of the first importance. The beds ofdried grass were frequently renewed. The plates and dishes were onlyscallop shells, it is true, but no American kitchen could show cleanerones. It should be said to his praise that Professor Tartlet was acapital washer. With the help of his knife Godfrey, by flattening out alarge piece of bark, and sticking four uprights into the ground, hadcontrived a table in the middle of the room. Some large stumps servedfor stools. The comrades were no longer reduced to eating on theirknees, when the weather prevented their dining in the open air.

There was still the question of clothing, which was of great interest tothem, and they did the best they could. In that climate, and under thatlatitude, there was no reason why they should not go about half naked;but, at length, trousers, waistcoat, and linen shirt were all worn out. How could they replace them? Were the sheep and the goats to providethem with skins for clothing, after furnishing them with flesh for food?It looked like it. Meanwhile, Godfrey had the few garments he possessedfrequently washed. It was on Tartlet, transformed into a laundress, thatthis task fell, and he acquitted himself of it to the generalsatisfaction.

Godfrey busied himself specially in providing food, and in arrangingmatters generally. He was, in fact, the caterer. Collecting the edibleroots and the manzanilla fruit occupied him some hours every day; and sodid fishing with plaited rushes, sometimes in the waters of the stream, and sometimes in the hollows of the rocks on the beach when the tide hadgone out. The means were primitive, no doubt, but from time to time afine crustacean or a succulent fish figured on the table of Will Tree, to say nothing of the mollusks, which were easily caught by hand.

But we must confess that the pot--of all the pieces in the battery ofthe cook undoubtedly the most essential--the simple iron pot, waswanting. Its absence could not but be deeply felt. Godfrey knew not howto replace the vulgar pipkin, whose use is universal. No hash, no stew, no boiled meat, no fish, nothing but roasts and grills. No soup appearedat the beginning of a meal. Constantly and bitterly did Tartletcomplain--but how to satisfy the poor man?

Godfrey was busied with other cares. In visiting the different trees ofthe group he had found a second sequoia of great height, of which thelower part, hollowed out by the weather, was very rugged and uneven.

Here he devised his poultry-house, and in it the fowls took up theirabode. The hens soon became accustomed to their home, and settledthemselves to set on eggs placed in the dried grass, and chickens beganto multiply. Every evening the broods were driven in and shut up, so asto keep them from birds of prey, who, aloft in the branches, watchedtheir easy victims, and would, if they could, have ended by destroyingthem.

As for the agoutis, the sheep, and the goats, it would have been uselessthen to have looked out a stable or a shelter for them. When the badweather came, there would be time enough to see to that. Meanwhile theyprospered on the luxuriant pasturage of the prairie, with its abundanceof sainfoin and edible roots, of which the porcine representativesshowed genuine appreciation. A few kids had been dropped since thearrival in the island, and as much milk as possible was left to thegoats with which to nourish their little ones.

From all this it resulted that the surroundings of Will Tree were quitelively. The well-fed domestic animals came during the warm hours of theday to find there a refuge from the heat of the sun. No fear was thereof their wandering abroad, or of their falling a prey to wild beasts, ofwhich Phina Island seemed to contain not a single specimen.

And so things went on, with a present fairly comfortable perhaps, but afuture very disquieting, when an unexpected incident occurred whichbettered the position considerably.

It was on the 29th of July.

Godfrey was strolling in the morning along that part of the shore whichformed the beach of the large bight to which he had given the name ofDream Bay. He was exploring it to see if it was as rich in shell-fish asthe coast on the north. Perhaps he still hoped that he might yet comeacross some of the wreck, of which it seemed to him so strange that thetide had as yet brought in not a single fragment.

On this occasion he had advanced to the northern point which terminatedin a sandy spit, when his attention was attracted by a rock of curiousshape, rising near the last group of alg� and sea-weeds.

A strange presentiment made him hasten his steps. What was his surprise, and his joy, when he saw that what he had taken for a rock was a box, half buried in the sand.

Was it one of the packages of the _Dream_? Had it been here ever sincethe wreck? Was it not rather all that remained of another and morerecent catastrophe? It was difficult to say. In any case no matterwhence it came or what it held, the box was a valuable prize.

Godfrey examined it outwardly. There was no trace of an address not evena name, not even one of those huge initials cut out of thin sheet metalwhich ornament the boxes of the Americans. Perhaps he would find insideit some paper which would indicate the origin, or nationality, or nameof the proprietor? Any how it was apparently hermetically sealed, andthere was hope that its contents had not been spoiled by their sojournin the sea-water. It was a very strong wooden box, covered with thickleather, with copper corner plates at the angles, and large straps allover it.


Impatient as he was to view the contents of the box, Godfrey did notthink of damaging it, but of opening it after destroying the lock; as totransporting it from the bottom of Dream Bay to Will Tree, its weightforbade it, and he never gave that a thought.

"Well, " said Godfrey to himself, "we must empty it where it is, and makeas many journeys as may be necessary to take away all that is inside. "

It was about four miles from the end of the promontory to the group ofsequoias. It would therefore take some time to do this, and occasionconsiderable fatigue. Time did not press, however. As for the fatigue, it was hardly worth thinking about.

What did the box contain? Before returning to Will Tree, Godfrey had atry at opening it.

He began by unbuckling the straps, and once they were off he verycarefully lifted the leather shield which protected the lock. But howwas he to force it?

It was a difficult job. Godfrey had no lever with which to bring hisstrength to bear. He had to guard against the risk of breaking hisknife, and so he looked about for a heavy stone with which he couldstart the staple.

The beach was strewn with lumps of hard silex in every form which coulddo for a hammer.

Godfrey picked out one as thick as his wrist, and with it he gave atremendous whack on the plate of copper.

To his extreme surprise the bolt shot through the staple immediatelygave way.

Either the staple was broken by the blow, or the lock was not turned.

Godfrey's heart beat high as he stooped to lift up the box lid.

It rose unchecked, and in truth had Godfrey had to get it to pieces hewould not have done so without trouble. The trunk was a regularstrong-box. The interior was lined with sheet zinc, so that thesea-water had failed to penetrate. The objects it contained, howeverdelicate they might be, would be found in a perfect state ofpreservation.

And what objects! As he took them out Godfrey could not restrainexclamations of joy! Most assuredly the box must have belonged to somehighly practical traveller, who had reckoned on getting into a countrywhere he would have to trust to his own resources.

In the first place there was linen--shirts, table-cloths, sheets, counterpanes; then clothes--woollen jerseys, woollen socks, cottonsocks, cloth trousers, velveteen trousers, knitted waistcoats, waistcoats of good heavy stuffs; then two pairs of strong boots, andhunting-shoes and felt hats.

Then came a few kitchen and toilet utensils; and an iron pot--the famouspot which was wanted so badly--a kettle, a coffee-pot, a tea-pot, somespoons, some forks, some knives, a looking-glass, and brushes of allkinds, and, what was by no means to be despised, three cans, containingabout fifteen pints of brandy and tafia, and several pounds of tea andcoffee.

Then, in the third place, came some tools--an auger, a gimlet, ahandsaw, an assortment of nails and brads, a spade, a shovel, a pickaxe, a hatchet, an adze, &c. , &c.

In the fourth place, there were some weapons, two hunting-knives intheir leather sheaths, a carbine and two muskets, three six-shooterrevolvers, a dozen pounds of powder, many thousand caps, and animportant stock of lead and bullets, all the arms seeming to be ofEnglish make. There was also a small medicine-chest, a telescope, acompass, and a chronometer. There were also a few English books, severalquires of blank paper, pencils, pens, and ink, an almanac, a Bible witha New York imprint, and a "Complete Cook's Manual. "

Verily this is an inventory of what under the circumstances was aninestimable prize.

Godfrey could not contain himself for joy. Had he expressly ordered thetrousseau for the use of shipwrecked folks in difficulties, he could nothave made it more complete.

Abundant thanks were due for it to Providence. And Providence had thethanks, and from an overflowing heart.

Godfrey indulged himself in the pleasure of spreading out all histreasure on the beach. Every object was looked over, but not a scrap ofpaper was there in the box to indicate to whom it belonged, or the shipon which it had been embarked.

Around, the sea showed no signs of a recent wreck.

Nothing was there on the rocks, nothing on the sands. The box must havebeen brought in by the flood, after being afloat for perhaps many days. In fact, its size in proportion to its weight had assured for itsufficient buoyancy.

The two inhabitants of Phina Island would for some time be kept providedin a large measure with the material wants of life, --tools, arms, instruments, utensils, clothes--due to the luckiest of chances.

Godfrey did not dream of taking all the things to Will Tree at once. Their transport would necessitate several journeys but he would have tomake haste for fear of bad weather.

Godfrey then put back most of the things in the box. A gun, a revolver, a certain quantity of powder and lead, a hunting-knife, the telescope, and the iron pot, he took as his first load.

The box was carefully closed and strapped up, and with a rapid stepGodfrey strode back along the shore.

Ah! What a reception he had from Tartlet, an hour later! And the delightof the Professor when his pupil ran over the list of their new riches!The pot--that pot above everything--threw him into transports of joy, culminating in a series of "hornpipes" and "cellar-flaps, " wound up by atriumphant "six-eight breakdown. "

It was only noon as yet. Godfrey wished after the meal to get back atonce to Dream Bay. He would never rest until the whole was in safety atWill Tree.

Tartlet made no objection, and declared himself ready to start. It wasno longer necessary to watch the fire. With the powder they could alwaysget a light. But the Professor was desirous that during their absencethe soup which he was thinking about might be kept gently on the simmer. The wonderful pot was soon filled with water from the stream, a wholequarter of a goat was thrown in, accompanied by a dozen yamph roots, totake the place of vegetables, and then a pinch or two of salt found inthe crevices of the rocks gave seasoning to the mixture.

"It must skim itself, " exclaimed Tartlet, who seemed highly satisfiedat his performance.

And off they started for Dream Bay by the shortest road. The box had notbeen disturbed. Godfrey opened it with care. Amid a storm of admiringexclamations from Tartlet, he began to pick out the things.

In this first journey Godfrey and his companion, transformed into beastsof burden, carried away to Will Tree the arms, the ammunition, and apart of the wearing apparel.

Then they rested from their fatigue beside the table, on which theresmoked the stewed agouti, which they pronounced most excellent. As forthe meat, to listen to the Professor it would have been difficult evento imagine anything more exquisite! Oh! the marvellous effect ofprivation!

On the 30th, the next day, Godfrey and Tartlet set forth at dawn, and inthree other journeys succeeded in emptying and carrying away all thatthe box contained. Before the evening, tools, weapons, instruments, utensils, were all brought, arranged, and stowed away in Will Tree.

On the 1st of August, the box itself, dragged along the beach notwithout difficulty, found a place in the tree, and was transformed intoa linen-closet.

Tartlet, with the fickleness of his mind, now looked upon the futurethrough none but rosy glasses. We can hardly feel astonished then thaton this day, with his kit in his hand, he went out to find his pupil, and said to him in all seriousness, as if he were in the drawing-room ofKolderup's mansion, --

"Well, Godfrey, my boy, don't you think it is time to resume our dancinglessons?"

CHAPTER XV.

IN WHICH THERE HAPPENS WHAT HAPPENS AT LEAST ONCE IN THE LIFE OF EVERYCRUSOE, REAL OR IMAGINARY.

And now the future looked less gloomy. But if Tartlet saw in thepossession of the instruments, the tools, and the weapons only the meansof making their life of isolation a little more agreeable, Godfrey wasalready thinking of how to escape from Phina Island. Could he not nowconstruct a vessel strong enough to enable them to reach if not someneighbouring land, at least some ship passing within sight of theisland?

Meanwhile the weeks which followed were principally spent in carryingout not these ideas, but those of Tartlet. The wardrobe at Will Tree wasnow replenished, but it was decided to use it with all the discretionwhich the uncertainty of the future required. Never to wear any of theclothes unless necessity compelled him to do so, was the rule to whichthe professor was forced to submit.

"What is the good of that?" grumbled he. "It is a great deal toostingy, my dear Godfrey! Are we savages, that we should go about halfnaked?"

"I beg your pardon, Tartlet, " replied Godfrey; "we are savages, andnothing else. "

"As you please; but you will see that we shall leave the island beforewe have worn the clothes!"

"I know nothing about it, Tartlet, and it is better to have than towant. "

"But on Sunday now, surely on Sunday, we might dress up a little?"

"Very well, on Sundays then, and perhaps on public holidays, " answeredGodfrey, who did not wish to anger his frivolous companion; "but as today is Monday we shall have to wait a whole week before we come out inour best. "

We need hardly mention that from the moment he arrived on the islandGodfrey had not omitted to mark each day as it passed. By the aid of thecalendar he found in the box he was able to verify that the day wasreally Monday.

Each performed his daily task according to his ability. It was no longernecessary for them to keep watch by day and night over a fire which theyhad now the means of relighting.

Tartlet therefore abandoned, not without regret, a task which suitedhim so well. Henceforwards he took charge of the provisioning with yamphand camas roots--of that in short which formed the daily bread of theestablishment, so that the professor went every day and collected them, up to the lines of shrubs with which the prairie was bordered behindWill Tree. It was one or two miles to walk, but he accustomed himself toit. Between whiles he occupied his time in collecting oysters or othermollusks, of which they consumed a great quantity.

Godfrey reserved for himself the care of the domestic animals and thepoultry. The butchering trade was hardly to his taste, but he soonovercame his repugnance. Thanks to him, boiled meats appeared frequentlyon the table, followed by an occasional joint of roast meat to afford asufficiently varied bill of fare. Game abounded in the woods of PhinaIsland, and Godfrey proposed to begin his shooting when other morepressing cares allowed him time. He thought of making good use of theguns, powder, and bullets in his arsenal, but he in the first placewished to complete his preparations. His tools enabled him to makeseveral benches inside and outside Will Tree. The stools were cut outroughly with the axe, the table made a little less roughly became moreworthy of the dishes and dinner things with which Professor Tartletadorned it. The beds were arranged in wooden boxes and their litter ofdry grass assumed a more inviting aspect. If mattresses and palliasseswere still wanting, counterpanes at least were not. The various cookingutensils stood no longer on the ground, but had their places on planksfixed along the walls. Stores, linen, and clothes were carefully putaway in cavities hollowed out in the bark of the sequoia. From strongpegs were suspended the arms and instruments, forming quite a trophy onthe walls.

Godfrey was also desirous of putting a door to the house, so that theother living creatures--the domestic animals--should not come during thenight and trouble their sleep. As he could not cut out boards with hisonly saw, the handsaw, he used large and thick pieces of bark, which hegot off very easily. With these he made a door sufficiently massive toclose the opening into Will Tree, at the same time he made two littlewindows, one opposite to the other, so as to let light and air into theroom. Shutters allowed him to close them at night, but from the morningto the evening it was no longer necessary to take refuge in flaringresinous torches which filled the dwelling with smoke. What Godfreywould think of to yield them light during the long nights of winter hehad as yet no idea. He might take to making candles with the mutton fat, or he might be contented with resinous torches more carefully prepared. We shall see.

Another of his anxieties was how to construct a chimney in Will Tree. While the fine weather lasted, the fire outside among the roots of thesequoia sufficed for all the wants of the kitchen, but when the badweather came and the rain fell in torrents, and they would have tobattle with the cold, whose extreme rigour during a certain time theyreasonably feared, they would have to have a fire inside their house, and the smoke from it must have some vent. This important questiontherefore had to be settled.

One very useful work which Godfrey undertook was to put both banks ofthe river in communication with each other on the skirt of thesequoia-trees.

He managed, after some difficulty, to drive a few stakes into theriver-bed, and on them he fixed a staging of planks, which served for abridge. They could thus get away to the northern shore without crossingthe ford, which led them a couple of miles out of their road.

But if Godfrey took all these precautions so as to make existence alittle more possible on this lone isle of the Pacific, in case he andhis companion were destined to live on it for some time, or perhaps liveon it for ever, he had no intention of neglecting in any way the chancesof rescue.

Phina Island was not on the routes taken by the ships--that was only tooevident. It offered no port of call, nor means of revictualling. Therewas nothing to encourage ships to take notice of it. At the same timeit was not impossible that a war-ship or a merchant-vessel might come insight. It was advisable therefore to find some way of attractingattention, and showing that the island was inhabited.

With this object Godfrey erected a flagstaff at the end of the capewhich ran out to the north, and for a flag he sacrificed a piece of oneof the cloths found in the trunk. As he thought that the white colourwould only be visible in a strong light, he tried to stain his flag withthe berries of a sort of shrub which grew at the foot of the dunes. Heobtained a very vivid red, which he could not make indelible owing tohis having no mordant, but he could easily re-dye the cloth when thewind or rain had faded it.

These varied employments occupied him up to the 15th of August. For manyweeks the sky had been constantly clear, with the exception of two orthree storms of extreme violence which had brought down a large quantityof water, to be greedily drunk in by the soil.

About this time Godfrey began his shooting expeditions. But if he wasskilful enough in the use of the gun, he could not reckon on Tartlet, who had yet to fire his first shot.

Many days of the week did Godfrey devote to the pursuit of fur andfeather, which, without being abundant, were yet plentiful enough forthe requirements of Will Tree.

A few partridges, some of the red-legged variety, and a few snipes, cameas a welcome variation of the bill of fare. Two or three antelopes fellto the prowess of the young stalker; and although he had had nothing todo with their capture, the professor gave them a no less welcome than hedid when they appeared as haunches and cutlets.

But while he was out shooting, Godfrey did not forget to take a morecomplete survey of the island. He penetrated the depths of the denseforests which occupied the central districts. He ascended the river toits source. He again mounted the summit of the cone, and redescended bythe talus on the eastern shore, which he had not, up to then, visited.

"After all these explorations, " repeated Godfrey to himself, "there canbe no doubt that Phina Island has no dangerous animals, neither wildbeasts, snakes, nor saurians! I have not caught sight of one! Assuredlyif there had been any, the report of the gun would have woke them up! Itis fortunate, indeed. If it were to become necessary to fortify WillTree against their attacks, I do not know how we should get on!"

Then passing on to quite a natural deduction--

"It must also be concluded, " continued he, "that the island is notinhabited at all. Either natives or people shipwrecked here would haveappeared before now at the sound of the gun! There is, however, thatinexplicable smoke which I twice thought I saw. "

The fact is, that Godfrey had never been able to trace any fire. As forthe hot water springs to which he attributed the origin of the vapour hehad noticed, Phina Island being in no way volcanic did not appear tocontain any, and he had to content himself with thinking that he hadtwice been the victim of an illusion.

Besides, this apparition of the smoke or the vapour was not repeated. When Godfrey the second time ascended the central cone, as also when heagain climbed up into Will Tree, he saw nothing to attract hisattention. He ended by forgetting the circumstance altogether.

Many weeks passed in different occupations about the tree, and manyshooting excursions were undertaken. With every day their mode of lifeimproved.

Every Sunday, as had been agreed, Tartlet donned his best clothes. Onthat day he did nothing but walk about under the big trees, and indulgein an occasional tune on the kit. Many were the glissades he performed, giving lessons to himself, as his pupil had positively refused tocontinue his course.

"What is the good of it?" was Godfrey's answer to the entreaties of theprofessor. "Can you imagine Robinson Crusoe taking lessons in dancingand deportment?"

"And why not?" asked Tartlet seriously. "Why should Robinson Crusoedispense with deportment? Not for the good of others, but of himself, heshould acquire refined manners. "

To which Godfrey made no reply. And as he never came for his lesson, theprofessor became professor "emeritus. "

The 13th of September was noted for one of the greatest and cruellestdeceptions to which, on a desert island, the unfortunate survivors of ashipwreck could be subjected.

Godfrey had never again seen that inexplicable and undiscoverable smokeon the island; but on this day, about three o'clock in the afternoon, his attention was attracted by a long line of vapour, about the originof which he could not be deceived.

He had gone for a walk to the end of Flag Point--the name which he hadgiven to the cape on which he had erected his flagstaff. While he waslooking through his glass he saw above the horizon a smoke driven by thewest wind towards the island.

Godfrey's heart beat high.

"A ship!" he exclaimed.

But would this ship, this steamer, pass in sight of Phina Island? And ifit passed, would it come near enough for the signal thereon to be seenon board?

Or would not rather the semi-visible smoke disappear with the vesseltowards the north-west or south-west of the horizon?

For two hours Godfrey was a prey to alternating emotions more easy toindicate than to describe.

The smoke got bigger and bigger. It increased when the steamer re-stokedher fires, and diminished almost to vanishing-point as the fuel wasconsumed. Continually did the vessel visibly approach. About fouro'clock her hull had come up on the line between the sky and the sea.

She was a large steamer, bearing north-east. Godfrey easily made thatout. If that direction was maintained, she would inevitably approachPhina Island.

Godfrey had at first thought of running back to Will Tree to informTartlet. What was the use of doing so? The sight of one man makingsignals could do as much good as that of two. He remained there, hisglass at his eye, losing not a single movement of the ship.

The steamer kept on her course towards the coast, her bow steeredstraight for the cape. By five o'clock the horizon-line was alreadyabove her hull, and her rig was visible. Godfrey could even recognizethe colours at her gaff.

She carried the United States' ensign.

"But if I can see their flag, cannot they see mine? The wind keeps itout, so that they could easily see my flag with their glasses. Shall Imake signals, by raising it and lowering it a few times, so as to showthat I want to enter into communication with them? Yes! I have not aninstant to lose. "

It was a good idea. Godfrey ran to the end of Flag Point, and began tohaul his flag up and down, as if he were saluting. Then he left ithalf-mast high, so as to show, in the way usual with seafaring people, that he required help and succour.

The steamer still approached to within three miles of the shore, but herflag remained immovable at the peak, and replied not to that on FlagPoint. Godfrey felt his heart sink. He would not be noticed! It washalf-past six, and the sun was about to set!

The steamer was now about two miles from the cape, which she was rapidlynearing. At this moment the sun disappeared below the horizon. With thefirst shadows of night, all hope of being seen had to be given up.

Godfrey again, with no more success, began to raise and lower his flag. There was no reply.

He then fired his gun two or three times, but the distance was stillgreat, and the wind did not set in that direction! No report would beheard on board!

The night gradually came on; soon the steamer's hull grew invisible. Doubtless in another hour she would have passed Phina Island.

Godfrey, not knowing what to do, thought of setting fire to a group ofresinous trees which grew at the back of Flag Point. He lighted a heapof dry leaves with some gunpowder, and then set light to the group ofpines, which flared up like an enormous torch.

But no fire on the ship answered to the one on the land, and Godfreyreturned sadly to Will Tree, feeling perhaps more desolate than he hadever felt till then.

CHAPTER XVI.

IN WHICH SOMETHING HAPPENS WHICH CANNOT FAIL TO SURPRISE THE READER.

To Godfrey the blow was serious. Would this unexpected chance which hadjust escaped him ever offer again? Could he hope so? No! Theindifference of the steamer as she passed in sight of the island, without even taking a look at it, was obviously shared in by all thevessels venturing in this deserted portion of the Pacific. Why shouldthey put into port more than she had done? The island did not possess asingle harbour.

Godfrey passed a sorrowful night. Every now and then jumping up as if heheard a cannon out at sea, he would ask himself if the steamer had notcaught sight of the huge fire which still burnt on the coast, and if shewere not endeavouring to answer the signal by a gun-shot?

Godfrey listened. It was only an illusion of his over-excited brain. When the day came, he had come to look upon the apparition of the shipas but a dream, which had commenced about three o'clock on the previousafternoon.

But no! He was only too certain that a ship had been in sight of PhinaIsland, maybe within two miles of it, and certainly she had not put in.

Of this deception Godfrey said not a word to Tartlet. What was the goodof talking about it? Besides, his frivolous mind could not see more thantwenty-four hours ahead. He was no longer thinking of the chances ofescaping from the island which might offer. He no longer imagined thatthe future had great things in store for them. San Francisco was fadingout of his recollection. He had no sweetheart waiting for him, no UncleWill to return to. If at this end of the world he could only commence acourse of lessons on dancing, his happiness would be complete--were itonly with one pupil.

If the professor dreamt not of immediate danger, such as to compromisehis safety in this island--bare, as it was, of wild beasts andsavages--he was wrong. This very day his optimism was to be put to arude test.

About four o'clock in the afternoon Tartlet had gone, according to hiscustom, to collect some oysters and mussels, on that part of the shorebehind Flag Point, when Godfrey saw him coming back as fast as his legscould carry him to Will Tree. His hair stood on end round histemples. He looked like a man in flight, who dared not turn his head tothe right or to the left.

"What is the matter?" shouted Godfrey, not without alarm, running tomeet his companion.

"There! there!" answered Tartlet, pointing with his finger towards thenarrow strip of sea visible to the north between the trees.

"But what is it?" asked Godfrey, whose first movement was to run to theedge of the sequoias.

"A canoe!"

[Illustration: "A Canoe!" _page 181_]

"A canoe?"

"Yes! Savages! Quite a fleet of savages! Cannibals, perhaps!"

Godfrey looked in the direction pointed out.

It was not a fleet, as the distracted Tartlet had said; but he was onlymistaken about the quantity.

In fact, there was a small vessel gliding through the water, now verycalm, about half-a-mile from the coast, so as to double Flag Point.

"And why should they be cannibals?" asked Godfrey, turning towards theprofessor.

"Because in Crusoe Islands, " answered Tartlet, "there are alwayscannibals, who arrive sooner or later. "

"Is it not a boat from some merchant-ship?"

"From a ship?"

"Yes. From a steamer which passed here yesterday afternoon, in sight ofour island?"

"And you said nothing to me about it!" exclaimed Tartlet, lifting hishands to the sky.

"What good should I have done?" asked Godfrey. "Besides, I thought thatthe vessel had disappeared! But that boat might belong to her! Let us goand see!"

Godfrey ran rapidly back to Will Tree, and, seizing his glass, returnedto the edge of the trees.

He then examined with extreme attention the little vessel, which wouldere then have perceived the flag on Flag Point as it fluttered in thebreeze.

The glass fell from his hands.

"Savages! Yes! They are really savages!" he exclaimed.

Tartlet felt his knees knock together, and a tremor of fright ranthrough his body.

It was a vessel manned by savages which Godfrey saw approaching theisland. Built like a Polynesian canoe, she carried a large sail of wovenbamboo; an outrigger on the weather side kept her from capsizing as sheheeled down to the wind.

Godfrey easily distinguished the build of the vessel. She was a proa, and this would indicate that Phina Island was not far from Malaysia. Butthey were not Malays on board; they were half-naked blacks, and therewere about a dozen of them.

The danger of being found was thus great. Godfrey regretted that he hadhoisted the flag, which had not been seen by the ship, but would be bythese black fellows. To take it down now would be too late.

It was, in truth, very unfortunate. The savages had probably come to theisland thinking it was uninhabited, as indeed it had been before thewreck of the _Dream_. But there was the flag, indicating the presence ofhuman beings on the coast! How were they to escape them if they landed?

Godfrey knew not what to do. Anyhow his immediate care must be to watchif they set foot on the island. He could think of other thingsafterwards.

With his glass at his eye he followed the proa; he saw it turn the pointof the promontory, then run along the shore and then approach the mouthof the small stream, which, two miles up, flowed past Will Tree.

If the savages intended to paddle up the river, they would soon reachthe group of sequoias--and nothing could hinder them. Godfrey andTartlet ran rapidly back to their dwelling. They first of all set aboutguarding them selves against surprise, and giving themselves time toprepare their defence.

At least that is what Godfrey thought of. The ideas of the professortook quite a different turn.

"Ah!" he exclaimed. "It is destiny! This is as it was written? We couldnot escape it! You cannot be a Crusoe without a canoe coming to yourisland, without cannibals appearing one day or another! Here we havebeen for only three months, and there they are already! Assuredly, neither Defoe, nor De Wyss exaggerated matters! You can make yourself aCrusoe, if you like!"

Worthy Tartlet, folks do not make themselves Crusoes, they becomeCrusoes, and you are not sure that you are wise in comparing yourposition with that of the heroes of the two English and Swiss romances!

The precautions taken by Godfrey as soon as he returned to Will Treewere as follows. The fire burning among the roots of the sequoia wasextinguished, and the embers scattered broadcast, so as to leave notrace; cocks, hens, and chickens were already in their house for thenight, and the entrance was hidden with shrubs and twigs as much aspossible; the other animals, the goats, agoutis, and sheep, were drivenon to the prairie, but it was unlucky that there was no stable to shutthem up in; all the instruments and tools were taken into the tree. Nothing was left outside that could indicate the presence or the passageof human beings.

Then the door was closely shut, after Godfrey and Tartlet had gone in. The door made of the sequoia bark was indistinguishable from the bark ofthe trunk, and might perhaps escape the eyes of the savages, who wouldnot look at it very closely. It was the same with the two windows, inwhich the lower boards were shut. Then all light was extinguished in thedwelling, and our friends remained in total darkness. How long thatnight was! Godfrey and Tartlet heard the slightest sounds outside. Thecreaking of a dry branch, even a puff of wind, made them start. Theythought they heard some one walking under the trees. It seemed that theywere prowling round Will Tree. Then Godfrey climbed up to one of thewindows, opened one of the boards, and anxiously peered into the gloom.

Nothing!

However, Godfrey at last heard footsteps on the ground. His ear couldnot deceive him this time. He still looked, but could only see one ofthe goats come for shelter beneath the trees.

Had any of the savages happened to discover the house hidden in theenormous sequoia, Godfrey had made up his mind what to do: he would dragup Tartlet with him by the chimney inside, and take refuge in the higherbranches, where he would be better able to resist. With guns andrevolvers in his possession, and ammunition in abundance, he wouldthere have some chance against a dozen savages devoid of fire-arms.

If in the event of their being armed with bows and arrows they attackedfrom below, it was not likely that they would have the best of itagainst fire-arms aimed from above. If on the other hand they forced thedoor of the dwelling and tried to reach the branches from the inside, they would find it very difficult to get there, owing to the narrowopening, which the besieged could easily defend.

Godfrey said nothing about this to Tartlet. The poor man had been almostout of his mind with fright since he had seen the proa. The thought thathe might be obliged to take refuge in the upper part of a tree, as if inan eagle's nest, would not have soothed him in the least. If it becamenecessary, Godfrey decided to drag him up before he had time to thinkabout it.

The night passed amid these alternations of fear and hope. No attackoccurred. The savages had not yet come to the sequoia group. Perhapsthey would wait for the day before venturing to cross the island.

"That is probably what they will do, " said Godfrey, "since our flagshows that it is inhabited! But there are only a dozen of them, and theywill have to be cautious! How are they to know that they have only todeal with a couple of shipwrecked men? No! They will risk nothingexcept by daylight--at least, if they are going to stop. "

"Supposing they go away when the daylight comes?" answered Tartlet.

"Go away? Why should they have come to Phina Island for one night?"

"I do not know, " replied the professor, who in his terror could onlyexplain the arrival of the blacks by supposing that they had come tofeed on human flesh.

"Anyhow, " continued Godfrey; "to-morrow morning, if they have not cometo Will Tree, we will go out and reconnoitre. "

"We?"

"Yes! we! Nothing would be more imprudent than for us to separate! Whoknows whether we may not have to run to the forest in the centre of theisland and hide there for some days--until the departure of the proa!No! We will keep together, Tartlet!"

"Hush!" said the professor in a low voice; "I think I hear somethingoutside. "

Godfrey climbed up again to the window, and got down again almostimmediately.

"No!" he said. "Nothing suspicious! It is only our cattle coming back tothe wood. "

"Hunted perhaps!" exclaimed Tartlet.

"They seem very quiet then, " replied Godfrey; "I fancy they have onlycome in search of shelter against the morning dew. "

"Ah!" murmured Tartlet in so piteous a tone that Godfrey could hardlyhelp laughing, "these things could not happen at your uncle's place inMontgomery Street!"

"Day will soon break, " said Godfrey, after a pause. "In an hour's time, if the savages have not appeared, we will leave Will Tree andreconnoitre towards the north of the island. You are able to carry agun, Tartlet?"

"Carry? Yes!"

"And to fire it in a stated direction?"

"I do not know! I have never tried such a thing, and you may be sure, Godfrey, that my bullet will not go--"

"Who knows if the report alone might not frighten the savages?"

An hour later, it was light enough to see beyond the sequoias.

Godfrey then cautiously reopened the shutters.

From that looking to the south he saw nothing extraordinary. Thedomestic animals wandered peacefully under the trees, and did not appearin the least alarmed. The survey completed, Godfrey carefully shut thiswindow. Through the opening to the north there was a view up to theshore. Two miles off even the end of Flag Point could be seen; but themouth of the river at the place where the savages had landed the eveningbefore was not visible. Godfrey at first looked around without using hisglass, so as to examine the environs of Will Tree on this side of PhinaIsland.

All was quite peaceful.

Godfrey then taking his glass swept round the coast to the promontory atFlag Point. Perhaps, as Tartlet had said, though it was difficult tofind the reason, the savages had embarked, after a night spent on shore, without attempting to see if the island were inhabited.

CHAPTER XVII.

IN WHICH PROFESSOR TARTLET'S GUN REALLY DOES MARVELS.

But Godfrey suddenly uttered an exclamation which made the professorjump. There could be no doubt that the savages knew the island wasinhabited, for the flag hitherto hoisted at the extremity of the capehad been carried away by them and no longer floated on the mast at FlagPoint. The moment had then come to put the project into execution, toreconnoitre if the savages were still in the island, and to see whatthey were doing.

"Let us go, " said he to his companion.

"Go! But--" answered Tartlet.

"Would you rather stay here?"

"With you, Godfrey--yes!"

"No--alone!"

"Alone! Never!"

"Come along then!"

Tartlet, thoroughly understanding that Godfrey would not alter hisdecision, resolved to accompany him. He had not courage enough to staybehind at Will Tree.

Before starting, Godfrey assured himself that the fire-arms were readyfor action. The two guns were loaded, and one passed into the hands ofthe professor, who seemed as much embarrassed with it as might have beena savage of Pomotou. He also hung one of the hunting-knives to his belt, to which he had already attached his cartridge-pouch. The thought hadoccurred to him to also take his fiddle, imagining perhaps that theywould be sensible to the charm of its squeaking, of which all the talentof a virtuoso could not conceal the harshness.

Godfrey had some trouble in getting him to abandon this idea, which wasas ridiculous as it was impracticable.

It was now six o'clock in the morning. The summits of the sequoias wereglowing in the first rays of the sun.

Godfrey opened the door; he stepped outside; he scanned the group oftrees.

Complete solitude.

The animals had returned to the prairie. There they were, tranquillybrowsing, about a quarter of a mile away. Nothing about them denoted theleast uneasiness.

Godfrey made a sign to Tartlet to join him. The professor, as clumsy ascould be in his fighting harness, followed--not without some hesitation.

Then Godfrey shut the door, and saw that it was well hidden in the barkof the sequoia. Then, having thrown at the foot of the tree a bundle oftwigs, which he weighted with a few large stones, he set out towards theriver, whose banks he intended to descend, if necessary, to its mouth. Tartlet followed him not without giving before each of his steps anuneasy stare completely round him up to the very limits of the horizon;but the fear of being left alone impelled him to advance.

Arrived at the edge of the group of trees, Godfrey stopped.

Taking his glasses from their case, he scanned with extreme attentionall that part of the coast between the Flag Point promontory and thenorth-east angle of the island.

Not a living being showed itself, not a single smoke wreath was risingin the air.

The end of the cape was equally deserted, but they would there doubtlessfind numberless footprints freshly made. As for the mast, Godfrey hadnot been deceived. If the staff still rose above the last rock on thecape, it was bereft of its flag. Evidently the savages after coming tothe place had gone off with the red cloth which had excited theircovetousness, and had regained their boat at the mouth of the river.


Godfrey then turned off so as to examine the western shore.

It was nothing but a vast desert from Flag Point right away beyond thecurve of Dream Bay.

No boat of any kind appeared on the surface of the sea. If the savageshad taken to their proa, it only could be concluded that they werehugging the coast sheltered by the rocks, and so closely that they couldnot be seen.

However, Godfrey could not and would not remain in doubt. He wasdetermined to ascertain, yes or no, if the proa had definitely left theisland.

To do this it was necessary to visit the spot where the savages hadlanded the night before, that is to say, the narrow creek at the mouthof the river.

This he immediately attempted.

The borders of the small watercourse were shaded by occasional clumps oftrees encircled by shrubs, for a distance of about two miles. Beyondthat for some five or six hundred yards down to the sea the river ranbetween naked banks. This state of affairs enabled him to approach closeto the landing-place without being perceived. It might be, however, thatthe savages had ascended the stream, and to be prepared for thiseventuality the advance had to be made with extreme caution.

Godfrey, however thought, not without reason, that, at this early hourthe savages, fatigued by their long voyage, would not have quitted theiranchorage. Perhaps they were still sleeping either in their canoe or onland; in which case it would be seen if they could not be surprised.

This idea was acted upon at once. It was important that they should geton quickly. In such circumstances the advantage is generally gained atthe outset. The fire-arms were again examined, the revolvers werecarefully looked at, and then Godfrey and Tartlet commenced the descentof the left bank of the river in Indian file. All around was quiet. Flocks of birds flew from one bank to the other, pursuing each otheramong the higher branches without showing any uneasiness.

Godfrey went first, but it can easily be believed that his companionfound the attempt to cover step rather tiring. Moving from one tree toanother they advanced towards the shore without risk of discovery. Herethe clumps of bushes hid them from the opposite bank, there even theirheads disappeared amid the luxurious vegetation. But no matter wherethey were, an arrow from a bow or a stone from a sling might at anymoment reach them. And so they had to be constantly on their guard.

However, in spite of the recommendations which were addressed to him, Tartlet, tripping against an occasional stump, had two or three fallswhich might have complicated matters. Godfrey was beginning to regrethaving brought such a clumsy assistant. Indeed, the poor man could notbe much help to him. Doubtless he would have been worth more left behindat Will Tree; or, if he would not consent to that, hidden away in somenook in the forest. But it was too late. An hour after he had left thesequoia group, Godfrey and his companion had come a mile--only amile--for the path was not easy beneath the high vegetation and betweenthe luxuriant shrubs. Neither one nor the other of our friends had seenanything suspicious.

Hereabouts the trees thinned out for about a hundred yards or less, theriver ran between naked banks, the country round was barer.

Godfrey stopped. He carefully observed the prairie to the right and leftof the stream.

Still there was nothing to disquiet him, nothing to indicate theapproach of savages. It is true that as they could not but believe theisland inhabited, they would not advance without precaution, in factthey would be as careful in ascending the little river as Godfrey was indescending it. It was to be supposed therefore that if they wereprowling about the neighbourhood, they would also profit by the shelterof the trees or the high bushes of mastics and myrtles which formed suchan excellent screen.

It was a curious though very natural circumstance that, the farther theyadvanced, Tartlet, perceiving no enemy, little by little lost histerror, and began to speak with scorn of "those canniballaughing-stocks. " Godfrey, on the contrary, became more anxious, and itwas with greater precaution than ever that he crossed the open space andregained the shadow of the trees. Another hour led them to the placewhere the banks, beginning to feel the effects of the sea's vicinity, were only bordered with stunted shrubs, or sparse grasses.

Under these circumstances it was difficult to keep hidden or ratherimpossible to proceed without crawling along the ground.

This is what Godfrey did, and also what he advised Tartlet to do.

"There are not any savages! There are not any cannibals! They have allgone!" said the professor.

"There are!" answered Godfrey quickly, in a low voice, "They ought to behere! Down Tartlet, get down! Be ready to fire, but don't do so till Itell you. "

Godfrey had said these words in such a tone of authority that theprofessor, feeling his limbs give way under him, had no difficulty in atonce assuming the required position.

And he did well!

In fact, it was not without reason that Godfrey had spoken as he had.

From the spot which they then occupied, they could see neither theshore, nor the place where the river entered the sea. A small spur ofhills shut out the view about a hundred yards ahead, but above this nearhorizon a dense smoke was rising straight in the air.

Godfrey, stretched at full length in the grass, with his finger on thetrigger of his musket, kept looking towards the coast.

"This smoke, " he said, "is it not of the same kind that I have alreadyseen twice before? Should I conclude that savages have previously landedon the north and south of the island, and that the smoke came from fireslighted by them? But no! That is not possible, for I found no cinders, nor traces of a fireplace, nor embers! Ah! this time I'll know thereason of it. "

And by a clever reptilian movement, which Tartlet imitated as well as hecould, he managed, without showing his head above the grass, to reachthe bend of the river.

Thence he could command, at his ease, every part of the bank throughwhich the river ran.

An exclamation could not but escape him! His hand touched theprofessor's shoulder to prevent any movement of his! Useless to gofurther! Godfrey saw what he had come to see!

A large fire of wood was lighted on the beach, among the lower rocks, and from it a canopy of smoke rose slowly to the sky. Around the fire, feeding it with fresh armfuls of wood, of which they had made a heap, went and came the savages who had landed the evening before. Their canoewas moored to a large stone, and, lifted by the rising tide, oscillatedon the ripples of the shore.

Godfrey could distinguish all that was passing on the sands withoutusing his glasses. He was not more than two hundred yards from the fire, and he could even hear it crackling. He immediately perceived that heneed fear no surprise from the rear, for all the blacks he had countedin the proa were in the group.

Ten out of the twelve were occupied in looking after the fire andsticking stakes in the ground with the evident intention of rigging up aspit in the Polynesian manner. An eleventh, who appeared to be thechief, was walking along the beach, and constantly turning his glancestowards the interior of the island, as if he were afraid of an attack.

Godfrey recognized as a piece of finery on his shoulders the red stuffof his flag.

The twelfth savage was stretched on the ground, tied tightly to a post.

Godfrey recognized at once the fate in store for the wretched man. Thespit was for him! The fire was to roast him at! Tartlet had not beenmistaken, when, the previous evening, he had spoken of these folks ascannibals!

It must be admitted that neither was he mistaken in saying that theadventures of Crusoes, real or imaginary, were all copied one from theother!

Most certainly Godfrey and he did then find themselves in the sameposition as the hero of Daniel Defoe when the savages landed on hisisland. They were to assist, without doubt, at the same scene ofcannibalism.

Godfrey decided to act as this hero did! He would not permit themassacre of the prisoner for which the stomachs of the cannibals werewaiting! He was well armed. His two muskets--four shots--his tworevolvers--a dozen shots--could easily settle these eleven rascals, whomthe mere report of one of the fire-arms might perhaps be sufficient toscatter. Having taken his decision he coolly waited for the moment tointerfere like a thunder-clap.

He had not long to wait!

Twenty minutes had barely elapsed, when the chief approached the fire. Then by a gesture he pointed out the prisoner to the savages who wereexpecting his orders.

Godfrey rose. Tartlet, without knowing why, followed the example. He didnot even comprehend where his companion was going, for he had saidnothing to him of his plans.

Godfrey imagined, evidently, that at sight of him the savages wouldmake some movement, perhaps to rush to their boat, perhaps to rush athim.

They did nothing. It did not even seem as though they saw him; but atthis moment the chief made a significant gesture. Three of hiscompanions went towards the prisoner, unloosed him, and forced him nearthe fire.

He was still a young man, who, feeling that his last hour had come, resisted with all his might.

Assuredly, if he could, he would sell his life dearly. He began bythrowing off the savages who held him, but he was soon knocked down, andthe thief, seizing a sort of stone axe, jumped forward to beat in hishead.

Godfrey uttered a cry, followed by a report. A bullet whistled throughthe air, and it seemed as though the chief were mortally wounded, for hefell on the ground.

At the report, the savages, surprised as though they had never heard thesound of fire-arms, stopped. At the sight of Godfrey those who held theprisoner instantly released him.

Immediately the poor fellow arose, and ran towards the place where heperceived his unexpected liberator.

At this moment a second report was heard.

It was Tartlet, who, without looking--for the excellent man kept hiseyes shut--had just fired, and the stock of the musket on his rightshoulder delivered the hardest knock which had ever been received by theprofessor of dancing and deportment.

But--what a chance it was!--a second savage fell close to his chief.

The rout at once began. Perhaps the savages thought they had to do witha numerous troop of natives whom they could not resist. Perhaps theywere simply terrified at the sight of the two white men who seemed tokeep the lightning in their pockets. There they were, seizing the twowho were wounded, carrying them off, rushing to the proa, driving it bytheir paddles out of the little creek, hoisting their sail, steeringbefore the wind, making for the Flag Point promontory, and doubling itin hot haste.

Godfrey had no thought of pursuing them. What was the good of killingthem? They had saved the victim. They had put them to flight, that wasthe important point. This had been done in such a way that the cannibalswould never dare to return to Phina Island.

All was then for the best. They had only to rejoice in their victory, inwhich Tartlet did not hesitate to claim the greatest share.

Meanwhile the prisoner had come to his rescuer. For an instant hestopped, with the fear inspired in him by superior beings, but almostimmediately he resumed his course. When he arrived before the twowhites, he bowed to the ground; then catching hold of Godfrey's foot, heplaced it on his head in sign of servitude.

One would almost have thought that this Polynesian savage had also readRobinson Crusoe!

CHAPTER XVIII.

WHICH TREATS OF THE MORAL AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION OF A SIMPLE NATIVE OFTHE PACIFIC.

Godfrey at once raised the poor fellow, who lay prostrate before him. Helooked in his face.

He was a man of thirty-five or more, wearing only a rag round his loins. In his features, as in the shape of his head, there could be recognizedthe type of the African negro. It was not possible to confound him withthe debased wretches of the Polynesian islands, who, with theirdepressed crania and elongated arms, approach so strangely to themonkey.

Now, as he was a negro from Soudan or Abyssinia who had fallen into thehands of the natives of an archipelago of the Pacific, it might be thathe could speak English or one or two words of the European languageswhich Godfrey understood. But it was soon apparent that the unhappy manonly used an idiom that was absolutely incomprehensible--probably thelanguage of the aborigines among whom he had doubtless arrived when veryyoung. In fact, Godfrey had immediately interrogated him in English, and had obtained no reply. He then made him understand by signs, notwithout difficulty, that he would like to know his name.

After many fruitless essays, the negro, who had a very intelligent andeven honest face, replied to the demand which was made of him in asingle word, --

"Carefinotu. "

"Carefinotu!" exclaimed Tartlet. "Do you hear the name? I propose thatwe call him 'Wednesday, ' for to-day is Wednesday, and that is what theyalways do in these Crusoe islands! Is he to be allowed to call himselfCarefinotu?"

"If that is his name, " said Godfrey; "why should he not keep it?"

And at the moment he felt a hand placed on his chest, while all theblack's physiognomy seemed to ask him what his name was.

"Godfrey!" answered he.

The black endeavoured to say the word, but although Godfrey repeated itseveral times, he could not succeed in pronouncing it in an intelligiblefashion. Then he turned towards the professor, as if to know his name.

"Tartlet, " was the reply of that individual in a most amiable tone.

"Tartlet!" repeated Carefinotu.

And it seemed as though this assemblage of syllables was more agreeableto his vocal chords, for he pronounced it distinctly.

The professor appeared to be extremely flattered. In truth he had reasonto be.

Then Godfrey, wishing to put the intelligence of the black to someprofit, tried to make him understand that he wished to know the name ofthe island. He pointed with his hand to the woods and prairies andhills, and then the shore which bound them, and then the horizon of thesea, and he interrogated him with a look.

Carefinotu did not at first understand what was meant, and imitating thegesture of Godfrey he also turned and ran his eyes over the space.

"Arneka, " said he at length.

"Arneka?" replied Godfrey, striking the soil with his foot so as toaccentuate his demand.

"Arneka!" repeated the negro.

This told Godfrey nothing, neither the geographical name borne by theisland, nor its position in the Pacific. He could not remember such aname; it was probably a native one, little known to geographers.

However, Carefinotu did not cease from looking at the two white men, notwithout some stupor, going from one to the other as if he wished to fixin his mind the differences which characterized them. The smile on hismouth disclosed abundant teeth of magnificent whiteness which Tartletdid not examine without a certain reserve.

"If those teeth, " he said, "have never eaten human flesh may my fiddleburst up in my hand. "

"Anyhow, Tartlet, " answered Godfrey; "our new companion no longer lookslike the poor beggar they were going to cook and feed on! That is themain point!"

What particularly attracted the attention of Carefinotu were the weaponscarried by Godfrey and Tartlet--as much the musket in the hand as therevolver in the belt.

Godfrey easily understood this sentiment of curiosity. It was evidentthat the savage had never seen a fire-arm. He said to himself that thiswas one of those iron tubes which had launched the thunder-bolt that haddelivered him? There could be no doubt of it.

Godfrey, wishing to give him, not without reason, a high idea of thepower of the whites, loaded his gun, and then, showing to Carefinotu ared-legged partridge that was flying across the prairie about a hundredyards away, he shouldered it quickly, and fired. The bird fell.

At the report the black gave a prodigious leap, which Tartlet could notbut admire from a choregraphic point of view. Then repressing his fear, and seeing the bird with broken wing running through the grass, hestarted off and swift as a greyhound ran towards it, and with many acaper, half of joy, half of stupefaction, brought it back to his master.

Tartlet then thought of displaying to Carefinotu that the Great Spirithad also favoured him with the power of the lightning; and perceiving akingfisher tranquilly seated on an old stump near the river was bringingthe stock up to his cheek, when Godfrey stopped him with, --

"No! Don't fire, Tartlet!"

"Why not?"

"Suppose that by some mishap you were not to hit the bird, think how wewould fall in the estimation of the nigger!"

"And why should I not hit him?" replied Tartlet with some acerbity. "DidI not, during the battle, at more than a hundred paces, the very firsttime I handled a gun, hit one of the cannibals full in the chest?"

"You touched him evidently, " said Godfrey; "for he fell. But take myadvice, Tartlet, and in the common interest do not tempt fortune twice!"

The professor, slightly annoyed, allowed himself to be convinced; hethrew the gun on to his shoulder with a swagger, and both our heroes, followed by Carefinotu, returned to Will Tree.

There the new guest of Phina Island met with quite a surprise in thehabitation so happily contrived in the lower part of the sequoia. Firsthe had to be shown, by using them while he looked on, the use of thetools, instruments, and utensils. It was obvious that Carefinotubelonged to, or had lived amongst savages in the lowest rank of thehuman scale, for fire itself seemed to be unknown to him. He could notunderstand why the pot did not take fire when they put it on the blazingwood; he would have hurried away from it, to the great displeasure ofTartlet, who was watching the different phases of the cooking of thesoup. At a mirror, which was held out to him, he betrayed consummateastonishment; he turned round, and turned it round to see if he himselfwere not behind it.

"The fellow is hardly a monkey!" exclaimed the professor with adisdainful grimace.

"No, Tartlet, " answered Godfrey; "he is more than a monkey, for hislooks behind the mirror show good reasoning power. "

"Well, I will admit that he is not a monkey, " said Tartlet, shaking hishead as if only half convinced; "but we shall see if such a being can beof any good to us. "

"I am sure he will be!" replied Godfrey.

In any case Carefinotu showed himself quite at home with the food placedbefore him. He first tore it apart, and then tasted it; and then Ibelieve that the whole breakfast of which they partook the--agouti soup, the partridge killed by Godfrey, and the shoulder of mutton with camasand yamph roots--would hardly have sufficed to calm the hunger whichdevoured him.

"The poor fellow has got a good appetite!" said Godfrey.

"Yes, " responded Tartlet; "and we shall have to keep a watch on hiscannibal instinct. "

"Well, Tartlet! We shall make him get over the taste of human flesh ifhe ever had it!"

"I would not swear that, " replied the professor. "It appears that oncethey have acquired this taste--"

While they were talking, Carefinotu was listening with extremeattention. His eyes sparkled with intelligence. One could see that heunderstood what was being said in his presence. He then spoke withextreme volubility, but it was only a succession of onomatopoeiasdevoid of sense, of harsh interjections with _a_ and _ou_ predominant, as in the majority of Polynesian idioms.

Whatever the negro was, he was a new companion; he might become adevoted servant, which the most unexpected chance had sent to the hostsof Will Tree.

He was powerful, adroit, active; no work came amiss to him. He showed areal aptitude to imitate what he saw being done. It was in this waythat Godfrey proceeded with his education. The care of the domesticanimals, the collection of the roots and fruits, the cutting up of thesheep or agouties, which were to serve for food for the day, thefabrication of a sort of cider they extracted from the wild manzanillaapples, --he acquitted himself well in all these tasks, after having seenthem done.

Whatever Tartlet thought, Godfrey felt no distrust in the savage, andnever seemed to regret having come across him. What disquieted him wasthe possible return of the cannibals who now knew the situation of PhinaIsland.

From the first, a bed had been reserved for Carefinotu in the room atWill Tree, but generally, unless it was raining, he preferred to sleepoutside in some hole in the tree, as though he were on guard over thehouse.

During the fortnight which followed his arrival on the island, Carefinotu many times accompanied Godfrey on his shooting excursions. His surprise was always extreme when he saw the game fall hit at such adistance; but in his character of retriever, he showed a dash and daringwhich no obstacles, hedge or bush, or stream, could stop.

Gradually, Godfrey became greatly attached to this negro. There was onlyone part of his progress in which Carefinotu showed refractoriness; thatwas in learning the English language. Do what he might he could not beprevailed upon to pronounce the most ordinary words which Godfrey, andparticularly Professor Tartlet tried to teach him.

So the time passed. But if the present was fairly supportable, thanks toa happy accident, if no immediate danger menaced them, Godfrey could nothelp asking himself, if they were ever to leave this island, by whatmeans they were to rejoin their country! Not a day passed but he thoughtof Uncle Will and his betrothed. It was not without secret apprehensionthat he saw the bad season approaching, which would put between hisfriends and him a barrier still more impassable.

On the 27th of September a circumstance occurred deserving of note.

If it gave more work to Godfrey and his two companions, it at leastassured them of an abundant reserve of food.

Godfrey and Carefinotu were busied in collecting the mollusks, at theextreme end of Dream Bay, when they perceived out at sea an innumerablequantity of small moving islets which the rising tide was bringinggently to shore. It was a sort of floating archipelago, on the surfaceof which there walked, or flew, a few of those sea-birds, with greatexpanse of wing, known as sea-hawks.

What then were these masses which floated landwards, rising and fallingwith the undulations of the waves?

Godfrey did not know what to think, when Carefinotu threw himself downon his stomach, and then drawing his head back into his shoulders, folded beneath him his arms and legs, and began to imitate the movementsof an animal crawling slowly along the ground.

Godfrey looked at him without understanding these extraordinarygymnastics. Then suddenly--

"Turtles!" he exclaimed.

Carefinotu was right. There was quite a square mile of myriads ofturtles, swimming on the surface of the water.

About a hundred fathoms from the shore the greater part of them divedand disappeared, and the sea-hawks, finding their footing gone, flew upinto the air in large spirals. But luckily about a hundred of theamphibians came on to the beach.

Godfrey and the negro had quickly run down in front of these creatures, each of which measured at the least from three to four feet in diameter. Now the only way of preventing turtles from regaining the sea is to turnthem on their backs; and it was in this rough work that Godfrey andCarefinotu employed themselves, not without great fatigue.

The following days were spent in collecting the booty. The flesh of theturtle, which is excellent either fresh or preserved, could perhaps bekept for a time in both forms. In preparation for the winter, Godfreyhad the greater part salted in such a way as to serve for the needs ofeach day. But for some time the table was supplied with turtle soup, onwhich Tartlet was not the only one to regale himself.

Barring this incident, the monotony of existence was in no way ruffled. Every day the same hours were devoted to the same work. Would not thelife become still more depressing when the winter season would obligeGodfrey and his companions to shut themselves up in Will Tree? Godfreycould not think of it without anxiety. But what could he do?

Meanwhile, he continued the exploration of the island, and all the timenot occupied with more pressing tasks he spent in roaming about with hisgun. Generally Carefinotu accompanied him, Tartlet remaining behind atthe dwelling. Decidedly he was no hunter, although his first shot hadbeen a master-stroke!

Now on one of these occasions an unexpected incident happened, of anature to gravely compromise the future safety of the inmates of WillTree.

Godfrey and the black had gone out hunting in the central forest, at thefoot of the hill which formed the principal ridge of Phina Island. Sincethe morning they had seen nothing pass but two or three antelopesthrough the high underwood, but at too great a distance for them to firewith any chance of hitting them.

As Godfrey was not in search of game for dinner, and did not seek todestroy for destruction's sake, he resigned himself to returnempty-handed. If he regretted doing so it was not so much for the meatof the antelope, as for the skin, of which he intended to make good use.

It was about three o'clock in the afternoon. He and his companion afterlunch were no more fortunate than before. They were preparing to returnto Will Tree for dinner, when, just as they cleared the edge of thewood, Carefinotu made a bound; then precipitating himself on Godfrey, heseized him by the shoulders, and dragged him along with such vigour thatresistance was impossible.

After going about twenty yards they stopped. Godfrey took breath, and, turning towards Carefinotu, interrogated him with a look.

The black, exceedingly frightened, stretched out his hand towards ananimal which was standing motionless about fifty yards off.

It was a grizzly bear, whose paws held the trunk of a tree, and who wasswaying his big head up and down, as if he were going to rush at the twohunters.

Immediately, without pausing to think, Godfrey loaded his gun, and firedbefore Carefinotu could hinder him.

Was the enormous plantigrade hit by the bullet? Probably. Was he killed?They could not be sure, but his paws unclasped, and he rolled at thefoot of the tree. Delay was dangerous. A struggle with so formidable ananimal might have the worst results. In the forests of California thepursuit of the grizzly is fraught with the greatest danger, even toprofessional hunters of the beast.

And so the black seized Godfrey by the arms to drag him away in thedirection of Will Tree, and Godfrey, understanding that he could not betoo cautious, made no resistance.

CHAPTER XIX.

IN WHICH THE SITUATION ALREADY GRAVELY COMPROMISED BECOMES MORE AND MORECOMPLICATED.

The presence of a formidable wild beast in Phina Island was, it must beconfessed, calculated to make our friends think the worst of theill-fortune which had fallen on them.

Godfrey--perhaps he was wrong--did not consider that he ought to hidefrom Tartlet what had passed.

"A bear!" screamed the professor, looking round him with a bewilderedglare as if the environs of Will Tree were being assailed by a herd ofwild beasts. "Why, a bear? Up to now we had not even got a bear in ourisland! If there is one there may be many, and even numbers of otherferocious beasts--jaguars, panthers, tigers, hy�nas, lions!"

Tartlet already beheld Phina Island given over to quite a menagerieescaped from their cages.

Godfrey answered that there was no need for him to exaggerate. He hadseen one bear, that was certain. Why one of these animals had never beenseen before in his wanderings on the island he could not explain, and itwas indeed inexplicable. But to conclude from this that wild animals ofall kinds were prowling in the woods and prairies was to go too far. Nevertheless, they would have to be cautious and never go out unarmed.

Unhappy Tartlet! From this day there commenced for him an existence ofanxieties, emotions, alarms, and irrational terrors which gave himnostalgia for his native land in a most acute form.

"No!" repeated he. "No! If there are animals--I have had enough of it, and I want to get off!"

He had not the power.

Godfrey and his companions then had henceforth to be on their guard. Anattack might take place not only on the shore side or the prairie side, but even in the group of sequoias. This is why serious measures weretaken to put the habitation in a state to repel a sudden attack. Thedoor was strengthened, so as to resist the clutches of a wild beast. Asfor the domestic animals Godfrey would have built a stable to shut themup in at least at night, but it was not easy to do so. He contentedhimself at present with making a sort of enclosure of branches not farfrom Will Tree, which would keep them as in a fold. But the enclosurewas not solid enough nor high enough to hinder a bear or hy�na fromupsetting it or getting over it.

Notwithstanding the remonstrances made to him, Carefinotu persisted inwatching outside during the night, and Godfrey hoped thus to receivewarning of a direct attack.

Decidedly Carefinotu endangered his life in thus constituting himselfthe guardian of Will Tree; but he had understood that he could thus beof service to his liberators, and he persisted, in spite of all Godfreysaid to him, in watching as usual over the general safety.

A week passed without any of these formidable visitors appearing in theneighbourhood. Godfrey did not go very far from the dwelling, unlessthere was a necessity for his doing so. While the sheep and goats grazedon the neighbouring prairie, they were never allowed out of sight. Generally Carefinotu acted as shepherd. He did not take a gun, for hedid not seem to understand the management of fire-arms, but one of thehunting-knives hung from his belt, and he carried an axe in his righthand. Thus armed the active negro would not have hesitated to throwhimself before a tiger or any animal of the worst description.

However, as neither a bear nor any of his congeners had appeared sincethe last encounter Godfrey began to gather confidence. He graduallyresumed his hunting expeditions, but without pushing far into theinterior of the island. Frequently the black accompanied him; Tartlet, safe in Will Tree, would not risk himself in the open, not even if hehad the chance of giving a dancing lesson. Sometimes Godfrey would goalone, and then the professor had a companion to whose instruction heobstinately devoted himself.

Yes! Tartlet had at first thought of teaching Carefinotu the mostordinary words in the English language, but he had to give this up, asthe negro seemed to lack the necessary phonetic apparatus for that kindof pronunciation. "Then, " had Tartlet said, "if I cannot be hisprofessor, I will be his pupil!"

And he it was who attempted to learn the idiom spoken by Carefinotu. Godfrey had warned him that the accomplishment would be of little use. Tartlet was not dissuaded. He tried to get Carefinotu to name theobjects he pointed at with his hand. In truth Tartlet must have got onexcellently, for at the end of fifteen days he actually knew fifteenwords! He knew that Carefinotu said "birsi" for fire, "aradore" for thesky, "mervira" for the sea, "doura" for a tree, &c. He was as proud ofthis as if he had taken the first prize for Polynesian at someexamination!

It was then with a feeling of gratitude that he wished to make somerecognition of what had been done for him, and instead of torturing thenegro with English words, he resolved on teaching him deportment and thetrue principles of European choregraphy.

At this Godfrey could not restrain his peals of laughter. After all itwould pass the time away, and on Sunday, when there was nothing else todo, he willingly assisted at the course of lectures delivered by thecelebrated Professor Tartlet of San Francisco. Indeed, we ought to haveseen them! The unhappy Carefinotu perspired profusely as he went throughthe elementary exercises. He was docile and willing, nevertheless; butlike all his fellows, his shoulders did not set back, nor did his chestthrow out, nor did his knees or his feet point apart! To make a Vestrisor a Saint Leon of a savage of this sort!

The professor pursued his task in quite a fury. Carefinotu, tortured ashe was, showed no lack of zeal. What he suffered, even to get his feetinto the first position can be imagined! And when he passed to thesecond and then to the third, it was still more agonizing.

"But look at me, you blockhead!" exclaimed Tartlet, who added example toprecept. "Put your feet out! Further out! The heel of one to the heel ofthe other! Open your knees, you duffer! Put back your shoulders, youidiot! Stick up your head! Round your elbows!"

"But you ask what is impossible!" said Godfrey.

"Nothing is impossible to an intelligent man!" was Tartlet's invariableresponse.

"But his build won't allow of it. "

"Well, his build must allow of it! He will have to do it sooner orlater, for the savage must at least know how to present himself properlyin a drawing-room!"

"But, Tartlet, he will never have the opportunity of appearing in adrawing-room!"

"Eh! How do you know that, Godfrey?" replied the professor, drawinghimself up. "Do you know what the future may bring forth?"

This was the last word in all discussions with Tartlet. And then theprofessor taking his kit would with the bow extract from it some squeakylittle air to the delight of Carefinotu. It required but this to excitehim. Oblivious of choregraphic rules, what leaps, what contortions, whatcapers!

And Tartlet, in a reverie, as he saw this child of Polynesia so demeanhimself, inquired if these steps, perhaps a little too characteristic, were not natural to the human being, although outside all the principlesof his art.

But we must leave the professor of dancing and deportment to hisphilosophical meditations, and return to questions at once morepractical and pressing.

During his last excursions into the plain, either by himself or withCarefinotu, Godfrey had seen no wild animal. He had even come upon notraces of such. The river to which they would come to drink bore nofootprint on its banks. During the night there were no howlings norsuspicious noises. Besides the domestic animals continued to give nosigns of uneasiness.

"This is singular, " said Godfrey several times; "but I was not mistaken!Carefinotu certainly was not! It was really a bear that he showed me! Itwas really a bear that I shot! Supposing I killed him, was he the lastrepresentative of the plantigrades on the island?"

It was quite inexplicable! Besides, if Godfrey had killed this bear, hewould have found the body where he had shot it. Now they searched for itin vain! Were they to believe then that the animal mortally wounded haddied far off in some den. It was possible after all, but then at thisplace, at the foot of this tree, there would have been traces of blood, and there were none.

"Whatever it is, " thought Godfrey, "it does not much matter; and we mustkeep on our guard. "

With the first days of November it could be said that the wet season hadcommenced in this unknown latitude. Cold rains fell for many hours. Later on probably they would experience those interminable showers whichdo not cease for weeks at a time, and are characteristic of the rainyperiod of winter in these latitudes.

Godfrey had then to contrive a fireplace in the interior of WillTree--an indispensable fireplace that would serve as well to warm thedwelling during the winter months as to cook their food in shelter fromthe rain and tempest.

The hearth could at any time be placed in a corner of the chamberbetween big stones, some placed on the ground and others built up roundthem; but the question was how to get the smoke out, for to leave it toescape by the long chimney, which ran down the centre of the sequoia, proved impracticable.

Godfrey thought of using as a pipe some of those long stout bambooswhich grew on certain parts of the river banks. It should be said thaton this occasion he was greatly assisted by Carefinotu. The negro, notwithout effort, understood what Godfrey required. He it was whoaccompanied him for a couple of miles from Will Tree to select thelarger bamboos, he it was who helped him build his hearth. The stoneswere placed on the ground opposite to the door; the bamboos, emptied oftheir pith and bored through at the knots, afforded, when joined one toanother, a tube of sufficient length, which ran out through an aperturemade for it in the sequoia bark, and would serve every purpose, providedit did not catch fire. Godfrey soon had the satisfaction of seeing agood fire burning without filling the interior of Will Tree with smoke.

He was quite right in hastening on these preparations, for from the 3rdto the 10th of November the rain never ceased pouring down. It wouldhave been impossible to keep a fire going in the open air. During thesemiserable days they had to keep indoors and did got venture out exceptwhen the flocks and poultry urgently required them to do so. Under thesecircumstances the reserve of camas roots began to fail; and these werewhat took the place of bread, and of which the want would be immediatelyfelt.

Godfrey then one day, the 10th of November, informed Tartlet that assoon as the weather began to mend a little he and Carefinotu would goout and collect some. Tartlet, who was never in a hurry to run a coupleof miles across a soaking prairie, decided to remain at home duringGodfrey's absence.

In the evening the sky began to clear of the heavy clouds which the westwind had been accumulating since the commencement of the month, the raingradually ceased, the sun gave forth a few crepuscular rays. It was tobe hoped that the morning would yield a lull in the storm, of which itwas advisable to make the most.

"To-morrow, " said Godfrey, "I will go out, and Carefinotu will go withme. "

"Agreed!" answered Tartlet.

The evening came, and when supper was finished and the sky, cleared ofclouds, permitted a few brilliant stars to appear, the black wished totake up his accustomed place outside, which he had had to abandon duringthe preceding rainy nights. Godfrey tried to make him understand that hehad better remain indoors, that there was no necessity to keep a watchas no wild animal had been noticed; but Carefinotu was obstinate. Hetherefore had to have his way.

The morning was as Godfrey had foreseen, no rain had fallen since theprevious evening, and when he stepped forth from Will Tree, the firstrays of the sun were lightly gilding the thick dome of the sequoias.

Carefinotu was at his post, where he had passed the night. He waswaiting. Immediately, well armed and provided with large sacks, the twobid farewell to Tartlet, and started for the river, which they intendedascending along the left bank up to the camas bushes.

An hour afterwards they arrived there without meeting with anyunpleasant adventure.

The roots were rapidly torn up and a large quantity obtained, so as tofill the sacks. This took three hours, so that it was about eleveno'clock in the morning when Godfrey and his companion set out on theirreturn to Will Tree.

Walking close together, keeping a sharp look-out, for they could nottalk to each other, they had reached a bend in the small river wherethere were a few large trees, grown like a natural cradle across thestream, when Godfrey suddenly stopped.

This time it was he who showed to Carefinotu a motionless animal at thefoot of a tree whose eyes were gleaming with a singular light.

"A tiger!" he exclaimed.

He was not mistaken. It was really a tiger of large stature resting onits hind legs with its forepaws on the trunk of a tree, and ready tospring.

In a moment Godfrey had dropped his sack of roots. The loaded gun passedinto his right hand; he cocked it, presented it, aimed it, and fired.

"Hurrah! hurrah!" he exclaimed.

This time there was no room for doubt; the tiger, struck by the bullet, had bounded backwards. But perhaps he was not mortally wounded, perhapsrendered still more furious by his wound he would spring on to them!

Godfrey held his gun pointed, and threatened the animal with his secondbarrel.

But before Godfrey could stop him, Carefinotu had rushed at the placewhere the tiger disappeared, his hunting-knife in his hand.

Godfrey shouted for him to stop, to come back! It was in vain. Theblack, resolved even at the risk of his life to finish the animal whichperhaps was only wounded, did not or would not hear.

Godfrey rushed after him.

When he reached the bank, he saw Carefinotu struggling with the tiger, holding him by the throat, and at last stabbing him to the heart with apowerful blow.

The tiger then rolled into the river, of which the waters, swollen bythe rains, carried it away with the quickness of a torrent. The corpse, which floated only for an instant, was swiftly borne off towards thesea.

A bear! A tiger! There could be no doubt that the island did containformidable beasts of prey!

Godfrey, after rejoining Carefinotu, found that in the struggle theblack had only received a few scratches. Then, deeply anxious about thefuture, he retook the road to Will Tree.

CHAPTER XX.

IN WHICH TARTLET REITERATES IN EVERY KEY THAT HE WOULD RATHER BE OFF.

When Tartlet learnt that there were not only bears in the island, buttigers too, his lamentations again arose. Now he would never dare to goout! The wild beasts would end by discovering the road to Will Tree!There was no longer any safety anywhere! In his alarm the professorwanted for his protection quite a fortification! Yes! Stone walls withscarps and counterscarps, curtains and bastions, and ramparts, for whatwas the use of a shelter under a group of sequoias? Above all things, hewould at all risks, like to be off.

"So would I, " answered Godfrey quietly.

In fact, the conditions under which the castaways on Phina Island hadlived up to now were no longer the same. To struggle to the end, tostruggle for the necessaries of life, they had been able, thanks tofortunate circumstances. Against the bad season, against winter and itsmenaces, they knew how to act, but to have to defend themselves againstwild animals, whose attack was possible every minute, was another thingaltogether; and in fact they could not do it.

The situation, already complicated, had become very serious, for it hadbecome intolerable.

"But, " repeated Godfrey to himself, without cessation, "how is it thatfor four months we did not see a single beast of prey in the island, andwhy during the last fortnight have we had to encounter a bear and atiger? What shall we say to that?"

The fact might be inexplicable, but it was none the less real.

Godfrey, whose coolness and courage increased, as difficulties grew, wasnot cast down. If dangerous animals menaced their little colony, it wasbetter to put themselves on guard against their attacks, and thatwithout delay.

But what was to be done?

It was at the outset decided that excursions into the woods or to thesea-shore should be rarer, and that they should never go out unless wellarmed, and only when it was absolutely necessary for their wants.

"We have been lucky enough in our two encounters!" said Godfreyfrequently; "but there may come a time when we may not shoot sostraight! So there is no necessity for us to run into danger!"

At the same time they had not only to settle about the excursions, butto protect Will Tree--not only the dwelling, but the annexes, thepoultry roost, and the fold for the animals, where the wild beasts couldeasily cause irreparable disaster.

Godfrey thought then, if not of fortifying Will Tree according to thefamous plans of Tartlet, at least of connecting the four or five largesequoias which surrounded it.

If he could devise a high and strong palisade from one tree to another, they would be in comparative security at any rate from a surprise.

It was practicable--Godfrey concluded so after an examination of theground--but it would cost a good deal of labour. To reduce this as muchas possible, he thought of erecting the palisade around a perimeter ofonly some three hundred feet. We can judge from this the number of treeshe had to select, cut down, carry, and trim until the enclosure wascomplete.

Godfrey did not quail before his task. He imparted his projects toTartlet, who approved them, and promised his active co-operation; butwhat was more important, he made his plans understood to Carefinotu, whowas always ready to come to his assistance.

They set to work without delay.

There was at a bend in the stream, about a mile from Will Tree, a smallwood of stone pines of medium height, whose trunks, in default of beamsand planks, without wanting to be squared, would, by being placed closetogether, form a solid palisade.

It was to this wood that, at dawn on the 12th of November, Godfrey andhis two companions repaired. Though well armed they advanced with greatcare.

"You can have too much of this sort of thing, " murmured Tartlet, whomthese new difficulties had rendered still more discontented, "I wouldrather be off!"

But Godfrey did not take the trouble to reply to him.

On this occasion his tastes were not being consulted, his intelligenceeven was not being appealed to. It was the assistance of his arms thatthe common interest demanded. In short, he had to resign himself to hisvocation of beast of burden.

No unpleasant accident happened in the mile which separated the woodfrom Will Tree. In vain they had carefully beaten the underwood, andswept the horizon all around them. The domestic animals they had leftout at pasture gave no sign of alarm. The birds continued their frolicswith no more anxiety than usual.

Work immediately began. Godfrey, very properly did not want to begincarrying until all the trees he wanted had been felled. They could workat them in greater safety on the spot.

Carefinotu was of great service during this toilsome task. He had becomevery clever in the use of the axe and saw. His strength even allowed himto continue at work when Godfrey was obliged to rest for a minute or so, and when Tartlet, with bruised hands and aching limbs, had not evenstrength left to lift his fiddle.

However, although the unfortunate professor of dancing and deportmenthad been transformed into a wood-cutter, Godfrey had reserved for himthe least fatiguing part, that is, the clearing off of the smallerbranches. In spite of this, if Tartlet had only been paid half a dollara day, he would have stolen four-fifths of his salary!

For six days, from the 12th to the 17th of November, these labourscontinued. Our friends went off in the morning at dawn, they took theirfood with them, and they did not return to Will Tree until evening. Thesky was not very clear. Heavy clouds frequently accumulated over it. Itwas harvest weather, with alternating showers and sunshine; and duringthe showers the wood-cutters would take shelter under the trees, andresume their task when the rain had ceased.

On the 18th all the trees, topped and cleared of branches, were lyingon the ground, ready for transport to Will Tree.

During this time no wild beast had appeared in the neighbourhood of theriver. The question was, were there any more in the island, or had thebear and the tiger been--a most improbable event--the last of theirspecies?

Whatever it was, Godfrey had no intention of abandoning his project ofthe solid palisade so as to be prepared against a surprise from savages, or bears, or tigers. Besides, the worst was over, and there onlyremained to take the wood where it was wanted.

We say "the worst was over, " though the carriage promised to be somewhatlaborious. If it were not so, it was because Godfrey had had a verypractical idea, which materially lightened the task; this was to makeuse of the current of the river, which the flood occasioned by therecent rains had rendered very rapid, to transport the wood. Small raftscould be formed, and they would quietly float down to the sequoias, where a bar, formed by the small bridge, would stop them. From thence toWill Tree was only about fifty-five paces.

If any of them showed particular satisfaction at this mode of procedure, it was Tartlet.

On the 18th the first rafts were formed, and they arrived at the barrierwithout accident. In less than three days on the evening of the 25th, the palisade had been all sent down to its destination.

On the morrow, the first trunks, sunk two feet in the soil, began torise in such a manner as to connect the principal sequoias whichsurrounded Will Tree. A capping of strong flexible branches, pointed bythe axe, assured the solidity of the wall.

Godfrey saw the work progress with extreme satisfaction, and delayed notuntil it was finished.

"Once the palisade is done, " he said to Tartlet, "we shall be really athome. "

"We shall not be really at home, " replied the professor drily, "until weare in Montgomery Street, with your Uncle Kolderup. "

There was no disputing this opinion.

On the 26th of November the palisade was three parts done. It comprisedamong the sequoias attached one to another that in which the poultry hadestablished themselves, and Godfrey's intention was to build a stableinside it.

In three or four days the fence was finished. There only remained to fitin a solid door, which would assure the closure of Will Tree.

But on the morning of the 27th of November the work was interrupted byan event which we had better explain with some detail, for it was oneof those unaccountable things peculiar to Phina Island.

About eight o'clock, Carefinotu had climbed up to the fork of thesequoia, so as to more carefully close the hole by which the cold andrain penetrated, when he uttered a singular cry.

Godfrey, who was at work at the palisade, raised his head and saw theblack, with expressive gestures, motioning to him to join him withoutdelay.

Godfrey, thinking Carefinotu would not have disturbed him unless he hadserious reason, took his glasses with him and climbed up the interiorpassage, and passing through the hole, seated himself astride of one ofthe main branches.

Carefinotu, pointing with his arm towards the rounded angle which PhinaIsland made to the north-east, showed a column of smoke rising in theair like a long plume.

"Again!" exclaimed Godfrey.

And putting his glasses in the direction, he assured himself that thistime there was no possible error, that it must escape from someimportant fire, which he could distinctly see must be about five milesoff.

Godfrey turned towards the black.

Carefinotu expressed his surprise, by his looks, his exclamations, infact by his whole attitude.

Assuredly he was no less astounded than Godfrey at this apparition.

Besides, in the offing, there was no ship, not a vessel native or other, nothing which showed that a landing had recently been made on the shore.

"Ah! This time I will find out the fire which produces that smoke!"exclaimed Godfrey.

And pointing to the north-east angle of the island, and then to the footof the tree, he gesticulated to Carefinotu that he wished to reach theplace without losing an instant.

Carefinotu understood him. He even gave him to understand that heapproved of the idea.

"Yes, " said Godfrey to himself, "if there is a human being there, wemust know who he is and whence he comes! We must know why he hideshimself! It will be for the safety of all!"

A moment afterwards Carefinotu and he descended to the foot of WillTree. Then Godfrey, informing Tartlet of what had passed and what he wasgoing to do, proposed for him to accompany them to the north coast.

A dozen miles to traverse in one day was not a very tempting suggestionto a man who regarded his legs as the most precious part of his body, and only designed for noble exercises. And so he replied that he wouldprefer to remain at Will Tree.

"Very well, we will go alone, " answered Godfrey, "but do not expect usuntil the evening. "

So saying, and Carefinotu and he carrying some provisions for lunch onthe road, they set out, after taking leave of the professor, whoseprivate opinion it was that they would find nothing, and that all theirfatigue would be useless.

Godfrey took his musket and revolver; the black the axe and thehunting-knife which had become his favourite weapon. They crossed theplank bridge to the right bank of the river, and then struck off acrossthe prairie to the point on the shore where the smoke had been seenrising amongst the rocks.

It was rather more easterly than the place which Godfrey had uselesslyvisited on his second exploration.

They progressed rapidly, not without a sharp look-out that the wood wasclear and that the bushes and underwood did not hide some animal whoseattack might be formidable.

Nothing disquieting occurred.

At noon, after having had some food, without, however, stopping for aninstant, they reached the first line of rocks which bordered the beach. The smoke, still visible, was rising about a quarter of a mile ahead. They had only to keep straight on to reach their goal.

They hastened their steps, but took precautions so as to surprise, andnot be surprised.

Two minutes afterwards the smoke disappeared, as if the fire had beensuddenly extinguished.

But Godfrey had noted with exactness the spot whence it arose. It was atthe point of a strangely formed rock, a sort of truncated pyramid, easily recognizable. Showing this to his companion, he kept straight on.

The quarter of a mile was soon traversed, then the last line wasclimbed, and Godfrey and Carefinotu gained the beach about fifty pacesfrom the rock.

They ran up to it. Nobody! But this time half-smouldering embers andhalf-burnt wood proved clearly that the fire had been alight on thespot.

"There has been some one here!" exclaimed Godfrey. "Some one not amoment ago! We must find out who!"

He shouted. No response! Carefinotu gave a terrible yell. No oneappeared!

Behold them then hunting amongst the neighbouring rocks, searching acavern, a grotto, which might serve as a refuge for a shipwrecked man, an aboriginal, a savage--

It was in vain that they ransacked the slightest recesses of the shore. There was neither ancient nor recent camp in existence, not even thetraces of the passage of a man.

"But, " repeated Godfrey, "it was not smoke from a warm spring thistime! It was from a fire of wood and grass, and that fire could notlight itself. "

Vain was their search. Then about two o'clock Godfrey and Carefinotu, asweary as they were disconcerted at their fruitless endeavours, retooktheir road to Will Tree.

There was nothing astonishing in Godfrey being deep in thought. Itseemed to him that the island was now under the empire of some occultpower. The reappearance of this fire, the presence of wild animals, didnot all this denote some extraordinary complication?

And was there not cause for his being confirmed in this idea when anhour after he had regained the prairie, he heard a singular noise, asort of hard jingling.

Carefinotu pushed him aside at the same instant as a serpent glidedbeneath the herbage, and was about to strike at him.

"Snakes, now. Snakes in the island, after the bears and the tigers!" heexclaimed.

Yes! It was one of those reptiles well-known by the noise they make, arattlesnake of the most venomous species: a giant of the Crotalusfamily!

Carefinotu threw himself between Godfrey and the reptile, which hurriedoff under a thick bush.

But the negro pursued it and smashed in its head with a blow of the axe. When Godfrey rejoined him, the two halves of the reptile were writhingon the blood-stained soil.

Then other serpents, not less dangerous, appeared in great abundance onthis part of the prairie which was separated by the stream from WillTree.

Was it then a sudden invasion of reptiles? Was Phina Island going tobecome the rival of ancient Tenos, whose formidable ophidians renderedit famous in antiquity, and which gave its name to the viper?

"Come on! come on!" exclaimed Godfrey, motioning to Carefinotu toquicken the pace.

He was uneasy. Strange presentiments agitated him without his being ableto control them.

Under their influence, fearing some approaching misfortune, he hadhastened his return to Will Tree.

But matters became serious when he reached the planks across the river.

Screams of terror resounded from beneath the sequoias--cries for help ina tone of agony which it was impossible to mistake!

"It is Tartlet!" exclaimed Godfrey. "The unfortunate man has beenattacked! Quick! quick!"

Once over the bridge, about twenty paces further on, Tartlet wasperceived running as fast as his legs could carry him.

An enormous crocodile had come out of the river and was pursuing himwith its jaws wide open. The poor man, distracted, mad with fright, instead of turning to the right or the left, was keeping in a straightline, and so running the risk of being caught. Suddenly he stumbled. Hefell. He was lost.

Godfrey halted. In the presence of this imminent danger his coolnessnever forsook him for an instant. He brought his gun to his shoulder, and aimed at the crocodile. The well-aimed bullet struck the monster, and it made a bound to one side and fell motionless on the ground.

Carefinotu rushed towards Tartlet and lifted him up. Tartlet had escapedwith a fright! But what a fright!

It was six o'clock in the evening.

A moment afterwards Godfrey and his two companions had reached WillTree.

How bitter were their reflections during their evening repast! What longsleepless hours were in store for the inhabitants of Phina Island, onwhom misfortunes were now crowding.

As for the professor, in his anguish he could only repeat the wordswhich expressed the whole of his thoughts, "I had much rather be off!"

CHAPTER XXI.

WHICH ENDS WITH QUITE A SURPRISING REFLECTION BY THE NEGRO CAREFINOTU.

The winter season, so severe in these latitudes, had come at last. Thefirst frosts had already been felt, and there was every promise ofrigorous weather. Godfrey was to be congratulated on having establishedhis fireplace in the tree. It need scarcely be said that the work at thepalisade had been completed, and that a sufficiently solid door nowassured the closure of the fence.

During the six weeks which followed, that is to say, until the middle ofDecember, there had been a good many wretched days on which it wasimpossible to venture forth. At the outset there came terrible squalls. They shook the group of sequoias to their very roots. They strewed theground with broken branches, and so furnished an ample reserve for thefire.

Then it was that the inhabitants of Will Tree clothed themselves aswarmly as they could. The woollen stuffs found in the box were usedduring the few excursions necessary for revictualling, until the weatherbecame so bad that even these were forbidden. All hunting was at an end, and the snow fell in such quantity that Godfrey could have believedhimself in the inhospitable latitudes of the Arctic Ocean.

It is well known that Northern America, swept by the Polar winds, withno obstacle to check them, is one of the coldest countries on the globe. The winter there lasts until the month of April. Exceptional precautionshave to be taken against it. It was the coming of the winter as it didwhich gave rise to the thought that Phina Island was situated in ahigher latitude than Godfrey had supposed.

Hence the necessity of making the interior of Will Tree as comfortableas possible. But the suffering from rain and cold was cruel. Thereserves of provisions were unfortunately insufficient, the preservedturtle flesh gradually disappeared. Frequently there had to besacrificed some of the sheep or goats or agouties, whose numbers had butslightly increased since their arrival in the island.

With these new trials, what sad thoughts haunted Godfrey!

It happened also that for a fortnight he fell into a violent fever. Without the tiny medicine-chest which afforded the necessary drugs forhis treatment, he might never have recovered. Tartlet was ill-suited toattend to the petty cares that were necessary during the continuance ofthe malady. It was to Carefinotu that he mainly owed his return tohealth.

But what remembrances and what regrets! Who but himself could he blamefor having got into a situation of which he could not even see the end?How many times in his delirium did he call Phina, whom he never shouldsee again, and his Uncle Will, from whom he beheld himself separated forever! Ah! he had to alter his opinion of this Crusoe life which hisboyish imagination had made his ideal! Now he was contending withreality! He could no longer even hope to return to the domestic hearth.

So passed this miserable December, at the end of which Godfrey began torecover his strength.

As for Tartlet, by special grace, doubtless, he was always well. Butwhat incessant lamentations! What endless jeremiads! As the grotto ofCalypso after the departure of Ulysses, Will Tree "resounded no more tohis song"--that of his fiddle--for the cold had frozen the strings!

It should be said too that one of the gravest anxieties of Godfrey wasnot only the re-appearance of dangerous animals, but the fear of thesavages returning in great numbers to Phina Island, the situation ofwhich was known to them. Against such an invasion the palisade was butan insufficient barrier. All things considered, the refuge offered bythe high branches of the sequoia appeared much safer, and the renderingthe access less difficult was taken in hand. It would always be easy todefend the narrow orifice by which the top of the trunk was reached.

With the aid of Carefinotu Godfrey began to cut regular ledges on eachside, like the steps of a staircase, and these, connected by a long cordof vegetable fibre, permitted of rapid ascent up the interior.

"Well, " said Godfrey, when the work was done, "that gives us a townhouse below and a country house above!"

"I had rather have a cellar, if it was in Montgomery Street!" answeredTartlet.

Christmas arrived. Christmas kept in such style throughout the UnitedStates of America! The New Year's Day, full of memories of childhood, rainy, snowy, cold, and gloomy, began the new year under the mostmelancholy auspices.

It was six months since the survivors of the _Dream_ had remainedwithout communication with the rest of the world.

The commencement of the year was not very cheering. It made Godfrey andhis companions anticipate that they would still have many trials toencounter.

The snow never ceased falling until January 18th. The flocks had to belet out to pasture to get what feed they could. At the close of the day, a very cold damp night enveloped the island, and the space shaded by thesequoias was plunged in profound obscurity.

Tartlet and Carefinotu, stretched on their beds inside Will Tree, weretrying in vain to sleep. Godfrey, by the struggling light of a torch, was turning over the pages of his Bible.

About ten o'clock a distant noise, which came nearer and nearer, washeard outside away towards the north. There could be no mistake. It wasthe wild beasts prowling in the neighbourhood, and, alarming to relate, the howling of the tiger and of the hy�na, and the roaring of thepanther and the lion were this time blended in one formidable concert.

Godfrey, Tartlet, and the negro sat up, each a prey to indescribableanguish. If at this unaccountable invasion of ferocious animalsCarefinotu shared the alarm of his companions, his astonishment wasquite equal to his fright.

During two mortal hours all three kept on the alert. The howlingssounded at times close by; then they suddenly ceased, as if the beasts, not knowing the country, were roaming about all over it. Perhaps thenWill Tree would escape an attack!

"It doesn't matter if it does, " thought Godfrey. "If we do not destroythese animals to the very last one, there will be no safety for us inthe island!"

A little after midnight the roaring began again in full strength at amoderate distance away. Impossible now to doubt but that the howlingarmy was approaching Will Tree!

Yes! It was only too certain! But whence came these wild animals? Theycould not have recently landed on Phina Island! They must have beenthere then before Godfrey's arrival! But how was it that all of them hadremained hidden during his walks and hunting excursions, as well acrossthe centre as in the most out-of-the-way parts to the south? For Godfreyhad never found a trace of them. Where was the mysterious den whichvomited forth lions, hy�nas, panthers, tigers? Amongst all theunaccountable things up to now this was indeed the most unaccountable.

Carefinotu could not believe what he heard. We have said that hisastonishment was extreme. By the light of the fire which illuminated theinterior of Will Tree there could be seen on his black face thestrangest of grimaces.

Tartlet in the corner, groaned and lamented, and moaned again. He wouldhave asked Godfrey all about it, but Godfrey was not in the humour toreply. He had a presentiment of a very great danger, he was seeking fora way to retreat from it.

Once or twice Carefinotu and he went out to the centre of the palisade. They wished to see that the door was firmly and strongly shut.

Suddenly an avalanche of animals appeared with a huge tumult along thefront of Will Tree.

It was only the goats and sheep and agouties. Terrified at the howlingof the wild beasts, and scenting their approach, they had fled fromtheir pasturage to take shelter behind the palisade.

"We must open the door!" exclaimed Godfrey.

Carefinotu nodded his head. He did not want to know the language tounderstand what Godfrey meant.

The door was opened, and the frightened flock rushed into the enclosure.

But at that instant there appeared through the opening a gleaming ofeyes in the depths of the darkness which the shadow of the sequoiasrendered still more profound.

There was no time to close the enclosure!

To jump at Godfrey, seize him in spite of himself, push him into thedwelling and slam the door, was done by Carefinotu like a flash oflightning.

New roarings indicated that three or four wild beasts had just clearedthe palisade.

Then these horrible roarings were mingled with quite a concert ofbleatings and groanings of terror. The domestic flock were taken as in atrap and delivered over to the clutches of the assailants.

Godfrey and Carefinotu, who had climbed up to the two small windows inthe bark of the sequoia, endeavoured to see what was passing in thegloom.

Evidently the wild animals--tigers or lions, panthers or hy�nas, theydid not know which yet--had thrown themselves on the flock and beguntheir slaughter.

At this moment, Tartlet, in a paroxysm of blind terror, seized one ofthe muskets, and would have taken a chance shot out of one of thewindows.

Godfrey stopped him.

"No!" said he. "In this darkness our shots will be lost, and we must notwaste our ammunition! Wait for daylight!"

He was right. The bullets would just as likely have struck the domesticas the wild animals--more likely in fact, for the former were the mostnumerous. To save them was now impossible. Once they were sacrificed, the wild beasts, thoroughly gorged, might quit the enclosure beforesunrise. They would then see how to act to guard against a freshinvasion.

It was most important too, during the dark night, to avoid as much aspossible revealing to these animals the presence of human beings, whomthey might prefer to the flock. Perhaps they would thus avoid a directattack against Will Tree.

As Tartlet was incapable of understanding either this reasoning or anyother, Godfrey contented himself with depriving him of his weapon. Theprofessor then went and threw himself on his bed and freelyanathematized all travels and travellers and maniacs who could notremain quietly at their own firesides.

Both his companions resumed their observations at the windows.

Thence they beheld, without the power of interference, the horriblemassacre which was taking place in the gloom. The cries of the sheep andthe goats gradually diminished as the slaughter of the animals wasconsummated, although the greater part had escaped outside, where death, none the less certain, awaited them. This loss was irreparable for thelittle colony; but Godfrey was not then anxious about the future. Thepresent was disquieting enough to occupy all his thoughts.

There was nothing they could do, nothing they could try, to hinder thiswork of destruction.

Godfrey and Carefinotu kept constant watch, and now they seemed to seenew shadows coming up and passing into the palisade, while a freshsound of footsteps struck on their ears.

Evidently certain belated beasts, attracted by the odour of the bloodwhich impregnated the air, had traced the scent up to Will Tree.

They ran to and fro, they rushed round and round the tree and gave forththeir hoarse and angry growls. Some of the shadows jumped on the groundlike enormous cats. The slaughtered flock had not been sufficient tosatisfy their rage.

Neither Godfrey nor his companions moved. In keeping completelymotionless they might avoid a direct attack.

An unlucky shot suddenly revealed their presence and exposed them to thegreatest danger.

Tartlet, a prey to a veritable hallucination, had risen. He had seized arevolver; and this time, before Godfrey and Carefinotu could hinder him, and not knowing himself what he did, but believing that he saw a tigerstanding before him, he had fired! The bullet passed through the door ofWill Tree.

"Fool!" exclaimed Godfrey, throwing himself on Tartlet, while the negroseized the weapon.

It was too late. The alarm was given, and growlings still more violentresounded without. Formidable talons were heard tearing the bark of thesequoia. Terrible blows shook the door, which was too feeble to resistsuch an assault.

"We must defend ourselves!" shouted Godfrey.

And, with his gun in his hand and his cartridge-pouch round his waist, he took his post at one of the windows.

To his great surprise, Carefinotu had done the same! Yes! the black, seizing the second musket--a weapon which he had never beforehandled--had filled his pockets with cartridges and taken his place atthe second window.

Then the reports of the guns began to echo from the embrasures. By theflashes, Godfrey on the one side, and Carefinotu on the other, beheldthe foes they had to deal with.

There, in the enclosure, roaring with rage, howling at the reports, rolling beneath the bullets which struck many of them, leapt of lionsand tigers, and hy�nas and panthers, at least a score. To their roaringsand growlings which reverberated from afar, there echoed back those ofother ferocious beasts running up to join them. Already the now distantroaring could be heard as they approached the environs of Will Tree. Itwas as though quite a menagerie of wild animals had been suddenly setfree on the island!

[Illustration: Of lions and tigers quite a score. _page 252_]

However, Godfrey and Carefinotu, without troubling themselves aboutTartlet, who could be of no use, were keeping as cool as they could, andrefraining from firing unless they were certain of their aim. Wishing towaste not a shot, they waited till a shadow passed in front of them. Then came the flash and the report, and then a growl of grief told themthat the animal had been hit.

A quarter of an hour elapsed, and then came a respite. Had the wildbeasts given up the attack which had cost the lives of so many amongstthem? Were they waiting for the day to recommence the attempt under morefavourable conditions?

Whatever might be the reason, neither Godfrey nor Carefinotu desired toleave his post. The black had shown himself no less ready with the gunthan Godfrey. If that was due only to the instinct of imitation, it mustbe admitted that it was indeed surprising.

About two o'clock in the morning there came a new alarm--more furiousthan before. The danger was imminent, the position in the interior ofWill Tree was becoming untenable. New growlings resounded round the footof the sequoia. Neither Godfrey nor Carefinotu, on account of thesituation of the windows, which were cut straight through, could see theassailants, nor, in consequence, could they fire with any chance ofsuccess.

It was now the door which the beasts attacked, and it was only tooevident that it would be beaten in by their weight or torn down by theirclaws.

Godfrey and the black had descended to the ground. The door was alreadyshaking beneath the blows from without. They could feel the heatedbreath making its way in through the cracks in the bark.

Godfrey and Carefinotu attempted to prop back the door with the stakeswhich kept up the beds, but these proved quite useless.

It was obvious that in a little while it would be driven in, for thebeasts were mad with rage--particularly as no shots could reach them.

Godfrey was powerless. If he and his companions were inside Will Treewhen the assailants broke in, their weapons would be useless to protectthem.

Godfrey had crossed his arms. He saw the boards of the door open littleby little. He could do nothing. In a moment of hesitation, he passed hishand across his forehead, as if in despair. But soon recovering hisself-possession, he shouted, --

"Up we go! Up! All of us!"

And he pointed to the narrow passage which led up to the fork insideWill Tree.

Carefinotu and he, taking their muskets and revolvers, suppliedthemselves with cartridges.

And now he turned to make Tartlet follow them into these heights wherehe had never ventured before.

Tartlet was no longer there. He had started up while his companions werefiring.

"Up!" repeated Godfrey.

It was a last retreat, where they would assuredly be sheltered from thewild beasts. If any tiger or panther attempted to come up into thebranches of the sequoia, it would be easy to defend the hole throughwhich he would have to pass.

Godfrey and Carefinotu had scarcely ascended thirty feet, when theroaring was heard in the interior of Will Tree. A few moments more andthey would have been surprised. The door had just fallen in. They bothhurried along, and at last reached the upper end of the hole.

A scream of terror welcomed them. It was Tartlet, who imagined he saw apanther or tiger! The unfortunate professor was clasping a branch, frightened almost out of his life lest he should fall.

Carefinotu went to him, and compelled him to lean against an uprightbough, to which he firmly secured him with his belt.

Then, while Godfrey selected a place whence he could command theopening, Carefinotu went to another spot whence he could deliver a crossfire.

And they waited.

Under these circumstances it certainly looked as though the besiegedwere safe from attack.

Godfrey endeavoured to discover what was passing beneath them; but thenight was still too dark. Then he tried to hear; and the growlings, which never ceased, showed that the assailants had no thought ofabandoning the place.

Suddenly, towards four o'clock in the morning, a great light appeared atthe foot of the tree. At once it shot out through the door and windows. At the same time a thick smoke spread forth from the upper opening andlost itself in the higher branches.

"What is that now?" exclaimed Godfrey.

 

It was easily explained. The wild beasts, in ravaging the interior ofWill Tree, had scattered the remains of the fire. The fire had spread tothe things in the room. The flame had caught the bark, which had driedand become combustible. The gigantic sequoia was ablaze below.

The position was now more terrible than it had ever been. By the lightof the flames, which illuminated the space beneath the grove, they couldsee the wild beasts leaping round the foot of Will Tree.

At the same instant, a fearful explosion occurred. The sequoia, violently wrenched, trembled from its roots to its summit.

It was the reserve of gunpowder which had exploded inside Will Tree, andthe air, violently expelled from the opening, rushed forth like the gasfrom a discharging cannon.

Godfrey and Carefinotu were almost torn from their resting-places. HadTartlet not been lashed to the branch, he would assuredly have beenhurled to the ground.

The wild beasts, terrified at the explosion, and more or less wounded, had taken to flight.

But at the same time the conflagration, fed by the sudden combustion ofthe powder, had considerably extended. It swiftly grew in dimensions asit crept up the enormous stem.

Large tongues of flame lapped the interior, and the highest soon reachedthe fork, and the dead wood snapped and crackled like shots from arevolver. A huge glare lighted up, not only the group of giant trees, but even the whole of the coast from Flag Point to the southern cape ofDream Bay.

Soon the fire had reached the lower branches of the sequoia, andthreatened to invade the spot where Godfrey and his companions had takenrefuge. Were they then to be devoured by the flames, with which theycould not battle, or had they but the last resource of throwingthemselves to the ground to escape being burnt alive? In either casethey must die!

Godfrey sought about for some means of escape. He saw none!

Already the lower branches were ablaze and a dense smoke was strugglingwith the first gleams of dawn which were rising in the east.

At this moment there was a horrible crash of rending and breaking. Thesequoia, burnt to the very roots, cracked violently--it toppled over--itfell!

But as it fell the stem met the stems of the trees which environed it;their powerful branches were mingled with its own, and so it remainedobliquely cradled at an angle of about forty-five degrees from theground.

At the moment that the sequoia fell, Godfrey and his companions believedthemselves lost!

"Nineteenth of January!" exclaimed a voice, which Godfrey, in spite ofhis astonishment, immediately recognized.

It was Carefinotu! Yes, Carefinotu had just pronounced these words, andin that English language which up to then he had seemed unable to speakor to understand!

"What did you say?" asked Godfrey, as he followed him along thebranches.

"I said, Mr. Morgan, " answered Carefinotu, "that to-day your Uncle Willought to reach us, and that if he doesn't turn up we are done for!"

CHAPTER XXII.

WHICH CONCLUDES BY EXPLAINING WHAT UP TO NOW HAD APPEARED INEXPLICABLE.

At that instant, and before Godfrey could reply, the report of fire-armswas heard not far from Will Tree.

At the same time one of those rain storms, regular cataracts in theirfury, fell in a torrential shower just as the flames devouring the lowerbranches were threatening to seize upon the trees against which WillTree was resting.

What was Godfrey to think after this series of inexplicable events?Carefinotu speaking English like a cockney, calling him by his name, announcing the early arrival of Uncle Will, and then the sudden reportof the fire-arms?

He asked himself if he had gone mad; but he had no time for insolublequestions, for below him--hardly five minutes after the first sound ofthe guns--a body of sailors appeared hurrying through the trees.

Godfrey and Carefinotu slipped down along the stem, the interior ofwhich was still burning.

But the moment that Godfrey touched the ground, he heard himself spokento, and by two voices which even in his trouble it was impossible forhim not to recognize.

"Nephew Godfrey, I have the honour to salute you!"

"Godfrey! Dear Godfrey!"

"Uncle Will! Phina! You!" exclaimed Godfrey, astounded.

Three seconds afterwards he was in somebody's arms, and was claspingthat somebody in his own.

At the same time two sailors, at the order of Captain Turcott who was incommand, climbed up along the sequoia to set Tartlet free, and, with alldue respect, pluck him from the branch as if he were a fruit.

And then the questions, the answers, the explanations which passed!

"Uncle Will! You?"

"Yes! me!"

"And how did you discover Phina Island?"

"Phina Island!" answered William W. Kolderup. "You should say SpencerIsland! Well, it wasn't very difficult. I bought it six months ago!"

"Spencer Island!"

"And you gave my name to it, you dear Godfrey!" said the young lady.

"The new name is a good one, and we will keep to it, " answered theuncle; "but for geographers this is Spencer Island, only three days'journey from San Francisco, on which I thought it would be a good planfor you to serve your apprenticeship to the Crusoe business!"

"Oh! Uncle! Uncle Will! What is it you say?" exclaimed Godfrey. "Well, if you are in earnest, I can only answer that I deserved it! But then, Uncle Will, the wreck of the _Dream_?"

"Sham!" replied William W. Kolderup, who had never seemed in such a goodhumour before. "The _Dream_ was quietly sunk by means of her waterballast, according to the instructions I had given Turcott. You thoughtshe sank for good, but when the captain saw that you and Tartlet had gotsafely to land he brought her up and steamed away. Three days later hegot back to San Francisco, and he it is who has brought us to SpencerIsland on the date we fixed!"

"Then none of the crew perished in the wreck?"

"None--unless it was the unhappy Chinaman who hid himself away on boardand could not be found!"

"But the canoe?"

"Sham! The canoe was of my own make. "

"But the savages?"

"Sham! The savages whom luckily you did not shoot!"

"But Carefinotu?"

"Sham! Carefinotu was my faithful Jup Brass, who played his part ofFriday marvellously well, as I see. "

"Yes, " answered Godfrey. "He twice saved my life--once from a bear, oncefrom a tiger--"

"The bear was sham! the tiger was sham!" laughed William W. Kolderup. "Both of them were stuffed with straw, and landed before you saw themwith Jup Brass and his companions!"

"But he moved his head and his paws!"

"By means of a spring which Jup Brass had fixed during the night a fewhours before the meetings which were prepared for you. "

"What! all of them?" repeated Godfrey, a little ashamed at having beentaken in by these artifices.

"Yes! Things were going too smoothly in your island, and we had to getup a little excitement!"

"Then, " answered Godfrey, who had begun to laugh, "if you wished to makematters unpleasant for us, why did you send us the box which containedeverything we wanted?"

"A box?" answered William W. Kolderup. "What box? I never sent you abox! Perhaps by chance--"

And as he said so he looked towards Phina, who cast down her eyes andturned away her head.

"Oh! indeed!--a box! but then Phina must have had an accomplice--"

And Uncle Will turned towards Captain Turcott, who laughinglyanswered, --

"What could I do, Mr. Kolderup? I can sometimes resist you--but MissPhina--it was too difficult! And four months ago, when you sent me tolook round the island, I landed the box from my boat--"

"Dearest Phina!" said Godfrey, seizing the young lady's hand.

"Turcott, you promised to keep the secret!" said Phina with a blush.

And Uncle William W. Kolderup, shaking his big head, tried in vain tohide that he was touched.

But if Godfrey could not restrain his smiles as he listened to theexplanations of Uncle Will, Professor Tartlet did not laugh in theleast! He was excessively mortified at what he heard! To have been theobject of such a mystification, he, a professor of dancing anddeportment! And so advancing with much dignity he observed, --

"Mr. William Kolderup will hardly assert, I imagine, that the enormouscrocodile, of which I was nearly the unhappy victim, was made ofpasteboard and wound up with a spring?"

"A crocodile?" replied the uncle.

"Yes, Mr. Kolderup, " said Carefinotu, to whom we had better return hisproper name of Jup Brass. "Yes, a real live crocodile, which went forMr. Tartlet, and which I did not have in my collection!"

Godfrey then related what had happened, the sudden appearance of thewild beasts in such numbers, real lions, real tigers, real panthers, andthen the invasion of the snakes, of which during four months they hadnot seen a single specimen in the island!

William W. Kolderup at this was quite disconcerted. He knew nothingabout it. Spencer Island--it had been known for a long time--never hadany wild beasts, did not possess even a single noxious animal; it was sostated in the deeds of sale.

Neither did he understand what Godfrey told him of the attempts he hadmade to discover the origin of the smoke which had appeared at differentpoints on the island. And he seemed very much troubled to find that allhad not passed on the island according to his instructions, and that theprogramme had been seriously interfered with.

As for Tartlet, he was not the sort of man to be humbugged. For his parthe would admit nothing, neither the sham shipwreck, nor the shamsavages, nor the sham animals, and above all he would never give up theglory which he had gained in shooting with the first shot from his gunthe chief of the Polynesian tribe--one of the servants of the Kolderupestablishment, who turned out to be as well as he was.

All was described, all was explained, except the serious matter of thereal wild beasts and the unknown smoke. Uncle Will became verythoughtful about this. But, like a practical man, he put off, by aneffort of the will, the solution of the problems, and addressing hisnephew, --

"Godfrey, " said he, "you have always been so fond of islands, that I amsure it will please you to hear that this is yours--wholly yours! I makeyou a present of it! You can do what you like with it! I never dreamt ofbringing you away by force; and I would not take you away from it! Bethen a Crusoe for the rest of your life, if your heart tells you to--"

"I!" answered Godfrey. "I! All my life!"

Phina stepped forward.

"Godfrey, " she asked, "would you like to remain on your island?"

"I would rather die!" he exclaimed.

But immediately he added, as he took the young lady's hand, --

"Well, yes, I will remain; but on three conditions. The first is, youstay with me, dearest Phina; the second is, that Uncle Will lives withus; and the third is, that the chaplain of the _Dream_ marries us thisvery day!"

"There is no chaplain on board the _Dream_, Godfrey!" replied UncleWill. "You know that very well. But I think there is still one left inSan Francisco, and that we can find some worthy minister to perform theservice! I believe I read your thoughts when I say that before to-morrowwe shall put to sea again!"

Then Phina and Uncle Will asked Godfrey to do the honours of his island. Behold them then walking under the group of sequoias, along the streamup to the little bridge.

Alas! of the habitation at Will Tree nothing remained. The fire hadcompletely devoured the dwelling in the base of the tree! Without thearrival of William W. Kolderup, what with the approaching winter, thedestruction of their stores, and the genuine wild beasts in the island, our Crusoes would have deserved to be pitied.

"Uncle Will!" said Godfrey. "If I gave the island the name of Phina, letme add that I gave our dwelling the name of Will Tree!"

"Well, " answered the uncle, "we will take away some of the seed, andplant it in my garden at 'Frisco!"

During the walk they noticed some wild animals in the distance; but theydared not attack so formidable a party as the sailors of the _Dream_. But none the less was their presence absolutely incomprehensible.

Then they returned on board, not without Tartlet asking permission tobring off "his crocodile"--a permission which was granted.

That evening the party were united in the saloon of the _Dream_, andthere was quite a cheerful dinner to celebrate the end of the adventuresof Godfrey Morgan and his marriage with Phina Hollaney.

On the morrow, the 20th of January, the _Dream_ set sail under thecommand of Captain Turcott. At eight o'clock in the morning Godfrey, notwithout emotion, saw the horizon in the west wipe out, as if it were ashadow, the island on which he had been to school for six months--aschool of which he never forgot the lessons.

The passage was rapid; the sea magnificent; the wind favourable. Thistime the _Dream_ went straight to her destination! There was no one tobe mystified! She made no tackings without number as on the firstvoyage! She did not lose during the night what she had gained during theday!

And so on the 23rd of January, after passing at noon through the GoldenGate, she entered the vast bay of San Francisco, and came alongside thewharf in Merchant Street.

And what did they then see?

They saw issue from the hold a man who, having swum to the _Dream_during the night while she was anchored at Phina Island, had succeededin stowing himself away for the second time!

And who was this man?

It was the Chinaman, Seng Vou, who had made the passage back as he hadmade the passage out!

Seng Vou advanced towards William W. Kolderup.

"I hope Mr. Kolderup will pardon me, " said he very politely. "When Itook my passage in the _Dream_, I thought she was going direct toShanghai, and then I should have reached my country, but I leave hernow, and return to San Francisco. "

Every one, astounded at the apparition, knew not what to answer, andlaughingly gazed at the intruder.

"But, " said William W. Kolderup at last, "you have not remained sixmonths in the hold, I suppose?"

"No!" answered Seng Vou.

"Where have you been, then?"

"On the island!"

"You!" exclaimed Godfrey.

"Yes. "

"Then the smoke?"

"A man must have a fire!"

"And you did not attempt to come to us, to share our living?"

"A Chinaman likes to live alone, " quietly replied Seng Vou. "He issufficient for himself, and he wants no one!"

And thereupon this eccentric individual bowed to William W. Kolderup, landed, and disappeared.

"That is the stuff they make real Crusoes of!" observed Uncle Will. "Look at him and see if you are like him! It does not matter, theEnglish race would do no good by absorbing fellows of that stamp!"

"Good!" said Godfrey, "the smoke is explained by the presence of SengVou; but the beasts?"

"And my crocodile!" added Tartlet; "I should like some one to explain mycrocodile!"

William W. Kolderup seemed much embarrassed, and feeling in turn quitemystified, passed his hand over his forehead as if to clear the cloudsaway.

"We shall know later on, " he said. "Everything is found by him who knowshow to seek!"

A few days afterwards there was celebrated with great pomp the weddingof the nephew and pupil of William W. Kolderup. That the young couplewere made much of by all the friends of the wealthy merchant can easilybe imagined.

At the ceremony Tartlet was perfect in bearing, in everything, and thepupil did honour to the celebrated professor of dancing and deportment.

Now Tartlet had an idea. Not being able to mount his crocodile on ascarf-pin--and much he regretted it--he resolved to have it stuffed. Theanimal prepared in this fashion--hung from the ceiling, with the jawshalf open, and the paws outspread--would make a fine ornament for hisroom. The crocodile was consequently sent to a famous taxidermist, andhe brought it back to Tartlet a few days afterwards. Every one came toadmire the monster who had almost made a meal of Tartlet.

"You know, Mr. Kolderup, where the animal came from?" said thecelebrated taxidermist, presenting his bill.

"No, I do not, " answered Uncle Will.

"But it had a label underneath its carapace. "

"A label!" exclaimed Godfrey.

"Here it is, " said the celebrated taxidermist.

And he held out a piece of leather on which, in indelible ink, werewritten these words, --

_"From Hagenbeck, Hamburg, "To J. R. Taskinar, Stockton, U. S. A. "_

When William W. Kolderup had read these words he burst into a shout oflaughter. He understood all.

It was his enemy, J. R. Taskinar, his conquered competitor, who, to berevenged, had bought a cargo of wild beasts, reptiles, and otherobjectionable creatures from a well-known purveyor to the menageries ofboth hemispheres, and had landed them at night in several voyages toSpencer Island. It had cost him a good deal, no doubt, to do so; but hehad succeeded in infesting the property of his rival, as the English didMartinique, if we are to believe the legend, before it was handed overto France.

There was thus no more to explain of the remarkable occurrences onPhina Island.

"Well done!" exclaimed William W. Kolderup. "I could not have donebetter myself!"

"But with those terrible creatures, " said Phina, "Spencer Island--"

"Phina Island--" interrupted Godfrey.

"Phina Island, " continued the bride, with a smile, "is quiteuninhabitable. "

"Bah!" answered Uncle Will; "we can wait till the last lion has eaten upthe last tiger!"

"And then, dearest Phina, " said Godfrey, "you will not be afraid to passa season there with me?"

"With you, my dear husband, I fear nothing from anywhere, " answeredPhina, "and as you have not had your voyage round the world--"

"We will have it together, " said Godfrey, "and if an unlucky chanceshould ever make me a real Crusoe--"

"You will ever have near you the most devoted of Crusoe-esses!"

THE END.