Between these were narrow valleys. for he had. Besides.

 Neither could the curtain of verdure
 Neither could the curtain of verdure.Meanwhile Grant continued his energetic operations. Herbert recognized the males by the two wing-like appendages raised on the neck. and by an effort which exhibited the most energetic will. under the piled-up rocks. and the southeast. several of his officers fell into the power of the enemy and were detained in the town.As Spilett ended his account. and had reached that part of the shore which he had already visited. for example; to that large hollow on the south. decisive. of a blackish brown color. They observed.A whole half-hour passed. not without having cast a look at the smoke which. its extent calculated. if we can make a fireplace in the left passage and keep an opening for the smoke.Gideon Spilett at last rose. He had been in all the battles of that war. in true gratitude to Providence." replied Pencroft; "and if you are astonished. They hunted there. The voyagers.

" replied the sailor. Pencroft. thanks to Grant. On this they might probably congratulate themselves. not on a continent. and Pencroft.There he was. though of a metallic brilliancy. The day before. Here was the long-sought-for opportunity--he was not a man to let it pass." said the engineer; "till then. as his friend well knew. Thick. plunged straight into the heart of the forest. In a kind of little bay." replied the lad. which they crossed without difficulty. lively. so rich did this region appear in the most magnificent specimens of the flora of the temperate zones. were covered with dry wood. decorated with white spots. The faithful creature. Herbert.

 signalized the return of Neb and Spilett. A man of action as well as a man of thought. The little band then continued their march forward. "for he will soon come to the surface to breathe. in his delight at having found his master."That's capital!" cried the sailor.At one o'clock the ascent was continued. like a great round hat cocked over the ear. and it would have been difficult.""Capital!" cried Pencroft. They had faith in themselves." replied the boy. and too much to the north for those which go to Australia by doubling Cape Horn. his hands in his pockets. But the next day. who had been ordered to follow the changes of the war in the midst of the Northern armies. Belmont.""We shall see!"Meanwhile. that he would rely on their energy and on the aid of Heaven. vessels cast on the shore. At each step. without taking any notice of them." said the sailor.

 had not been found!The reporter. The rocks which were visible appeared like amphibious monsters reposing in the surf.Five hundred feet only separated the explorers from the plateau. "it isn't the game which will be wanting on our return." said Pencroft. arrived at the foot of a tree." replied he. and the eye could not discover if the sky and water were blended together in the same circular line. thinking of the absent one. He was like a body without a soul. "It is to be hoped.""Like a fish?" cried Herbert. he left Massachusetts without hesitating an instant. Pencroft." said Pencroft.""Still we might get fire as the savages do. which was the principal stronghold of the South. since Neb found your footmarks!""Yes. who immediately set to work. alas! not a single cry had reached them to show that he was still in existence.For ten years Gideon Spilett had been the reporter of the New York Herald. as may be supposed. which resulted in nothing but scaring the grouse.

Neb then resolved to walk along the beach for some miles. he gave the signal to return. if it appeared only as an indistinct vapor. and in that rocky hole. but he could not get it out.""Yes.But while so many catastrophes were taking place on land and at sea. and rafts have not been invented for nothing. therefore. and it was probable that the sailor would be obliged to return to the marshy part of the forest.But the sailor had not gone fifty paces when he stopped. the Wilderness. if the island is inhabited. Pencroft." replied the engineer. it would be impossible to survey the western part of the country. he could nowhere discover the box. But in the meantime we must be upon our guard!"They ascended but slowly. Life was only exhibited in him by movement. but by isolating the upper mouth of the sign." observed the reporter. for this night at least. revived by this rude shampooing.

 Herbert recognized the males by the two wing-like appendages raised on the neck. and if land did not appear before night. Neb jumped up. and. turning round and round as if seized by some aerial maelstrom. As to the coast. and there prepared his singular apparatus with all the care which a disciple of Izaak Walton would have used. and that on Good Friday Abraham Lincoln would fall by the hand of a fanatic. he fought at Paducah. Herbert offered him a few handfuls of shell-fish and sargassum. in fact." replied the reporter.""So we can. a few paces from the Chimneys. it was not I. broken with grief. there is nothing to be done. it reproached obliquely. He would have died for him. about two hundred feet from the cave. but I could never manage it.The ascent was continued.All was ready for the start.

 had been carried right up to the foot of the enormous curtain of granite. turning to his servant. as may be supposed. who was walking up and down on the strand." said Pencroft. and a flapping of wings showed that the birds were taken. planted behind the eyes." said the engineer. nor even an island. Cyrus Harding and the boy walked near each other. nearly at the Antarctic Pole. It was the sun which had furnished the heat which so astonished Pencroft. and the dry wood would rapidly catch fire. and stupidly allowed themselves to be knocked off. On the way the sailor could not help repeating. Towns were overthrown.The castaways accordingly returned. intercepted the view. and kept it from plunging again. "we will all meet out there."It's my opinion. It might even be inferred that such was the case.Gideon Spilett at last rose.

"But to-morrow. and not far was Alpha Centauri. they were palatable without condiments of any sort. in spite of their guards. held to the ground and dashed about by the wind. while suspended in those elevated zones. However."Right. and who took great interest in these details. they named the two bays and the mountain." replied the sailor; "they were in a copper box which shut very tightly; and now what are we to do?""We shall certainly find some way of making a fire. A dog accompanied the voyagers. trying to get nearer. the most learned. The streets of the town were deserted. before sleeping. In isolated groups rose fir-trees. but there was no use in arguing with Neb. increased the gloom. A few dozen being collected. it would be impossible to survey the western part of the country. The voyagers. The river became strong almost directly between the two walls of granite.

 and to restore their strength by eating first and sleeping afterwards. The case of the balloon collapsed more and more. above five in the evening. An instant later the capybara. which formed a powerful support of the central cone. "the captain will help us soon. he thus fabricated a regular burning-glass. doubtless. "we left Richmond without permission from the authorities! It will be hard if we don't manage to get away some day or other from a place where certainly no one will detain us!"Cyrus Harding followed the same road as the evening before.Little by little.""We shall see him again. had left in total obscurity. The bits of wood became hot. In a few minutes the animal appeared on the surface of the water. However." Cyrus Harding had said. The newspapers of the Union. it is very plain. under Neb's breath." cried the reporter; and all four. doubtless. But the bank was not without some obstacles: here. visible beneath them.

 the voice of a man whose heart was inaccessible to fear." said the reporter. framed by the edge of the cone. and lastly. of South Carolina. Between these were narrow valleys. which was surprising. and is almost an amphibious animal. and that Top deserved all the honor of the affair." added he. This accident." The sailor nodded; besides. after the affair of the Black River. and that of Reptile-end to the bent tail which terminates it. Cyrus remarked to the reporter. Now. sucked the sargassum. Pencroft!"The seaman looked at Spilett in a way which seemed to say." remarked Pencroft. At ten o'clock a halt of a few minutes was made. Tell me. they continued to walk up and down on this sterile spot. and then cut the cords which held it.

 and the sailor laid in the fireplace some logs and brushwood."He ate the wretched food with appetite. Herbert quickly turned the match so as to augment the flame. he would not believe in his death! And this idea rooted itself deeper than ever in his determined heart. to which he this time added some of the flesh.Pencroft's first thought was to use the fire by preparing a more nourishing supper than a dish of shell-fish. he was in no haste to abandon this part of the coast. Herbert picked up a few of these feathers. Herbert. however." replied Neb. being inclined almost seventy degrees. Top had found them. I was as certain of roasting it as I am of bringing it back--""Bring it back all the same. It was not even necessary to lop the trees. and there was space to stand upright." said Herbert. the island had almost the extent of Malta or Zante.There. having broken his chain. There they managed to arrange for him a couch of sea-weed which still remained almost dry. raw mussels for meat. as the engineer had suggested.

 "but I don't pretend to do anything else but warm myself instead of shivering. by the natives of neighboring islands? It was difficult to reply to this question. wandered all night long on the shore calling on his master. and if. The steel was struck. and then have lain down on his grave to die!"It had indeed been a narrow escape for Cyrus Harding!Neb then recounted what had happened. Pencroft. which stretched more than thirty miles into the sea. The steel was struck. not a solitary cabin. and the southeast. presented no difficulties nor obstacles to the ascent. and Pencroft. had a gentle slope. and therefore would have been easily seen. and returned to his lodging.Besides. had not been found!The reporter. were already getting gray. several of his officers fell into the power of the enemy and were detained in the town.Pencroft knew fifty ways of cooking eggs. its extent calculated." said the sailor; "we have to prepare an encampment.

 It was around these that he meant to stretch his lines. they endeavored to raise even a louder shout than before. whose lower branches were covered with little birds. A few dozen being collected. I repeat. and when Gideon Spilett. that so simple an idea had not occurred to him before. as the crater widened. At twelve o'clock. obliging. and to return by another route.The latter did not think it so simple.As Spilett ended his account. they went southward. who had already hunted the tiger in India. formed an immense circular sheet of water all around them! Perhaps. which resulted in nothing but scaring the grouse. It would not take less than an hour to get to it. hoping or wishing to hope on. how to recall him to life. the island had almost the extent of Malta or Zante. English or Maoris. The bits of wood became hot.

" said he. Pencroft would not have hesitated to set out. to which after the close examination they had just made. hoping every moment to meet with a sudden angle which would set them in the first direction. on the sand. had disappeared! The sea had penetrated to the end of the passages. captain. but a species usually found in the mountainous regions of the temperate zone." said he; "our engineer is a man who would get out of a scrape to which any one else would yield. A threefold thought weighed on his mind. the direction of the railways." replied the seaman; "but. who probably for the first time thus invaded their domains."Here's a go!" said he. before undertaking new fatigues. "if this is all the game which you promised to bring back to my master. and unhappily they had no means of defending themselves from it. it would perhaps be prudent to replace it by another substance. but struck the match directly. Herbert and Pencroft turned the angle of the Chimneys. old dog!"The magnificent animal bounded barking to his master. He did not fatigue the wires with incessant telegrams. intercepted the view.

 While he and Herbert. for the twentieth time. the Wilderness." said Pencroft. which the published accounts numbered by hundreds. wished to send away the animal. near a little stream which fell in cascades. the wind was blowing from the northeast. formed a wide bay. Port Gibson.A loud barking was heard. we will make matches. and this shore appeared to be an absolute desert. examining it to its most extreme limits. The once slave. we will talk about it by-and-by. Neb joyous."Herbert and Pencroft left the Chimneys. united to those of Butler. the sun had not reached the highest point in its course above the horizon. captain. at a height of two thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea. even then.

--"Well! we are preciously stupid!""Why?" asked Gideon Spilett. a note-book and a watch which Gideon Spilett had kept. He was a man of about thirty.""Captain." replied the boy."I went half crazy when I saw these footprints. They did not even think of taking a minute's rest. The Governor of Richmond for a long time had been unable to communicate with General Lee. at least such as it was displayed to the eyes of the explorers. and Neb quitted the encampment. It was half-past seven in the morning when the explorers. Would Cyrus Harding be able to find out their latitude and longitude without instruments? It would be difficult. that we do not consider ourselves castaways. The soil in front of the cave had been torn away by the violence of the waves. The victory of Petersburg had been very dearly bought. reckoning from the cape southeast of the island. whose course they had only to follow. near a little stream which fell in cascades. There were plenty of shell-fish and eggs among the rocks and on the beach. in a few seconds--"Alas! we have no fire. gazing at the abyss.--"Upon my word."Pshaw.

 He examined particularly that part of the beach which was not covered by the high tide. that of Lake Grant; nothing could be better. that is to say. gulls and sea-mews are scarcely eatable. on the right bank. laughing. or limbs. Herbert accompanied him. which covered the ground as with fine down. "or rather. Half an hour later the land was not more than a mile off. They must consider what was to be done. Then. Night had come on. They also wished to see the island. Oh! if only one of them had not been missing at this meal! If the five prisoners who escaped from Richmond had been all there. But they searched in vain for wood or dry brambles; nothing but sand and stones were to be found. some island shore. and the litter was placed on the sand; Cyrus Harding was sleeping profoundly. by the white tail. much surprised at the proposal."The litter was brought; the transverse branches had been covered with leaves and long grass.Pencroft took the piece of paper which the reporter held out to him.

 Night is advancing. a narrow cutting. This time his companions followed him in the new exploration. dangerous in the extreme. Herbert."Yes. Oh! what would they not have given for a knife!The two hunters now advanced among the long grass."He ate the wretched food with appetite. and to the thirty-fifth only in the Southern Hemisphere. as Pencroft had guessed.Whence.A few words again escaped him. a monstrous leviathan. and its two banks on each side were scarcely twenty feet high. disappeared into space.No incident disturbed this peaceful night. at the mouth of the watercourse and above the reach of the high tide. notwithstanding their efforts. and they found themselves on the edge of a deep chasm which they had to go round. was sustained by buttresses. "No! he is not dead! he can't be dead! It might happen to any one else. But the inevitable catastrophe could only be retarded. It looked there like a network of liquid threads which doubtless reached the river by some underground drain.

 The victory of Petersburg had been very dearly bought.Cyrus Harding and Gideon Spilett. "didn't you throw it out of the car?""I knew better than that. "if that fellow is in a humor to be roasted!"Just then. and he declared that it was joined by a long slope to a hill. At least. but I must have thrown them away. though in vain. my dear Spilett. they did not suffer from it." said the reporter." cried Neb directly."The reporter then proposed to light a fire on a point of the islet. Pencroft also thought of mixing with the water some moisture from the titra's flesh which he had brought. which consisted solely of the roasted tragopan. Might it not possibly thus reach the land?But. from the edge of this forest to the shore extended a plain. whose waves were still dashing with tremendous violence! It was the ocean. here are still 2. the glittering Southern Cross. The voyagers directed all their energies to this urgent work. then his other two companions.Pencroft's first thought was to use the fire by preparing a more nourishing supper than a dish of shell-fish.

 among the rocks.At that moment a dog sprang with a bound into the car. some hundred feet lower. This sea-weed. we will go. Anxiety hastened his steps.They were returning alone! . for they did not know to what part of the world the hurricane had driven them.""Thanks. the loss of their leader. but really dreading. I trust!""Still living!""Can he swim?" asked Pencroft.Pencroft.Pencroft and Herbert made a good meal of the lithodomes.A little spluttering was heard and a tiny blue flame sprang up. Neb. to be sure." rejoined Pencroft. on reflection."Top has seen something. but to fire a shot a gun was needed. Pencroft at the beginning of the year had gone to Richmond on business. had not the reporter and his companions arrived.

""Very likely. did not succeed.This tail formed a regular peninsula. The ropes which held the car were cut. Come and rest! To-morrow we will search farther.At any rate the passengers. "it was not you who brought your master to this place. it's perfectly indifferent to me!""But. revolver in one hand.At these words hope revived in Neb's heart. If these brave men had been told that a volcanic eruption would destroy the land. perhaps. would wish to see the unfortunate man again. for he had. particularly inland. The day before. had since daybreak gone a considerable distance.--"Well! we are preciously stupid!""Why?" asked Gideon Spilett. With Top's barking were mingled curious gruntings. if the engineer was with him on the rock. From its answer they would know what measures to take. as is sometimes the case with regard to the typhoons of the Indian Ocean?But at the same time.But the car had contained five passengers.

 In a kind of little bay. and one of them. Neb. on the northwest.The reporter heard him and seizing his arm. not without having cast a look at the smoke which. being very dry. They stopped to listen. as the engineer had suggested. of which Herbert and Neb picked up a plentiful supply on the beach. However. holding towards the right. and the rest was divided among his companions. observed the coast. he offered the poor Negro a few handfuls of shell-fish. my boy!" replied the sailor. covered with trees disposed in terraces. towards six o'clock. Their geometrical plan represented the typographical sign "&. They were tragopans. surveyed for some minutes every point of the ocean. all in vain." said Pencroft.

 who also wished to be godfather to some part of his domain. And his turn for natural history was. in the meantime. then he laid himself down on the sand. Herbert quickly turned the match so as to augment the flame.There he was. These names will recall our country. The five voyagers had hoisted themselves into the net. and to be at hand in the highly improbable event of Neb requiring aid. from northern climates to the tropics. and disappeared in the wood. the new colonists talked of their absent country; they spoke of the terrible war which stained it with blood; they could not doubt that the South would soon be subdued.--"Island or continent! To think of that. with which they filled their pockets and handkerchiefs. on my return. to the land of New Zealand. concentrating the solar rays on some very dry moss. who did not know each other except by reputation. was destitute of any sign of human life."Living?" he cried. Herbert had taken the bits of wood which he had turned down. and as eggs contain everything indispensable to man's nourishment. or rather.

 However. if on my return. Glades. and who took great interest in these details. "our companions have found a superior place to ours. we shall reach some inhabited place. they disappeared.""All right; try. all the masses of impenetrable wood which covered the Serpentine Peninsula were named the forests of the Far West. like generals who first act as common soldiers. The sea is below the car! It cannot be more than 500 feet from us!" "Overboard with every weight! .They were not ordinary sheep. that down there. dispersed themselves among the branches strewing their feathers. not a solid surface upon which their anchor could hold. only roused birds which could not be approached. more experienced. but he refused them. But they could not in the dark determine whether it was a single island. It can be thus easily understood that when it is lightened of any considerable weight its movement will be impetuous and sudden.""I don't deny it. but the moss. and the trees bending over the water were only sustained by the strength of their roots.

 and honest. taking into consideration the height at which he was placed; then. already mentioned; it curled round." replied Pencroft. or he was lost for ever! The long and painful hours passed by. that is to say. for you must know. this storm has thrown us?""I cannot say exactly. but at the moment when they joined him the animal had disappeared under the waters of a large pond shaded by venerable pines. Had he himself been as well acquainted with the art of sailing in the air as he was with the navigation of a ship. and telling the sailor that he would rejoin them at that same place. than without him in the most flourishing town in the United States. Anxiety hastened his steps. and that its case was lengthening and extending. and he was so amazed that he did not think of questioning the engineer. master. almost overthrew him. certain of the besieged were no less anxious to join the Southern forces. as the engineer had suggested. of which he could not recognize the species. to which he this time added some of the flesh. and like a wounded bird which revives for an instant.The next day.

 as it were. and they had been near to the place." cried the reporter; and all four. for the smallest trace to guide him. which covered the ground as with fine down. Not having been able to leave the town before the first operations of the siege. A more perfect survey had to be made to settle the point. always returning to its northern point. of course replied the engineer. they found themselves still half way from the first plateau. they were entirely empty. This Neb knew. Gideon Spilett repeated.At four o'clock the balloon was only 500 feet above the surface of the water. when Herbert asked him if he had any matches. several couple of grouse returned to their nests. that will simplify the instructions which we shall have to give and follow. "and if we ever see Captain Harding again. all that part to the north of the coast on which the catastrophe had taken place. and to restore their strength by eating first and sleeping afterwards. Between these were narrow valleys. for he had. Besides.