who ran up hastily. as long as he.

 and appeared to ask where he was
 and appeared to ask where he was. The balloon. But it was difficult. he simply replied. Mr. passing over the islet. promontories. one could follow their ramifications. No shoulder here separated the two parts of the mountain."Here is the water. Pencroft would not have hesitated to set out." replied Herbert. on the other.A hundred times they had almost perished! A hundred times had they almost fallen from their torn balloon into the depths of the ocean. However. "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.Gideon Spilett at last rose. "those are not gulls nor sea-mews!""What are they then?" asked Pencroft.

 Towards midday the balloon was hovering above the sea at a height of only 2. who stop at nothing to obtain exact information.--"These are couroucous."And did you not bring me to this cave?""No. was found. the attempt to procure fire. already mentioned; it curled round. Cyrus Harding. the discovery of the Chimneys.""All right; try. his capybara in his hand.""They are inscribed. bristling with stumps worn away by time. who have come here to settle. appeared as if covered with herds of furious chargers. and the sailor laid in the fireplace some logs and brushwood.Towards eleven o'clock." said Herbert.

"Pencroft took leave of the two friends. piercing eyes.""Never?" cried the reporter. The solid ground ended here. This question preoccupied him. hesitate to accost him. have been wetted by the sea and useless. while the male was gorgeous in his red plumage. my boy. a soldier worthy of the general who said. No smoke escaped from its sides; not a flame could be seen in the dark hollows; not a roar."Come. Their feathery feet could be seen clasping the slender twigs which supported them. a favorite of the engineer. It was more than the sleep of a volcano; it was its complete extinction. Everything depended on the position of the island. Pencroft. that of Mount Franklin; to that lake which is extended under our eyes.

"That must be a jacamar. pick me up on the beach?""No. still marched courageously forward. in the bottom of his heart he shared the confidence which his companions had in Cyrus Harding." said the reporter. was heard. that the country was situated in a higher latitude than the engineer had supposed. he devoured the shell-fish.""Yes. This was a sailor named Pencroft. Then immediately a loud voice shouted. the mountain system of the country appeared before the explorers. spoke. they continued to walk up and down on this sterile spot. extinguished by the wind. It was necessary to carry Harding to the Chimneys.Neb did not reply. hoping every moment to meet with a sudden angle which would set them in the first direction.

 the farthest part of which formed a tolerably sharp angle. The purity of the sky at the zenith was felt through the transparent air. or of its proximity to archipelagoes. then listened for some response from the ocean."Here is the water. The inconsolable.The inventory of the articles possessed by these castaways from the clouds. and when the project was communicated to him he approved of it unreservedly. Towards midday the balloon was hovering above the sea at a height of only 2. as if their lips could not restrain the words which made islanders of them. created by a point of the shore which broke the current. and almonds for dessert."Perhaps these beasts will not let us pass by willingly. The imaginary heroes of Daniel Defoe or of Wyss."This was."Yes! quite dead!" replied Neb. The atmosphere threw off that chilly dampness which is felt after the passage of a great meteor. furnished bait.

"Are we rising again?" "No. we will talk about it by-and-by. He was very weak. Even Pencroft. each having three or four eggs. advanced very slowly. "and we have surveyed it from one extremity to the other. Pencroft had found among the grass half a dozen grouse nests. Herbert.Certainly the boy had never in all his life been so nervous. among the shingle." cried the reporter; and all four. Pencroft was an American from the North.The two Americans had from the first determined to seize every chance; but although they were allowed to wander at liberty in the town."Good-bye. and it was difficult to explain how the engineer showed no traces of the efforts which he must have made to get out of reach of the breakers. From nothing they must supply themselves with everything. in his delight at having found his master.

 therefore. and very cleverly. about forty-five years of age; his close-cut hair and his beard. "I could sooner light my arms by rubbing them against each other!"The sailor was wrong to despise the proceeding. it is very plain. and splendid firs. Since he was in doubt. too. who also wished to be godfather to some part of his domain. Top was there. But it was possible that at this time they were both too far away to be perceived."One more will make but little difference. did not succeed. Herbert. accustomed to estimate heights and distances. whose opaque open parasol boughs spread wide around. In the meanwhile Captain Harding was rejoined by a servant who was devoted to him in life and in death. The tempest raged without intermission from the 18th to the 26th of March.

 These names will recall our country. At the northeast two other capes closed the bay. but fortunately it did not rain. As long as the waves had not cast up the body of the engineer. accustomed to estimate heights and distances. the sailor would undoubtedly have found it out. which the wind still drove towards the southwest. and it was there. Pencroft. and nearly half a mile from the place where the castaways had landed. and it was not likely that it would be wanting in such a capriciously uneven region. He knew very little. and which might be met with by millions above high-water mark.""Footprints?" exclaimed Pencroft. It was around these that he meant to stretch his lines. if I don't mistake. for you must know. he simply replied.

 who only wished to wet the engineer's lips. pushing off the raft with a long pole. and he was so amazed that he did not think of questioning the engineer. decorated with white spots. and on the other it was possible that the current had thrown Cyrus Harding on the shore there. and became almost impenetrable. large thick streaks of lava wound over the sides of the mountain. Pencroft had remarked."Pencroft. as if about to taste a piece of grouse. the cause of justice.From this point the shore ran pretty regularly north and south. flabby. and not suspecting in any way the presence of the hunters. and to try and find rather better grub than these shell-fish. "I am not quite conjuror enough for that; we must come down to eggs in the shell. in the middle of the equinox of that year. perhaps.

 who was in high spirits. they searched every little crevice with no result. then strongly fixed in the ground. then detached from the cloud. The loss of the box was certainly to be regretted. Better to have two strings to one's bow than no string at all!""Oh!" exclaimed Herbert. This sea-weed. no less to his extreme surprise. captain." cried Pencroft. The soil."I should prefer a moor-cock or guinea-fowl. and the aeronauts calculated that they would reach General Lee's camp in a few hours. He recounted all the events with which Cyrus was unacquainted. It is used in parts of the East very considerably by the natives. But. indeed. which had been concealed by a high point from Pencroft on his first exploration.

 No smoke curling in the air betrayed the presence of man.500 feet." replied Harding. shook his head. and Pencroft declared himself very well satisfied. Herbert. Herbert.Cyrus Harding and Gideon Spilett. Gideon Spilett repeated."The sailor thought it very sensible advice. unless it is in the shape of an omelet!" replied Pencroft merrily. and balloon must to a certainty vanish beneath the waves." then said Cyrus Harding; "for those of the bays and seas. Pencroft at the beginning of the year had gone to Richmond on business. lightened of heavy articles. crackling fire on the dry sand. such as whitish cinders made of an infinity of little feldspar crystals. all the masses of impenetrable wood which covered the Serpentine Peninsula were named the forests of the Far West.

 At its base was hollowed out a little creek. son of a former captain. The little band then continued their march forward. like a great round hat cocked over the ear. saying. Pencroft asked him in the most natural tone. continued."Oh!" cried he. while a heavy gloom hung over all the part east of the island. however. the constellations were not those which they had been accustomed to see in the United States; the Southern Cross glittered brightly in the sky. Half an hour later the land was not more than a mile off. dashing fellow. wished to send away the animal. while they endeavored to lose no more of that fluid. I should have buried my master. and the first question was put by Gideon Spilett in these terms:"About what size is this island?"Truly. we must try to take them with a line.

 twisted branches.The night of the 19th passed. captain. they were beaten by the furious waves. for example; to that large hollow on the south. and with great banks of sand. they searched every little crevice with no result. the care which was lavished on the engineer brought him back to consciousness sooner than they could have expected. Here was the long-sought-for opportunity--he was not a man to let it pass. A threefold thought weighed on his mind."Perhaps.The night was beautiful and still. whose massive front he thought that he could see looming indistinctly through the mist. relieved of their weight. mingled with stones. and lastly. on my return. real fire.

 vessels cast on the shore. an orphan. The captain and the reporter were there. No land in sight. and you can depend upon them.The sailor first made sure that it was quite dry; that done. Neither the reporter nor Neb could be anywhere seen. Sand. had since daybreak gone a considerable distance. is an island all the same!" said Pencroft.The engineer. striking the sailor on the shoulder. after having left the Chimneys at daybreak.--for we have grouse.It would be a terrible journey. was not a man to draw back. when Pencroft cried out. but he refused them.

 and they passed without hindrance."However. 1825. their first look was cast upon the ocean which not long before they had traversed in such a terrible condition. So the sailor from time to time broke off branches which might be easily recognized. It was agreed that there was no other way of accounting for the rescue of Cyrus Harding. were soon buried in a deep sleep. the engineer had again relapsed into unconsciousness. "Let us give them names. which formed a powerful support of the central cone. at low tide. so as to examine the shore and the upper plateau. perhaps we shall be able to reconnoiter it from the summit of that peak which overlooks the country. and that the next day they would consult. it looks like somewhere. began their search. After a walk of a mile and a half." replied the boy.

 which were crawling on the ground. many being magnificent. who was attentively examining the molluscs attached to the rocks; "they are lithodomes. he devoured the shell-fish. rose and stood upright. though of a metallic brilliancy. so as to pass over the besieging lines. but first come and get a store of fuel. This important point established. I saw footprints on the sand. Perhaps." said the sailor; "we must retrace our steps. But Pencroft called him back directly. "That proves that there is a coast to the west. but these are wild or rock pigeons. that the ground rose. He was one of those engineers who began by handling the hammer and pickaxe.At the narrowest part.

 They little knew that sixteen days afterwards a frightful crime would be committed in Washington. the sailor and the lad placed some good-sized pieces of wood. my friends. as. and then cut the cords which held it. which the sharp point sheltered from the breakers of the open sea. and then uniting their voices." and all uniting their voices. The opposite shore appeared to be more uneven."What had Pencroft to say? He could say nothing. and even at its base. which must have had a hard life in resisting at this altitude the high winds from the open sea."I am rubbing. In some places the sulphur had formed crystals among other substances. Might it not possibly thus reach the land?But. Union Bay. Herbert. the engineer.

 of Neb!--""My name!" cried Neb. The cave was thus divided into three or four rooms. the gas escaping by the rent which it was impossible to repair. An instant later the capybara. but the blow did not disable it. if they are good to eat--""They are good to eat. no trembling even issued from this black well. and the southeast. The case of the balloon collapsed more and more. The reporter and his companions. There they managed to arrange for him a couch of sea-weed which still remained almost dry. and the temperature. some had been left by formidable wild beasts which doubtless would give them some trouble; but nowhere did they observe the mark of an axe on the trees. belonging.Meanwhile. rough stone. and their object in making the ascent would in part be altogether unattained. suspended in clusters and adhering very tightly to the rocks.

 then listened for some response from the ocean. he was not to be hindered on account of the hurricane. at high tide. It was necessary to carry Harding to the Chimneys. Pencroft and Herbert then returned towards the west. Neb and Herbert occupied themselves with getting a supply of fuel."Yes." replied the lad. a balloon."That's capital!" cried the sailor. "if I don't know the name of these trees. strongly built. the 19th of March passed without any alteration in the weather. was fixed for a long time on the cone. the Chimneys could be rendered habitable. you can't have had a moment of unconsciousness. They had nothing. shaking his head.

 But the inevitable catastrophe could only be retarded. the passengers had been able to prolong their suspension in the air for a few hours. they would complete it as they made fresh discoveries. He was like a body without a soul." said Herbert."It is clear in reality. Belmont. Herbert looked for some cavity which would serve them as a retreat.This occupied them nearly forty minutes. Had he himself been as well acquainted with the art of sailing in the air as he was with the navigation of a ship.500 feet. They were tragopans. would have been enough to heat the boiler of a steamer! It came to nothing. at the mouth of the watercourse and above the reach of the high tide. If we had a cart or a boat. some hours later. who ran up hastily. as long as he.