The Mysterious Island
House so as to fight with and drive out the intruders. The opening was,
it is true, closed up with a wall of cemented stones, which it would be
necessary to sacrifice, but that could easily be rebuilt. Fortunately,
Cyrus Harding had not as yet effected his project of hiding this opening
by raising the waters of the lake, for the operation would then have
taken some time.
It was already past twelve o’clock, when the colonists, well armed and
provided with picks and spades, left the Chimneys, passed beneath the
windows of Granite House, after telling Top to remain at his post, and
began to ascend the left bank of the Mercy, so as to reach Prospect
Heights.
But they had not made fifty steps in this direction, when they heard the
dog barking furiously.
And all rushed down the bank again.
Arrived at the turning, they saw that the situation had changed.
In fact, the apes, seized with a sudden panic, from some unknown cause,
were trying to escape. Two or three ran and clambered from one window
to another with the agility of acrobats. They were not even trying to
replace the ladder, by which it would have been easy to descend; perhaps
in their terror they had forgotten this way of escape. The colonists,
now being able to take aim without difficulty, fired. Some, wounded or
killed, fell back into the rooms, uttering piercing cries. The rest,
throwing themselves out, were dashed to pieces in their fall, and in a
few minutes, so far as they knew, there was not a living quadrumana in
Granite House.
At this moment the ladder was seen to slip over the threshold, then
unroll and fall to the ground.
“Hullo!” cried the sailor, “this is queer!”
“Very strange!” murmured the engineer, leaping first up the ladder.
“Take care, captain!” cried Pencroft, “perhaps there are still some of
these rascals.
“We shall soon see,” replied the engineer, without stopping however.
All his companions followed him, and in a minute they had arrived at the
threshold. They searched everywhere. There was no one in the rooms nor
in the storehouse, which had been respected by the band of quadrumana.
“Well now, and the ladder,” cried the sailor; “who can the gentleman
have been who sent us that down?”
But at that moment a cry was heard, and a great orang, who had hidden
himself in the passage, rushed into the room, pursued by Neb.
“Ah, the robber!” cried Pencroft.
And hatchet in hand, he was about to cleave the head of the animal, when
Cyrus Harding seized his arm, saying,--
“Spare him, Pencroft.”
“Pardon this rascal?”
“Yes! it was he who threw us the ladder!”
And the engineer said this in such a peculiar voice that it was
difficult to know whether he spoke seriously or not.
Nevertheless, they threw themselves on the orang, who defended himself
gallantly, but was soon overpowered and bound.
“There!” said Pencroft. “And what shall we make of him, now we’ve got
him?”
“A servant!” replied Herbert.
The lad was not joking in saying this, for he knew how this intelligent
race could be turned to account.
The settlers then approached the ape and gazed at it attentively. He
belonged to the family of anthropoid apes, of which the facial angle is
not much inferior to that of the Australians and Hottentots. It was an
orangoutang, and as such, had neither the ferocity of the gorilla, nor
the stupidity of the baboon. It is to this family of the anthropoid apes
that so many characteristics belong which prove them to be possessed
of an almost human intelligence. Employed in houses, they can wait at
table, sweep rooms, brush clothes, clean boots, handle a knife, fork,
and spoon properly, and even drink wine... doing everything as well as
the best servant that ever walked upon two legs. Buffon possessed one
of these apes, who served him for a long time as a faithful and zealous
servant.
The one which had been seized in the hall of Granite House was a great
fellow, six feet high, with an admirably poportioned frame, a broad
chest, head of a moderate size, the facial angle reaching sixty-five
degrees, round skull, projecting nose, skin covered with soft glossy
hair, in short, a fine specimen of the anthropoids. His eyes, rather
smaller than human eyes, sparkled with intelligence; his white teeth
glittered under his mustache, and he wore a little curly brown beard.
“A handsome fellow!” said Pencroft; “if we only knew his language, we
could talk to him.”
“But, master,” said Neb, “are you serious? Are we going to take him as a
servant?”
“Yes, Neb,” replied the engineer, smiling. “But you must not be
jealous.”
“And I hope he will make an excellent servant,” added Herbert. “He
appears young, and will be easy to educate, and we shall not be obliged
to use force to subdue him, nor draw his teeth, as is sometimes done. He
will soon grow fond of his masters if they are kind to him.”
“And they will be,” replied Pencroft, who had forgotten all his rancor
against “the jokers.”
Then, approaching the orang,--
“Well, old boy!” he asked, “how are you?”
The orang replied by a little grunt which did not show any anger.
“You wish to join the colony?” again asked the sailor. “You are going to
enter the service of Captain Cyrus Harding?”
Another respondent grunt was uttered by the ape.
“And you will be satisfied with no other wages than your food?”
Third affirmative grunt.
“This conversation is slightly monotonous,” observed Gideon Spilett.
“So much the better,” replied Pencroft; “the best servants are those who
talk the least. And then, no wages, do you hear, my boy? We will give
you no wages at first, but we will double them afterwards if we are
pleased with you.”
Thus the colony was increased by a new member. As to his name the sailor
begged that in memory of another ape which he had known, he might be
called Jupiter, and Jup for short.
And so, without more ceremony, Master Jup was installed in Granite
House.
Chapter 7
The settlers in Lincoln Island had now regained their dwelling, without
having been obliged to reach it by the old opening, and were therefore
spared the trouble of mason’s work. It was certainly lucky, that at the
moment they were about to set out to do so, the apes had been seized
with that terror, no less sudden than inexplicable, which had driven
them out of Granite House. Had the animals discovered that they
were about to be attacked from another direction? This was the only
explanation of their sudden retreat.
During the day the bodies of the apes were carried into the wood, where
they were buried; then the settlers busied themselves in repairing the
disorder caused by the intruders, disorder but not damage, for although
they had turned everything in the rooms topsy-turvy, yet they had broken
nothing. Neb relighted his stove, and the stores in the larder furnished
a substantial repast, to which all did ample justice.
Jup was not forgotten, and he ate with relish some stonepine almonds
and rhizome roots, with which he was abundantly supplied. Pencroft had
unfastened his arms, but judged it best to have his legs tied until they
were more sure of his submission.
Then, before retiring to rest, Harding and his companions seated round
their table, discussed those plans, the execution of which was most
pressing. The most important and most urgent was the establishment of a
bridge over the Mercy, so as to form a communication with the southern
part of the island and Granite House; then the making of an enclosure
for the musmons or other woolly animals which they wished to capture.
These two projects would help to solve the difficulty as to their
clothing, which was now serious. The bridge would render easy the
transport of the balloon case, which would furnish them with linen, and
the inhabitants of the enclosure would yield wool which would supply
them with winter clothes.
As to the enclosure, it was Cyrus Harding’s intention to establish it at
the sources of the Red Creek, where the ruminants would find fresh and
abundant pasture. The road between Prospect Heights and the sources of
the stream was already partly beaten, and with a better cart than the
first, the material could be easily conveyed to the spot, especially if
they could manage to capture some animals to draw it.
But though there might be no inconvenience in the enclosure being so far
from Granite House, it would not be the same with the poultry-yard, to
which Neb called the attention of the colonists. It was indeed necessary
that the birds should be close within reach of the cook, and no place
appeared more favorable for the establishment of the said poultry-yard
than that portion of the banks of the lake which was close to the old
opening.
Water-birds would prosper there as well as others, and the couple
of tinamous taken in their last excursion would be the first to be
domesticated.
The next day, the 3rd of November, the new works were begun by the
construction of the bridge, and all hands were required for this
important task. Saws, hatchets, and hammers were shouldered by the
settlers, who, now transformed into carpenters, descended to the shore.
There Pencroft observed,--
“Suppose, that during our absence, Master Jup takes it into his head to
draw up the ladder which he so politely returned to us yesterday?”
“Let us tie its lower end down firmly,” replied Cyrus Harding.
This was done by means of two stakes securely fixed in the sand. Then
the settlers, ascending the left bank of the Mercy, soon arrived at the
angle formed by the river.
There they halted, in order to ascertain if the bridge could be thrown
across. The place appeared suitable.
In fact, from this spot, to Port Balloon, discovered the day before on
the southern coast, there was only a distance of three miles and a
half, and from the bridge to the Port, it would be easy to make a good
cart-road which would render the communication between Granite House and
the south of the island extremely easy.
Cyrus Harding now imparted to his companions a scheme for completely
isolating Prospect Heights so as to shelter it from the attacks both of
quadrupeds and quadrumana. In this way, Granite House, the Chimneys, the
poultry-yard, and all the upper part of the plateau which was to be used
for cultivation, would be protected against the depredations of animals.
Nothing could be easier than to execute this project, and this is how
the engineer intended to set to work.
The plateau was already defended on three sides by water-courses, either
artificial or natural. On the northwest, by the shores of Lake Grant,
from the entrance of the passage to the breach made in the banks of the
lake for the escape of the water.
On the north, from this breach to the sea, by the new water-course which
had hollowed out a bed for itself across the plateau and shore, above
and below the fall, and it would be enough to dig the bed of this creek
a little deeper to make it impracticable for animals, on all the eastern
border by the sea itself, from the mouth of the aforesaid creek to the
mouth of the Mercy.
Lastly, on the south, from the mouth to the turn of the Mercy where the
bridge was to be established.
The western border of the plateau now remained between the turn of the
river and the southern angle of the lake, a distance of about a mile,
which was open to all comers. But nothing could be easier than to dig a
broad deep ditch, which could be filled from the lake, and the overflow
of which would throw itself by a rapid fall into the bed of the Mercy.
The level of the lake would, no doubt, be somewhat lowered by this fresh
discharge of its waters, but Cyrus Harding had ascertained that the
volume of water in the Red Creek was considerable enough to allow of the
execution of this project.