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Book II - Australia CHAPTER XVI - A STARTLING DISCOVERY
IT was a frightful night. At two A. M. the rain began
to fall in torrents from the stormy clouds, and continued
till daybreak. The tent became an insufficient shelter.
Glenarvan and his companions took refuge in the wagon;
they did not sleep, but talked of one thing and another.
The Major alone, whose brief absence had not been noticed,
contented himself with being a silent listener. There was
reason to fear that if the storm lasted longer the Snowy River
would overflow its banks, which would be a very unlucky thing
for the wagon, stuck fast as it was already in the soft ground.
Mulrady, Ayrton and Mangles went several times to ascertain
the height of the water, and came back dripping from head to foot.
At last day appeared; the rain ceased, but sunlight could not break
through the thick clouds. Large patches of yellowish water--
muddy, dirty ponds indeed they were--covered the ground.
A hot steam rose from the soaking earth, and saturated the atmosphere
with unhealthy humidity.
Glenarvan's first concern was the wagon; this was the main thing
in his eyes. They examined the ponderous vehicle, and found it
sunk in the mud in a deep hollow in the stiff clay. The forepart
had disappeared completely, and the hind part up to the axle.
It would be a hard job to get the heavy conveyance out, and would
need the united strength of men, bullocks, and horses.
"At any rate, we must make haste," said John Mangles. "If the clay dries,
it will make our task still more difficult."
"Let us be quick, then," replied Ayrton.
Glenarvan, his two sailors, John Mangles, and Ayrton went off
at once into the wood, where the animals had passed the night.
It was a gloomy-looking forest of tall gum-trees; nothing but dead trees,
with wide spaces between, which had been barked for ages, or rather
skinned like the cork-oak at harvest time. A miserable network
of bare branches was seen above two hundred feet high in the air.
Not a bird built its nest in these aerial skeletons; not a leaf
trembled on the dry branches, which rattled together like bones.
To what cataclysm is this phenomenon to be attributed, so frequent
in Australia, entire forests struck dead by some epidemic; no one knows;
neither the oldest natives, nor their ancestors who have lain long
buried in the groves of the dead, have ever seen them green.
Glenarvan as he went along kept his eye fixed on the gray sky,
on which the smallest branch of the gum-trees was sharply defined.
Ayrton was astonished not to discover the horses and bullocks
where he had left them the preceding night. They could not have
wandered far with the hobbles on their legs.
They looked over the wood, but saw no signs of them, and Ayrton returned
to the banks of the river, where magnificent mimosas were growing.
He gave a cry well known to his team, but there was no reply.
The quartermaster seemed uneasy, and his companions looked at him
with disappointed faces. An hour had passed in vain endeavors,
and Glenarvan was about to go back to the wagon, when a neigh struck
on his ear, and immediately after a bellow.
"They are there!" cried John Mangles, slipping between the tall branches
of gastrolobium, which grew high enough to hide a whole flock.
Glenarvan, Mulrady, and Ayrton darted after him, and speedily shared
his stupefaction at the spectacle which met their gaze.
Two bullocks and three horses lay stretched on the ground,
struck down like the rest. Their bodies were already cold,
and a flock of half-starved looking ravens croaking
among the mimosas were watching the unexpected prey.
Glenarvan and his party gazed at each other and Wilson could
not keep back the oath that rose to his lips.
"What do you mean, Wilson?" said Glenarvan, with difficulty
controlling himself. "Ayrton, bring away the bullock and the horse
we have left; they will have to serve us now."
"If the wagon were not sunk in the mud," said John Mangles,
"these two animals, by making short journeys, would be able
to take us to the coast; so we must get the vehicle out,
cost what it may."
"We will try, John," replied Glenarvan. "Let us go back now,
or they will be uneasy at our long absence."
Ayrton removed the hobbles from the bullock and Mulrady from the horse,
and they began to return to the encampment, following the winding margin
of the river. In half an hour they rejoined Paganel, and McNabbs,
and the ladies, and told them of this fresh disaster.
"Upon my honor, Ayrton," the Major could not help saying,
"it is a pity that you hadn't had the shoeing of all our beasts
when we forded the Wimerra."
"Why, sir?" asked Ayrton.
"Because out of all our horses only the one your blacksmith
had in his hands has escaped the common fate."
"That's true," said John Mangles. "It's strange it happens so."
"A mere chance, and nothing more," replied the quartermaster,
looking firmly at the Major.
Major McNabbs bit his lips as if to keep back something
V. IV Verne he was about to say. Glenarvan and the rest waited
for him to speak out his thoughts, but the Major was silent,
and went up to the wagon, which Ayrton was examining.
"What was he going to say. Mangles?" asked Glenarvan.
"I don't know," replied the young captain; "but the Major is not at
all a man to speak without reason."
"No, John," said Lady Helena. "McNabbs must have suspicions
about Ayrton."
"Suspicions!" exclaimed Paganel, shrugging his shoulders.
"And what can they be?" asked Glenarvan. "Does he suppose him capable
of having killed our horses and bullocks? And for what purpose?
Is not Ayrton's interest identical with our own?"
"You are right, dear Edward," said Lady Helena! "and what is more,
the quartermaster has given us incontestable proofs of his devotion
ever since the commencement of the journey."
"Certainly he has," replied Mangles; "but still, what could
the Major mean? I wish he would speak his mind plainly out."
"Does he suppose him acting in concert with the convicts?"
asked Paganel, imprudently.
"What convicts?" said Miss Grant.
"Monsieur Paganel is making a mistake," replied John Mangles, instantly.
"He knows very well there are no convicts in the province of Victoria."
"Ah, that is true," returned Paganel, trying to get out of his
unlucky speech. "Whatever had I got in my head? Convicts! who ever
heard of convicts being in Australia? Besides, they would scarcely
have disembarked before they would turn into good, honest men.
The climate, you know, Miss Mary, the regenerative climate--"
Here the poor SAVANT stuck fast, unable to get further,
like the wagon in the mud. Lady Helena looked at him in surprise,
which quite deprived him of his remaining _sang-froid;_ but seeing
his embarrassment, she took Mary away to the side of the tent,
where M. Olbinett was laying out an elaborate breakfast.
"I deserve to be transported myself," said Paganel, woefully.
"I think so," said Glenarvan.
And after this grave reply, which completely overwhelmed
the worthy geographer, Glenarvan and John Mangles went
toward the wagon.
They found Ayrton and the two sailors doing their best to get it
out of the deep ruts, and the bullock and horse, yoked together,
were straining every muscle. Wilson and Mulrady were pushing the wheels,
and the quartermaster urging on the team with voice and goad;
but the heavy vehicle did not stir, the clay, already dry, held it
as firmly as if sealed by some hydraulic cement.
John Mangles had the clay watered to loosen it, but it was of no use.
After renewed vigorous efforts, men and animals stopped.
Unless the vehicle was taken to pieces, it would be impossible
to extricate it from the mud; but they had no tools for the purpose,
and could not attempt such a task.
However, Ayrton, who was for conquering this obstacle at all costs,
was about to commence afresh, when Glenarvan stopped him by saying:
"Enough, Ayrton, enough. We must husband the strength of our remaining
horse and bullock. If we are obliged to continue our journey on foot,
the one animal can carry the ladies and the other the provisions.
They may thus still be of great service to us."
"Very well, my Lord," replied the quartermaster, un-yoking
the exhausted beasts.
"Now, friends," added Glenarvan, "let us return to the encampment
and deliberately examine our situation, and determine on our
course of action."
After a tolerably good breakfast to make up for their bad night,
the discussion was opened, and every one of the party was asked
to give his opinion. The first point was to ascertain their
exact position, and this was referred to Paganel, who informed them,
with his customary rigorous accuracy, that the expedition had been
stopped on the 37th parallel, in longitude 147 degrees 53 minutes,
on the banks of the Snowy River.
"What is the exact longitude of Twofold Bay?" asked Glenarvan.
"One hundred and fifty degrees," replied Paganel; "two degrees seven
minutes distant from this, and that is equal to seventy-five miles."
"And Melbourne is?"
"Two hundred miles off at least."
"Very good. Our position being then settled, what is best to do?"
The response was unanimous to get to the coast without delay.
Lady Helena and Mary Grant undertook to go five miles a day.
The courageous ladies did not shrink, if necessary, from walking
the whole distance between the Snowy River and Twofold Bay.
"You are a brave traveling companion, dear Helena,"
said Lord Glenarvan. "But are we sure of finding at the bay
all we want when we get there?"
"Without the least doubt," replied Paganel. "Eden is a municipality
which already numbers many years in existence; its port must have
frequent communication with Melbourne. I suppose even at Delegete,
on the Victoria frontier, thirty-five miles from here, we might
revictual our expedition, and find fresh means of transport."
"And the DUNCAN?" asked Ayrton. "Don't you think it advisable
to send for her to come to the bay?"
"What do you think, John?" said Glenarvan.
"I don't think your lordship should be in any hurry about it,"
replied the young captain, after brief reflection.
"There will be time enough to give orders to Tom Austin,
and summon him to the coast."
"That's quite certain," added Paganel.
"You see," said John, "in four or five days we shall reach Eden."
"Four or five days!" repeated Ayrton, shaking his head;
"say fifteen or twenty, Captain, if you don't want to repent
your mistake when it is too late."
"Fifteen or twenty days to go seventy-five miles?" cried Glenarvan.
"At the least, my Lord. You are going to traverse the most difficult
portion of Victoria, a desert, where everything is wanting,
the squatters say; plains covered with scrub, where is no beaten
track and no stations. You will have to walk hatchet or torch
in hand, and, believe me, that's not quick work."
Ayrton had spoken in a firm tone, and Paganel, at whom all the others
looked inquiringly, nodded his head in token of his agreement in opinion
with the quartermaster.
But John Mangles said, "Well, admitting these difficulties, in fifteen
days at most your Lordship can send orders to the DUNCAN."
"I have to add," said Ayrton, "that the principal difficulties are
not the obstacles in the road, but the Snowy River has to be crossed,
and most probably we must wait till the water goes down."
"Wait!" cried John. "Is there no ford?"
"I think not," replied Ayrton. "This morning I was looking
for some practical crossing, but could not find any.
It is unusual to meet with such a tumultuous river at this time
of the year, and it is a fatality against which I am powerless."
"Is this Snowy River wide?" asked Lady Helena.
"Wide and deep, Madam," replied Ayrton; "a mile wide,
with an impetuous current. A good swimmer could not go
over without danger."
"Let us build a boat then," said Robert, who never stuck at anything.
"We have only to cut down a tree and hollow it out, and get
in and be off."
"He's going ahead, this boy of Captain Grant's!" said Paganel.
"And he's right," returned John Mangles. "We shall be forced
to come to that, and I think it is useless to waste our time
in idle discussion."
"What do you think of it, Ayrton?" asked Glenarvan seriously.
"I think, my Lord, that a month hence, unless some help arrives,
we shall find ourselves still on the banks of the Snowy."
"Well, then, have you any better plan to propose?"
said John Mangles, somewhat impatiently.
"Yes, that the DUNCAN should leave Melbourne, and go to the east coast."
"Oh, always the same story! And how could her presence at the bay
facilitate our means of getting there?"
Ayrton waited an instant before answering, and then said,
rather evasively: "I have no wish to obtrude my opinions.
What I do is for our common good, and I am ready to start
the moment his honor gives the signal." And he crossed his arms
and was silent.
"That is no reply, Ayrton," said Glenarvan. "Tell us your plan,
and we will discuss it. What is it you propose?"
Ayrton replied in a calm tone of assurance: "I propose that we
should not venture beyond the Snowy in our present condition.
It is here we must wait till help comes, and this help can only
come from the DUNCAN. Let us camp here, where we have provisions,
and let one of us take your orders to Tom Austin to go on
to Twofold Bay."
This unexpected proposition was greeted with astonishment,
and by John Mangles with openly-expressed opposition.
"Meantime," continued Ayrton, "either the river will get lower,
and allow us to ford it, or we shall have time to make a canoe.
This is the plan I submit for your Lordship's approval."
"Well, Ayrton," replied Glenarvan, "your plan is worthy of
serious consideration. The worst thing about it is the delay it
would cause; but it would save us great fatigue, and perhaps danger.
What do you think of it, friends?"
"Speak your mind, McNabbs," said Lady Helena. "Since the beginning
of the discussion you have been only a listener, and very sparing
of your words."
"Since you ask my advice," said the Major, "I will give it you frankly.
I think Ayrton has spoken wisely and well, and I side with him."
Such a reply was hardly looked for, as hitherto the Major had been
strongly opposed to Ayrton's project. Ayrton himself was surprised,
and gave a hasty glance at the Major. However, Paganel, Lady Helena,
and the sailors were all of the same way of thinking; and since McNabbs
had come over to his opinion, Glenarvan decided that the quartermaster's
plan should be adopted in principle.
"And now, John," he added, "don't you think yourself it would
be prudent to encamp here, on the banks of the river Snowy,
till we can get some means of conveyance."
"Yes," replied John Mangles, "if our messenger can get across
the Snowy when we cannot."
All eyes were turned on the quartermaster, who said,
with the air of a man who knew what he was about:
"The messenger will not cross the river."
"Indeed!" said John Mangles.
"He will simply go back to the Lucknow Road which leads
straight to Melbourne."
"Go two hundred and fifty miles on foot!" cried the young Captain.
"On horseback," replied Ayrton. "There is one horse sound
enough at present. It will only be an affair of four days.
Allow the DUNCAN two days more to get to the bay and twenty
hours to get back to the camp, and in a week the messenger can
be back with the entire crew of the vessel."
The Major nodded approvingly as Ayrton spoke, to the profound astonishment
of John Mangles; but as every one was in favor of the plan all there
was to do was to carry it out as quickly as possible.
"Now, then, friends," said Glenarvan, "we must settle
who is to be our messenger. It will be a fatiguing,
perilous mission. I would not conceal the fact from you.
Who is disposed, then, to sacrifice himself for his companions
and carry our instructions to Melbourne?"
Wilson and Mulrady, and also Paganel, John Mangles and Robert instantly
offered their services. John particularly insisted that he should
be intrusted with the business; but Ayrton, who had been silent till
that moment, now said: "With your Honor's permission I will go myself.
I am accustomed to all the country round. Many a time I have been
across worse parts. I can go through where another would stick.
I ask then, for the good of all, that I may be sent to Melbourne. A word
from you will accredit me with your chief officer, and in six days I
guarantee the DUNCAN shall be in Twofold Bay."
"That's well spoken," replied Glenarvan. "You are a clever,
daring fellow, and you will succeed."
It was quite evident the quartermaster was the fittest man
for the mission. All the rest withdrew from the competition.
John Mangles made this one last objection, that the presence
of Ayrton was necessary to discover traces of the BRITANNIA
or Harry Grant. But the Major justly observed that the expedition
would remain on the banks of the Snowy till the return of Ayrton,
that they had no idea of resuming their search without him,
and that consequently his absence would not in the least
prejudice the Captain's interests.
"Well, go, Ayrton," said Glenarvan. "Be as quick as you can,
and come back by Eden to our camp."
A gleam of satisfaction shot across the quartermaster's face.
He turned away his head, but not before John Mangles caught the look
and instinctively felt his old distrust of Ayrton revive.
The quartermaster made immediate preparations for departure,
assisted by the two sailors, one of whom saw to the horse
and the other to the provisions. Glenarvan, meantime,
wrote his letter for Tom Austin. He ordered his chief officer
to repair without delay to Twofold Bay. He introduced
the quartermaster to him as a man worthy of all confidence.
On arriving at the coast, Tom was to dispatch a detachment
of sailors from the yacht under his orders.
Glenarvan was just at this part of his letter, when McNabbs,
who was following him with his eyes, asked him in a singular tone,
how he wrote Ayrton's name.
"Why, as it is pronounced, of course," replied Glenarvan.
"It is a mistake," replied the Major quietly. "He pronounces it AYRTON,
but he writes it _Ben Joyce!_"
CHAPTER XVII THE PLOT UNVEILED
THE revelation of Tom Ayrton's name was like a clap of thunder.
Ayrton had started up quickly and grasped his revolver.
A report was heard, and Glenarvan fell wounded by a ball.
Gunshots resounded at the same time outside.
John Mangles and the sailors, after their first surprise,
would have seized Ben Joyce; but the bold convict had already
disappeared and rejoined his gang scattered among the gum-trees.
The tent was no shelter against the balls. It was necessary to beat
a retreat. Glenarvan was slightly wounded, but could stand up.
"To the wagon--to the wagon!" cried John Mangles, dragging Lady Helena
and Mary Grant along, who were soon in safety behind the thick curtains.
John and the Major, and Paganel and the sailors seized
their carbines in readiness to repulse the convicts.
Glenarvan and Robert went in beside the ladies, while Olbinett
rushed to the common defense.
These events occurred with the rapidity of lightning.
John Mangles watched the skirts of the wood attentively.
The reports had ceased suddenly on the arrival of Ben Joyce;
profound silence had succeeded the noisy fusillade.
A few wreaths of white smoke were still curling over the tops
of the gum trees. The tall tufts of gastrolobium were motionless.
All signs of attack had disappeared.
The Major and John Mangles examined the wood closely as far as
the great trees; the place was abandoned. Numerous footmarks were
there and several half-burned caps were lying smoking on the ground.
The Major, like a prudent man, extinguished these carefully,
for a spark would be enough to kindle a tremendous conflagration
in this forest of dry trees.
"The convicts have disappeared!" said John Mangles.
"Yes," replied the Major; "and the disappearance of them
makes me uneasy. I prefer seeing them face to face.
Better to meet a tiger on the plain than a serpent in the grass.
Let us beat the bushes all round the wagon."
The Major and John hunted all round the country, but there was not a
convict to be seen from the edge of the wood right down to the river.
Ben Joyce and his gang seemed to have flown away like a flock of
marauding birds. It was too sudden a disappearance to let the travelers
feel perfectly safe; consequently they resolved to keep a sharp lookout.
The wagon, a regular fortress buried in mud, was made the center
of the camp, and two men mounted guard round it, who were relieved
hour by hour.
The first care of Lady Helena and Mary was to dress Glenarvan's wound.
Lady Helena rushed toward him in terror, as he fell
down struck by Ben Joyce's ball. Controlling her agony,
the courageous woman helped her husband into the wagon.
Then his shoulder was bared, and the Major found, on examination,
that the ball had only gone into the flesh, and there was no
internal lesion. Neither bone nor muscle appeared to be injured.
The wound bled profusely, but Glenarvan could use his fingers
and forearm; and consequently there was no occasion for any
uneasiness about the issue. As soon as his shoulder was dressed,
he would not allow any more fuss to be made about himself,
but at once entered on the business in hand.
All the party, except Mulrady and Wilson, who were on guard,
were brought into the wagon, and the Major was asked to explain
how this DENOUEMENT had come about.
Before commencing his recital, he told Lady Helena about the escape
of the convicts at Perth, and their appearance in Victoria;
as also their complicity in the railway catastrophe.
He handed her the _Australian and New Zealand Gazette_
they had bought in Seymour, and added that a reward had been
offered by the police for the apprehension of Ben Joyce,
a redoubtable bandit, who had become a noted character during
the last eighteen months, for doing deeds of villainy and crime.
But how had McNabbs found out that Ayrton and Ben Joyce were one
and the same individual? This was the mystery to be unraveled,
and the Major soon explained it.
Ever since their first meeting, McNabbs had felt an instinctive
distrust of the quartermaster. Two or three insignificant facts,
a hasty glance exchanged between him and the blacksmith at
the Wimerra River, his unwillingness to cross towns and villages,
his persistence about getting the DUNCAN summoned to the coast,
the strange death of the animals entrusted to his care, and, lastly,
a want of frankness in all his behavior--all these details combined
had awakened the Major's suspicions.
However, he could not have brought any direct accusation against
him till the events of the preceding evening had occurred.
He then told of his experience.
McNabbs, slipping between the tall shrubs, got within reach of
the suspicious shadows he had noticed about half a mile away from
the encampment. The phosphorescent furze emitted a faint light,
by which he could discern three men examining marks on the ground,
and one of the three was the blacksmith of Black Point.
"'It is them!' said one of the men. 'Yes,' replied another,
'there is the trefoil on the mark of the horseshoe. It has
been like that since the Wimerra.' 'All the horses are dead.'
'The poison is not far off.' 'There is enough to kill a regiment
of cavalry.' 'A useful plant this gastrolobium.'
"I heard them say this to each other, and then they
were quite silent; but I did not know enough yet,
so I followed them. Soon the conversation began again.
'He is a clever fellow, this Ben Joyce,' said the blacksmith.
'A capital quartermaster, with his invention of shipwreck.'
'If his project succeeds, it will be a stroke of fortune.'
'He is a very devil, is this Ayrton.' 'Call him Ben Joyce,
for he has well earned his name.' And then the scoundrels
left the forest.
"I had all the information I wanted now, and came back to the camp
quite convinced, begging Paganel's pardon, that Australia does
not reform criminals."
This was all the Major's story, and his companions sat silently
thinking over it.
"Then Ayrton has dragged us here," said Glenarvan, pale with anger,
"on purpose to rob and assassinate us."
"For nothing else," replied the Major; "and ever since we left
the Wimerra, his gang has been on our track and spying on us,
waiting for a favorable opportunity."
"Yes."
"Then the wretch was never one of the sailors on the BRITANNIA;
he had stolen the name of Ayrton and the shipping papers."
They were all looking at McNabbs for an answer, for he must have put
the question to himself already.
"There is no great certainty about the matter," he replied,
in his usual calm voice; "but in my opinion the man's name
is really Ayrton. Ben Joyce is his _nom de guerre_.
It is an incontestible fact that he knew Harry Grant, and also that
he was quartermaster on the BRITANNIA. These facts were proved
by the minute details given us by Ayrton, and are corroborated
by the conversation between the convicts, which I repeated to you.
We need not lose ourselves in vain conjectures, but consider it
as certain that Ben Joyce is Ayrton, and that Ayrton is Ben Joyce;
that is to say, one of the crew of the BRITANNIA has turned
leader of the convict gang."
The explanations of McNabbs were accepted without discussion.
"Now, then," said Glenarvan, "will you tell us how and why
Harry Grant's quartermaster comes to be in Australia?"
"How, I don't know," replied McNabbs; "and the police declare they are
as ignorant on the subject as myself. Why, it is impossible to say;
that is a mystery which the future may explain."
"The police are not even aware of Ayrton's identity with Ben Joyce,"
said John Mangles.
"You are right, John," replied the Major, "and this circumstance
would throw light on their search."
"Then, I suppose," said Lady Helena, "the wicked wretch had got
work on Paddy O'Moore's farm with a criminal intent?"
"There is not the least doubt of it. He was planning some evil
design against the Irishman, when a better chance presented itself.
Chance led us into his presence. He heard Paganel's story
and all about the shipwreck, and the audacious fellow determined
to act his part immediately. The expedition was decided on.
At the Wimerra he found means of communicating with one of his gang,
the blacksmith of Black Point, and left traces of our journey
which might be easily recognized. The gang followed us.
A poisonous plant enabled them gradually to kill our bullocks and horses.
At the right moment he sunk us in the marshes of the Snowy,
and gave us into the hands of his gang."
Such was the history of Ben Joyce. The Major had shown
him up in his character--a bold and formidable criminal.
His manifestly evil designs called for the utmost vigilance
on the part of Glenarvan. Happily the unmasked bandit was less
to be feared than the traitor.
But one serious consequence must come out of this revelation;
no one had thought of it yet except Mary Grant. John Mangles
was the first to notice her pale, despairing face; he understood
what was passing in her mind at a glance.
"Miss Mary! Miss Mary!" he cried; "you are crying!"
"Crying, my child!" said Lady Helena.
"My father, madam, my father!" replied the poor girl.
She could say no more, but the truth flashed on every mind.
They all knew the cause of her grief, and why tears fell from
her eyes and her father's name came to her lips.
The discovery of Ayrton's treachery had destroyed all hope; the convict
had invented a shipwreck to entrap Glenarvan. In the conversation
overheard by McNabbs, the convicts had plainly said that the BRITANNIA
had never been wrecked on the rocks in Twofold Bay. Harry Grant had
never set foot on the Australian continent!
A second time they had been sent on the wrong track by an erroneous
interpretation of the document. Gloomy silence fell on the whole
party at the sight of the children's sorrow, and no one could find
a cheering word to say. Robert was crying in his sister's arms.
Paganel muttered in a tone of vexation: "That unlucky document!
It may boast of having half-crazed a dozen peoples' wits!" The worthy
geographer was in such a rage with himself, that he struck his forehead
as if he would smash it in.
Glenarvan went out to Mulrady and Wilson, who were keeping watch.
Profound silence reigned over the plain between the wood and the river.
Ben Joyce and his band must be at considerable distance,
for the atmosphere was in such a state of complete torpor
that the slightest sound would have been heard. It was evident,
from the flocks of birds on the lower branches of the trees,
and the kangaroos feeding quietly on the young shoots, and a couple
of emus whose confiding heads passed between the great clumps of bushes,
that those peaceful solitudes were untroubled by the presence
of human beings.
"You have neither seen nor heard anything for the last hour?"
said Glenarvan to the two sailors.
"Nothing whatever, your honor," replied Wilson. "The convicts must
be miles away from here."
"They were not in numbers enough to attack us, I suppose,"
added Mulrady. "Ben Joyce will have gone to recruit his party,
with some bandits like himself, among the bush-rangers who may
be lurking about the foot of the Alps."
"That is probably the case, Mulrady," replied Glenarvan. "The rascals
are cowards; they know we are armed, and well armed too.
Perhaps they are waiting for nightfall to commence the attack.
We must redouble our watchfulness. Oh, if we could only get out of
this bog, and down the coast; but this swollen river bars our passage.
I would pay its weight in gold for a raft which would carry us
over to the other side."
"Why does not your honor give orders for a raft to be constructed?
We have plenty of wood."
"No, Wilson," replied Glenarvan; "this Snowy is not a river,
it is an impassable torrent."
John Mangles, the Major, and Paganel just then came out of the wagon
on purpose to examine the state of the river. They found it still
so swollen by the heavy rain that the water was a foot above the level.
It formed an impetuous current, like the American rapids.
To venture over that foaming current and that rushing flood,
broken into a thousand eddies and hollows and gulfs, was impossible.
John Mangles declared the passage impracticable. "But we
must not stay here," he added, "without attempting anything.
What we were going to do before Ayrton's treachery is still
more necessary now."
"What do you mean, John?" asked Glenarvan.
"I mean that our need is urgent, and that since we cannot go
to Twofold Bay, we must go to Melbourne. We have still one horse.
Give it to me, my Lord, and I will go to Melbourne."
"But that will be a dangerous venture, John," said Glenarvan. "Not to
speak of the perils of a journey of two hundred miles over an unknown
country, the road and the by-ways will be guarded by the accomplices
of Ben Joyce."
"I know it, my Lord, but I know also that things can't stay long
as they are; Ayrton only asked a week's absence to fetch the crew
of the DUNCAN, and I will be back to the Snowy River in six days.
Well, my Lord, what are your commands?"
"Before Glenarvan decides," said Paganel, "I must make an observation.
That some one must go to Melbourne is evident, but that John Mangles
should be the one to expose himself to the risk, cannot be.
He is the captain of the DUNCAN, and must be careful of his life.
I will go instead."
"That is all very well, Paganel," said the Major; "but why should you
be the one to go?"
"Are we not here?" said Mulrady and Wilson.
"And do you think," replied McNabbs, "that a journey of two hundred
miles on horseback frightens me."
"Friends," said Glenarvan, "one of us must go, so let it be decided
by drawing lots. Write all our names, Paganel."
"Not yours, my Lord," said John Mangles.
"And why not?"
"What! separate you from Lady Helena, and before your wound
is healed, too!"
"Glenarvan," said Paganel, "you cannot leave the expedition."
"No," added the Major. "Your place is here, Edward, you ought
not to go."
"Danger is involved in it," said Glenarvan, "and I will take my share
along with the rest. Write the names, Paganel, and put mine among them,
and I hope the lot may fall on me."
His will was obeyed. The names were written, and the lots drawn.
Fate fixed on Mulrady. The brave sailor shouted hurrah! and said:
"My Lord, I am ready to start." Glenarvan pressed his hand, and then
went back to the wagon, leaving John Mangles and the Major on watch.
Lady Helena was informed of the determination to send a message
to Melbourne, and that they had drawn lots who should go,
and Mulrady had been chosen. Lady Helena said a few kind
words to the brave sailor, which went straight to his heart.
Fate could hardly have chosen a better man, for he was not only
brave and intelligent, but robust and superior to all fatigue.
Mulrady's departure was fixed for eight o'clock, immediately after
the short twilight. Wilson undertook to get the horse ready.
He had a project in his head of changing the horse's left shoe,
for one off the horses that had died in the night. This would
prevent the convicts from tracking Mulrady, or following him,
as they were not mounted.
While Wilson was arranging this, Glenarvan got his letter ready
for Tom Austin, but his wounded arm troubled him, and he asked
Paganel to write it for him. The SAVANT was so absorbed in one
fixed idea that he seemed hardly to know what he was about.
In all this succession of vexations, it must be said
the document was always uppermost in Paganel's mind.
He was always worrying himself about each word, trying to discover
some new meaning, and losing the wrong interpretation of it,
and going over and over himself in perplexities.
He did not hear Glenarvan when he first spoke, but on the request
being made a second time, he said: "Ah, very well. I'm ready."
While he spoke he was mechanically getting paper from his note-book.
He tore a blank page off, and sat down pencil in hand to write.
Glenarvan began to dictate as follows: "Order to
Tom Austin, Chief Officer, to get to sea without delay,
and bring the DUNCAN to--"
Paganel was just finishing the last word, when his eye chanced to fall
on the _Australian and New Zealand Gazette_ lying on the ground.
The paper was so folded that only the last two syllables of the title
were visible. Paganel's pencil stopped, and he seemed to become oblivious
of Glenarvan and the letter entirely, till his friends called out:
"Come, Paganel!"
"Ah!" said the geographer, with a loud exclamation.
"What is the matter?" asked the Major.
"Nothing, nothing," replied Paganel. Then he muttered to himself,
"_Aland! aland! aland!_"
He had got up and seized the newspaper. He shook it in his efforts
to keep back the words that involuntarily rose to his lips.
Lady Helena, Mary, Robert, and Glenarvan gazed at him in astonishment,
at a loss to understand this unaccountable agitation.
Paganel looked as if a sudden fit of insanity had come over him.
But his excitement did not last. He became by degrees calmer.
The gleam of joy that shone in his eyes died away.
He sat down again, and said quietly:
"When you please, my Lord, I am ready." Glenarvan resumed
his dictation at once, and the letter was soon completed.
It read as follows: "Order to Tom Austin to go to sea without delay;
and take the DUNCAN to Melbourne by the 37th degree of latitude
to the eastern coast of Australia."
"Of Australia?" said Paganel. "Ah yes! of Australia."
Then he finished the letter, and gave it to Glenarvan to sign,
who went through the necessary formality as well as he could,
and closed and sealed the letter. Paganel, whose hand still
trembled with emotion, directed it thus: "Tom Austin, Chief Officer
on board the Yacht DUNCAN, Melbourne."
Then he got up and went out of the wagon, gesticulating and repeating
the incomprehensible words:
"Aland aland! aland!"
Content of Book II - Australia CHAPTER XVI - A STARTLING DISCOVERY [Jules Verne's novel: In Search of the Castaways]
_
Read next: Book II - Australia: CHAPTER XVII - THE PLOT UNVEILED
Read previous: Book II - Australia: CHAPTER XV - SUSPICIOUS OCCURRENCES
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