Ледяной сфинкс
Chapter XV. Bennet Islet
TheJaneofLiverpool!TheschoonercommandedbyCaptainWilliamGuy!Whatdiditmatterthattimehadblurredtheotherletters?Didnotthosesufficetotellthenameoftheshipandtheportshebelongedto?TheJaneofLiverpool!
CaptainLenGuyhadtakentheplankinhishands,andnowhepressedhislipstoit,whiletearsfellfromhiseyes.
ItwasafragmentoftheJane!Ididnotutteraworduntilthecaptain’semotionhadsubsided.AsforHunt,Ihadneverseensuchalightningglancefromhisbrillianthawk-likeeyesashenowcasttowardsthesouthernhorizon.
CaptainLenGuyrose.
Hunt,withoutaword,placedtheplankuponhisshoulder,andwecontinuedourroute.
Whenwehadmadethetouroftheisland,wehaltedattheplacewheretheboathadbeenleftunderthechargeoftwosailors,andabouthalf-pasttwointheafternoonwewereagainonboard.
Earlyonthemorningofthe23rdofDecembertheHalbraneputofffromBennetIslet,andwecarriedawaywithusnewandconvincingtestimonytothecatastrophewhichTsalalIslandhadwitnessed.
Duringthatday,Iobservedtheseawaterveryattentively,anditseemedtomelessdeeplybluethanArthurPymdescribesit.Norhadwemetasinglespecimenofhismonsteroftheaustralfauna,ananimalthreefeetlong,sixincheshigh,withfourshortlegs,longcoralclaws,asilkybody,arat’stail,acat’shead,thehangingears,blood-redlipsandwhiteteethofadog.
