Ледяной сфинкс
Chapter XXIV. Eleven Years in a Few Pages
Thelittlecompany,havingpassedthechaoticbarrierthatinterceptedthenorthernroute,proceededrapidlytowardsthenorth-west.There,onthecoast,ataboutthreemilesfromKlock-Klock,theyestablishedthemselvesinagrottoverylikethatinourownoccupationonthecoastofHalbraneLand.
Anditwasinthisplacethat,duringlong,hopelessyears,thesevensurvivorsoftheJanelived,aswewereabouttodoourselves,butunderbetterconditions,forthefertilityofthesoilofTsalalfurnishedthemwithresourcesunknowninHalbraneLand.Inreality,wewerecondemnedtoperishwhenourprovisionsshouldbeexhausted,buttheycouldhavewaitedindefinitely—andtheydidwait.
TheyhadneverentertainedanydoubtthatArthurPym,DirkPeters,andAllenhadperished,andthiswasonlytootrueinAllen’scase.How,indeed,couldtheyeverhaveimaginedthatPymandthehalf-breedhadgotholdofaboatandmadetheirescapefromTsalalIsland?
So,then,asWilliamGuytoldus,notanincidentoccurredtobreakthemonotonyofthatexistenceofelevenyears—noteventhereappearanceoftheislanders,whowerekeptawayfromTsalalbysuperstitiousterror.Nodangerhadthreatenedthemduringallthattime;but,ofcourse,asitbecamemoreandmoreprolonged,theylostthehopeofeverbeingrescued.Atfirst,withthereturnofthefineseason,whentheseawasoncemoreopen,theyhadthoughtitpossiblethatashipwouldbesentinsearchoftheJane.Butafterfourorfiveyearstheyrelinquishedallhope.
