Таємничий острів

           "Weneededalocker,andnowwehaveone,"saidPencroft;"butaswecannotlockitup,itwillbeprudenttohidetheopening.Idon’tmeanfromtwo-leggedthieves,butfromthosewithfourpaws!"

           Atsixo’clock,allwasstowedaway,andafterhavinggiventhecreektheverysuitablenameof"PortBalloon,"thesettlerspursuedtheirwayalongClawCape.Pencroftandtheengineertalkedofthedifferentprojectswhichitwasagreedtoputintoexecutionwiththebriefestpossibledelay.ItwasnecessaryfirstofalltothrowabridgeovertheMercy,soastoestablishaneasycommunicationwiththesouthoftheisland;thenthecartmustbetakentobringbacktheballoon,forthecanoealonecouldnotcarryit,thentheywouldbuildadeckedboat,andPencroftwouldrigitasacutter,andtheywouldbeabletoundertakevoyagesofcircumnavigationroundtheisland,etc.

           Inthemeanwhilenightcameon,anditwasalreadydarkwhenthesettlersreachedFlotsamPoint,wheretheyhadfoundthepreciouschest.

           ThedistancebetweenFlotsamPointandGraniteHousewasanotherfourmiles,anditwasmidnightwhen,afterhavingfollowedtheshoretothemouthoftheMercy,thesettlersarrivedatthefirstangleformedbytheMercy.

           Theretheriverwaseightyfeetinbreadth,whichwasawkwardtocross,butasPencrofthadtakenuponhimselftoconquerthisdifficulty,hewascompelledtodoit.Thesettlerscertainlyhadreasontobeprettytired.Thejourneyhadbeenlong,andthetaskofgettingdowntheballoonhadnotrestedeithertheirarmsorlegs.