Таємничий острів

           "Doyouseeanythingextraordinaryinit,captain?Thebottlemustgosomewhere,andwhynothereaswellasanywhereelse?"

           "Perhapsyouareright,Pencroft,"repliedtheengineer;"andyet—"

           "But,"observedHerbert,"there’snothingtoprovethatthisbottlehasbeenfloatinglonginthesea."

           "Nothing,"repliedGideonSpilett,"andthedocumentappearseventohavebeenrecentlywritten.Whatdoyouthinkaboutit,Cyrus?"

           DuringthisconversationPencrofthadnotremainedinactive.Hehadputthevesselabout,andthe"Bonadventure,"allsailsset,wasrunningrapidlytowardsClawCape.

           EveryonewasthinkingofthecastawayonTaborIsland.Shouldtheybeintimetosavehim?Thiswasagreateventinthelifeofthecolonists!Theythemselveswerebutcastaways,butitwastobefearedthatanothermightnothavebeensofortunate,andtheirdutywastogotohissuccor.

           ClawCapewasdoubled,andaboutfouro’clockthe"Bonadventure"droppedheranchoratthemouthoftheMercy.

           Thatsameeveningthearrangementsforthenewexpeditionweremade.ItappearedbestthatPencroftandHerbert,whoknewhowtoworkthevessel,shouldundertakethevoyagealone.Bysettingoutthenextday,the10thofOctober,theywouldarriveonthe13th,forwiththepresentwinditwouldnottakemorethanforty-eighthourstomakethispassageofahundredandfiftymiles.Onedayintheisland,threeorfourtoreturn,theymighthopethereforethatonthe17ththeywouldagainreachLincolnIsland.