Таємничий острів

           "Besides,hecouldnotrunaway,"saidNeb,"sincethebridgeisraised."

           "Oh!"saidPencroft,"thatisn’tamantobetroubledbyastreamlikeCreekGlycerine!Hecouldcrossitdirectly,atasinglebound!"

           "Weshallsoonsee,"Hardingcontentedhimselfwithreplying,hiseyesnotquittingthoseofhispatient.

           ThelatterwasthenledtowardsthemouthoftheMercy,andallclimbingtheleftbankoftheriver,reachedProspectHeights.

           Arrivedatthespotonwhichgrewthefirstbeautifultreesoftheforest,theirfoliageslightlyagitatedbythebreeze,thestrangerappearedgreedilytodrinkinthepenetratingodorwhichfilledtheatmosphere,andalongsighescapedfromhischest.

           Thesettlerskeptbehindhim,readytoseizehimifhemadeanymovementtoescape!

           And,indeed,thepoorcreaturewasonthepointofspringingintothecreekwhichseparatedhimfromtheforest,andhislegswerebentforaninstantasifforaspring,butalmostimmediatelyhesteppedback,halfsankdown,andalargetearfellfromhiseyes.

           "Ah!"exclaimedCyrusHarding,"youhavebecomeamanagain,foryoucanweep!"