Таємничий острів

           "Theconvictsdiscoveredherinherlittleharboronlyeightdaysago,theyputtoseainher—"

           "And?"saidPencroft,hisheartbeating.

           "AndnothavingBobHarveytosteerher,theyranontherocks,andthevesselwenttopieces."

           "Oh,thevillains,thecutthroats,theinfamousscoundrels!"exclaimedPencroft.

           "Pencroft,"saidHerbert,takingthesailor’shand,"wewillbuildanother‘Bonadventure’—alargerone.Wehavealltheironwork—alltheriggingofthebrigatourdisposal."

           "Butdoyouknow,"returnedPencroft,"thatitwilltakeatleastfiveorsixmonthstobuildavesseloffromthirtytofortytons?"

           "Wecantakeourtime,"saidthereporter,"andwemustgiveupthevoyagetoTaborIslandforthisyear."

           "Oh,my‘Bonadventure!’mypoor‘Bonadventure!’"criedPencroft,almostbroken-heartedatthedestructionofthevesselofwhichhewassoproud.

           Thelossofthe"Bonadventure"wascertainlyathingtobelamentedbythecolonists,anditwasagreedthatthislossshouldberepairedassoonaspossible.Thissettled,theynowoccupiedthemselveswithbringingtheirresearchestobearonthemostsecretpartsoftheisland.

           Theexplorationwascommencedatdaybreakonthe19thofFebruary,andlastedanentireweek.Thebaseofthemountain,withitsspursandtheirnumberlessramifications,formedalabyrinthofvalleysandelevations.