The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne Page B

did not struggle against the dog. It stupidly
rolled its eyes, deeply buried in a thick bed of fat. Perhaps it saw men
for the first time.
    However, Neb having tightened his grasp on his stick, was just going to
fell the pig, when the latter, tearing itself from Top's teeth, by which
it was only held by the tip of its ear, uttered a vigorous grunt, rushed
upon Herbert, almost overthrew him, and disappeared in the wood.
    "The rascal!" cried Pencroft.
    All three directly darted after Top, but at the moment when they joined
him the animal had disappeared under the waters of a large pond shaded
by venerable pines.
    Neb, Herbert, and Pencroft stopped, motionless. Top plunged into the
water, but the capybara, hidden at the bottom of the pond, did not
appear.
    "Let us wait," said the boy, "for he will soon come to the surface to
breathe."
    "Won't he drown?" asked Neb.
    "No," replied Herbert, "since he has webbed feet, and is almost an
amphibious animal. But watch him."
    Top remained in the water. Pencroft and his two companions went to
different parts of the bank, so as to cut off the retreat of the
capybara, which the dog was looking for beneath the water.
    Herbert was not mistaken. In a few minutes the animal appeared on the
surface of the water. Top was upon it in a bound, and kept it from
plunging again. An instant later the capybara, dragged to the bank, was
killed by a blow from Neb's stick.
    "Hurrah!" cried Pencroft, who was always ready with this cry of triumph.
    "Give me but a good fire, and this pig shall be gnawed to the bones!"
    Pencroft hoisted the capybara on his shoulders, and judging by the
height of the sun that it was about two o'clock, he gave the signal to
return.
    Top's instinct was useful to the hunters, who, thanks to the intelligent
animal, were enabled to discover the road by which they had come. Half
an hour later they arrived at the river.
    Pencroft soon made a raft of wood, as he had done before, though if
there was no fire it would be a useless task, and the raft following the
current, they returned towards the Chimneys.
    But the sailor had not gone fifty paces when he stopped, and again
uttering a tremendous hurrah, pointed towards the angle of the cliff,—
    "Herbert! Neb! Look!" he shouted.
    Smoke was escaping and curling up among the rocks.

Chapter 10
*
    In a few minutes the three hunters were before a crackling fire. The
captain and the reporter were there. Pencroft looked from one to the
other, his capybara in his hand, without saying a word.
    "Well, yes, my brave fellow," cried the reporter.
    "Fire, real fire, which will roast this splendid pig perfectly, and we
will have a feast presently!"
    "But who lighted it?" asked Pencroft.
    "The sun!"
    Gideon Spilett was quite right in his reply. It was the sun which
had furnished the heat which so astonished Pencroft. The sailor could
scarcely believe his eyes, and he was so amazed that he did not think of
questioning the engineer.
    "Had you a burning-glass, sir?" asked Herbert of Harding.
    "No, my boy," replied he, "but I made one."
    And he showed the apparatus which served for a burning-glass. It was
simply two glasses which he had taken from his own and the reporter's
watches. Having filled them with water and rendered their edges adhesive
by means of a little clay, he thus fabricated a regular burning-glass,
which, concentrating the solar rays on some very dry moss, soon caused
it to blaze.
    The sailor considered the apparatus; then he gazed at the engineer
without saying a word, only a look plainly expressed his opinion that if
Cyrus Harding was not a magician, he was certainly no ordinary man. At
last speech returned to him, and he cried,—
    "Note that, Mr. Spilett, note that down on your paper!"
    "It is noted," replied the reporter.
    Then, Neb helping him, the seaman arranged the spit, and the capybara,
properly cleaned, was soon roasting like a suckling-pig before a clear,
crackling fire.
    The Chimneys had again become more habitable, not only