The Mysterious Island Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Captain Grant's Children

Chapter 168 The Mysterious Island (53)
The answer is yes, the preparation work is very proper.The engineer and Pencroft each carried a two-shot rifle, while Jardine Splane held his carbine, and now only waited to go.

"Are you feeling ill now, Harbert?" asked the engineer.

"Ah! I am well, Mr. Cyrus," answered the lad, "don't worry about me, I shall not die on the road!"

When speaking in this way, everyone can see that the poor child has exhausted all his energy and is holding back the slowly fading physical strength with a strong will.The engineer felt uncomfortable.He was still hesitating whether to order an immediate departure.But not to start would surely disappoint Harbert—perhaps make him die of discouragement and depression.

"Go!" said Cyrus Harding.

The door to the "corral" opened.Jupp and Top rushed forward silently, they knew how to keep quiet.When the wagon was out, the door was shut again, and Pencroft, driving the wild ass, made the wagon go as slowly and as steadily as possible.If for the sake of safety, it is better to take another road, and avoid the road from the "corral" directly to the "Granite Palace", but that means that the cart must go through the woods, which will make the car change. Very bumpy.So the immigrants chose the old road, even though it was presumably familiar to the criminals.

Cyrus Harding and Jardine Splane flanked the wagon at gunpoint, ready for any surprise attack.However, the criminals may not have left Prospect Heights at this point.Neb's note had apparently been written and delivered as soon as the criminals showed up.The time indicated on the note was six o'clock in the morning, and the clever orangutan was used to walking the way to the "corral", so it only took three quarters of an hour to walk between the "corral" and "Granite Palace" five nautical miles.So the path should now be safe.If the two sides opened fire, it should be near the "Granite Palace".

Even so, the immigrants still dare not be negligent.Jupp held a wooden stick and Top took up reconnaissance missions together. Sometimes they ran ahead, and sometimes they searched the woods on both sides of the road, but judging from their behavior, it seemed that there was no danger ahead.Pencroft drove the wild ass, and led the cart along slowly.They left the "corral" at 07:30 and had covered four of the five nautical miles an hour later, so far so good.

The situation along the way is the same as that of the entire Central and South American forest from "Grateful River" to "Grant Lake", there is no movement at all.There is no need for an alarm.Just like the day the settlers landed on the island, the coppice was deserted.

They were now close to Prospect Heights.Go another nautical mile, and you can see the suspension bridge on the "Glycerin River".Cyrus Harding believed that the drawbridge must have been lowered, because the criminals might have entered Prospect Heights from here, or they might have lowered it in advance as their retreat after crossing the defensive river.

Finally, through a gap in the last row of trees, they could see the sea level.But the wagon went on, because none of the guards would want to leave it.

At this moment Pencroft suddenly stopped the wild ass, and cried out in an angry voice: "Ah! these damned robbers!"

He pointed ahead, and the settlers could see a plume of smoke hovering over the mills, barns, and poultry yards.

In the thick smoke, someone was walking around.It was Neb.His companions gave a cry.When he heard it, he immediately ran towards everyone...

It turned out that the criminals left after destroying the high ground, and had been walking for about half an hour.

"And Mr. Harbert?" asked Neb.Jardine Splane hurried back to the wagon.And Harbert has passed out!

deadly malaria

Now that Herbert's illness was overwhelming, the criminals, the danger to Granite House, and the ruins all over Prospect Heights had been forgotten by the settlers.Could the transport have caused serious internal injuries and thus endangered his life?The reporter couldn't say for sure, but he and his companions were in despair.

The cart was pulled to a bend in the river.They made a soft stretcher out of some twigs, and lifted the unconscious Hubbert with the cushions under him. Ten minutes later Cyrus Harding, Jardin Sprine, and Pencroft were at the foot of the cliff, while Neb was in charge of driving the wagon up to Prospect Heights.

They started the elevator, and soon, Hubbert returned to the "Granite Palace", lying on his bed by the window.

Everyone thought of a lot of ways, and Hubert finally woke up.When he found himself back in the familiar room, he couldn't help but smile.But due to his excessive weakness, he could barely whisper a few words.

Jardine Splane inspected his wounds, and was a little concerned that they were open as they were not yet fully healed... but examined and found that they were not open.So what is the cause of the collapse?How could Hubbert's condition suddenly deteriorate?Due to the high fever, the young man had already passed out.The reporter and Pencroft were at his bedside to take good care of him.

At this time, Cyrus Harding told Neb what had happened in the Corral, and Neb also related to his master the invasion on Prospect Heights.

Last night the convicts appeared for the first time on the edge of the forest near the Glycerin River.Neb was on the lookout near the poultry farm, and when he saw a pirate preparing to cross the river, he did not hesitate to shoot.Unfortunately it was dark last night and he didn't know if he had hit the villain.In short, the gang were not frightened away by the shot, and Neb had to retreat to Granite House, where he was at least safe.

But what should he do?The high ground is about to be lost. How can we stop the criminals from destroying it?Could Neb think of a way to inform his master?Besides, what is the situation of the people in the "corral" now?
Cyrus Harding and Company was the 11th of November to leave Granite House, and today is the 11th.Except for the bad news that Top sent him: Ayrton was missing, Harbert was badly wounded, and engineers, journalists, sailors were trapped in the "corral"!During nineteen days, Neb heard no more from them.what can we do about it?poor Neb asked himself repeatedly.He himself was not afraid of anything, for the criminals could not come to Granite House to harm him.But their buildings, their farms, and all their arrangements are about to be ruined by the pirates!Wouldn't it be better if Cyrus Harding could help him think out what to do, or at least let him know of the dangers he might run into?
The way Neb came up with was to let Jupp deliver the letter.There is no doubt about the intelligence of this orangutan, as it has been proved by many tests in the past.Jupp could understand the word "corral" because they used to say it in its presence.It may be remembered that he used to drive with Pencroft to the Corral.It was still dark at this time, and the clever orangutan was sure to be able to pass through the woods unnoticed, and if the criminals found him, they would treat him as no more than an ordinary orangutan on the island.

Neb didn't hesitate any longer. After writing the note, he tied it firmly around Jupp's neck, and then led Jupp to the gate of "Granite Palace".He lowered a long rope all the way to the ground, and then he repeated the words over and over again: "Jup! Jup! 'Corral'! 'Corral'!"

The orangutan quickly understood what he meant, grabbed the rope, slid nimbly onto the sand, and disappeared into the darkness.And all this did not alarm the criminals.

"You are right in this, Neb," replied Cyrus Harding, "but you may be more right if you do not inform us!"

Cyrus Harding said this chiefly because of Harbert, who now appeared to have had a serious effect on his recovery by this trip.

Neb went on to tell the story.The criminals didn't come to the beach.As they did not know how many inhabitants there were on the island, they might have thought that Granite House was being defended by a considerable force.They must have remembered that when the brig made its attack, bullets from the lower and upper rocks met them, so they probably did not want to expose themselves to danger.But Prospect Heights was weakly defended, and the gunfire from Granite Palace could not hit here.So they destroyed as much as they could, looting, setting fire, and destroying everything in sight, and did not leave the heights until half an hour before the settlers returned.At the time, they probably thought the migrants were still trapped in the “corral.”

No sooner had the bandits left than Neb rushed out of his hiding place.He risked his life aboard Prospect Heights trying to put out the fire that was burning down the buildings that housed the poultry farm.Despite his efforts to no avail, he persisted in putting out the fire until the cart appeared at the edge of the woods.

That's the whole story of the incident.The presence of criminals was a dangerous bane for immigrants on "Lincoln Island".Before these criminals appeared, they lived so happily, but from now on, they may suffer even greater misfortune!
Jardine Splane and Pencroft remained in Granite House to look after Herbert.Cyrus Harding, accompanied by Neb, went to see for himself the extent of the devastation.

Fortunately, the criminals did not invade all the way to the foot of Granite Palace.Otherwise, the "chimney" workshop will be doomed.But this is not much consolation, because it is easier to repair if it is damaged than the piles of ruins on Prospect Heights.

Cyrus Harding and Neb went to the Thanksgiving River.They climbed up to the left bank, where they found no trace of the passage of criminals.On the other side of the river and deep in the jungle, they did not find any suspicious whereabouts.

According to the current situation, two possibilities can be deduced: perhaps the criminals already knew that the immigrants had returned to "Granite Palace", because they may have found traces of their passage from the "corral" road; After the destruction, they got into the Central and South American forests and escaped along the "Grateful River", so they didn't know that the immigrants returned to "Granite Palace".

In the first case, they have probably gone to the "corral", which is very attractive to them-it is unguarded and has valuable resources at their disposal.

In the second case, they may return to their lairs, waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.

Now it seems that it is not a problem to prevent this group of bandits from attacking.But if they want to carry out a plan to eliminate them, it all depends on Hubbert's physical condition.Indeed, it was impossible for Cyrus Harding to distract too much energy from fighting the bandits, and besides, no one could leave Granite House at this time.

The Engineer and Neb came to Prospect Heights for inspection.They were saddened to see the dilapidated scene there.The fields were trampled, the ears of wheat that were about to mature fell to the ground, other crops were not spared, and the vegetable garden was turned into a mess.Fortunately, there are still some seeds preserved in the "Granite Palace", and the vegetable garden can still be restored in the future.

The mills, the building yards for the poultry farms, and the wild ass sheds had all been destroyed in the fire.Several fire-frightened animals wandered about on Prospect Heights.Waterfowl that took refuge on the lake during the fires have now returned to their former habitats.The whole of Prospect Heights is to be rebuilt.

Cyrus Harding looked much paler than usual.He didn't say a word, barely suppressing the anger that was throbbing in his heart.He took one last look at his ruined fields and the smoke rising from the ruined fire, and returned to Granite House.

Disaster followed, and the days that followed were some of the saddest the settlers had ever had on the island!Hubbert's body had obviously grown weaker.It looked as if a severe physiological disorder was about to break out into a more serious disease.Jardine Splane had a foreboding that Harbert's condition would deteriorate beyond his ability to cope.

In fact, Hubbert fell into a state of constant lethargy, and even began to talk nonsense insanely.The only medicine available to the immigrants is refreshing drinks.Although the heat is not very high now, we should not be blindly optimistic. It may be intermittently hot in the near future.

On December 12, Jardin Splane confirmed this.The poor boy was completely overwhelmed by the disease. His fingers, nose, and ears became very pale. At first he shivered slightly, and his body was covered with goose bumps and he couldn't stop shaking.Then his pulse became weak and irregular, his skin became very dry, and he was always very thirsty.After that, he entered a fever stage. His face was hot, his skin turned red, his pulse beat faster, and then he broke out in a hot sweat, and then his fever seemed to decrease.The entire episode lasted about five hours.

Jardine Splane was by his side at all times with Harbert, who was now suffering from malaria.This point has been confirmed, this disease must be cured as soon as possible, once the disease worsens, the consequences will be unimaginable.

"If the disease is to be cured," said Jardine Splane to Cyrus Harding, "the antipyretic must be found."

"Antipyretics! . . . The engineer replied, "What to do?We have neither cinchona bark nor quinine sulfate here! "

"That's right," said Jardin Splane, "but there are willow trees by the lake, and maybe the willow bark could be used as a substitute for quinine sulfate."

"Then hurry up and try!" replied Cyrus Harding.

Indeed, in medicine, willow bark, like horse chestnut, holly leaves, snakeroot tree, etc., is considered to be a substitute for cinchona.Willow bark was obviously to be tried in such an emergency.Although it was not as potent as cinchona; unfortunately the settlers could only use willow bark in its natural state for Hubbert because they had no way of extracting the alkaloid, i.e. willow alcohol.

Cyrus Harding himself sought out this substitute.He cut pieces of bark from the trunk of a black willow tree and brought them back to Granite House.The bark was ground into powder and Hubbert swallowed it that night.

The night finally passed safely, and nothing changed.Hubbert babbled a little insanely, but he had no fever that night, nor did it rise the next day.

Some hope was restored to Pencroft, but Jardine Splane said nothing, for he had other concerns.Maybe this kind of intermittent fever doesn't happen every day, it may happen every other day, so maybe it will happen again tomorrow.So everyone waited for tomorrow with great anxiety.

Everyone noticed an ominous phenomenon. When the high fever receded, Hubbert seemed to be exhausted. He was easily dizzy and even unable to support his head.Added to this was another symptom that frightened reporters: Hubbert's liver became congested, and before long, his derangement became apparent.This may indicate that his brain has also been attacked by the disease.This new complication pained Jardin Splane.He took the engineer aside and explained the situation.

"It's now established that it's falciparum malaria!" he said.

"What? Falciparum malaria!" exclaimed Cyrus Harding. "You must be mistaken. Falciparum malaria does not arise by itself. It must have a source virus! . . . "

"I can't be mistaken," replied the reporter. "I suppose that Harbert probably caught the virus in the swamp, and that's enough. He's had one attack now, and if he had a second attack, The situation becomes even more dangerous. And if we can't prevent a third attack...then he's lost!  …"

"How about some willow bark? . . . "

"That won't do much," replied the reporter. "If the third attack of falciparum malaria is not prevented by quinine sulfate, it will surely kill him!"

It was a good thing that Pencroft did not hear this conversation, or the anguish would have driven him mad.

During the day on December 12 and throughout the night after, engineers and journalists were anxious.It is not difficult to imagine the suffering they suffered.

At noon, the second seizure started.This attack was more severe than the first.Hubbert felt himself doomed!He stretched out his arms to Cyrus Harding, Jardine Splane, and Pencroft!He was unwilling to die at such a young age and bid farewell to his companions! . . . The scene was so heartbreaking that Pencroft had to be sent away.

The attack lasted a full five hours.Obviously, Hubbert's physical condition could no longer bear a third attack.

It was a very dreadful night.A feverishly comatose Hubbert says something that breaks the hearts of his companions while he's delirious!He babbled nonsense, wrestled those hateful criminals, and called Ayrton's name!He begged bitterly for that mysterious figure, the unknown protector who had disappeared, whose image was engraved on his heart... Then he entered a state of complete collapse again, exhausted to the extreme... Several times, Jardine Splane thought the poor boy was dead!
During the day of the next day, December 12, Hubbert passed in successive faints.His bony hands were curled up on the sheets feebly.The reporter had given up hope, though the settlers gave him fresh doses of crushed bark.

"If we don't give him a more effective antipyretic by tomorrow morning," said the reporter, "Harbert must die!"

(End of this chapter)