Could such an a.s.sertion prevail against the general incredulity? No, a.s.suredly not! Martin Holt nudged Hurliguerly with his elbow, and both regarded Hunt with pity, while West observed him without speaking. Captain Len Guy made me a sign, meaning that nothing serious was to be got out of this poor fellow, whose mental faculties must have been out of gear for a long time.
And nevertheless, when I looked keenly at Hunt, it seemed to me that a sort of radiance of truth shone out of his eyes: Then I set to work to interrogate the man, putting to him precise and pressing questions which he tried to answer categorically, as we shall see, and not once did he contradict himself.
"Tell me," I asked, "did Arthur Pym really come to Tsalal Island on board the Grampus?"
"Yes."
"Did Arthur Pym separate himself, with the half-breed and one of the sailors, from his companions while Captain William Guy had gone to the village of Klock-Klock?"
"Yes. The sailor was one Allen, and he was almost immediately stifled under the stones."
"Then the two others saw the attack, and the destruction of the schooner, from the top of the hill?"
"Yes."
"Then, some time later, the two left the island, after they had got possession of one of the boats which the natives could not take from them?"
"Yes."
"And, after twenty days, having reached the front of the curtain of vapour, they were both carried down into the gulf of the cataract?"
This time Hunt did not reply in the affirmative; he hesitated, he stammered out some vague words; he seemed to be trying to rekindle the half-extinguished flame of his memory. At length, looking at me and shaking his head, he answered,-- "No, not both. Understand me--Dirk never told me--"
"Dirk Peters" interposed Captain Len Guy, quickly. "You knew Dirk Peters?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"At Vandalia, State of Illinois."
"And it is from him that you have all this information concerning the voyage?"
"From him."
"And he came back alone--alone--from that voyage, having left Arthur Pym."
"Alone!"
"Speak, man--do speak!" I cried, impatiently. Then, in broken, but intelligible sentences, Hunt spoke,-- "Yes--there--a curtain of vapour--so the half-breed often said--understand me. The two, Arthur Pym and he, were in the Tsalal boat. Then an enormous block of ice came full upon them. At the shock Dirk Peters was thrown into the sea, but he clung to the ice block, and--understand me, he saw the boat drift with the current, far, very far, too far! In vain did Pym try to rejoin his companion, he could not; the boat drifted on and on, and Pym, that poor dear Pym, was carried away. It is he who has never come back, and he is there, still there!"
If Hunt had been the half-breed in person he could not have spoken with more heartfelt emotion of "poor Pym."
It was then, in front of the "curtain of vapour," that Arthur Pym and the half-breed had been separated from each other. Dirk Peters had succeeded in returning from the ice-world to America, whither he had conveyed the notes that were communicated to Edgar Poe.
Hunt was minutely questioned upon all these points and he replied, conformably, he declared, to what the half-breed had told him many times. According to this statement, Dirk Peters had Arthur Pym"s note-book in his pocket at the moment when the ice-block struck them, and thus the journal which the half-breed placed at the disposal of the American romance-writer was saved.
"Understand me," Hunt repeated, "for I tell you things. as I have them from Dirk Peters. While the drift was carrying him away, he cried out with all his strength. Pym, poor Pym, had already disappeared in the midst of the vapour. The half-breed, feeding upon raw fish, which he contrived to catch, was carried back by a cross current to Tsalal Island, where he landed half dead from hunger."
"To Tsalal Island!" exclaimed Captain Len Guy. "And how long was it since they had left it?"
"Three weeks--yes, three weeks at the farthest, so Dirk Peters told me."
"Then he must have found all that remained of the crew of the Jane--my brother William and those who had survived with him?"
"No," replied Hunt; "and Dirk Peters always believed that they had perished--yes, to the very last man. There was no one upon the island."
"No one?"
"Not a living soul."
"But the population?"
A "No one! No one, I tell you. The island was a desert --yes, a desert!"
This statement contradicted certain facts of which we were absolutely certain. After all, though, it that when Dirk Peters returned to Tsalal Island, the population, seized by who can tell what terror, had already taken refuge upon the south-western group, and that William Guy and his companions were still hidden in gorges of Klock-Klock. That would explain why half-breed had not come across them, and also why survivors of the Jane had had nothing to fear during eleven years of their sojourn in the island. On the other hand, since Patterson had left them there seven previously, if we did not find them, that must have because they had been obliged to leave Tsalal, the being rendered uninhabitable by the earthquake.
"So that," resumed Captain Len Guy, "on the return of Dirk Peters, there was no longer an inhabitant on the island?"
"No one," repeated Hunt, "no one. The half-breed did not meet a single native."
"And what did Dirk Peters do?"
"Understand me. A forsaken boat lay there, at the back of the bay, containing some dried meat and several casks of water. The half-breed got into it, and a south wind--yes, south, very strong, the same that had driven the ice block, with the cross current, towards Tsalal Island--carried him on for weeks and weeks--to the iceberg barrier, through a pa.s.sage in it--you may believe me, I am telling you only what Dirk Peters told me--and he cleared the polar circle."
"And beyond it?" I inquired.
"Beyond it. He was picked up by an American whaler, the Sandy Hook, and taken back to America."
Now, one thing at all events was clear. Edgar Poe had never known Arthur Pym. This was the reason why, to leave his readers in exciting uncertainty, he had brought Pym to an end "as sudden as it was deplorable," without indicating the manner or the cause of his death.
"And yet, although Arthur Pym did not return, could it be reasonably admitted that he had survived his companion for any length of time, that he was still living, eleven years having elapsed since his disappearance?"
"Yes, yes," replied Hunt.
And this he affirmed with the strong conviction that Dirk Peters had infused into his mind while the two were living togather in Vandalia, in Illinois.
Now the question arose, was Hunt sane? Was it not he who had stolen into my cabin in a fit of insanity--of this I had no doubt--and murmured in my ear the words: "And Pym--poor Pym?"
Yes, and I had not been dreaming! In short, if all that Hunt had just said was true, if he was but the faithful reporter of secrets which had been entrusted to him by Dirk Peters, ought he to be believed when he repeated in a tone of mingled command and entreaty,-- "Pym is not dead. Pym is there. Poor Pym must not be forsaken!"
When I had made an end of questioning Hunt, Captain Len Guy came out of his meditative mood, profoundly troubled, and gave the word, "All hands forward!"
When the men were a.s.sembled around him, he said,-- "Listen to me, Hunt, and seriously consider the gravity of the questions I am about to put to you."
Hunt held his head up, and ran his eyes over the crew of the Halbrane.
"You a.s.sert, Hunt, that all you have told us concerning Arthur Pym is true?"
"Yes."
"You knew Dirk Peters?"
"Yes."
"You lived some years with him in Illinois?"
"Nine years."
"And he often related these things to you?"
"Yes."
"And, for your own part, you have no doubt that he told you the exact truth?"
"None."
"Well, then, did it never occur to him that some of the crew of the Jane might have remained on Tsalal Island?"
"No."
"He believed that William Guy and his companions must all have perished in the landslip of the hill of KlockKlock?"
"Yes, and from what he often repeated to me, Pym believed it also."
"Where did you see Dirk Peters for the last time?"
"At Vandalia."
"How long ago?"
"Over two years."
"And which of you two was the first to leave Vandalia?"
I thought I detected a slight hesitation in Hunt before he answered,-- "We left the place together."
"You, to go to?"
"The Falklands."
"And he--"
"He?" repeated Hunt.
And then his wandering gaze fixed itself on Martin Holt, our sailing-master, whose life he had saved at the risk of his own during the tempest.
"Well!" resumed the captain, "do you not understand what I am asking you?"
"Yes."
"Then answer me. When Dirk Peters left Illinois, did he finally give up America?"
"Yes."
"To go whither? Speak!"
"To the Falklands."
"And where is he now?"
"He stands before you."
Dirk Peters! Hunt was the half-breed Dirk Peters, the devoted companion of Arthur Pym, he whom Captain Guy had so long sought for in the United States, and whose presence was probably to furnish us with a fresh reason for pursuing our daring campaign.
I shall not be at all surprised if my readers have already recognized Dirk Peters in Hunt; indeed, I shall be astonished if they have failed to do so. The extraordinary thing is that Captain Len Guy and myself, who had read Edgar Poe"s book over and over again, did not see at once, when Hunt came on the ship at the Falklands, that he and the half-breed were identical! I can only admit that we were both blindfolded by some hidden action of Fate, just when certain pages of that book ought to have effectually cleared our vision.
There was no doubt whatever that Hunt really was Dirk Peters. Although he was eleven years older, he answered in every particular to the description of him given by Arthur Pym, except that he was no longer "of fierce aspect." In fact, the half-breed had changed with age and the experience of terrible scenes through which he had pa.s.sed; nevertheless, he was still the faithful companion to whom Arthur Pym had often owed his safety, that same Dirk Peters who loved him as his own son, and who had never--no, never--lost the hope of finding him again one day amid the awful Antarctic wastes.
Now, why had Dirk Peters hidden himself in the Falklands under the name of Hunt? Why, since his embarkation on the Halbrane, had he kept up that incognito? Why had he not told who he was, since he was aware of the intentions of the captain, who was about to make every effort to save his countrymen by following the course of the Jane?
Why? No doubt because he feared that his name would inspire horror. Was it not the name of one who had shared in the horrible scenes of the Grampus, who had killed Parker, the sailor, who had fed upon the man"s flesh, and quenched his thirst in the man"s blood? To induce him to reveal his name he must needs be a.s.sured that the Halbrane would attempt to discover and rescue Arthur Pym!
And as to the existence of Arthur Pym? I confess that my reason did not rebel against the admission of it as a possibility. The imploring cryof the half-breed, "Pym, poor Pym! he must not be forsaken!" troubled me profoundly.
a.s.suredly, since I had resolved to take part in the expedition of the Halbrane, I was no longer the same man!
A long silence had followed the astounding declaration of the half-breed. None dreamed of doubting his veracity. He had said, "I am Dirk Peters." He was Dirk Peters.
At length, moved by irresistible impulse, I said: "My friends, before any decision is made, let us carefully consider the situation. Should we not lay up everlasting regret for ourselves if we were to abandon our expedition at the very moment when it promises to succeed? Reflect upon this, captain, and you, my companions. It is less than seven months since Patterson left your countrymen alive on Tsalal Island. If they were there then, the fact proves that for eleven years they had been enabled to exist on the resources provided by the island, having nothing to fear from the islanders, some of whom had fallen victims to circ.u.mstances unknown to us, and others had probably transferred themselves to some neighbouring island. This is quite plain, and I do not see how any objection can be raised to my reasoning."
No one made answer: there was none to be made.
"If we have not come across the captain of the Jane and his people," I resumed, "it is because they have been obliged to abandon Tsalal Island since Patterson"s departure. Why? In my belief, it was because the earthquake had rendered the island uninhabitable. Now, they would only have required a native boat to gain either another island or some point of the Antarctic continent by the aid of the southern current. I hardly hesitate to a.s.sert that all this has occurred; but in any case, I know, and I repeat, that we shall have done nothing if we do not persevere in the search on which the safety of your countrymen depends."
I questioned my audience by a searching look. No answer.
Captain Len Guy, whose emotion was unrestrained, bowed his head, for he felt that I was right, that by invoking the duties of humanity I was prescribing the only course open to men with feeling hearts.
"And what is in question?" I continued, after the silent pause. "To accomplish a few degrees of lat.i.tude, and that while the sea is open, while we have two months of good weather to look for, and nothing to fear from the southern winter. I certainly should not ask you to brave its severity. And shall we hesitate, when the Halbrane is abundantly furnished, her crew complete and in good health? Shall we take fright at imaginary dangers? Shall we not have courage to go on, on, thither?"
And I pointed to the southern horizon. Dirk Peters pointed to it also, with an imperative gesture which spoke for him.
Still, the eyes of all were fixed upon us, but there was no response. I continued to urge every argument, and to quote every example in favour of the safety of pursuing our voyage, but the silence was unbrokenj and now the men stood with eyes cast down.
And yet I had not once p.r.o.nounced the name of Dirk Peters, nor alluded to Dirk Peters" proposal.
I was asking myself whether I had or had not succeeded in inspiring my companions with my own belief, when Captain Len Guy spoke: "Dirk Peters," he said, "doyou a.s.sert that Arthur Pym and you after your departure from Tsalal Island saw land in the direction of the south ?"