Chapter 15 Chapter fifteen

The days ahead therefore seem less bleak.However, although Tatley now only sees a way to enjoy this isolated life because of these instruments, these tools, and these weapons, Godfrey is already considering leaving the island of Fina. possibility.Now, wouldn't he be able to build a boat strong enough to enable them to reach either a neighboring land, or some passing ship seen on the island? In the meantime, some of the ideas that Tatley wanted to realize especially passed the weeks that followed. As a matter of fact, Will Tree's wardrobe was quickly installed, but being uncertain about the future, it could only be used with extreme caution.These clothes should only be worn to the extent necessary, and this is a rule the professor is bound to obey.

"Why?" he murmured in a low voice. "It's so calculated, my dear Godfrey! Damn it! We're not savages, and we're half-naked!" "I beg your pardon, Tartley," replied Godfrey, "we are savages and nothing else!" "Say what you want, but you'll see we leave the island before we wear out these clothes!" "I don't know anything about it, Tartley, and it's better to have a surplus than a shortage!" "Then at least it's Sunday, Sunday, can you dress up a little?" "Well, yes! Sundays, and all the holidays," replied Godfrey, not wishing to offend his superficial companion too much; "but, as it happens to be Monday, we have a whole week before we can Dress us up beautifully!"

Needless to say, from the moment he arrived on the island, Godfrey has not neglected to make a mark every day that passes.So, with the help of the calendar he found in the box, he was able to find out that it was indeed Monday. During this period, everyone shares daily affairs according to their own abilities.Instead of watching a fire day and night, there are now various means of rekindling it.Professor Tutley was therefore able, not without regret, to forego a task which seemed so fitting to him.From then on, he was in charge of supplying the roots of Yanfu and Kama—especially the latter, which served as the family's daily bread.Therefore, the professor has to go to the rows of small bushes on the edge of the grassland behind the Will tree to collect every day.It was a mile or two to walk, but he was used to it.During this period he was also busy collecting oysters or other molluscs which they consumed so much.

Godfrey left to himself the care of the livestock and the guests in the coop.The butcher's business was not a pleasant one for him, but he finally got over the aversion.So, thanks to him, vegetable broth was a regular occurrence at the table, followed by pieces of roast meat that jazzed up home-cooked meals.As for the prey, there were plenty of them in the woods of Fina Island, and Godfrey had thought about hunting as soon as he could get away from other more pressing matters.He intended to put to good use the muskets, powder, and buckshot in his arsenal; however, he wished to finish the arrangement first.

His tools allowed him to build several benches inside and outside the Will Tree.The benches had been roughly treated with the axe, and the table, less uneven, had been brought to match the plates, saucers, and cutlery that Professor Tuttlee had placed upon it.The bunks were arranged on wooden frames, and the hay bedding on the bunks also showed a more attractive appearance.Although there was still a lack of bedsteads and mattresses, at least they did not lack quilts.All kinds of cooking utensils in the kitchen are no longer scattered on the spot, but their positions are arranged on the wooden boards fixed to the inner wall of the tree.Daily necessities and clothing items are carefully arranged in the hollowed out wardrobe in the giant cedar sapwood to prevent dust.On strong wooden pegs hung the arms and implements, and they adorned the walls of the tree like eyebrow boards on which weapons of all kinds were displayed.

Godfrey also wished to keep the doors of the house closed, lest other creatures, domestic animals, come in at night and disturb their sleep.Since he couldn't cut the boards with the only hand saw blade, the knife saw he had, he still used thick chunks of bark that were easy to cut.In this way, he made a fairly strong door for controlling the entrance to the Will Tree.At the same time, he opened two small opposite windows to allow sunlight and air to circulate in the room.The windows could be shut with shutters at night, but at least from morning to evening there was no need to rely on the light of the turpentine torches that filled the dwelling with smoke.

How Godfrey would later conceive of lighting the long winter evenings, he did not yet quite understand.Could he make a few suet candlesticks, or would he be content with more carefully prepared turpentine candles?We'll figure it out later. Another worry was having to build a fireplace in the Will tree anyway.As long as the weather lasts, a stove built outdoors in the hollow of a giant sequoia will do all that is necessary for cooking; however, when bad weather comes, when there is heavy rain, and for a considerable period of time it must be warded off against a possibly apprehensive cold. When it is necessary to consider lighting a fire in the dwelling, and to allow an adequate passage for the smoke, this important question must be settled in due course.

And yet, while Godfrey took every precaution to make their life on this deserted island in the Pacific a passable one--with his companions and him he was destined to live long, and possibly forever. The case for living here! — but he didn't want to miss any event that might increase their chances of being rescued. It was too obvious that Fina Island was not in the ship's channel.It offers no ports of call, no resources to resupply, nothing to induce ships to come and find out.Nevertheless, it was not impossible that a warship or merchant ship passed within sight.So it's best to get the boat's attention and show it that the island is inhabited.

For this purpose Godfrey thought that a stern flagpole should be erected at the head of the headland projecting to the north, and he contributed to this purpose half of the sheets which he found in the chest.Also, because he feared that the white color would not be visible due to the extreme limitations of sunlight, he tried dyeing his flag with berries from a wild strawberry tree that grew at the foot of the dunes.In this way he got a bright red that could not be removed unless the color was corroded, but when wind and rain had faded it, it was only necessary to re-dye the color on the cloth.

This variety of work kept him busy until August 15th.For weeks the weather had been mostly fine, save for two or three extremely violent thunderstorms which dumped a great deal of water, which was greedily absorbed by the ground. About this time Godfrey began his career as a hunter.However, although he could handle the rifle with considerable familiarity, he could not count on Tatley, who had never fired a shot before. Godfrey therefore spends several days a week hunting furry or feathered game, which is not very abundant, but sufficient for the will tree.A few ptarmigans, a few partridges, some sand cones, perfect for changing up the everyday menu.Two or three antelope fell to the buckshot of the young hunters, and the Professor, who never took part in the hunt, welcomed them with great satisfaction when they were presented in the form of legs and chops.

However, while hunting, Godfrey did not forget to take a look at the whole picture of the island by the way.He went deep into the innermost part of those dense forests in the middle of the steppe.He went up the river to the source of the river, and the water flowed into the channel there from the west slope of the hill.He climbed again to the top of the cone, and descended the opposite slope to the eastern beach which he had not yet surveyed. "From all this exploration," thought Godfrey often, "it should be concluded that there is no vermin harbored on Fina Island, nor beasts of prey, nor snakes, nor lizards! I have seen none! If Yes, the bullets I fire will definitely wake them up! It's a lucky circumstance, and if Will Trees have to dodge their attacks, I'm not sure how I'm going to do that!" Then, through another extremely natural inference: "It can still be concluded," he thought, "that the island is never inhabited. It has been so long that the natives or shipwrecks would have come when they heard the explosion! Only the ones I twice thought I saw The smoke is inexplicable! . . . " In fact Godfrey never found any trace of fire.As for the sources of heat that he thought might produce the steam he vaguely saw, Fina Island, without any volcanoes, seemed unlikely to have such a source of heat.So he may have been fooled by the same illusion twice. Moreover, this appearance of smoke or vapor never happened again.When Godfrey ascended the central cone for the second time, as he climbed again among the tall branches of the Will-tree, he saw nothing unnatural that attracted his attention.So he finally forgot about the situation. Weeks passed in this various tidying up, this hunting excursion.Every day brings a little improvement to this ordinary life. Every Sunday, as had been agreed, Tartley put on his best clothes.All he planned to do that day was to take a walk under the big tree while playing his pocket violin.He slides and gives lessons to himself because his students steadfastly refuse to continue his lessons. "What's the use?" Godfrey replied to the professor's entreaties, "you imagine, can you imagine a Robinson Crusoe taking lessons in dancing and appearance?" "Why not?" continued Tartley gravely, "why should a Robinson Crusoe be exempted from good manners? It's not for anyone else's sake, it's for his own sake, best of all!" To which Godfrey had nothing to answer.However, he would not budge, and the professor had to "teach to the emptiness." September 13th marked one of the greatest and most tragic disappointments ever experienced by those shipwrecked and cast upon a deserted island. Although Godfrey never again saw the appearance of those inexplicable and elusive smoke anywhere on the island, that day, near 3 o'clock in the evening, his attention was attracted by a long plume of steam, and he There's no mistaking where that steam is coming from. He walked until he came to Flag Point—the name he gave to the headland where the flagpole rose.However, just as he was looking through the binoculars, he saw a wisp of smoke on the horizon being blown by the westerly wind in the direction of the island. Godfrey's heart was beating violently. "A ship!" he exclaimed. But would this ship, this steamer, pass within sight of Fina Island?And, if it passed, would it be close enough to be seen or heard on the ship?Or would this faint wisp of smoke disappear with the ship to the northwest or southwest of the horizon? For two hours Godfrey was tormented by indescribable alternating emotions. In fact, the smoke got a little louder.The smoke thickens as the steamer fires up, then fades to be barely visible when a shovel of coal burns away.Regardless, the ship was visibly approaching.Nearly 4 o'clock in the evening, its hull appeared where the water and the sky met. It was a steamer, sailing northeast,--Godfrey easily recognized it.If it maintains this direction, it will definitely approach Fina Island. Godfrey thought at first of running back to Will Tree to inform Tutley.But why bother?It's just that one person being seen sends the same message as two people being seen.So he remained there with the telescope up to his eyes, not wanting to lose a single movement of that ship. The steamer kept approaching the coast, though it did not sail directly to the island.Near five o'clock the horizon line was well above the hull, and the three masts of her schooner became visible.Godfrey could even make out the colors of the flag that hung from the slant. Those are the colors of the American flag. "And yet," thought he, "though I see this flag, my flag cannot necessarily be seen from the ship! In order for it to be easily seen with a telescope, there must be some wind to spread it! If How do I signal by hoisting and lowering the flag several times in a row, to better show that the shore wants to get in touch with the ship? Yes! There must be no delay!" Great idea.Godfrey ran to the top of the headland, and, as he had done in calling for help, began to maneuver his flag; then he lowered the flag at half-mast, which meant—by nautical convention—that someone called for help. The steamer was still approaching, less than three miles from the coast, but her signal pennant was still on the mizzenmast, and she did not answer the signal pennant on the headland. Godfrey's heart clenched. He must have been unseen.It's already 6:30, and twilight is about to fall! Presently, however, the steamer was within two miles of the head of the headland, and he made haste towards it.Just then, the sun disappeared below the horizon.As night fell, he would have to give up all hope of being seen. Godfrey resumed raising and lowering his pennant in succession, no better...no answer to him. At this time he fired a few shots, although the distance was still very far, and the wind was not blowing in that direction! . . . No gunshots were heard from the boat towards him. However, the night was getting darker; after a while, the hull of the steamer was out of sight.There was no doubt about it, but in less than an hour it was past Fina Island. At his wit's end, Godfrey thought of setting fire to a handful of the resinous trees that grew behind the Cape.He lit a pile of dry leaves with a detonator, and he set the fire among the pine bushes, which soon blazed like a huge torch.But the lights on the boat did not answer the fire on the shore at all, so Godfrey turned back to the Will tree sadly, with a feeling of abandonment in his heart that he probably never had until then!