Chapter 21 Chapter 21

Winter is finally here, so hard at this latitude that the first chills are already being felt, and the temperature must be taken with extreme rigor.Godfrey therefore had to be thankful that he had set up a stove in the tree.Needless to say, that fence work is complete, and there is now a gate to reinforce the closure of the fence. For the next six weeks, that is to say, until mid-December, the weather was so bad that it was impossible to venture out on these days, the first of which was a terrible squall.They shook the giant sequoias by the roots, and covered the ground with broken branches, providing a great store for the needs of the furnace.

The guests of the Will Tree dressed as warmly as they could; the woolens found in the chest were used when it was necessary to gather food at a distance; but the weather became so inclement that they had to never go out. . All hunting ceased, and so soon did the snow fall that Godfrey thought he was in the inhospitable waters of the Arctic Ocean. Indeed, the northern part of the United States, swept unimpeded by the northern winds, is known to be one of the coldest places on earth.There, winter lasts until past April.Special precautions must be taken to protect against the cold.This reminds one of the fact that Fina Island is located at a much higher latitude than Godfrey had assumed.

Therefore, it is necessary to make the inside of Will trees as comfortable as possible; but they can only suffer excruciatingly from cold and rain.The pantry's stockpiles were unfortunately unsustainable, and the cured turtle meat was gradually exhausted; several times they had to kill the herd of eunuchs, agouti, or goats, whose numbers had dwindled since their arrival on the island. Increase. With these new trials, sad thoughts often flooded Godfrey's mind. He was also very ill for a fortnight with a high fever, and it is probable that he would not have recovered had it not been for the little kit which provided him with the medicines necessary for his treatment.Besides, when he fell ill, Tatley had little ability to give him proper care.He's back to health especially thanks to Carrefinotou.

But what memories, what regrets!Because he can only blame himself for being in a situation he can't even see the end of!How many times had he called in his delirium to Fina whom he no longer expected to see again, to Uncle Will from whom he thought he would be forever apart!what!He must change his beautiful idea of ​​this Robinson life, which his childlike imagination has made into an ideal!He could never even hope to go home! Thus passed the dreary month of December, at the end of which Godfrey only began to recover some of his strength. As for Tatley, there can be no doubt that, by special grace, he has been in good health.But endless complaints, endless sighs!Like Calypso's cave after Ulyss was gone, the Weir tree "had no more resounding of his song"—his pocket violin, of course, the cold froze its strings!

It must also be pointed out that one of Godfrey's most serious worries is that when those dangerous animals appear, he is afraid of seeing those savages who are familiar with the situation on Fina Island return in large numbers.Against such an intrusion the fence is but an incompetent obstacle. Everything was carefully examined, and the shelter provided by the tree branches high up in the giant sequoia appeared to be safer, and the passage to it was busily made.It was always easy to guard the narrow opening from which one had to come out to reach the top of the trunk. With the help of Carrefinotou, Godfrey was able to regularly space the partitions of those projections, like the rungs of a ladder, by means of a long rope of vegetable fibers that connected them to each other. Linked to make climbing inside faster.

"Well," said Godfrey, laughing, "when the work is done, it will have us a house in the city down below, and a country house up there!" "I prefer a basement, as long as it's on Montgomery Street!" replied Tatley. Christmas is here, the "Christmas" that is so celebrated throughout the United States!Then came New Year's Day, full of childhood memories, rainy, snowy, gloomy, and the New Year's Day that started the new year in a sad omen! By this time, the wrecks of the Phantasm had been out of touch with the rest of the world for six months.

The year got off to an unlucky start, and Godfrey and his companions could have been more brutally tested than could have been imagined. The snow continued until January 18, and the herd had to be taken out to graze so that they could eat as before. The day passed, and a very wet, very cold night fell over the whole island, and the shadowy things under the giant sequoias were immersed in darkness. Godfrey and Carefinotu lay on their bunks inside the giant sequoia, trying to sleep but couldn't.Godfrey was leafing through pages of the Bible by the dim light of a piece of resin. Near ten o'clock a voice sounded far away in the north of the island, and was getting closer.

You should not have heard it wrong, those were ferocious beasts milling around maliciously, and what made the situation even more frightening was that this time, the roars of tigers and hyenas, leopards and lions mingled into a terrifying scene. Chorus. Godfrey, Tutley, and the Negro jumped out of bed, tormented by an indescribable panic.If, at the onslaught of this inexplicable beast, Karefinodu shared the horror of his companions, it must be seen that his astonishment was at least as much as his terror. During the two hours of life and death, the three people were terrified.The roaring roared from time to time, not far away; then, it stopped suddenly, as if the group of ferocious beasts did not recognize the place they passed by, and left aimlessly.In this way, Will Tree can avoid an attack!

"Never mind," thought Godfrey, "if we don't kill the animals until the last one, we don't have any safety on this island!" Shortly after midnight, the roars resumed, louder and closer.There could be no doubt that the roaring beasts were approaching the Will Tree. yes!That's for sure!But where did these beasts come from?They couldn't have landed on Fina Island so recently!So it must have been here before Godfrey arrived!But how could these beasts of prey be so well hidden that Godfrey never spotted them when he was hiking and hunting both through the central woods and through the westernmost part of the island? trace!So where would be the mysterious lair that just spit out these lions, hyenas, leopards, tigers?Of all the inexplicable events hitherto, was not this the most inexplicable?

Karefinodu couldn't believe the voices he heard.It can be said that he was even shocked to the extreme.The strangest grotesques could be seen in the expression of his black face by the flames glowing in the furnaces within the Will-tree. Tartley trembled, moaned, and murmured in his corner.He wanted to ask Godfrey about all this, but the latter had neither the possibility nor the mood to answer him.He had a premonition of grave danger, and he was trying to get out of it. Once or twice, Carrefinotou and he marched right into the middle of the fenced field.They wanted to find out whether the inside of the fence door was strong.

Suddenly, a whole crowd of howling animals spread out beside the Will Tree. It was just a herd of goats, gelrams, and agouti.The animals heard the growling of the beasts, sensed their approach, and frantically fled the pasture in fright, taking shelter behind the fence. "The door should be opened for them," Godfrey cried. Carrefinodu nodded.He didn't need to speak the same language Godfrey used in order for him to understand. The door opened, and the whole frightened herd hurried into the enclosure. But at this moment, through the unobstructed entrance, in the darkness made extra dense by the canopy of giant sequoias, a kind of red eyes appeared. It was too late to close the fence again! Jumping at Godfrey, dragging him away without him saying anything, pushing him into the residence, slamming the door behind him, all in a split second. A fresh growl indicated that three or four beasts had just passed the fence. At this time, the terrified cries of sheep and pigs were added to these terrible roars.The livestock that had fallen into a trap fell under the claws of the assailant. Godfrey and Carefinotu had now climbed to the two small windows cut into the bark of the giant sequoia to see what was going on in the shadows. Apparently the beasts of prey—tiger or lion, leopard or hyena, it was not clear what—had sprung upon the herd and began their slaughter. Then Tattley, in an irrational terror, an impulse of irrational panic, took up a rifle and tried his luck by shooting through one of those windows! Godfrey stopped him. "No!" he said, "nine times out of ten we miss in such darkness. Our bullets should not be wasted needlessly! Let's wait for daylight!" He is right.The bullets hit the beasts as well as the domestic animals--perhaps even more, since the latter were more numerous.Rescuing them is now impossible.Sacrifice them, and the beasts will be fed and may leave the paddock before the sun rises.At that time, you can consider how to resist a new attack and what will be more appropriate. Also, in such a dark night, it was best, and as far as possible, to keep the presence of the beasts as secret as possible, and they might prefer the man to the cattle, and perhaps thus escape a direct attack on the Will Tree. Since it was impossible for Tatley to understand such inferences or any other inferences, Godfrey simply told him to withdraw his weapons.So the professor flung himself on his bunk, cursing the travellers, the travellers, the eccentrics who couldn't stay at home too peacefully! His two companions looked again at the window.From there they witnessed a horrific carnage in the shadows, beyond which they could intervene.The cry of the eunuchs gradually weakened. These animals may have had their throats bitten off, and perhaps most of them fled outside, where death awaited them.It was an irreparable loss to the little colony; but Godfrey was no longer worried about the future, and the disturbing present was enough to occupy his whole thoughts. He had nothing to do, nothing to try, to prevent this destruction from being wrought. Probably at 11pm, those roars stopped for a while. Godfrey and Carrefinodu had been watching: they saw that some huge shadows seemed to enter the paddock again, and at the same time a new sound of footsteps came to them. Apparently some belated beasts, attracted by the bloody smell that hung in the air, were sniffing some peculiar effluent around the Will tree, walking back and forth, circling the tree, making muffled noises. roar.Several of these shadows hopped on the ground like gigantic cats.The flock of sheep with their throats bitten off was not enough to appease their rage. Neither Godfrey nor his companions moved, perhaps avoiding a direct attack by maintaining an absolute stillness. A single unfortunate gunshot suddenly reveals their presence and puts them in extreme danger. Tattlee, tormented by a utter hallucination, rose to his feet.He grabbed a revolver, and this time, before Godfrey and Carefinotu could stop him, he didn't know what he was doing, perhaps thinking he saw a tiger standing in front of him, he fired. shot! ...the bullet went through the door of Will Tree. "Unlucky!" cried Godfrey, throwing himself upon Tatley, whose weapon the Negro had wrestled. It was too late, and because of being exposed, a more ferocious roar sounded outside.They heard terrible claws clawing at the bark of the sequoia.The door, which could not have resisted the impact, shook horribly. "Resist!" Godfrey yelled. With his rifle in his hand and the cartridge in his belt, he returned to stand guard at a window. To his astonishment, Karefinotou did as he did!yes!The negro took a second rifle,--however he had never handled such a weapon--loaded his pockets, and had just stepped up to the second window. Then gunshots rang out through these windows, and by the light of the gunpowder, Godfrey on one side, and Carrefinodo on the other, could see what kind of enemy they were dealing with. There, inside the fence, some lions, tigers, hyenas, leopards were roaring and snarling, and some of the shot ones were rolling and jumping—twenty of these beasts at least!These roars that shook the distance will definitely attract other beasts to come to echo them.Even the roar of the tiger and the roar of the lion can be heard a little far away, approaching the Will tree.It looks like the entire zoo of beasts on the island is suddenly popping up! At the same time, Godfrey and Carrefinotu no longer cared about Tatley, who was useless to them, and kept as calm as possible, trying to shoot only when they were sure.They don't want to waste a bullet, waiting for some shadow to pass by.At this moment the bullet was discharged and struck, for at once a painful growl indicated that the animal had been hit. After a quarter of an hour, there seemed to be some relief.Were the beasts thus relinquishing an attack that would have cost them a few lives, or were they waiting for daylight to resume their assault under more favorable circumstances? Either way, neither Godfrey nor Carefinotu was willing to leave their posts.The negro was not less skilful with his rifle than Godfrey.If it is only an instinct of imitation, it must be admitted that this instinct is surprising. Towards two o'clock in the morning there was a new panic--the strongest of all panics.The danger is imminent, and the position in Will Tree is almost untenable. Indeed, there was a new roar at the foot of the giant sequoia.Neither Godfrey nor Carefinotu, owing to the position of the window on the side, could see the attackers and, therefore, could not successfully shoot at them. Now it was the door that was attacked by the beasts, and it was quite certain that under their jostling it would be torn off, or pushed open under their claws. Godfrey and the Negro were back on the ground, the door already wobbling from the impact from outside... felt a hot exhalation through the crack in the bark. Godfrey and Carefinotu tried to reinforce the door with the stakes used to support their bunk, but this was not enough. It seemed that the door was about to be smashed through soon, as the beasts rammed into it in a rage--especially after the rifle bullets failed to hit them. Therefore, Godfrey was forced to do nothing.If he and his comrades remained in the Will Tree when these attackers rushed in, their weapons would not be sufficient against them. Godfrey folded his arms, and he saw the planks of the door parting a little bit! ... There was nothing he could do.For a moment he couldn't hold it any longer, and he put his hand to his forehead, as if in despair, but almost immediately he steadied himself again. "Up," he said, "up! . . . everybody!" He pointed to the narrow tubular passage in the Will tree that passed where the tree branched. Carefinotou and he took the rifle, the revolver, and loaded it. Now it was a matter of forcing Tatley to follow them, to those heights he had never ventured to. Tatley wasn't there.He was already a step ahead when his buddies opened fire. "Up!" repeated Godfrey. This is the last way of retreat, where the beasts can certainly be avoided.If a beast of prey, tiger, or leopard, tried to climb into the thick foliage of this giant sequoia, they could easily guard the opening it had to pass anyway. Before Godfrey and Karefinodu reached the height of thirty feet, there was a roar of lions and tigers in the Will tree. Moments later, they were attacked, and the door had just come off the inside. The two climbed up hurriedly, and finally reached the opening at the top of the tree trunk. They were greeted by a terrified cry.It was Tatley, and he thought he saw a leopard or a tiger in front of him!The unfortunate professor was clinging to a branch, terrified of falling. Carrefinodu crawled towards him, forced him against a side branch, and tied him there firmly with his straps. Godfrey then crawled to a place where he could control the opening, while Karefinodu looked for another place where he could crossfire with him. They wait. In such an environment, these surrounded people do have a chance to avoid all harm. Meanwhile, Godfrey tried to see what was going on beneath him, but the night was still too dark.So he listened as hard as he could, and the roars that kept coming up showed that the attackers had no intention of giving up the place at all. Suddenly, near 4 o'clock in the morning, a bright light appeared under the tree.Soon, the light passed through those windows and that door.At the same time, a choking smoke rose from the high opening and disappeared among the tall branches and leaves. "What's the matter again?" Godfrey exclaimed. That was so easy to explain, the beasts were ravaging everything inside the Will tree, and got the charcoal all over the stove, and the fire burned right away to whatever was hidden in the room.The flames spread to the dry bark, which had become extremely flammable.The towering giant sequoia burned from below. The situation has thus become more dire than ever. At this moment, by the light of the fire that lit up the underside of the trees, the beasts could be seen leaping at the foot of the Will trees. Almost at this moment, a terrifying explosion occurred.The giant sequoia trembled from its roots to the topmost branches due to excessive shaking. That's because the stored gunpowder just exploded inside the Will tree, and the violently propelled air, like the gas rushing from the muzzle, rushed out of that opening. Godfrey and Carefinodu were almost thrown from their posts.If Tattlee hadn't been firmly bound, he would have fallen to the ground with a thud. The beasts, terrified and more or less wounded by the blast, had just fled. At the same time, however, the fire spread over a larger area due to the extremely fast burning of the gunpowder.As the flames burned up the inside of the great tree trunk, the fire grew like a draft chimney.Those huge flames licked the inner wall of the tree, and the tallest flames quickly spread to the branches of the tree. The dead branches made continuous cracking sounds, like a series of bullets fired by a revolver, and the boundless light not only illuminated the group of giants trees, and lighted the whole seashore from Flag Point to the southern headland of Dream Bay. The fire quickly spread to the tallest branches of the giant sequoia, and it was almost burning to the place where Godfrey and his two companions took refuge.Will they be engulfed by a fire that cannot be fought, or will they jump from the heights of this tree to avoid the flames? No matter which one you take, you are dead! Godfrey is still looking for some way of escape, he can't think of it!The branches below were already on fire, and the smoke was obscuring the morning light of the sun that was beginning to rise in the east. Just then, there was a terrible tearing sound.That giant sequoia, now burned to the root, suddenly split, tilted, and fell down... However, as it fell, the trunk met the trunks of the surrounding trees; the giant sequoia just stayed in a recumbent position, forming an angle of less than 45 degrees with the ground. The moment the sequoia fell, Godfrey and his gang thought it was over...   "January 19!" At this moment, a voice called out, but Godfrey, who was astonished, called out! .... That's Carefinodu! ... Yes, it was Carefinotu who had just uttered those words, and in an English which until then he seemed neither to speak nor to understand! "Are you talking? . . . " cried Godfrey, letting himself slide toward him through the pile of branches. "I said," replied Carrefinodo, "that today your Uncle Will is coming, and if he doesn't come we're finished!"