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- Жюль Верн
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- Стр. 158/526
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It
was
not
a
pebble
--
it
was
a
leaden
bullet
.
It
was
now
exactly
seven
months
since
the
balloon
voyagers
had
been
thrown
on
Lincoln
Island
.
During
that
time
,
notwithstanding
the
researches
they
had
made
,
no
human
being
had
been
discovered
.
No
smoke
even
had
betrayed
the
presence
of
man
on
the
surface
of
the
island
.
No
vestiges
of
his
handiwork
showed
that
either
at
an
early
or
at
a
late
period
had
man
lived
there
.
Not
only
did
it
now
appear
to
be
uninhabited
by
any
but
themselves
,
but
the
colonists
were
compelled
to
believe
that
it
never
had
been
inhabited
.
And
now
,
all
this
scaffolding
of
reasonings
fell
before
a
simple
ball
of
metal
,
found
in
the
body
of
an
inoffensive
rodent
!
In
fact
,
this
bullet
must
have
issued
from
a
firearm
,
and
who
but
a
human
being
could
have
used
such
a
weapon
?
When
Pencroft
had
placed
the
bullet
on
the
table
,
his
companions
looked
at
it
with
intense
astonishment
.
All
the
consequences
likely
to
result
from
this
incident
,
notwithstanding
its
apparent
insignificance
,
immediately
took
possession
of
their
minds
.
The
sudden
apparition
of
a
supernatural
being
could
not
have
startled
them
more
completely
.
Cyrus
Harding
did
not
hesitate
to
give
utterance
to
the
suggestions
which
this
fact
,
at
once
surprising
and
unexpected
,
could
not
fail
to
raise
in
his
mind
.
He
took
the
bullet
,
turned
it
over
and
over
,
rolled
it
between
his
finger
and
thumb
;
then
,
turning
to
Pencroft
,
he
asked
,
--
Are
you
sure
that
the
peccary
wounded
by
this
bullet
was
not
more
than
three
months
old
?
"
"
Not
more
,
captain
,
"
replied
Pencroft
.
"
It
was
still
sucking
its
mother
when
I
found
it
in
the
trap
.
"
"
Well
,
"
said
the
engineer
,
"
that
proves
that
within
three
months
a
gun
-
shot
was
fired
in
Lincoln
Island
.
"
"
And
that
a
bullet
,
"
added
Gideon
Spilett
,
"
wounded
,
though
not
mortally
,
this
little
animal
.
"
"
That
is
unquestionable
,
"
said
Cyrus
Harding
,
"
and
these
are
the
deductions
which
must
be
drawn
from
this
incident
:
that
the
island
was
inhabited
before
our
arrival
,
or
that
men
have
landed
here
within
three
months
.
Did
these
men
arrive
here
voluntarily
or
involuntarily
,
by
disembarking
on
the
shore
or
by
being
wrecked
?
This
point
can
only
be
cleared
up
later
.
As
to
what
they
were
,
Europeans
or
Malays
,
enemies
or
friends
of
our
race
,
we
can
not
possibly
guess
;
and
if
they
still
inhabit
the
island
,
or
if
they
have
left
it
,
we
know
not
.
But
these
questions
are
of
too
much
importance
to
be
allowed
to
remain
long
unsettled
.
"
"
No
!
a
hundred
times
no
!
a
thousand
times
no
!
"
cried
the
sailor
,
springing
up
from
the
table
.
"
There
are
no
other
men
than
ourselves
on
Lincoln
Island
!
By
my
faith
!
The
island
is
n't
large
and
if
it
had
been
inhabited
,
we
should
have
seen
some
of
the
inhabitants
long
before
this
!
"
