-
Главная
-
- Книги
-
- Авторы
-
- Жюль Верн
-
- Таинственный остров
-
- Стр. 5/526
Для того чтобы воспользоваться озвучкой предложений, необходимо
Войти или зарегистрироваться
Озвучка предложений доступна при наличии PRO-доступа
Купить PRO-доступ
A
hundred
times
they
had
almost
perished
!
A
hundred
times
had
they
almost
fallen
from
their
torn
balloon
into
the
depths
of
the
ocean
.
But
Heaven
had
reserved
them
for
a
strange
destiny
,
and
after
having
,
on
the
20th
of
March
,
escaped
from
Richmond
,
besieged
by
the
troops
of
General
Ulysses
Grant
,
they
found
themselves
seven
thousand
miles
from
the
capital
of
Virginia
,
which
was
the
principal
stronghold
of
the
South
,
during
the
terrible
War
of
Secession
.
Their
aerial
voyage
had
lasted
five
days
.
The
curious
circumstances
which
led
to
the
escape
of
the
prisoners
were
as
follows
:
That
same
year
,
in
the
month
of
February
,
1865
,
in
one
of
the
coups
de
main
by
which
General
Grant
attempted
,
though
in
vain
,
to
possess
himself
of
Richmond
,
several
of
his
officers
fell
into
the
power
of
the
enemy
and
were
detained
in
the
town
.
One
of
the
most
distinguished
was
Captain
Cyrus
Harding
.
He
was
a
native
of
Massachusetts
,
a
first-class
engineer
,
to
whom
the
government
had
confided
,
during
the
war
,
the
direction
of
the
railways
,
which
were
so
important
at
that
time
.
A
true
Northerner
,
thin
,
bony
,
lean
,
about
forty-five
years
of
age
;
his
close-cut
hair
and
his
beard
,
of
which
he
only
kept
a
thick
mustache
,
were
already
getting
gray
.
He
had
one-of
those
finely-developed
heads
which
appear
made
to
be
struck
on
a
medal
,
piercing
eyes
,
a
serious
mouth
,
the
physiognomy
of
a
clever
man
of
the
military
school
.
He
was
one
of
those
engineers
who
began
by
handling
the
hammer
and
pickaxe
,
like
generals
who
first
act
as
common
soldiers
.
Besides
mental
power
,
he
also
possessed
great
manual
dexterity
.
His
muscles
exhibited
remarkable
proofs
of
tenacity
.
A
man
of
action
as
well
as
a
man
of
thought
,
all
he
did
was
without
effort
to
one
of
his
vigorous
and
sanguine
temperament
.
Learned
,
clear-headed
,
and
practical
,
he
fulfilled
in
all
emergencies
those
three
conditions
which
united
ought
to
insure
human
success
--
activity
of
mind
and
body
,
impetuous
wishes
,
and
powerful
will
.
He
might
have
taken
for
his
motto
that
of
William
of
Orange
in
the
17th
century
:
"
I
can
undertake
and
persevere
even
without
hope
of
success
.
"
Cyrus
Harding
was
courage
personified
.
He
had
been
in
all
the
battles
of
that
war
.
After
having
begun
as
a
volunteer
at
Illinois
,
under
Ulysses
Grant
,
he
fought
at
Paducah
,
Belmont
,
Pittsburg
Landing
,
at
the
siege
of
Corinth
,
Port
Gibson
,
Black
River
,
Chattanooga
,
the
Wilderness
,
on
the
Potomac
,
everywhere
and
valiantly
,
a
soldier
worthy
of
the
general
who
said
,
"
I
never
count
my
dead
!
"
And
hundreds
of
times
Captain
Harding
had
almost
been
among
those
who
were
not
counted
by
the
terrible
Grant
;
but
in
these
combats
where
he
never
spared
himself
,
fortune
favored
him
till
the
moment
when
he
was
wounded
and
taken
prisoner
on
the
field
of
battle
near
Richmond
.
At
the
same
time
and
on
the
same
day
another
important
personage
fell
into
the
hands
of
the
Southerners
.
This
was
no
other
than
Gideon
Spilen
,
a
reporter
for
the
New
York
Herald
,
who
had
been
ordered
to
follow
the
changes
of
the
war
in
the
midst
of
the
Northern
armies
.
Gideon
Spilett
was
one
of
that
race
of
indomitable
English
or
American
chroniclers
,
like
Stanley
and
others
,
who
stop
at
nothing
to
obtain
exact
information
,
and
transmit
it
to
their
journal
in
the
shortest
possible
time
.
The
newspapers
of
the
Union
,
such
as
the
New
York
Herald
,
are
genuine
powers
,
and
their
reporters
are
men
to
be
reckoned
with
.
Gideon
Spilett
ranked
among
the
first
of
those
reporters
:
a
man
of
great
merit
,
energetic
,
prompt
and
ready
for
anything
,
full
of
ideas
,
having
traveled
over
the
whole
world
,
soldier
and
artist
,
enthusiastic
in
council
,
resolute
in
action
,
caring
neither
for
trouble
,
fatigue
,
nor
danger
,
when
in
pursuit
of
information
,
for
himself
first
,
and
then
for
his
journal
,
a
perfect
treasury
of
knowledge
on
all
sorts
of
curious
subjects
,
of
the
unpublished
,
of
the
unknown
,
and
of
the
impossible
.
He
was
one
of
those
intrepid
observers
who
write
under
fire
,
"
reporting
"
among
bullets
,
and
to
whom
every
danger
is
welcome
.
He
also
had
been
in
all
the
battles
,
in
the
first
rank
,
revolver
in
one
hand
,
note-book
in
the
other
;
grape-shot
never
made
his
pencil
tremble
.
He
did
not
fatigue
the
wires
with
incessant
telegrams
,
like
those
who
speak
when
they
have
nothing
to
say
,
but
each
of
his
notes
,
short
,
decisive
,
and
clear
,
threw
light
on
some
important
point
.
Besides
,
he
was
not
wanting
in
humor
.
It
was
he
who
,
after
the
affair
of
the
Black
River
,
determined
at
any
cost
to
keep
his
place
at
the
wicket
of
the
telegraph
office
,
and
after
having
announced
to
his
journal
the
result
of
the
battle
,
telegraphed
for
two
hours
the
first
chapters
of
the
Bible
.
It
cost
the
New
York
Herald
two
thousand
dollars
,
but
the
New
York
Herald
published
the
first
intelligence
.
Gideon
Spilett
was
tall
.
He
was
rather
more
than
forty
years
of
age
.
Light
whiskers
bordering
on
red
surrounded
his
face
.
His
eye
was
steady
,
lively
,
rapid
in
its
changes
.
It
was
the
eye
of
a
man
accustomed
to
take
in
at
a
glance
all
the
details
of
a
scene
.
Well
built
,
he
was
inured
to
all
climates
,
like
a
bar
of
steel
hardened
in
cold
water
.
For
ten
years
Gideon
Spilett
had
been
the
reporter
of
the
New
York
Herald
,
which
he
enriched
by
his
letters
and
drawings
,
for
he
was
as
skilful
in
the
use
of
the
pencil
as
of
the
pen
.
When
he
was
captured
,
he
was
in
the
act
of
making
a
description
and
sketch
of
the
battle
.
The
last
words
in
his
note-book
were
these
:
"
A
Southern
rifleman
has
just
taken
aim
at
me
,
but
--
"
The
Southerner
notwithstanding
missed
Gideon
Spilett
,
who
,
with
his
usual
fortune
,
came
out
of
this
affair
without
a
scratch
.
