Таинственный остров / The Mysterious Island. Уровень 2

– It is Top! It is Top! – cried Herbert, and they rushed to the entrance of the Chimneys. The darkness was absolute. The sea, the sky, and the earth were black. Then again, in the hush of the storm, they heard the barking of a dog.

It was indeed Top. But he was alone! Neither his master nor Neb accompanied him. The dog came to the Chimneys. Herbert drew the dog towards him.

– Top will guide us to its master! – said Herbert.

The tempest was terrible. It was difficult to follow a straight course.

The reporter and the lad walked behind the dog, and the sailor followed after.

Probably, Neb found his master and sent the faithful dog to them. But is the engineer dead?

– Saved! He is saved! Isn’t he, Top? – repeated the boy. And the dog barked.

The wind was dry and cold. They followed Top. At 5 o’clock the sailor and his companions were six miles from the Chimneys. Top ran ahead, returned, and ran again.

Five minutes after the reporter and his companions reached a hollow, before which Top stopped with a loud bark.

The men entered the cave. Neb was there, he was kneeling beside a body upon a bed of grass. It was the body of Cyrus Smith.

Chapter VIII

Neb did not move.

– Is he alive? – the sailor cried.

Neb did not answer. Herbert did not move. The reporter knelt down beside the motionless body, and pressed his ear to the chest of the engineer. Gideon Spilett rose up.

– He is alive! – he said.

Pencroff knelt down beside Cyrus Smith; he also detected the heartbeat.

Herbert brought water. He found a brook; so the lad soaked his handkerchief in the stream. The drops of fresh water produced an instantaneous effect. A sigh escaped from the breast of Smith.

– We will save him, – said the reporter.

Neb removed the clothing from his master. Neither on his head nor body nor limbs was there a bruise or even a scratch. That was astonishing.

– I thought he was dead, – said Neb.

 – And I wanted to die near my master.

Then Neb told them everything. Neb followed along the coast to the north, until he reached that part of the beach. There he searched the shore, the rocks, and the sand for any marks. He did not hope to find his master. Then he decided to continue some miles further up the coast.

– I followed the shore two miles further, and yesterday evening, about 5 o’clock, I discovered footprints upon the sand.