lready murdered him! but then these rascals have not a
den to which they may be tracked like tigers!"

"No," replied the reporter; "it is more probable that they wander at
random, and it is their interest to rove about until the time when they
will be masters of the island!"

"The masters of the island!" exclaimed the sailor; "the masters of the
island!" he repeated, and his voice was choked, as if his throat was
seized in an iron grasp. Then in a calmer tone, "Do you know, Captain
Harding," said he, "what the ball is which I have rammed into my gun?"

"No, Pencroft!"

"It is the ball that went through Herbert's chest, and I promise you it
won't miss its mark!"

But this just retaliation would not bring Ayrton back to life, and from
the examination of the footprints left in the ground, they must, alas!
conclude that all hopes of ever seeing him again must be abandoned.

That evening they encamped fourteen miles from Granite House, and Cyrus
Harding calculated that they could not be more than five miles from
Reptile Point.

And, indeed, the next day the extremity of the peninsula was reached,
and the whole length of the forest had been traversed; but there was
nothing to indicate the retreat in which the convicts had taken refuge,
nor that, no less secret, which sheltered the mysterious unknown.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

EXPLORATION OF THE SERPENTINE PENINSULA--ENCAMPMENT AT THE MOUTH OF
FALLS RIVER--GIDEON SPILETT AND PENCROFT RECONNOITRE--THEIR RETURN--
FORWARD, ALL!--AN OPEN DOOR--A LIGHTED WINDOW--BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON!

The next day, the 18th of February, was devoted to the exploration of
all that wooded region forming the shore from Reptile End to Falls
River. The colonists were able to search this forest thoroughly, for,
as it was comprised between the two shores of the Serpentine Peninsula,
it was only from three to four miles in breadth. The trees, both by
their height and their thick foliage, bore witness to the vegetative
power of the soil, more astonishing here than in any other part of the
island. One might have said that a corner from the virgin forests of
America or Africa had been transported into this temperate zone. This
led them to conclude that the superb vegetation found a heat in this
soil, damp in its upper layer, but warmed in the interior by volcanic
fires, which could not belong to a temperate climate. The most
frequently-occurring trees were kauries and eucalypti of gigantic
di