season returned
they would thoroughly search the whole of the island.

But from that day, Pencroft appeared to be anxious. He felt as if the
island which he had made his own personal property belonged to him
entirely no longer, and that he shared it with another master, to whom
whether willing or not, he felt subject. Neb and he often talked of
those unaccountable things, and both, their natures inclining them to
the marvellous, were not far from believing that Lincoln Island was
under the dominion of some supernatural power.

In the meanwhile, the bad weather came with the month of May, the
November of the northern zones. It appeared that the winter would be
severe and forward. The preparations for the winter season were
therefore commenced without delay.

[Illustration: RETURNING FROM A SPORTING EXCURSION]

Nevertheless, the colonists were well prepared to meet the winter,
however hard it might be. They had plenty of felt clothing, and the
musmons, very numerous by this time, had furnished an abundance of the
wool necessary for the manufacture of this warm material.

It is unnecessary to say that Ayrton had been provided with this
comfortable clothing. Cyrus Harding proposed that he should come to
spend the bad season with them in Granite House, where he would be
better lodged than at the corral, and Ayrton promised to do so, as
soon as the last work at the corral was finished. He did this towards
the middle of April. From that time Ayrton shared the common life, and
made himself useful on all occasions; but still humble and sad, he
never took part in the pleasures of his companions.

For the greater part of this, the third winter which the settlers
passed in Lincoln Island, they were confined to Granite House. There
were many violent storms and frightful tempests, which appeared to
shake the rocks to their very foundations. Immense waves threatened to
overwhelm the island, and certainly any vessel anchored near the shore
would have been dashed to pieces. Twice, during one of these
hurricanes, the Mercy swelled to such a degree as to give reason to
fear that the bridges would be swept away, and it was necessary to
strengthen those on the shore, which disappeared under the foaming
waters, when the sea beat against the beach.

It may well be supposed that such storms, comparable to water-spouts
in which were mingled rain and snow, would cause great havoc on the
plateau of Prospect Heights. The mill and the poul