out into the North Sea . . . in which case my position would
be none too cheerful. But it will be devilish odd if, between this and
that, I don't touch land somewhere. The only trouble is, whether it's
forty miles on or forty miles back, those things can't be done on an
empty stomach."

Fortunately, for he was feeling symptoms of a fatigue to which he was
unaccustomed, the problem solved itself without his assistance. After
going round the wreck, he managed to crawl under the poop and there
discovered a heap of packing-cases which evidently formed part of the
cargo. All were more or less split or broken or gaping at the corners.
But one of them, whose lid Simon had no difficulty in prying open,
contained tins of syrup, bottles of wine and stacks of canned foods:
meat, fish, vegetables and fruits.

"Splendid!" he said, laughing. "Luncheon is served, sir. On top of
that, a little rest; and the sooner I'm off the better!"

He made an excellent lunch; and a long siesta, under the vessel, among
the packing-cases, restored his strength completely. When he woke and
saw that his watch was already pointing to noon, he felt uneasy at the
waste of time and suddenly reflected that others must have taken the
same path and would now be able to catch him up and outstrip him. And
he did not intend this to happen. Accordingly, feeling as fit as at
the moment of starting, provided with the indispensable provisions and
determined to follow up the adventure to the very end, without a
companion to share his glory or to rob him of it, he set off again at
a very brisk, unflagging pace.

"I shall get there," he thought, "I mean to get there. All this is an
unprecedented phenomenon, the creation of a tract of land which will
utterly change the conditions of life in this part of the world. I
mean to be there first and to see . . . to see what? I don't know,
_but I mean to do it_."

What rapture to tread a soil on which no one has ever set foot! Men
travel in search of this rapture to the utmost ends of the earth, to
remote countries, no matter where; and very often the secret is hardly
worth discovering. As for Simon, he was having his wonderful adventure
in the heart of the oldest regions of old Europe. The Channel! The
French coast! To be treading virgin soil here, of all places, where
mankind had lived for three or four thousand years! To behold sights
that no other eye had ever looked upon! To come after the Gauls, the
Romans, the Fran