asthead."

"He must have lost his bearings, Mr. Jeorling, for, if several
whalers, who were well deserving of credit, are to be believed,
these islands do exist, and it was even proposed to give them my
name."

"That would have been but just," I replied politely. "It will
be very vexatious if they are not discovered some day," added the
Governor, in a tone which indicated that he was not devoid of vanity.

"It was then," I resumed, "that Captain Guy resolved to carry
out a project he had long cherished, and in which he was encouraged
by a certain passenger who was on board the _Jane_--"

"Arthur Gordon Pym," exclaimed Glass, "and his companion, one
Dirk Peters; the two had been picked up at sea by the schooner."

"You knew them, Mr. Glass?" I asked eagerly.

"Knew them, Mr. Jeorling? I should think I did, indeed! That
Arthur Pym was a strange person, always wanting to rush into
adventures--a real rash American, quite capable of starting off to
the moon! Has he gone there at last?"

"No, not quite, Mr. Glass, but, during her voyage, the schooner,
it seems, did clear the polar circle, and pass the ice-wall. She got
farther than any ship had ever done before."

"What a wonderful feat!"

"Yes. Unfortunately, the _Jane_ did not return. Arthur Pym and
William Guy escaped the doom of the _Jane_ and the most of her crew.
They even got back to America, how I do not know. Afterwards Arthur
Pym died, but under what circumstances I am ignorant. As for the
half-breed, after having retired to Illinois, he went off one day
without a word to anyone and no trace of him has been found."

"And William Guy?" asked Mr. Glass.

I related the finding of the body of Patterson, the mate of the
_Jane_, and I added that everything led to the belief that the captain
of the _Jane_ and five of his companions were still living on an
island in the austral regions, at less than six degrees from the
Pole.

"Ah, Mr. Jeorling," cried Glass, "if some day William Guy and
his sailors might be saved! They seemed to me to be such fine
fellows."

"That is just what the _Halbrane_ is certainly going to attempt, so
soon as she is ready, for her captain, Len Guy, is William Guy's
own brother."

"Is it possible? Well, although I do not know Captain Len Guy, I
venture to assert that the brothers do not resemble each other--at
least in their behaviour to the Governor of Tristan d'Acunha!"

It was plain that the Governor was profoundly mortified