hind which Top was heard growling
sullenly.

The engineer, leaving Ayrton for an instant, came out ready to fire.
Herbert was at his side. Both surveyed the crest of the spur
overlooking the corral. If the convicts were lying in ambush there,
they might knock the settlers over one after the other.

At that moment the moon appeared in the east, above the black curtain of
the forest, and a white sheet of light spread over the interior of the
enclosure. The corral, with its clumps of trees, the little stream
which watered it, and its wide carpet of grass, was suddenly
illuminated. From the side of the mountain, the house and a part of the
palisade stood out white in the moonlight. On the opposite side towards
the door, the enclosure remained dark.

A black mass soon appeared. This was the cart entering the circle of
light, and Cyrus Harding could hear the noise made by the door, as his
companions shut it and fastened the interior bars.

But, at that moment, Top, breaking loose, began to bark furiously and
rush to the back of the corral, to the right of the house.

"Be ready to fire, my friends!" cried Harding.

The colonists raised their pieces and waited the moment to fire.

Top still barked, and Jup, running towards the dog, uttered shrill
cries.

The colonists followed him, and reached the borders of the little
stream, shaded by large trees. And there, in the bright moonlight, what
did they see? Five corpses, stretched on the bank!

They were those of the convicts who, four months previously, had landed
on Lincoln Island!

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

AYRTON'S STORY--PLANS OF HIS FORMER ACCOMPLICES--THEIR INSTALLATION IN
THE CORRAL--THE AVENGING JUSTICE OF LINCOLN ISLAND--THE BONADVENTURE--
RESEARCHES AROUND MOUNT FRANKLIN--THE UPPER VALLEYS--A SUBTERRANEAN
VOLCANO--PENCROFT'S OPINION--AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CRATER--RETURN.

How had it happened? Who had killed the convicts? Was it Ayrton? No,
for a moment before he was dreading their return.

But Ayrton was now in a profound stupor, from which it was no longer
possible to rouse him. After uttering those few words he had again
become unconscious, and had fallen back motionless on the bed.

The colonists, a prey to a thousand confused thoughts, under the
influence of violent excitement, waited all night, without leaving
Ayrton's house, or returning to the spot where lay the bodies of the
convicts. It was very probable that Ayrton would not be able to