erplexed
me since the schooner put to sea.

And yet it is most unlikely that the port to which the _Ebba_ belongs
is situated on one of the Bermuda islands, in the middle of an English
archipelago--unless the Count d'Artigas has kidnapped Thomas Roch for
the British government, which I cannot believe.

I become aware that this extraordinary man is gazing at me with
singular persistence. Although he can have no suspicion that I am
Simon Hart, the engineer, he must be asking himself what I think of
this adventure. If Warder Gaydon is but a poor devil, this poor devil
will manifest as much unconcern as to what is in store for him as any
gentleman could--even though he were the proprietor of this queer
pleasure yacht. Still I am a little uneasy under his gaze.

I dare say that if the Count d'Artigas could guess how certain things
have suddenly become clear to me, he would not hesitate to have me
thrown overboard.

Prudence therefore commands me to be more circumspect than ever.

Without giving rise to any suspicion--even in the mind of Engineer
Serko--I have succeeded in raising a corner of the mysterious veil,
and I begin to see ahead a bit.

As the _Ebba_ draws nearer, the island, or rather islet, towards which
she is speeding shows more sharply against the blue background of the
sky. The sun which has passed the zenith, shines full upon the western
side. The islet is isolated, or at any rate I cannot see any others of
the group to which it belongs, either to north or south.

This islet, of curious contexture, resembles as near as possible a
cup turned upside down, from which a fuliginous vapor arises. Its
summit--the bottom of the cup, if you like--is about three hundred
feet above the level of the sea, and its flanks, which are steep and
regular, are as bare as the sea-washed rocks at its base.

There is another peculiarity about it which must render the islet
easily recognizable by mariners approaching it from the west, and this
is a rock which forms a natural arch at the base of the mountain--the
handle of the cup, so to speak--and through which the waves wash as
freely as the sunshine passes. Seen this way the islet fully justifies
the name of Back Cup given to it.

Well, I know and recognize this islet! It is situated at the extremity
of the archipelago of the Bermudas. It is the "reversed cup" that I
had occasion to visit a few years ago--No, I am not mistaken. I then
climbed over the calcareous and croo