l sail."

"Gratian," cried West, calling one of the sailors, "take the
helm; and you, Hearne, go down into the hold."

On a sudden the cry of "Land!" resounded, and every eye was
turned southwards.

CHAPTER XIX.
LAND?

"Land" is the only word to be found at the beginning of the
nineteenth chapter of Edgar Poe's book. I thought it would be a
good idea--placing after it a note of interrogation--to put it as
a heading to this portion of our narrative.

Did that word, dropped from our fore-masthead, indicate an island or
a continent? And, whether a continent or an island, did not a
disappointment await us? Could they be there whom we had come to
seek? And Arthur Pym, who was dead, unquestionably dead, in spite of
Dirk Peters' assertions, had he ever set foot on this land?

When the welcome word resounded on board the _Jane_ on the 17th
January, 1828--(a day full of incidents according to Arthur Pym's
diary)--it was succeeded by "Land on the starboard bow!" Such
might have been the signal from the masthead of the _Halbrane_.

The outlines of land lightly drawn above the sky line were visible
on this side.

The land announced to the sailors of the fane was the wild and
barren Bennet Islet. Less than one degree south of it lay Tsalal
Island, then fertile, habitable and inhabited, and on which Captain
Len Guy had hoped to meet his fellow-countrymen. But what would this
unknown island, five degrees farther off in the depths of the
southern sea, be for our schooner? Was it the goal so ardently
desired and so earnestly sought for? Were the two brothers, William
and Len Guy, to meet at this place Would the _Halbrane_ come there to
the end of a voyage whose success would be definitely secured by the
restoration of the survivors of the fane to their country?

I repeat that I was just like the half-breed. Our aim was not merely
to discover the survivors, nor was success in this matter the only
success we looked for. However, since land was before our eyes, we
must get nearer to it first.

That cry of "Land" caused an immediate diversion of our
thoughts. I no longer dwelt upon the secret Dirk Peters had just
told me--and perhaps the half-breed forgot it also, for he rushed
to the bow and fixed his eyes immovably on the horizon. As for West,
whom nothing could divert from his duty, he repeated his commands.
Gratian came to take the helm, and Hearne was shut up in the hold.

On the whole this was a just punishment,