"Perhaps," answered Gideon Spilett.
"About what age is he?" asked the lad.
"It is difficult to say," replied the reporter; "for it is impossible to see his features under the thick beard which covers his face; but he is no longer young, and I suppose he might be about fifty."
"Have you noticed, Mr. Spilett, how deeply sunk his eyes are?" asked Herbert.
"Yes, Herbert; but I must add that they are more human than one could expect from his appearance."
"However, we shall see," replied Pencroft; "and I am anxious to know what opinion Captain Harding will have of our savage. We went for a human creature, and we are bringing back a monster! But we did what we could."
The night passed, and whether the prisoner slept could not be known. Although he had been unbound, he did not move. He was like a wild animal, which appears stunned at first by its capture, and becomes wild again afterwards.
At daybreak the next morning, the 15th of October, the change of weather predicted by Pencroft occurred. The wind having shifted to the northwest favored the return of the Bonadventure, but at the same time it freshened which would render navigation more difficult. At five in the morning the anchor was weighed. Pencroft took a reef in the mainsail, and steered towards the northeast, so as to sail straight for Lincoln Island.
The first day of the voyage was not marked by any incident. The prisoner remained quiet in the fore-cabin, and as he had been a sailor it appeared that the motion of the vessel might rearouse him. Did some recollection of his former calling return to him? They could not judge; he remained tranquil, astonished rather than depressed.
The next day the wind increased, blowing more from the north, consequently in a less favorable direction for the Bonadventure. Pencroft was soon obliged to sail close-hauled, and without saying anything about it he began to be uneasy at the state of the sea, which frequently broke over the bows. Certainly, if the wind did not moderate, it would take a longer time to reach Lincoln Island than it had taken to make Tabor Island.
Indeed, on the morning of the 17th, the Bonadventure had been forty-eight hours at sea, and nothing showed that
