The dog was not this time barking near the mouth of the well, but at the threshold of the door, at which he was scratching as if he wished to burst it open. Jup was also uttering piercing cries. "Hallo, Top!" cried Neb, who was the first awake. But the dog continued to bark more furiously than ever. "What's the matter now?" asked Harding. And all dressing in haste rushed to the windows, which they opened. Beneath their eyes was spread a sheet of snow which looked grey in the dim light. The settlers could see nothing, but they heard a singular yelping noise away in the darkness. It was evident that the beach had been invaded by a number of animals which could not be seen. "What are they?" cried Pencroft. "Wolves, jaguars, or apes?" replied Neb. "They have nearly reached the plateau," said the reporter. "And our poultry-yard," exclaimed Herbert, "and our garden!" "Where can they have crossed?" asked Pencroft. "They must have crossed the bridge on the shore," replied the engineer, "which one of us must have forgotten to close." "True," said Spilett, "I remember to have left it open." "A fine job you have made of it, Mr. Spilett," cried the sailor. "What is done cannot be undone," replied Cyrus Harding. "We must consult what it will now be best to do." Such were the questions and answers which were rapidly exchanged between Harding and his companions. It was certain that the bridge had been crossed, that the shore had been invaded by animals, and that whatever they might be they could by ascending the left bank of the Mercy reach Prospect Heights. They must therefore be advanced against quickly and fought with if necessary. "But what are these beasts?" was asked a second time, as the yelpings were again heard more loudly than before. These yelps made Herbert start, and he remembered to have already heard them during his first visit to the sources of the Red Creek. "They are culpeux foxes!" he exclaimed. "Forward!" shouted the sailor. And all arming themselves with hatchets, carbines, and revolvers, threw themselves into the lift and soon set foot on the shore. Culpeux are dangerous animals when in great numbers and irritated by hunger, nevertheless the colonists did not hesitate to throw themselves into the midst of the troop, and their first shots vividly lighting up the darkness made their assailants draw back. The chief thing was to hinder these plunderers from reaching the plateau, for the garden and the poultry-yard would then have been at their mercy, and immense, perhaps irreparable mischief, would inevitably be the result, especially with regard to the cornfield. But as the invasion of the plateau could only be made by the left bank of the Mercy, it was sufficient to oppose the culpeux on the narrow bank between the river and the cliff of granite.