At my words the boatswain shook his head, for he did not believe Hunt to be in his right mind. The latter understood this shake of the boatswain's head, and cried out in a harsh tone,-- "No, not mad. And madmen are respected on the prairies, even if they are not believed. And I--I must be believed. No, no, no! Pym is not dead!" "Edgar Poe asserts that he is," I replied. "Yes, I know, Edgar Poe of Baltimore. But--he never saw poor Pym, never, never." "What!" exclaimed Captain Len Guy; "the two men were not acquainted?" "No!" "And it was not Arthur Pym himself who related his adventures to Edgar Poe?" "No, captain, no! He, below there, at Baltimore, had only the notes written by Pym from the day when he hid himself on board the _Grampus_ to the very last hour--the last--understand me the last." "Who, then, brought back that journal?" asked Captain Len Guy, as he seized Hunt's hand. "It was Pym's companion, he who loved him, his poor Pym, like a son. It was Dirk Peters, the half-breed, who came back alone from there--beyond." "The half-breed, Dirk Peters!" I exclaimed. "Yes." "Alone?" "Alone." "And Arthur Pym may be--" "There," answered Hunt, in a loud voice, bending towards the southern line, from which he had not diverted his gaze for a moment. Could such an assertion prevail against the general incredulity? No, assuredly not! Martin Holt nudged Hurliguerly with his elbow, and both regarded Hunt with pity, while West observed him without speaking. Captain Len Guy made me a sign, meaning that nothing serious was to be got out of this poor fellow, whose mental faculties must have been out of gear for a long time. And nevertheless, when I looked keenly at Hunt, it seemed to me that a sort of radiance of truth shone out of his eyes. Then I set to work to interrogate the man, putting to him precise and pressing questions which he tried to answer categorically, as we shall see, and not once did he contradict himself. "Tell me," I asked, "did Arthur Pym really come to Tsalal Island on board the _Grampus_?" "Yes." "Did Arthur Pym separate himself, with the half-breed and one of the sailors, from his companions while Captain William Guy had gone to the village of Klock-Klock?" "Yes. The sailor was one Allen, and he was almost immediately stifled under the stones." "Then the two others saw the attack, and the destruction of the schooner, from the top of the hill?" "Yes." "Then, some time later, the two left the island, after they had got possession of one of the boats which the natives could not take from them?" "Yes." "And, after twenty days, having reached the front of the curtain of vapour, they were both carried down into the gulf of the cataract?" This time Hunt did not reply in the affirmative; he hesitated, he stammered out some vague words; he seemed to be trying to rekindle the half-extinguished flame of his memory. At length, looking at me and shaking his head, he answered,--