Adventure stories; Castaways -- Fiction; Islands of the Pacific -- Fiction; Science fiction
Jup, carried by Neb and Pencroft, was placed in the lift, and only a
slight moan now and then escaped his lips. He was gently drawn up to
Granite House. There he was laid on a mattress taken from one of the
beds, and his wounds were bathed with the greatest care. It did not
appear that any vital part had been reached, but Jup was very weak from
loss of blood, and a high fever soon set in after his wounds had been
dressed. He was laid down, strict diet was imposed, “just like a real
person,” as Neb said, and they made him swallow several cups of
a cooling drink, for which the ingredients were supplied from the
vegetable medicine chest of Granite House. Jup was at first restless,
but his breathing gradually became more regular, and he was left
sleeping quietly. From time to time Top, walking on tip-toe, as one
might say, came to visit his friend, and seemed to approve of all the
care that had been taken of him. One of Jup’s hands hung over the side
of his bed, and Top licked it with a sympathizing air.
They employed the day in interring the dead, who were dragged to the
forest of the Far West, and there buried deep.
This attack, which might have had such serious consequences, was a
lesson to the settlers, who from this time never went to bed until one
of their number had made sure that all the bridges were raised, and that
no invasion was possible.
However, Jup, after having given them serious anxiety for several
days, began to recover. His constitution brought him through, the fever
gradually subsided, and Gideon Spilett, who was a bit of a doctor,
pronounced him quite out of danger. On the 16th of August, Jup began to
eat. Neb made him nice little sweet dishes, which the invalid devoured
with great relish, for if he had a pet failing it was that of being
somewhat of a gourmand, and Neb had never done anything to cure him of
this fault.
“What would you have?” said he to Gideon Spilett, who sometimes
expostulated with him for spoiling the ape. “Poor Jup has no other
pleasure than that of the palate, and I am only too glad to be able to
reward his services in this way!”
Ten days after taking to his bed, on the 21st of August, Master Jup
arose. His wounds were healed, and it was evident that he would not
be long in regaining his usual strength and agility. Like all
convalescents, he was tremendously hungry, and the reporter allowed him
to eat as much as he liked, for he trusted to that instinct, which
is too often wanting in reasoning beings, to keep the orang from any
excess. Neb was delighted to see his pupil’s appetite returning.
“Eat away, my Jup,” said he, “and don’t spare anything; you have shed
your blood for us, and it is the least I can do to make you strong
again!”
On the 25th of August Neb’s voice was heard calling to his companions.
“Captain, Mr. Spilett, Mr. Herbert, Pencroft, come! come!”
The colonists, who were together in the dining-room, rose at Neb’s call,
who was then in Jup’s room.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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