CHAPTER VIII.
IS CYPRUS SMITH ALIVE?—NEB’S STORY—FOOTPRINTS —AN INSOLUBLE QUESTION—THE FIRST WORDS OF SMITH—COMPARING THE FOOTPRINTS—RETURN TO THE CHIMNEYS—PENCROFF DEJECTED.
Neb did not move. The sailor uttered one word.
“Living!” he cried.
The n***o did not answer. Spilett and Pencroff turned pale. Herbert, clasping his hands, stood motionless. But it was evident that the poor n***o, overcome by grief, had neither seen his companions nor heard the voice of the sailor.
The reporter knelt down beside the motionless body, and, having opened the clothing, pressed his ear to the chest of the engineer. A minute, which seemed an age, passed, daring which he tried to detect some movement of the heart.
Neb raised up a little, and looked on as if in a trance. Overcome by exhaustion, prostrat
