"and even if your other conclusions are right, this, at least,
seemed to me irrational."

"What do you mean?" asked Lady Helena, while all eyes were fixed
on the geographer.

"I mean this," replied Paganel, "that Captain Grant is _now
a prisoner among the Indians_, and I further add that the document
states it unmistakably."

"Explain yourself, sir," said Mary Grant.

"Nothing is plainer, dear Mary. Instead of reading the document
_seront prisonniers_, read _sont prisonniers_, and the whole
thing is clear."

"But that is impossible," replied Lord Glenarvan.

"Impossible! and why, my noble friend?" asked Paganel, smiling.

"Because the bottle could only have been thrown into the sea just when
the vessel went to pieces on the rocks, and consequently the latitude
and longitude given refer to the actual place of the shipwreck."

"There is no proof of that," replied Paganel, "and I see nothing
to preclude the supposition that the poor fellows were dragged
into the interior by the Indians, and sought to make known
the place of their captivity by means of this bottle."

"Except this fact, my dear Paganel, that there was no sea,