CHAPTER XXXIV.
I CEASE TO BREATHE, AND YET LIVE.
During this conversation we had been rapidly walking, or I should bettersay advancing, for we no longer walked as men do, but skipped down intothe earth, down, ever downward. There were long periods of silence, inwhich I was engaged in meditating over the problems that successivelydemanded solution, and even had I desired to do so I could have kept norecord of time; days, or even weeks, may have been consumed in thisjourney. Neither have I any method of judging of the rapidity of ourmotion. I was sensible of a marked decrease in the amount of muscularenergy required to carry us onward, and I realized that my body wasquite exempt from weariness. Motion became restful instead ofexhausting, and it seemed to me that the ratio of the loss of weight, asshown by our free movements, in proportion to the distance we traversed,was greater than formerly. The slightest exhibition of propelling forcecast us rapidly forward. Instead of the laborious, short step of upperearth, a single leap would carry us many yards. A slight spring, andwith our bodies in space, we would skip several rods, alighting gently,to move again as easily. I marveled, for, although I had been led toanticipate something unusual, the practical evidence was wonderfullyimpressive, and I again questioned my guide.
"We are now nearing what physicists would call the center of gravity,"he replied, "and our weight is rapidly diminishing. This is in exactaccordance with the laws that govern the force called gravitation,which, at the earth's surface, is apparently uniform, though noinstrument known to man can demonstrate its exact variation within thefield man occupies. Men have not, as yet, been in a position to estimatethis change, although it is known that mountains attract objects, andthat a change in weight as we descend into the earth is perceptible; butto evolve the true law, observation, at a distance of at least tenmiles beneath the surface of the ocean is necessary, and man, being acreature whose motions are confined to a thin, horizontal skin of earth,has never been one mile beneath its surface, and in consequence hisopportunities for comparison are extremely limited."
"WE WOULD SKIP SEVERAL RODS, ALIGHTING GENTLY."]
"I have been taught," I replied, "that the force of gravitationdecreases until the center of the earth is reached, at which point abody is without weight; and I can scarcely understand how such positivestatements from scientific men can be far from the truth."
"It is supposed by your surface men that the maximum of weight is to befound at one-sixth the distance beneath the surface of the earth, andtherefrom decreases until at the center it is nothing at all," hereplied. "This hypothesis, though a stagger toward the right, is farfrom the truth, but as near as could be expected, when we consider thedata upon which men base their calculations. Were it not for the purposeof controverting erroneous views, men would have little incentive tocontinue their investigations, and as has been the rule in scienceheretofore, the truth will, in time, appear in this case. One generationof students disproves the accepted theories of that which precedes, allworking to eliminate error, all adding factors of error, and alltogether moving toward a common goal, a grand generalization, that asyet can not be perceived. And still each series of workers isoverlooking phenomena that, though obvious, are yet unperceived, butwhich will make evident to future scientists the mistakes of thepresent. As an example of the manner in which facts are thus overlooked,in your journey you have been impressed with certain surprising externalconditions, or surroundings, and yet are oblivious to conditions moreremarkable in your own body. So it is with scientists. They overlookprominent facts that stare them boldly in the face, facts that are soconspicuous as to be invisible by reason of their very nearness."
"This statement I can not disprove, and therefore must admit underprotest. Where there is so much that appears mysterious I may haveoverlooked some things, but I can scarcely accept that, in ignorance, Ihave passed conditions in my own organization so marked as this decreasein gravity which has so strikingly been called to my attention."
"You have, and to convince you I need only say that you have nearlyceased to breathe, and are unconscious of the fact."
I stopped short, in momentary alarm, and now that my mind was directedto the fact, I became aware that I did not desire to breathe, and thatmy chest had ceased to heave with the alternate inhalation andexhalation of former times. I closed my lips firmly, and for a longperiod there was no desire for breath, then a slight involuntaryinhalation followed, and an exhalation, scarcely noticeable, succeededby a great interval of inaction. I impulsively turned my face toward thepassage we had trod; a feeling of alarm possessed me, an uncontrollable,inexpressible desire to flee from the mysterious earth-being beside me,to return to men, and be an earth-surface man again, and I startedbackward through the chamber we had passed.
The guide seized me by the hand, "Hold, hold," he cried; "where wouldyou go, fickle mortal?"
"To the surface," I shouted; "to daylight again. Unhand me, unearthlycreature, abnormal being, man or devil; have you not inveigled me farenough into occult realms that should be forever sealed from mankind?Have you not taken from me all that men love or cherish, and undoneevery tie of kith or kin? Have you not led me into paths that theimagination of the novelist dare not conjure, and into experiences thatpen in human hand would not venture to describe as possible, until I nowstand with my feet on the boundary line that borders vacancy, and utterloss of weight; with a body nearly lost as a material substance, verginginto nothing, and lastly with breath practically extinguished, I say,and repeat, is it not time that I should hesitate and pause in myreckless career?"
"It is not time," he answered.
"When will that hour come?" I asked in desperation, and I trembled as hereplied:
"When the three Great Lights are closed."
"AN UNCONTROLLABLE, INEXPRESSIBLE DESIRE TO FLEE."]