Produced by Jim Weiler and Roger Frank
THE FLYING MERMAID SANK LOWER AND LOWER TOWARD THEMYSTERIOUS HOLE.]
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Five Thousand Miles Underground
Or
The Mystery of the Centre of the Earth
BY
ROY ROCKWOOD
Author of "Through the Air to the North Pole," "Under the Ocean to the South Pole," "The Rival Ocean Divers," Etc.
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY
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GOOD BOOKS FOR BOYS
By Roy Rockwood
THE GREAT MARVEL SERIES
THROUGH THE AIR TO THE NORTH POLE Or The Wonderful Cruise of the Electric Monarch
UNDER THE OCEAN TO THE SOUTH POLE Or The Strange Cruise of the Submarine Wonder
FIVE THOUSAND MILES UNDERGROUND Or The Mystery of the Centre of the Earth
Cloth. Illustrated Price per volume, 60 cents
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Copyright, 1908, by Cupples & Leon Company
Five Thousand Miles Underground
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CONTENTS
I WASHINGTON BACKS OUT II THE FLYING MERMAID III WASHINGTON DECIDES IV WHAT DID MARK SEE? V ATTACKED BY A WHALE VI THE CYCLONE VII A QUEER SAIL VIII THE FLYING MERMAID DISABLED IX THE MUTINY X FOOLING THEIR ENEMIES XI MYSTERIOUS HAPPENINGS XII THE BIG HOLE XIII DOWN INTO THE EARTH XIV MANY MILES BELOW XV IN THE STRANGE DRAUGHT XVI THE NEW LAND XVII A STRANGE COUNTRY XVIII CAUGHT BY A STRANGE PLANT XIX THE BIG PEACH XX OVERHAULING THE SHIP XXI THE FISH THAT WALKED XXII THE SNAKE-TREE XXIII THE DESERTED VILLAGE XXIV THE GIANTS XXV HELD BY THE ENEMY XXVII A FRIEND INDEED XXVII A GREAT JOURNEY XXVIII THE TEMPLE OF TREASURE XXIX BACK HOME--CONCLUSION
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FIVE THOUSAND MILES UNDERGROUND
CHAPTER I
WASHINGTON BACKS OUT
"Washington! I say Washington!"
Throughout a big shed, filled for the most part with huge pieces ofmachinery, echoed the voice of Professor Amos Henderson. He did not lookup from a small engine over which he was bending.
"Washington! Where are you? Why don't you answer me?"
From somewhere underneath an immense pile of iron, steel and aluminumcame the voice of a colored man.
"Yas sir, Perfesser, I'se goin' t' saggasiate my bodily presence in yo'contiguous proximity an' attend t' yo' immediate conglomeratedprescriptions at th' predistined period. Yas, sir!"
"Well, Washington, if you had started when you began that long speechyou would have been at least half way here by this time. Hurry up! Nevermind tightning those bolts now. Find the boys. I need them to help mewith this engine. They must be around somewhere."
"I seen 'em goin' fishin' down by th' brook a little while ago,"answered the negro, crawling out from under what seemed to be a combinedairship and watercraft. "Jack says as how yo' gived him permission t'occupy his indisputatious period of levity in endeavorin' t' extractfrom th' liquid element some specimens of swimmin' creatures."
"If you mean I said he and Mark could go fishing in the brook, you'reright, Washington," replied the professor with a smile. "But you waste alot of time and breath trying to say it. Why don't you give up using bigwords?"
"I reckon I was brought up t' it," replied the colored man grinning fromear to ear. He did not always use big words but when he did they weregenerally the wrong ones. Sometimes, he spoke quite correctly.
"Well, I suppose you can't help it," resumed Mr. Henderson. "However,never mind that. Find the boys and send them to me."
"With th' least appreciatableness amount of postponement," answered themessenger, and he went out.
Washington White, who in color was just the opposite to his name, ageneral helper and companion to Professor Henderson, found Mark Sampsonand Jack Darrow about a quarter of a mile from the big shed, which wasin the center of a wooded island off the coast of Maine. The lads wereseated on the bank of a small brook, fishing.
"Perfesser wants yo' immediate," said Washington.
"But we haven't caught a single fish," objected Mark.
"Them's the orders from headquarters," replied the colored man. "Yo'both got t' project yo'selves in th' vicinity of th' machine shop. Ireckon th' new fangled contraption that th' perfesser is goin' t'navigate th' air an' sail th' angry seas in, am about done. He want's t'try th' engine."
"Come on then," said Jack. "We probably would not catch any fish,anyhow, Mark."
Accompanied by Washington, the youths, each of whom was about eighteenyears old, started toward the big shed.
While they are on their way opportunity may be taken to tell a littleabout them, as well as about Washington and the professor, and thecurious craft on which the scientist was working.
A few years before this story opens Mr. Henderson had invented awonderful electric airship. He had it about completed when, one day, heand the two boys became unexpectedly acquainted, and, as it developed,friends.
Mark and Jack were orphans. After having rather a hard time knockingabout the world trying to make a living, they chanced to meet, andresolved to cast their lots together. They boarded a freight train, and,as told in the first volume of this series, entitled, "Through the Airto the North Pole; or the Wonderful Cruise of the Electric Monarch," thecars were wrecked near where Professor Henderson was building hisstrange craft.
The boys were cared for by the scientist, and, after their recovery fromhurts received in the collision, they accepted his invitation to makethe trip through the upper regions in the airship, to search for thenorth pole. With them went Andy Sudds, an old hunter, and Tom Smith andBill Jones, two farmers, but who were hired as helpers on the voyage.The party had many adventures on the trip, having battles with savageanimals and more savage Esquimaux, and were tossed about in terriblestorms. After making some scientific observations, which the professorwas much interested in, they started back home.
Having found he could successfully sail in the air, Mr. Hendersonresolved to try what it might be like under water.
He moved his machine shop to a lonely spot on the Maine coast, andthere, with the help of the boys, Washing
ton, Andy and two machinistsconstructed a submarine boat, called the _Porpoise_.
In this the professor resolved to seek the south pole, he having atheory that it was surrounded by an open sea. After much hard work the_Porpoise_ was made ready for the voyage.
What occurred on this great trip is described in the second book of thisseries, called "Under the Ocean to the South Pole, or the Strange Cruiseof the Submarine Wonder." In that is told how once more Tom and Bill,with Andy, the boys and Washington, accompanying Professor Henderson,had many thrilling experiences.
They were caught in the grip of the grass of the terrible Sargasso Sea.Monstrous suckers grasped the boat in their powerful arms, and had to befought off. They were caught in a sea of boiling water and imprisonedbetween big fields of ice.
By means of strong diving suits they were able to leave the ship andwalk about on the bottom of the sea. They visited a graveyard of sunkenships, saw many strange monsters as well as many beautiful fish in thegreat depths to which they sunk. Many times they were in dire peril butthe resources of the professor, the bravery and daring of the boys, noless than the help Washington and Andy Sudds, the hunter, rendered attimes, brought them through.
Those of you who read of their adventures will recall the strange islandwhich they came upon in the Atlantic Ocean, far from the coast of SouthAmerica.
When they first drew near this island they were almost sucked into thedepths of a great whirlpool, caused by water pouring down a big holethat seemed to lead far into the earth. They reversed their ship just intime.
But, on going to another side of the island they were able to approachsafely, as at this point the great hole was farther from the shore. Thenthey landed and investigated.
They found the island was almost circular, and the hole was also round,but not in the center of the land. It was an immense cavity, so widethey could not see across, and as for the depth they could only guess atit. Looking down they could only see rolling masses of vapor and cloudscaused by the water which poured down from the ocean with the force of aNiagara.
Gazing down into the big hole Mark suggested it might lead to the centreof the earth, which some scientists claim is hollow. The professoradmitted that the cavity looked as though it led to China.
They had no means of investigating further the mystery of the openingand returned to their submarine, completing the voyage to the southpole.
It was now about two years since they had come back from that eventfultrip. One of the first things the professor did, after docking the_Porpoise_, was to shut himself up in his study and begin to draw plans.To the questions of the boys he returned no answer for several days.Then he announced he was working on a craft which could both sail on topof the water and navigate the air.
In time the plans were done, and, in order to keep the work secret, theshop was moved to an island which the professor owned.
Parts of the _Monarch_ and the _Porpoise_ were used in constructing thenew craft, so there was no need to get other help than that which theboys, Washington and Bill and Tom could give, since the two latteraccepted an offer of the professor to remain and work for him. The boys,of course, would not leave their friend.
The professor realized that he had a more difficult task in his newventure than he had set himself on other occasions. For a ship to belight enough to rise in the air, and, at another time, and with nochange, to be strong enough to navigate the ocean, was indeed somethingto tax Mr. Henderson's ingenuity.
However, in the course of a little over a year the larger part of thework was done. Inside the big shed was the huge affair which, it washoped, would enable its owner to be master of both air and water.
"Did the professor say anything special?" asked Mark of Washington.
"Nope. I reckon he were too busy problamatin' the exact altitudeprojected in an inverse direction by th' square root of th' new enginewhen operated at a million times inside of a few seconds, but he didn'tsay nothin' t' me. I were busy underneath th' ship, fixin' bolts when hetole me t' find yo'. I wouldn't be s'prised if he had th' thing goin'soon."
"Do you think he'll be generating the new gas to-day?" asked Jackeagerly. "That's the most troublesome part; to get that gas right."
"He didn't say nothin' t' me 'bout it," Washington stated, as he walkedalong beside the two boys. "He jest seemed anxious like."
"We'd better hurry," advised Mark. "He may be at an important part inhis experiments and probably needs us. I hope it will work. He has spentmany days on it, and we all have worked hard. It ought to be a success."
"Perfesser allers makes things work," declared Washington stoutly.
"That's a good way to feel about it, anyway," observed Mark. "Well,we'll soon know."
The three hurried to the shed which they could see as they rounded aturn of the path through the wood. They noticed an elderly manapproaching with a gun on his shoulder. On one arm he carried a gamebag.
"Guess Andy got something for dinner," remarked Jack.
"I hopes so, honey," put in Washington. "I'se got a sort of gone feelin'in my stomach!"
"Any luck, Andy?" called Mark, when he came within hailing distance.
"Fine," replied Andy Sudds. "Rabbits and quail. We'll have a good dinnerto-morrow."
While Andy entered the living part of the big shed to put away his gunand game, the boys and Washington kept on to the engine room. They foundthe professor, with Bill and Tom, busy fitting pipes to the small enginewhich was set up at one side of the structure.
"Come, boys, I need your aid," remarked Mr. Henderson as they entered."Take off your coats and pitch in. Tighten up these bolts, Jack. Mark,you mix up those chemicals the way I taught you, and see that the dynamois in working order for Washington to attend to."
In a little while the shop was a veritable hive of industry, and itresounded to the sound of hammers, wrenches and machinery. In thebackground was the big ship, which seemed like two immense cigars, oneabove the other, the lower one the larger.
"Where was you calalatin' t' take this here ship when it gits done,Perfesser?" asked Washington, during a lull in the operations.
"Do you remember that big hole in the island we visited on our trip tothe south pole?"
"I suah does," answered the colored man.
"We are going to explore that," went on the scientist. "We are going tomake a voyage to the interior of the earth in our _Flying Mermaid_."
"Go down into th' earth!" exclaimed Washington, his eyes big withfright.
"Certainly; why not?"
"Not for mine!" cried the colored man, dropping the wrench he washolding. "No sir! I'm not goin' t' project myself int' a grave whileI'se alive. Time enough when I kicks th' bucket. No sir! If yo' an' theboys wants t' risk yo' se'ves goin' down int' th' interior of th' earth,where th' Bible says there's fiery furnaces, yo' kin go, but WashingtonWhite stays on terra cotta! That's where he stays; He ain't ready t' beburied, not jest yet!" and the frightened colored man started to leavethe shed.