*XI.*
The morning was radiant; not a cloud in the sky, nor a hatful of wind.It was Torry's turn to rest, while I kept watch, and that he needed itwas shown by the fact that he slept until noon. Meanwhile I got my ownbreakfast, and set his aside; and then resumed the lookout above. Frommy lofty perch I caught the occasional glint of a sail, or the darktrail of smoke from a southerly steamer, but these were quickly droppedastern, no matter what their course. Our rate of progress wasuninterrupted, and the fascination of flight grew with familiarity.When Torrence came on deck he decided to increase our speed, wishing tomake the coast of Norway before night, on account of the intricacy ofthe mountain channels to be encountered there.
"Once in sight of land," he said, "we can shape our course and elevationaccordingly."
I agreed with him, and the water was soon rushing beneath us at afearful rate. Both sailing ships and steamers were now passed likestationary objects, but the wonder with which we inspired the passengersunfortunately escaped our observation. The day was warm, and the speedagreeable, allowing us to remain on deck in comfort.
While racing, we passed a fleet of schooners loaded with lumber. Theconsternation caused on board was made apparent by the blast of half adozen trumpets, which reached our ears in a chorus, although we left theboats so rapidly that the sound was only heard for a minute, and in aquarter of an hour the fleet was out of sight.
At 4 o'clock we caught the first glimpse of the island peaks, off thecoast of Norway, and knowing that it would not be dark until after ten,we slackened speed.
Nearing the land the sight was singularly beautiful. The dark blues andgreens against the black rocks of those mountain islands, made anintensely vivid picture. Between these lofty heights were revealedfar-stretching vistas of bluest sea, bounded again by other islands andother mountains.
Torrence said he should not venture in any of these channels, butproposed running entirely outside the cordon of islands, keeping thecoast well in hand upon the right. Fortunately there would be but twoor three hours of darkness, or it might have been expedient to seek ahigher level to avoid the possibility of accident by collision; as itwas, a sharp lookout would be all that was necessary.
After sailing up the coast for a couple of hours, I went below toprepare supper, which we decided to eat on deck, so as not to miss themagnificent scenery. This we did, and later I was instructed in the artof aerial navigation, and after changing our course a few points toseaward for safety, Torrence went below to sleep, leaving me in charge.During this watch our speed was materially lowered, as we did not deemit wise to run rapidly along this dangerous coast, while I was alone ondeck.
The feeling of power as I sat there with absolute control of the vesselwas exhilarating. I had never had such a sensation before. Like avisitor from another planet I floated on above the sea, inspecting themost exquisitely weird and beautiful scenery, made doubly entrancing bythe lingering twilight, which seemed as if it would never fade away.The intensity of the coloring, the purity of the atmosphere, and themarvelous shapes of these mountain islands, made impressions not easilyobliterated. There was an endless variety of fiords and water vistasopening between them, and each vista and each island showed somethingnew.
Torrence slept soundly until 10:30 o'clock when, as the twilight haddeepened into gloom, I thought it best to call him, and went below tosleep myself. The night was quickly passed, as there was little of it,and in the watches we rounded the headlands of the Sogne, the Geiranger,and the Romsdal fiords, and then steering a little more to the east withthe trend of the coast, made for the great bay of Trondhjem, which wereached about the middle of the afternoon. Skirting the opening of thefiord, Torrence asked if I thought it worth while to pay a visit to thishistoric city of the Norwegians--Trondhjem being one of their mostimportant and beautiful towns. If we concluded to go, he said it wouldbe best, in order not to attract attention, to land upon one of thelonely island hilltops near the town, and thence make our way by footand boat. We talked the matter over, but finally decided to let alltowns alone, it being possible that the authorities held orders for ourdetention, as they had in Hull.
"We are quite safe where we are," said Torrence, "and when we stop, letit be away from people."
Having decided to stick to the air ship, we went directly on past themouth of the bay without entering it. The town itself is a number ofmiles further up the fiord.
We now headed straight for the North Cape, which we reached in aboutfive days from London. We passed the Lofoten isles, the Vest fiord,Tromsoe, Hammerfest, and other points of beauty and interest along thismarvelous coast, without stopping at any of them, and landed upon thenorthernmost point of Europe without accident. On this desolateheadland we decided to make our first landing, to overhaul themachinery, stretch our legs, and have a general pow-wow on Mother Earthbefore proceeding further.
An elevated plain, lopped off at one end by a wall of granite, hundredsof feet high, and overlooking the sea, stood ready to receive us. Nohuman habitation is visible, but thousands of pigeons living in thecrannies of the cliff were frightened at our approach, and flew aboutwildly in all directions. Above this plain we halted, and then slowlybegan our descent.
At the water level on the east is a steamboat landing, where the OlaffKyrre stops once or twice during the summer for the benefit of touristswho find their way to the top by a winding path cut in the face of thewall. Thence to the northern cliff is a level walk of over a mile acrossthis plain, along which a wire is stretched to guide those who happen tobe caught in a fog, which at times is very dense and sudden.
This plain afforded the isolation we sought, and with a slow and steadymovement we descended upon it. We touched the ground so lightly that Iwas not aware of our landing until Torrence threw out the ladder andstepped over. I followed immediately, and then we sent up a shout oftriumph for the success that had so far attended our journey. We walkedaround the air ship, admiring her from every point of view, and thenwent away to see how she looked at a distance. She was perfect! Thegrandest thing ever constructed; the most powerful engine for theadvance of man's material welfare ever executed. Torrence made acareful examination of her working parts. Not a screw or bearing wasout of place; and not withstanding the way we had speeded her onoccasions, she was none the worse for it. She was carefully oiled, andwhere necessary lubricated with graphite, and we had the satisfaction ofknowing that she was in quite as good condition as on leaving London.
"I am willing to trust my life in her across the frozen sea!" saidTorrence, observing her with intense admiration.
"Now is the time to decide if you're not," I answered; "though for mypart I believe she is safer than dry land!"
"That is exactly my idea," said he, "although, if you should feelinclined to change your mind, there is another chance at Spitzbergen,where we shall stop again before the final leap."
"I have not the slightest intention of doing so, old boy, in fact I amquite as anxious to get to the pole as you are; and strange as it mayseem I feel safer in the air ship than standing here."
We were unanimous in our determination to go to the pole, and I willguarantee that no expedition ever started for there with so good aprospect of reaching it, or with greater comforts than we had.
We cooked our supper near the edge of the cliff overlooking the ArcticOcean, and we both felt that it was a solemn occasion, for we shouldsoon be placing an impassable gulf between ourselves and the land ofhuman habitations, and entering the great solitudes of the unexploredNorth.
As there was no wood for fuel, we used an armful of our own kindling,which we had brought for just such occasions, and while drinking hotcoffee we discussed the past, and the prospect of the future.
"I am absolutely certain of success," said Torrence; "nothing but an airship can reach the pole, and an air ship has never yet tried to getthere. What's the use of an old water-tank endeavoring to screw her waythrough a continent of ice. She
might as well run her nose againstGibraltar, in the hope of coming out on the other side. The mystery tome is why no one has ever tried this before."
"You're not there yet, old man," I answered; "don't crow before you'reout of the woods."
"Ah!" said Torrence, smiling, "I believe the worst wood we had to getout of was London; and having shot the rapids at Gravesend, I think wecan go the rest of the way."
I was quite as enthusiastic as he, but being without his knowledge, hadnot the same convictions.
"And so Spitzbergen will be our next stopping place?" I observed,between mouthfuls of coffee.
"Yes, when we shoot off this cliff to the northward we'll set neithereye nor foot on land for five hundred miles. So make the most of thisboggy sward while we have it. Five hundred miles to the north of thisis pretty far north--and then----"
"And then our real journey begins," I interrupted.
"You may say so," he answered, broiling a piece of bacon with a forkover the coals. "Certainly the most interesting part begins afterleaving Spitzbergen. I flatter myself that the entire voyage from thatpoint will be one of unusual interest."
I had every confidence in our ability to reach the pole, for without thedifficulty of ice to encounter, I could see no good reason why we shouldnot. Moreover, the season of the year would insure pleasant weather inhigh latitudes; there would probably be no detention, as in otherexpeditions, and it seemed a reasonable presumption that we should reach90 deg. north, while the summer was yet at its height.
Presently a dense fog came rolling in from the sea, and in a few minutesthe air ship was lost to view, although not more than forty or fiftyyards from where we were sitting. We continued eating our lunch like acouple of specters on each side of the fire, until, finding that we weregetting wet, I got up to go after some oilskins. I thought I knewexactly where the machine was, believing that I had sat down with myback toward it, and at best did not suppose it possible to lose so largean object so close at band. I walked until quite sure that I hadcovered the distance separating me from it, and then continued to walkon farther. Suddenly I stopped, convinced that I had mistaken thedirection. I started upon another course, and after anotherunsuccessful tramp stopped again. Then I called for Torrence, and toldhim that I was lost. His voice sounded much farther than I thought itshould, and I tried to get back to him by following it. Presently hecalled out imperatively:
"Stop! don't try to find me. Stand perfectly still until it clears!"
"Why not? if you'll keep on talking I'm sure to find you."
Then he shouted vehemently.
"Stop! for God's sake, stop! You're risking your life with every step.Have you forgotten that we're on the edge of a precipice?"
I had not forgotten it, but his words startled me into realizing thedanger of my position, and I stood perfectly still. Strangely enough Ihad not thought of the possibility of tumbling over the cliff, believingall the while that I was walking in the opposite direction; but now themurmur of the sea on the rocks below convinced me that I was nearer thanI had supposed.
"If you move at all," shouted Torrence, "go only one step at a time. Imean, look carefully at each step before you take it."
I could not imagine how I had come so far, for his voice soundedstrangely distant.
"Have you moved from where I left you?" I called.
"No," was the answer, "and don't intend to."
"That's right. I think I can find you if you keep talking."
"All right; go ahead; but watch the ground carefully at every step!"
The truth is I could not see much above a yard at a time, and a misstepwould have been fatal. Torrence continued to talk, and I slowlyadvanced in the direction from which his voice seemed to come. Suddenlymy way was blocked by a solid wall and in another instant I saw that itwas the air ship. I now perceived why the voice had been so faint, forI had wandered clear around the machine, which had intercepted it.
Feeling my way carefully to the ladder I called out that all was well.
"No matter about the skins," came the answer, "let us get off as soon aspossible. Go into the saloon and fetch a ball of twine from the locker;tie one end to the step, then make your way slowly!"
I found the twine; groped forward with the ball in my hand, and reachedcamp without accident. Then we commenced carrying our cook tools backto the boat.
"There is no place like home!" yelled Torrence, returning with the lastload. In another minute he had climbed over the side, and drawing abreath of relief, added:
"It is fortunate we travel by air instead of land or water, because weshan't have to wait for the fog!"
A few minutes more and the ladder was hauled in, the gangway closed, thehatch to the upper deck shut down, and we were comfortably establishedin our cosy cabin. Then Torrence going to his controlling board, presseda button, moved a lever, turned a screw, and we were swung gently up,and resumed our journey north, 11 deg. west, headed for Spitzbergen,which Torrence said we should reach within twenty-four hours.
I don't know why it was always such an indescribable pleasure to feelclear of earth; and yet this was the fact. The first sensation of beingabove the ground was a thrill of inexplicable delight. It seemed as ifwe were lifted into a higher plane of being, morally as well as bodily,involving a certain arrogant sympathy for those left behind. The poorcreatures knew so little about life, and it even amazed me to think thatI had been one of them for so many years without realizing the depravityof my state. Life without an air ship was not worth the living; butwith it, I could answer Mr. Mallock's question without thought orhesitation.
When the fog cleared we were many miles to seaward, and the rock-boundcoast of Europe showed only as a dark line against the horizon.Torrence said there was nothing to prevent our going into the cuddy fora sleep, which we needed, that in our present position there was nodanger; that collision was impossible, and falling equally so. That theair ship was headed for Spitzbergen, and could take care of herself--inshort, that we should be just as safe as if sleeping in the Mustapha. Isuggested the possibility of icebergs but he explained that we wereabove the altitude of the highest ever known in this quarter, and that,moreover, it was improbable that any would be passed at this season andthis locality. And so, taking his word for it, we both turned in andslept ten hours without waking. At the end of that time we felt likenew men, and climbed up on deck to look out.
A dull gray sea, bounded only by the sky-line, was rushing away beneath,and so far as I could tell, our speed and elevation had remainedunchanged. Despite my brother's assurance, I could not help feelingthat we had taken an awful risk about the icebergs; but when he told methat the ice masses formed off Spitzbergen were greatly inferior in sizeto those coming down from Greenland, I was better satisfied. Indeed, itwas very rare, he said, that an iceberg in this part of the ocean wasmore than one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet in height; they weredifferently shaped, being flat on top, and covering considerable area,but never high; while our own altitude was more than a thousand feet.Torrence had made quite a study of the polar regions, and I had greatconfidence in his judgment.
On we sped--I cannot say during the day, for there was no night,although we kept a record of the time, and at regular intervals darkenedour sleeping apartments to delude ourselves into the belief that it wasnight above. While on watch we sunk to a lower level, as being warmer,although it was getting to be the time of year when the mercury seldomfalls below freezing even in this latitude. Occasional masses of icewere now passed, though none of any considerable size, and I cantruthfully say that, except when above the clouds, we had not, so far,suffered from cold.
About thirty hours after leaving the North Cape of Norway the irregular,saw-shaped outline of Spitzbergen peeped above the horizon. Our passagehad been uneventful, and as we neared the barren shores of the westisland, there was nothing to invite us to linger. We decided, however,to land for a short time before pursuing our journey northward.
Proceeding with care we entered the channel to the east of PrinceCharles Foreland, known as Foreland Bay. Moving up this passage to itsupper terminal, and then crossing King's Bay, we effected a landingopposite Cape Mitra, on the eastern shore of Cross Bay. The wholecountry was desolate beyond description, and we only halted for anotherexamination of our vessel before plunging into the great unknown beyond.
We touched earth on a shelly beach, and congratulated ourselves onhaving reached this high latitude in safety.
Drift wood abounded, and we soon had a roaring fire, with the prospectof a good meal ahead. We took care this time to guard against fog bycarrying a line from the air ship to our encampment.
Torrence wanted to shoot a reindeer, an ice fox, or a polar bear beforeleaving, although neither of us cared to make a sporting tour for fearof getting lost; moreover, the time was valuable. There were noindications of life from our point of landing, although we knew theislands abounded in Arctic game, and that the animals mentioned wereplentiful. Torrence seemed particularly anxious to run across a herd ofdeer, and when I suggested that a white bear would be a finer sight, heshrugged his shoulders and said:
"Perhaps; but I have special reasons for wanting a deer, which I willexplain later; meanwhile let us get dinner."
And so we set to work upon the best our larder afforded, feeling that itwould probably be our last meal on land for a very indefinite time.Indeed when I thought of the future and the unexplored regions ahead,and the mysteries of the unknown awaiting us, I confess to some nervousapprehension.
The realm we were about to penetrate had been from all time screenedfrom the eyes of man; was it not sacrilege to force the hand ofProvidence and expose it now?
* * * * *