The Secret of the Earth
*XIV.*
Northward again we proceeded on our journey, and from the upper decksurveyed the solitude of an ocean unknown to human eyes. All traces ofice had vanished; the sea was tranquil and the air pleasant. Naturallyenough our conversation fell upon the mysterious cairn and its contents.
"In my opinion," said Torrence, "this Jan von Broekhuysen is the mostunique creation of our planet. He is the only human being of his kindsince creation. I will guarantee that not in a million years has theearth produced such another!"
I asked him what he meant, and suggested the possibility of othershaving been lost under like circumstances, while admitting theimprobability of their having reached such a latitude.
"That is not it at all!" he exclaimed; "Jan von Broekhuysen standsalone, and for this reason. Because he is the only living creature ofour race who has been put alone in an uninhabited world, and who hasnever seen nor communicated with a fellow-creature!"
"You mean since he was twenty years old, for I believe the paper saysthat was his age," said I.
"No," replied Torrence, "I mean nothing of the kind. I mean that never,for a single instant, has he seen or communicated with a fellow-beinguntil he saw us!"
"I don't understand you. Doesn't the paper say he twenty years old whenwrecked?"
"Certainly. But doesn't the paper say that when he struck he lost hismemory?"
"But what of that? he's sure to have seen plenty of people in the firstpart of his life."
"Gurt, that fellow never had any other part to his life. His life beganafresh after landing on that island. His past having been wiped out, hewas born again. His memory being gone, the past had no existence forhim. He knew no more about a previous existence than you or I know abouta life before this. Practically he was reincarnated, inasmuch as hisbrain had lost every picture and every record of the past. He came as anew man to a new world, knowing nothing. The first twenty years of hislife was no more his than if it had belonged to another body. I claimthat Von Broekhuysen is the most unique creature that ever visited ourplanet!"
I was impressed, and thought some time before answering. Finally Isaid:
"It is doubtless a remarkable case, but you must be accurate in yourstatements, and when you declare that the fellow has never either seenor communicated with a fellow-being since losing his memory, you mustnot forget his comrades, Niles and Merrick, who were with him for a yearafterward; surely he must remember them."
"Not at all," said Torrence; "when those men left him he was only a yearold, so to speak. He had entered his new existence but a twelvemonthbefore; and although he had the size and strength of a man, he was butan infant, so far as his mind was concerned, and I defy any one torecall anything which happened at that time of their lives. No one canremember what happened when he was but a year old. I have thought itall out, old boy, and Von Broekhuysen ought to belong to a museum!"
There was no gainsaying what my brother said. I wanted to ask him howMerrick had made his escape, and what had become of the other fellow,but a look warned me that an appropriate time had not come for thesequestions. I was impressed with the marvelous way in which Torrence hadbeen prepared for our discovery by this extraordinary man, Merrick, whomust have seen more of the mysteries of the Arctic regions than anyhuman being alive.
We were sailing over a sea of vast extent, whose shores were mythical.Whither would it lead us? Although it was the time of year when wemight reasonably expect to find moderate weather, even in high latitude,we were amazed to find the air so temperate and pleasant as it was. Wesat on deck nearly all the time, when not engaged in eating or sleeping,and often without our top coats. We kept constant watch on the horizon,the water below us, and the sky above; expecting at any moment todiscover the outline of some unknown continent, but as the monotony ofsky and water continued we began to sympathize with Columbus.
Twenty-four hours after leaving the island, which we agreed to call VonBroekhuysen, we estimated that we could not have come less than fourhundred miles, and yet there had not been the slightest indication ofland, although we had not changed our course half a degree. It was thesame placid, unmarked, and unknown ocean. Whither were we drifting?
It was about here that the meteorological conditions of the atmospherebegan to strike me as peculiar. The northern horizon had been subjectedto a singular phenomenon for a good many hours, which I ascribed to oneof those effects of light so common in these latitudes. It was simply acrescent-shaped cloud, growing in height as we advanced. At first itsubtended the segment of an arc of about sixty degrees across thehorizon, steadily ascending toward the zenith with our progress. Butgradually this form lost its definiteness, and melted into the sky in amellow haze, which softened the light and obscured the sun. We wereglad enough to have the glare off the water, as it had been quitetrying, but I was at a loss to account for the phenomenon which hadabolished it. If Torrence understood this he failed to explain it tome--advising me to wait and see what would happen. I mention it here asan important fact bearing upon our future discoveries. I had neverbefore seen so peculiar a cloud, retaining a definite form for so long atime, fixed in density and character save that the arc grew as weproceeded; and I naturally puzzled myself a good deal meditating on it.But it was not until later that I ascertained the cause of thisastounding phenomenon.
* * * * *
Forty-eight hours after leaving the island we were still floating overthe same placid sea, and without indication of land upon any point ofthe horizon. We were working our way along at the rate of five andtwenty knots, under perfect conditions, when a thought struck me.
"How far have we come since leaving the island?" I asked.
Torrence looked at the indicator.
"About six hundred miles," he said.
"Exactly; and as Von Broekhuysen's island is not more than two hundredand fifty from the pole, we must have passed it, and be running down onthe other side of the earth. It surely can't be long before we strikethe frozen belt again; indeed we ought to be there already. But therehasn't been a block of ice, or a bit of cold weather to speak of yet.How do you account for it?"
"Don't bother about the ice," said Torrence; "you ought to be glad wehaven't got any."
"But we ought to have it," I insisted, "according to mycalculations----"
"Damn your calculations," he answered laughing; "didn't I tell you I wasgoing to show you a new world, and new continents!"
"Continents! I should enjoy even a shovel full of mud at present."
"Have patience; if Merrick could cross this sea in a dugout, with acotton sheet, we surely have an equal chance of doing so; although Iconfess I think he must have struck a strip of land to the east or westwhich we have missed. But we are on a straight course and bound to comeout all right if we keep on."
"You expect to run down then over Alaska?" I inquired.
"I expect nothing of the kind. Wait and you will see."
And I had to wait, for he would say nothing more just then, although Iasked him numerous questions.
It was shortly after this that I observed another most singularphenomenon in the sky, which struck me with such amazement that I wasfilled with awe. About twenty degrees south of the zenith thereappeared in the heavens an enormous disk of pale light, onlydistinguishable from the rest of the sky by being brighter and more of abluish tinge. I should say it was a hundred times as large as the sun,distinctly defined, and though not brilliant by contrast with thatluminary, was probably twice as luminous as the surrounding parts of thesky. There was something so utterly amazing in this sight that I couldnot take my eyes from it, and even Torrence was impressed, although Icould see that he had a plausible explanation in his own mind. When Ihad stared long and earnestly without observing the slightest change inthe appearance, he said:
"When you have got a little more used to things here I will talkplainer. There are mysteries about our planet not eve
n realized; and weare on the high road to solve one of the most astounding."
The disk of light continued. It did not seem to grow larger or smaller,or to change its position in the heavens, and after I had grown weary oflooking at it, directed my attention again to the horizon, and wasstartled by the unexpected appearance of two very singular objects.They were small and very distant, but the glass revealed a couple ofdark spots four degrees to the port of our course, and hard upon thesky-line. Later a more careful observation showed a pair of blackcolumns rising directly out of the sea. These objects, whatever theywere, now absorbed our entire attention, and we steered directly forthem.
* * * * *
Our compass had behaved so strangely of late that we depended in ameasure upon the triangulation of the rudder, which we knew wasinviolable in a still atmosphere, such as had favored us since leavingSpitzbergen. This feature of our steering apparatus was really veryclever, and entirely original with my brother, who had devised it forthe special purpose of obviating the difficulties mariners oftenencounter in Arctic waters from the extreme sensitiveness and uncertainfreaks of the magnetic needle. It consisted in a semi-circular dial,accurately inscribed with degrees, minutes, and seconds, upon which anindicator, connected with the rudder bar, acted. Thus any deviation froma given course was accurately recorded by this index finger, and whileunaffected by air currents, was thoroughly reliable. Another greatadvantage in determining our position, lay in the fact that we wereenabled by the aid of our speed register to know exactly how fast wewere traveling. Of course in a high wind it would be more difficult toutilize these contrivances with accuracy, as another computation that ofestimating the velocity and direction of the air current would have tobe entered upon a condition which fortunately had not troubled us.
We continued, head on, for the points mentioned, the nature of which, wewere unable to decipher, even with the excellent glasses at our command.Although running at a good rate, it was impossible to tell at the end ofhalf an hour whether these dark projections were any nearer than when wehad first seen them. The air was clear, and the field of visionextended. The light appeared to differ from that of our own day, beingless intense and exceedingly restful and pleasant to the eyes. I cancompare it to nothing I know of, although in an inaccurate way it mightbe said to resemble, on an exaggerated scale, that charming blending ofmoonlight with the gloaming. It was here that I first noticed whatseemed to be an electrical condition of the atmosphere that filled mewith the most agreeable sensations. I felt lighter, stronger, in everyway healthier, and in better spirits. Torrence also spoke of this, andI am sure that I am right in ascribing it to our environment. The sunitself continued invisible, while the luminous disk referred to remainedunchanged. We were indeed entering an unknown world. Where would itend?
After an hour's run we could just perceive that the dark columns aheadwere a trifle nearer, though still thoroughly indefinite as tocharacter. Torrence looked at the register. Twenty-five miles an hour.
"They are still at a great distance," he said, "and I propose to hastenmy acquaintance with them."
He moved up the speed controller five miles faster, and then we tookseats and lighted cigars.
"Why should we not push her up to a mile a minute," I suggested, "andsatisfy our curiosity so much the sooner?"
"I don't know," he answered, "there is no reason except a strangeapprehension that comes over me sometimes lest we have an accident. Weseem so far from all we know."
"I thought you had every confidence."
"So I have. The truth is I am excited. We are on the verge of anastounding discovery, I am dead sure that Merrick is right, and that Iam right--but hush--do not ask me yet. I do not want to unnerve you. Alittle later!"
"You unnerve me a great deal more by not telling me than by telling me.What is it?"
But he was quiet; with his glasses trained carefully on the objectsahead.
At the end of two hours more we appeared only a trifle nearer thecolumns, although we were undoubtedly seventy miles closer than whenfirst sighted. Torrence was growing nervous. He walked the deck,chewing his cigar. Presently he stopped, and said:
"I can't stand it. I'm going to give her five miles an hour more," andmoved up the controller accordingly.
We were now moving at the rate of five and thirty miles an hour, buteven at this rapid pace, it was three good hours before we could decidewith any certainty the nature of the columns; and then we saw that theywere twin mountains of extraordinary height, rising out of the sea. Inanother hour they were much more distinct, though still very far, and Iwas at a loss to account for our having seen them at so great a distanceat first, except upon the ground of the many singular effects of lightand atmosphere which we encountered. Among these was a strangeindefiniteness about the horizon, totally differing from the prevailingconditions in other parts of the world. The sky-line blended with theheavens in a kind of atmospheric veil, self-luminous, and illusive. Theeffect was altogether pleasing, though entirely novel. Occasionally theclouds would be rosy as after sunset, which I again attributed to someelectrical condition of the air, possibly the aurora, which, had it beenthe Arctic night instead of day, I imagined would have made a wonderfuldisplay. But this was purely hypothetical on my part, and when Isuggested it to Torrence, he looked at me with surprise and said:
"Night! There is no night here!"
"Not now," I replied; "but six months hence there will be."
"Never!" said he; "there is never any night here. It is always as lightas this!"
I saw from his mood that it would be useless to argue, and so continuedmy investigation of the twin mountains, which had grown near enough tobe easily inspected with the naked eye. Torrence calculated that theymust, have been more than two hundred miles away when first seen.
When we had approached near enough to observe them in detail, weslackened speed. Rising directly out of the ocean, they presented amarvelous picture; for their stupendous height and rugged grandeur issurely not equalled in the world we inhabit. We moved slowly towardthem, wishing to take in the scene from our deck to the best advantage.We photographed them at different ranges, and were always surprised tofind that our last picture had been so remote. We moved more slowly aswe approached, finally reducing the rate to five miles an hour,believing we were within half an hour's run of the shore, but wereundoubtedly ten or a dozen miles away at that time.
A stupendous wall of black granite rose before us, to a height which weestimated to exceed twelve thousand feet. This was the mountain uponthe left; the one on the right was nearly as high, though not soabsolutely precipitous. Between these mountains was a channel about amile wide. Coming to a halt before these appalling objects, two hundredand fifty feet above the sea, we stood on deck, overwhelmed at the awfulsight. Below stretched a crimson beach, running back to a chaotic sandhill, strewn with huge masses of broken stone, from the top of whichtowered in one unbroken wall the palisade or face of the mountainitself.
Lowering ourselves gently to this beach we landed in a new world andlanguage cannot picture the appalling sublimity of the scene, ordescribe our emotions.
"Surely these cliffs must mark the end of the earth!" I exclaimed.
"Hush!" said Torrence solemnly; "it is only the beginning!"
He was pale, and I could not help wondering if my face were as white ashis.
Craning my neck backward I looked up. A cloud had hidden the top, and Ifelt dizzy.
* * * * *