The Secret of the Earth
*XVIII.*
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An hour after leaving the city a range of ragged mountains loomed upahead. We stood on deck watching its beautiful coloring and outlineuntil the foothills were reached, when we reduced our speed. Nearing apurple cliff, streaked with crimson, we halted, and then rose slowly toa grassy ledge, where we landed. The mountains were not lofty, butpresented a rugged aspect by reason of a series of rocky precipices,like steps, upon the top of each of which was a narrow belt of green,where the fertility of the ground was evidenced by a prolific growth ofgrass and fruits in wonderful profusion and variety. The grapes wefound here deserve another name, by reason of their superiority; and thefruits which greeted us on every side beguiled us into lingering forhours to enjoy the piquancy and delicacy of their flavor. Indeed wefelt the poverty of the human system in our inability to do more thantaste the countless varieties which loaded these hills upon every hand.There were fruits to quench the thirst of every degree of lusciousnessand acidity, and there were others which partook of the nature of solidfood. Others again had a singular effect upon the spirits, lifting usinto a state of exaltation, as though due to the presence of alcohol.But I am talking of things that must be experienced to be realized.Language fails to describe them.
Resting on this beautiful escarpment we looked out over a dreamylandscape, and then settled ourselves down for a nap. It was ourintention when rested to look for gold in the peculiar tinted rocksbelow. Being tired we were soon fast asleep, and were surprised onwaking to find that several hours had elapsed. We were greatlyrefreshed, and started out at once to prospect for the yellow metal witha couple of hammers.
Finding a natural pathway we began scrambling down the rocks, clingingto the bushes and long grasses that grew in the crannies, and chippingoccasionally at the craggy protuberances around us. Torrence was ahead,while I was close behind him. I don't think it could have been tenminutes when I heard him call out:
"Color!"
Before I had time to let myself down to his level he held up a greatchunk of reddish stone filled with yellow nuggets, as large as my fist.I had never beheld such a sight, and on reaching his standing, waselectrified at the vision that greeted my eyes. This was not quartzmining; it was simply bending one's back and picking up wealth fasterthan a bank teller could deal it out over a counter. We chipped away ashard as possible for a few minutes, and then stopped to consider what weshould do with the metal. It was evident that in an hour's time theaccumulation would exceed our capacity for removal. It was clear enoughhow the inhabitants could afford to use gold in such wild profusion.Indeed the metal could not be so valuable here as the peat on an Irishbog or coal at a Pennsylvania pit. We were discouraged at our inabilityto turn the world wrong side out, or that we had not a railway at ourcommand. But what must we do? Our early education made it impossibleto leave the place without taking with us all we could carry, and so weresumed our efforts, determined to do our best. We pounded and hammeredfor an hour. Nuggets were in sight that were of greater value than allour stock of sovereigns. The mines of Solomon were trifling bycontrast, and we stopped occasionally to survey the field and stare ateach other in amazement. It was evident that whatever we succeeded inremoving must be carried in the ore, as we had no machinery to separateit; and had this been of an ordinary kind, it would have been a seriousconsideration, but the gold was nearly as plentiful as the rock itself.All we could hope to do was simply to loosen the quartz with our hammersand knock out the kernels, which left us a really very insignificantresiduum of rock to transport. It was not necessary to dip into theledge or to go below the most superficial outcroppings, as more puregold was to be had upon the surface than we could ever hope to remove.
"We can easily get out a million of money with our hammers," saidTorrence, "and it would be folly to trouble ourselves with any but therichest and easiest handled."
We now saw the necessity of returning to the air ship for sacks toremove the treasure, and it became at once apparent that it would beimpossible to haul it up the precipice. This led to a consultation.The ledge immediately below was rough and shelving, and unfit for alanding, but the vessel must be anchored there in order to receive hercargo. The place where we were standing was barely wide enough for afooting.
"I have it," said Torrence; "we must bring her to a standstillunderneath without landing."
It was the only thing we could do, and although the face of the cliffwas an awkward halting ground, we must manage it. And so we returnedfor ropes and gunny-bags, and a boathook, which we thought would beuseful.
In less than half an hour all was ready, and while I lowered theprecious cargo down to Torrence, who stood ready to receive it, and pullit out from the face of the cliff with his hook to a position where itcould be lowered into the vessel, the air ship stood balanced in mid-airabout forty feet beneath where I was working. Bag after bag was swungaboard and stowed away, until Torrence called out that it would beunwise to load with any more. I then let myself down and scrambledaboard, when we rose gently again to our former level, where we landedfor another rest.
"Is she as buoyant as ever?" I asked him, meaning the ship.
"Quite!" he answered; "and we must surely have several millions in goldquartz aboard of her."
When we had rested for an hour we got up to go, but Torrence said he hadan impression of having seen a nugget of such extraordinary size that heshould not like to leave without making an effort to get it, beinganxious to carry it home for exhibition. And so we decided to crawldown the cliff once more. We found the nugget, but it was difficult toloosen from the mass, so that we tugged and worked away for quite awhile, and were about to give it up, when on straightening my back for arest I looked out over the plain and saw a sight that startled me.
Far down among the foothills a great living mass was moving toward us.I called to my brother, and we both stood watching it in wonder. We hadleft our glasses above, but it was not many minutes before we decidedthat it was a crowd of natives coming our way; possibly they hadfollowed the line of our flight from the city, hoping to overtake us inthe mountains, believing that we would halt there. We could form noidea of their number, though evidently it was large.
"It's the rabble of that city!" exclaimed Torrence. "They've beenovercome with curiosity, and no doubt think to capture us among thesehills. It would be interesting to see what they want, but the vesselwill be the safest place for us. There's no telling what superstitionand curiosity may lead to. Even without hostile intention, such a crowdmight easily overpower and destroy us in a good-humored effort toinvestigate!"
And so we began at once to climb the cliff again, discarding our nuggetin the cause of self preservation. But the ascent was difficult. Wemissed the trail and wandered off in the wrong direction. Twice westopped to examine the ground, but the natural pathway by which we haddescended was undiscoverable, and there appeared no other route. Webeat the bushes, lifting the dense growth right and left, but what hadbeen so plain before, was quite hidden now. There was no time to belost, for already a murmur arose on the air--a babel of voices from thevalley--and it was evident the crowd was scrambling up the first ruggeddeclivities beneath.
"We must get back to the air ship," said Torrence, "even if we have togo up the face of the precipice!"
"It is impossible!" I exclaimed; "we shall risk our lives, and may bedashed to pieces before reaching the top!"
It had all been simple enough before by the other route, and with theaid of the bushes to lower ourselves by, but now the only growth wecould find grew on ledges that projected outward, and the roots had soshallow a hold that we dared not risk our weight upon them. Those wetried gave way immediately. The natural pathway was lost, and we couldnot stop to rediscover it.
"It's that or nothing!" cried Torrence, pulling off his boots andstuffing them into his belt. He then with a literal toe-and-fingerscramble commenced a climb
of what must have been nearly fifty feet up aperpendicular wall. My head swam, but there was no time to think, andso, following his example, I found myself immediately beneath him, inthe same act.
The sound of trampling feet, falling stones, and the roar of voices nowapproached with sickening rapidity. What if they should reach the airship first, by some safer and better route known to them only? What ifthey should destroy it, and leave us lost and alone in this strangeworld, with our only means of returning gone? The thought of such apossibility was more terrible than that of death; for even if thesepeople were friendly, we could never become one of them. A Chinaman ora Thibetan, or even some undiscovered race in Central Africa would beallied to us by every tie of life beneath a kindred sky, the same sunand moon, the same stars and clouds throughout the ages; but here wasanother world, compared with which nothing in our own could ever belooked upon as foreign.
But Torrence climbed slowly and steadily, and I kept my grip beneathhim, not daring to look below, or speak a word. I was overpowered withthe agonizing fear that each step might be his last, or, that reaching aspot where, unable to proceed for want of a foothold, he would becompelled to retreat. And all this time the crowd was gaining on us ata sickening rate. I could now hear the individual voices of thoseclambering up behind. How near they were I could not think. We darednot touch the shrubs that grew in the crannies about us, for the soilwas mellow and they broke away in our hands. There was nothing to dobut cling to the rock with tooth and nail, and trust to luck. Suddenlythe jangle of bells rang out on the air; why had we not heard thembefore? Surely it was an ominous sound--possibly the token of victory.But Torrence stuck to the wall and I was close behind him. The vanguardof the crowd had already commenced climbing the cliff below us, and Icould almost feel their breath upon my neck.
"Be quick!" I called to Torrence, speaking for the first time. But heturned upon me a face pale with horror and said:
"I can go no further!"
It was what I was dreading. The cliff above was smooth and slaty,offering not the slightest projection for a foothold. And there we hungin mid-air, listening to the rabble pouring on behind. Death seemedinevitable, for we had nearly reached the top, and could not havesurvived a fall to the jagged rocks below, to say nothing of droppinginto the teeth of the enemy.
How long we hung thus it is impossible to say, but it seemed like aneternity, and I remember looking at Torrence's boots tucked in each sideof his belt and observing that the one upon the right was not as wellsecured as the other, and wondering if he would lose it. Then anangel's hand seemed suddenly let down from heaven, as I saw for thefirst time the limb of a tree, which hung over the cliff in line with mybrother's head. He had not seen it, so intently were his eyes fixedupon the rock, but I now called out loudly for him to grasp it. Eventhis was no easy task, the bough being several feet above his head, andit required all the nerve he possessed to jump into the air from hisprecarious foothold and seize it.
I trembled, and every nerve in my body quivered as he leaped upward. Isickened, and felt the earth give way beneath me, but at the sameinstant I saw that he had caught the limb with one hand and was swingingclear of the rock. Would he be able to draw himself up? Yes, there hewas struggling along the bough with both legs and arms, and in anotherinstant the top was reached. It was now an easy matter to bend the limbdown for me. But the men were close upon us.
"Run for your life!" cried Torrence; and although exhausted, we ran aswe had never run before, with shouts of "Kyah! Kyah!" resounding in ourears. I stumbled; I fell; but picked myself up again, and rushed aheadwith "Kyah! Te Kyah!" creeping closer and closer behind me. I did notdare to look, but felt as if an army were rushing upon us with everycreature in it shouting "Kyah! Te Kyah!" The panting of the men grewlouder; still I felt that we might cope with the vanguard, if we gainedthe air ship first, although conscious that the race would be a severeone. Moreover, in those few seconds of intervening time I calculatedevery chance, and weighed to a nicety how much of our advantage would belost in boarding the vessel, hauling in the ladder, and getting underweigh. The ship had always responded promptly to the touch of thebutton, but now I was full of the gravest misgivings, knowing that theslightest hitch would undo us. A horrible sinking seized me when I sawa large body of men approaching from the opposite direction, andobserved that the leaders were nearly as close to the vessel as we were.They had climbed the cliff from the other side, and were now rushingthrough the timber frantically. I redoubled my efforts. The air shiplooked as if it were a mile away, judging from the difficulty ofcrossing the intervening space, but I knew it was not thirty yards.Another instant I had a vision of Torrence bounding over the side anddisappearing within, and how it was done I scarcely know, but I wastumbling down beside him, and then came the swing of the great hullbeneath me and I knew that we were safe.
As soon as we had the strength we pulled in the ladder and closed thetaffrail, and then looked down upon the enemy. They had gathered ingreat force, and we estimated there were more than a hundred.
It was impossible to guess what they wanted, but there was that whichbespoke a deeper emotion than mere curiosity. Had we violated anystatute of their municipality in sailing unsolicited above their palacewalls? We were sure we had committed no other offence. It was a strangepicture they made, assembled upon that mountain ledge, in such brilliantclothing and magnificent jewels, and the pow-wowing and jabbering thatensued was delirious. They constantly pointed up at us, evidentlyanxious to communicate, though ignorant of how to do so. We weresuspended about fifty feet above their heads, but concluded to come alittle nearer the ground, at which they gave unmistakable signs ofpleasure, and motioned us to descend all the way. This, of course, wewould not do, but made every effort to understand what was desired.Gradually it began to dawn upon us that they were anxious for our returnto the city; the signals were pleading and imperative for our immediatedeparture, and could not be misinterpreted, though it was impossible toguess why we were wanted there.
"It can do no harm to return," said Torrence. "It cannot be more thantwenty-five or thirty miles. We can run back in an hour or less andfind out what is the matter."
I agreed with him, and when we signalled our intention, they were wildwith delight. One thing more they begged; it was that we allow one oftheir number to go with us. So far as we could judge this request wassimply that we might have one capable of explaining their demands.After a consultation we decided that the man, if carefully watched,could not possibly harm us or the ship, and we consented, if a way couldbe found to take him on board without landing. With this end in view wecame within about twenty feet of the ground and dropped a lineoverboard, signalling that if he wished to come he must climb the rope.This seemed satisfactory, and the most gorgeous specimen in the crowdapproached for the honor. Above the waist he wore but little clothing,but about his neck was a triple necklace of dazzling stones of suchunmistakable genuineness and splendor that, had it been in our world,its value would have been inestimable.
His hair was long and black, and jeweled rings were knotted into it atintervals. Upon his wrists were bracelets of a metal I had never seen,and around his girth was a belt of aluminum. We imagined the fellow'sname was "Tuzu" from the sound by which the others addressed him,although this may have meant something else, but knowing no better, wespoke of him in that way. Tuzu climbed the rope with the agility of anathlete, and swung himself aboard in splendid style. Torrence motionedwhere he was to stand at the bow, and he did as he was bid. We thenheaded the air ship for the city.
As we floated out over the cliff a great shout of applause rent the air,and the crowd began scrambling down after us. Tuzu stood motionless,holding fast to the rail. He was too much impressed to heed thedemonstrations of his less fortunate comrades, who were obliged to findtheir way back afoot, a journey of at least six hours.
We decided to impress the man with our power, and so the machine wasmade to rise and fall alternately
in stupendous curves of flight, andwith the wildest velocity. The motion was unnerving, and yet Tuzu neverflinched, but stood quietly facing the city, holding fast to the forwardrail. His position was a trying one, and as his black hair flew upwardin some of the downward swoops he made a striking figurehead.
When the great golden monument over the city gate hove in sight, weslacked our speed, and going forward, offered the man our hands.Evidently he did not understand the meaning of the salutation, but aftera moment's hesitation, examined them with curiosity.
"Tuzu, I am proud to know you!" we said; "whatever your lingo andreligion, human nature is the same outside the world as in it. Shake!"
The man did not smile; he only looked with increasing wonder, and weregarded him with growing admiration.
As we drifted into clearer range of the city's portal we were moreimpressed than ever with the splendor of the figure surmounting it.With arms outstretched to heaven, it seemed appealing for the descent ofsome blessing upon its people. The statue alone must have been morethan a hundred feet high, while the arch supporting it was doubtlessfour or five times as much. It was a creation far exceeding any similardesign of our own world, and one which can never be forgotten. Westopped before this monster with feelings akin to awe.
"What is it, Tuzu? What do your people want?" we signalled, whilesuspended at an elevation less than half-way up this noble arch.
He pointed to the monument, and assumed an attitude of reverence. Thenthrowing back his head and lifting his arms, imitated the figure. Hethen looked at us, and with unmistakable signs entreated our doinglikewise. Was it some ritualistic ceremony with which all foreignerswere expected to conform? Although puzzling, we did as we were asked,each in turn, and a look of pleasure came over the fellow's face. Werepeated the performance, always careful to imitate the attitude of themodel, feeling sure it was the right thing. Meanwhile another crowd hadcome pouring through the gate, a happy, interested crowd, which shoutedwith delight each time we repeated the ceremony. Suddenly Torrence,turning to me, said:
"I have it! I know what it means!"
He then went on to explain.
"Simple enough; these people take us for gods come from the sky, and inpart they are right. Chock full of superstition, they want our blessingbefore we return to the unknown. This colossal figure is a statue ofone of their deities, perhaps their only deity. Being gods, they giveus credit for knowing what it is, and want us to bless the town and thepeople. Tuzu and his gang were sent to urge our return, and now that wehave come they are satisfied. I am quite sure that this is theexplanation."
It seemed as if he were right, for although the inhabitants repeatedtheir request that we descend, they were now willing to let us go inpeace, having bestowed our peace upon them. We declined theirinvitation, but signalled our hope of returning at a later day. Wecould no longer doubt the kindness of their feelings, but having anunexplored world ahead, were anxious to hurry on, and so waved them asecond farewell.
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