CHAPTER XXIII
ROBBING THE CROWN OF THE WORLD
Now that they were going with the current instead of striving to stemit, the Ark made much more rapid way than during the time that it wasdrifting toward the Black Sea.
They averaged at least six knots, and, with the aid of the current,could have done much better, but they thought it well to be cautious,especially as they had so little means of guessing at their exactlocation from day to day. The water was rough.
There was, most of the time, little wind, and often a large number ofthe passengers assembled in the saloon.
The noise of the deluge on the roof was so much greater than it had beenat the start that it was difficult to converse, but there was plenty oflight, and they could, at least, see one another, and communicate bysigns if not very easily by the voice. Cosmo's library was wellselected, and many passed hours in reading stories of the world theywere to see no more!
King Richard and Amos Blank imitated Cosmo and the captain by furnishingthemselves with a speaking-tube, which they put alternately to theirlips and their ears, and thus held long conversations, presumablyexchanging with one another the secrets of high finance and kinglygovernment.
Both of them had enough historical knowledge and sufficient imaginationto be greatly impressed by the fact that they were drifting, amidst thisterrible storm, over the vast empire that Alexander the Great hadconquered.
They mused over the events of the great Macedonian's long marchesthrough deserts and over mountains, and the king, who loved the story ofthese glories of the past, though he had cultivated peace in his owndominions, often sighed while they recalled them to one another. LordSwansdown and the other Englishmen aboard seldom joined their king sincehe had preferred the company of an untitled American to theirs.
The first named could not often have made a member of the party if hehad wished, for he kept his room most of the time, declaring that he hadnever been so beastly seasick in his life. He thought that such anabominable roller as the Ark should never have been permitted to go intocommission, don't you know.
On the morning of the twelfth day after they left the neighborhood ofMount Ararat Captain Arms averred that their position must be somewherenear longitude 69 degrees east, latitude 26 degrees north.
"Then you have worked your traverse over Beluchistan very well," saidCosmo, "and we are now afloat above the valley of the River Indus. Wehave the desert of northwestern India ahead, and from that locality wecan continue right down the course of the Ganges. In fact it would beperfectly safe to turn northward and skirt the Himalayas within reach ofthe high peaks. I think that's what I'll do."
"If you go fooling round any more peaks," shouted Captain Arms, in afog-horn voice, "you'll have to do your own steering! I've had enough ofthat kind of navigation!"
Nevertheless when Cosmo Versal gave the order the captain turned theprow of the Ark toward the presumable location of the great Himalayanrange, although the rebellion of his spirit showed in the erect set ofhis whiskers. They were now entirely beyond the influence of the whirlthat had at first got them into trouble, and then helped them out of it,in western Asia.
Behind the barrier of the ancient "Roof of the World" the sea wasrelatively calm, although, at times, they felt the effect of currentspouring down from the north, which had made their way through the loftypasses from the Tibetan side.
Cosmo calculated from his estimate of the probable rate of rise of theflood and from the direction and force of the currents that all but thevery highest of the Pamirs must already be submerged.
It was probable, he thought, that the water had attained a level ofbetween seventeen and eighteen thousand feet. This, as subsequent eventsindicated, was undoubtedly an underestimate. The downpour in the northmust have been far greater than Cosmo thought, and the real height ofthe flood was considerably in excess of what he supposed.
If they could have seen some of the gigantic peaks as they approachedthe mountains in the eastern Punjab, south of Cashmere, they would havebeen aware of the error.
As it was, owing to the impossibility of seeing more than a shortdistance even when the light was brightest, they kept farther south thanwas really necessary, and after passing, as they believed, over Delhi,steered south by east, following substantially the course that Cosmo hadoriginally named along the line of the Ganges valley.
They were voyaging much slower now, and after another ten days hadpassed an unexpected change came on. The downpour diminished inseverity, and at times the sun broke forth, and for an hour or two therain would cease entirely, although the sky had a coppery tinge, and atnight small stars were not clearly visible.
Cosmo was greatly surprised at this. He could only conclude that thecentral part of the nebula had been less extensive, though more dense,than he had estimated. It was only thirty-four days since the deluge hadrecommenced, and unless present appearances were deceptive, its endmight be close at hand.
Captain Arms seized the opportunity to make celestial and solarobservations which delighted his seaman's heart, and with great glee heinformed Cosmo that they were in longitude 88 degrees 20 minutes east,latitude 24 degrees 15 minutes north, and he would stake his reputationas a navigator upon it.
"Almost exactly the location of Moorshedabad, in Bengal," said Cosmo,consulting his chart. "The mighty peak of Kunchingunga is hardly morethan two hundred miles toward the north, and Mount Everest, the highestpoint in the world, is within a hundred miles of that!"
"But you're not going skimming around _them_!" cried the captain withsome alarm.
"I shall, if the sky continues in its present condition, go as far asDarjeeling," replied Cosmo. "Then we can turn eastward and get overupper Burmah and so on into China. From there we can turn north again.
"I think we can manage to get into Tibet somewhere between the ranges.It all depends upon the height of the water, and that I can ascertainexactly by getting a close look at Kunchingunga. I would follow the lineof the Brahmaputra River if I dared, but the way is too beset withperils."
"I think you've made a big mistake," said the captain. "Why didn't youcome directly across Russia, after first running up to the Black Seafrom the Mediterranean, and so straight into Tibet?"
"I begin to think that that's what I ought to have done," respondedCosmo, thoughtfully, "but when we started the water was not high enoughto make me sure of that route, and after we got down into Egypt I didn'twant to run back. But I guess it would have been better."
"Better a sight than steering among these five-mile peaks," growledCaptain Arms. "How high does Darjeeling lie? I don't want to run agroundagain."
"Oh, that's perfectly safe," responded Cosmo. "Darjeeling is only about7,350 feet above the old sea-level. I think we can go almost to the footof Kunchingunga without any danger."
"Well, the name sounds dangerous enough in itself," said the captain,"but I suppose you'll have your way. Give me the bearings and we'll beoff."
They took two days to get to the location of Darjeeling, for at timesthe sky darkened and the rain came down again in tremendous torrents.But these spells did not last more than two or three hours, and theweather cleared between them.
As soon as they advanced beyond Darjeeling, keeping a sharp outlook forKunchingunga, Cosmo began to perceive the error of his calculation ofthe height of the flood.
The mountain should still have projected more than three thousand feetabove the waves, allowing that the average rise during the thirty-sixdays since the recommencement of the flood had been six hundred feet aday.
But, in fact, they did not see it at all, and thought at first that ithad been totally submerged. At last they found it, a little rockyisland, less than two hundred feet above the water, according to Cosmo'scareful measure, made from a distance of a quarter of a mile.
"This is great news for us," he exclaimed, as soon as he had completedthe work. "This will save us a long journey round. The water must nowstand at about 27,900 feet, and although there are a considerable
numberof peaks in the Himalayas approaching such an elevation, there are onlythree or four known to reach or exceed it, of which Kunchingunga is one.
"We can, then, run right over the roof of the world, and there we'll be,in Tibet. Then we can determine from what side it is safest to approachMount Everest, for I am very desirous to get near that celebrated peak,and, if possible, see it go under."
"But the weather isn't safe yet," objected Captain Arms. "Suppose weshould be caught in another downpour, and everything black about us! I'mnot going to navigate this ship by searchlight among mountainstwenty-eight thousand feet tall, when the best beam that ever shot froma mirror won't show an object a hundred fathoms away."
"Very well," Cosmo replied, "we'll circle around south for a few daysand see what will happen. I think myself that it's not quite over yet.The fact is, I hope it isn't, for now that it has gone so far, I'd liketo see the top-knot of the earth covered."
"Well, it certainly couldn't do any more harm if it got up as high asthe moon," responded the captain.
They spent four days sailing to and fro over India, and during the firstthree of those days there were intermittent downpours. But the whole ofthe last period of twenty-four hours was entirely without rain, and thecolor of the sky changed so much that Cosmo declared he would wait nolonger.
"Everest," he said, "is only 940 feet higher than Kunchingunga, and itmay be sunk out of sight before we can get there."
"Do you think the water is still rising?" asked De Beauxchamps, whileKing Richard and Amos Blank listened eagerly for the reply, for now thatthe weather had cleared, the old company was all assembled on thebridge.
"Yes, slowly," said Cosmo. "There is a perceptible current from thenorth which indicates that condensation is still going on there. You'llsee that it'll come extremely close to the six miles I predicted beforeit's all over."
By the time they had returned to the neighborhood of the mountains thesky had become blue, with only occasionally a passing sunshower, andCosmo ordered the promenades to be thrown open, and the passengers, withgreat rejoicings, resumed their daily lounging and walking on deck.
It required a little effort of thought to make them realize theirsituation, but when they did it grew upon them until they could notsufficiently express their wonder.
Here they were, on an almost placid sea, with tepid airs blowing gentlyin their faces, and a scorching sun overhead, whose rays had to beshielded off, floating over the highest pinnacles of the roof of theworld, the traditional "Abode of Snow!"
All around them, beneath the rippled blue surface, lined here and therewith little white windrows of foam, stood submerged peaks, 24,000,25,000, 26,000, 27,000, 28,000 feet in elevation! They sailed over theirsummits and saw them not.
All began now to sympathize with Cosmo's desire to find Everest beforeit should have disappeared with its giant brothers. Its location wasaccurately known from the Indian government surveys, and Captain Armshad every facility for finding the exact position of the Ark. Theyadvanced slowly toward the northwest, a hundred glasses eagerly scanningthe horizon ahead.
Finally, at noon on the third day of their search, the welcome cry of"Land ho!" came down from the cro'nest. Captain Arms immediately set hiscourse for the landfall, and in the course of a little more than an hourhad it broad abeam.
"It's Everest, without question," said Cosmo. "It's the crown of theworld."
But how strange was its appearance! A reddish-brown mass of rock, risingabruptly out of the blue water, really a kind of crown in form, but notmore than a couple of square rods in extent, and about three feet highat its loftiest point.
There was no snow, of course, for that had long since disappeared, owingto the rise of temperature, and no snow would have fallen in thatlatitude now, even in mid-winter, because the whole base of theatmosphere had been lifted up nearly six miles.
Sea-level pressures were prevailing where the barometric column wouldonce have dropped almost to the bottom of its tube. It was all that wasleft of the world!
North of them, under the all-concealing ocean, lay the mighty plateau ofTibet; far toward the east was China, deeply buried with its 500,000,000of inhabitants; toward the south lay India, over which they had so longbeen sailing; northwestward the tremendous heights of the Pamir regionand of the Hindu-Kush were sunk beneath the sea.
"When this enormous peak was covered with snow," said Cosmo, "its heightwas estimated at 29,002 feet, or almost five and three-quarter miles.The removal of the snow has, of course, lowered it, but I think itprobable that this point, being evidently steep on all sides, and ofvery small area, was so swept by the wind that the snow was never verydeep upon it.
"If we allow ten, or even twenty feet for the snow, the height of thisrock cannot be much less than 29,000 feet above the former sea-level.But I do not dare to approach closer, because Everest had a broadsummit, and we might possibly ground upon a sharp ridge."
"And you are sure that the water is still rising?" asked De Beauxchampsagain.
"Watch and you will see," Cosmo responded.
The Ark was kept circling very slowly within a furlong of the rockycrown, and everybody who had a glass fixed his eyes upon it.
"The peak is certainly sinking," said De Beauxchamps at last. "I believeit has gone down three inches in the last fifteen minutes."
"Keep your eyes fixed on some definite point," said Cosmo to the otherswho were looking, "and you will easily note the rise of the water."
They watched it until nobody felt any doubt. Inch by inch the crown ofthe world was going under. In an hour Cosmo's instruments showed thatthe highest point had settled to a height of but two feet above the sea.
"But when will the elevation that you have predicted begin?" asked one.
"Its effects will not become evident immediately," Cosmo replied. "Itmay possibly already have begun, but if so, it is masked by thecontinued rise of the water."
"And how long shall we have to wait for the re-emergence of Tibet?"
"I cannot tell, but it will be a long time. But do not worry about that.We have plenty of provisions, and the weather will continue fine afterthe departure of the nebula."
They circled about until only a foot or so of the rock remained abovethe reach of the gently washing waves. Suddenly struck by a happythought, De Beauxchamps exclaimed:
"I must have a souvenir from the crown of the disappearing world. M.Versal, will you permit me to land upon it with one of your boats?"
De Beauxchamps's suggestion was greeted with cheers, and twenty othersimmediately expressed a desire to go.
"No," said Cosmo to the eager applicants, "it is M. De Beauxchamps'sidea; let him go alone. Yes," he continued, addressing the Frenchman,"you can have a boat, and I will send two men with you to manage it.You'd better hurry, or there will be nothing left to land upon."
The necessary orders were quickly given, and in five minutes DeBeauxchamps, watched by envious eyes, was rapidly approaching thedisappearing rock. They saw him scramble out upon it, and they gave amighty cheer as he waved his hand at them.
He had taken a hammer with him, and with breathless interest theywatched him pounding and prying about the rock. They could see that heselected the very highest point for his operations.
While he worked away, evidently filling his pockets, the interest of theonlookers became more and more intense.
"Look out!" they presently began to shout at him, "you will be caught bythe water."
But he paid no attention, working with feverish rapidity. Suddenly thewatchers saw a little ripple break over the last speck of dry land onthe globe, and De Beauxchamps standing up to his shoe-laces in water.Cries of dismay came from the Ark. De Beauxchamps now gave over hiswork, and, with apparent reluctance, entered the boat, which was rowedclose up to the place where he was standing.
As the returning boat approached the Ark, another volley of cheers brokeforth, and the Frenchman, standing up to his full height, waved with atriumphant air something that sparkled brillia
ntly in the sunshine.
"I congratulate you, M. De Beauxchamps," cried Cosmo, as the adventurerscrambled aboard. "You have stood where no human foot has ever beenbefore, and I see that you have secured your souvenir of the world thatwas."
"Yes," responded De Beauxchamps exultantly, "and see what it is--aworthy decoration for such a coronet."
He held up his prize, amid exclamations of astonishment and admirationfrom those who were near enough to see it.
"The most beautiful specimen of amethyst I ever beheld!" cried amineralogist enthusiastically, taking it from De Beauxchamps's hand."What was the rock?"
"Unfortunately, I am no mineralogist," replied the Frenchman, "and Icannot tell you, but these gems were abundant. I could have almostfilled the boat if I had had time.
"The amethyst," he added gayly, "is the traditional talisman againstintoxication, but, although these adorned her tiara, the poor old worldhas drunk her fill."
"But it is only water," said Cosmo, smiling.
"Too much, at any rate," returned the Frenchman.
"I should say," continued the mineralogist, "that the rock was somevariety of syenite, from its general appearance."
"I know nothing of that," replied De Beauxchamps, "but I have the jewelsof the terrestrial queen, and," he continued gallantly, "I shall havethe pleasure of bestowing them upon the ladies."
He emptied his pockets, and found that he had enough to give every womanaboard the Ark a specimen, with several left over for some of the men,Cosmo, of course, being one of the recipients.
"There," said De Beauxchamps, as he handed the stone to Cosmo, "there isa memento from the Gaurisankar."
"I beg your pardon--Mount Everest, if you please," interposed EdwardWhistlington.
"No," responded the Frenchman stoutly, "it is the Gaurisankar. Why willyou English persist in renaming everything in the world? Gaurisankar isthe native name, and, in my opinion, far more appropriate and euphoniousthan Everest."
This discussion was not continued, for now everybody became interestedin the movements of the Ark. Cosmo had decided that it would be safe toapproach close to the point where the last peak of the mountain haddisappeared.
Cautiously they drew nearer and nearer, until, looking through thewonderfully transparent water, they caught sight of a vast precipicedescending with frightful steepness, down and down, until all was lostin the profundity beneath.
The point on which De Beauxchamps had landed was now covered so deepthat the water had ceased to swirl about it, but lay everywhere in anunbroken sheet, which was every moment becoming more placid andrefulgent in the sunshine.
The world was drowned at last! As they looked abroad over the convexsurface, they thought, with a shudder, that now the earth, seen fromspace, was only a great, glassy ball, mirroring the sun and the stars.
But they were ignorant of what had happened far in the west!