CHAPTER VIII.
THORWALD PUZZLED.
"I fear," continued Thorwald, "that I am wearying you with this longtalk."
We assured him we were enjoying it too much to think of being tired, andhoped he would not stop. But he said he had some duties to attend to,and would take us to his room and leave us by ourselves for a while.
As soon as we were alone the doctor looked at me with a smile and said:
"Why did you act so queerly when I spoke of Mona?"
"Why did you speak so?" I asked in reply. "And how could you tellThorwald we found one inhabitant on the moon?"
"Did you want to have me tell him a falsehood?"
"Of course not. I tried to catch your eye and keep you from saying anything on the subject till we could consult in regard to it. If we aregoing to color our narrative in order to make it more marvelous we mustat least make our stories agree."
"My friend," said the doctor, "I am now confirmed in my suspicion thatyour brain was affected by your fall from the moon."
I saw by this time that I need not hesitate further to tell the doctorthe truth. I disliked the task, but I saw it would not be safe to leavehim any longer in ignorance of his condition. There as no telling whatother preposterous tales he might invent. So I said to him gently:
"Doctor, your last remark makes it easier for me to tell you that thefirst words you said to me on this vessel showed me that you were notright. I kept it from our new friends here, and I thought I had bettertell you how you are, so you can be a little cautious. You talk allright on most subjects, but you will do well to avoid the moon as atopic of conversation. If the others ask any more questions about themoon, you can just let me answer them."
I said all this seriously enough, but the doctor laughed boisterously ashe answered:
"Well, if this isn't a joke. You think I am crazy, and I know you arecrazy, and I can prove it. I will just ask you one question, whichplease answer truthfully. Don't you remember Mona?"
"Oh, there is Mona again! Don't you see that only proves your ownmadness? No, I don't remember Mona, and you don't either."
"I must say," returned the doctor, "I never expected to see you get overyour infatuation so quickly."
"What direction did my infatuation, as you call it, take?"
"Marriage, I should say."
"Now you interest me," I returned, "and you must tell me more. Isthis Mona of yours the sole resident of the moon, of whom you spoke toThorwald?"
"Certainly she is, but you surely must be out of your head to call hermy Mona--I want no stronger proof."
"How so?" I asked.
"Why, because but yesterday you scarce wanted to have me speak to her.You tried to keep your jealousy from me, but there was not room enoughin all the moon to hide it."
"This is very laughable," I exclaimed.
"You did not think so then. But let me try to bring it all back to youby another question. Don't you remember her voice?"
"Most truly I do not. Why, what was the matter with her voice? Wasit loud and harsh, or was it squeaky? I cannot imagine anything verypleasant in the way of a voice in such a wild and withered home as themoon would make."
"True," answered the doctor, "as to the outside, but you forget ourvisit to the interior."
"There it is again," said I. "Now, Doctor, the sooner you get rid ofthese strange notions the better So tell me your recollections of ourstay in the moon, and I will let you know where you are wrong."
"Very well. You remember, of course, when we found ourselves rushingaway from the earth so swiftly."
"Yes, and then we remained shut up in the car day after day, more deadthan alive I think, until, fortunately, we were spilled out upon thismore favored globe."
"You seem to be sincere," said the doctor, "but if you are, then youforget the most interesting part of our experience. Just as we wereabout to be overwhelmed with our troubles we heard exquisite music,which we soon found proceeded from a lovely maiden. You fell desperatelyin love with her at first sight and never recovered till you wereplunged in the ocean of Mars. You insisted on following her nod, and sheled us at once through a narrow path down into the center of the moon.Here, in her quiet home, we taught her to sing in our language--her onlyspeech was song--and the first words she used were to say she loved me.She did not understand what the words meant, of course, but you lookedas if you wished I had been blown away before Mona had discovered us.After that I helped you in your wooing all I could, but although yourpassion increased every day your suit did not seem to prosper. One day Iexpressed the wish that I had some of the things we had left in the car,whereupon she led us out to the surface again, where we arrived just intime to be thrown upon this planet. Here we are, you and I, all safe,but where is poor Mona?"
"I am sure it would take a wise man to answer that question," I replied."And now let me show you, Doctor, how wrong you are. If you will onlytry to exercise a little of that good judgment for which you are noted,you will be convinced that this is only a pretty little fairy tale whichhas somehow taken possession of a corner of your brain. Now that thefairy is gone you must try to forget the rest. Just think how unlikelythe whole story is. Think of a delicate girl living in such surroundingsas we found there; and then, how could we exist down in the center ofthe moon?"
"Why, don't you remember Mona told us the water and atmosphere hadall run down there, making it the only habitable part of the decayingglobe?"
"Oh, that's only one of your scientific notions, probably as true as theothers that we have disproved. Too much science has turned your head,and I will prove it to you again by showing you how impossible isthe part which I play in your romance. I will tell you now, what youdoubtless do not know, that I am engaged to be married to the best womanin all the earth, excepting your own good wife, of course."
"Is that a fact?" asked the doctor. "And do you love her?"
"To be sure I do. I love her very dearly, and if I ever see her again Ishall tell her so in a manner to make her understand it."
"Why, doesn't she understand it now?"
"Yes, I think so, but she thought I didn't show heart enough in mywooing."
"Well, if she could see you with Mona she would learn that you haveplenty of heart when the right one appears to make it spring into life."
"You speak as if you thought I did not love Margaret. You do not knowher. Why, I wouldn't once look at another woman anywhere, not even inMars, and most certainly not in that puckered-up old world that we havejust left, happily for us."
"Do you know what I think about you?" asked the doctor.
"No."
"I think you have an exceedingly poor memory. First, you forgot Margaretas soon as the voice of that fair singer fell on your ear, and now youhave forgotten the singer again the moment we have lost her. I awaitwith much interest your first introduction to a daughter of Mars."
"You will be disappointed," said I, "if you think I shall be more thancivil to her."
"If she be handsome and can turn a tune moderately well, I shall bewilling to wager a fair young planet against the moon that you willpropose to her in a week."
"I have done nothing to give you so poor an opinion of me. It is onlyyour own diseased imagination, and I do not seem to be curing it veryfast. I suppose, because your mind is naturally so strong, it is themore difficult to destroy such an hallucination as has taken possessionof you."
"I would give it up," said the doctor. "The story is all true, and nota work of my imagination. Isn't it more reasonable to believe that youcould forget the circumstances I have related than that I could inventsuch a tale?"
"Oh, I never could forget it if I had been false to Margaret. You do notknow me. If your vagaries had taken any other direction I might possiblybe brought to think you were right."
By this time we both began to realize that the conversation was notproving a great success in the way we had hoped, and so, after somepleasant words and a hearty laugh over the situation, we found ourway to the dec
k again. Here there were various things to attract ourattention, different members of the crew being eager to show us about.The doctor asked some question in regard to the system of steering thevessel, and when one of the men had taken him back toward the stern toexplain the point, I found Thorwald and quietly explained to him themental condition of my companion.
"The doctor is all right," I said, "on every subject but one. His headmust have been injured a little in his fall, and he imagines and assertswith positiveness that we found a young woman in the moon, the last ofher race--a ridiculous idea, is it not?"
"And did you find any inhabitants at all?" asked Thorwald.
"Certainly not. No one could live in such a place. It is indeedmarvelous how we existed long enough to get here. The doctor calls thiscreature of his brain Mona, says she was a great beauty, and plainlyintimates that I was rather too attentive to her. You will see what aconvincing proof this is of his unsound condition when I tell you I amengaged to the best woman on the earth, and so of course could not showany marked preference for another. I have told you about the doctorso that you may pass over unnoticed any allusion he makes to thesesubjects."
Thorwald thanked me and said he would be careful not to embarrass us inthe matter. And so I flattered myself that in the future Thorwald andI would sympathize with each other in commiserating the doctor. But Iafterward learned that the doctor, about this time, had also sought aninterview with Thorwald and had confided the following secret to him:
"My friend," said he, "is a fine young fellow, but his head must havebeen injured in his fall. He has entirely forgotten the best of ourexperience in the moon. Queer, too, for he fell in love with the onlyand last inhabitant of that globe, a beautiful, sweet-voiced maidennamed Mona, who never talked but she sang."
Thorwald then made the doctor tell him the whole story, and at the closehe promised he would not pay much attention to anything I might say onthe subject in future conversation.
So it was quite a puzzle to Thorwald to tell which of his visitors fromthe earth was of unsettled mind and which in his normal condition. Hedecided to hold the question open and wait for further evidence.