CHAPTER XXII.
THE FLAMING MOUNTAIN.
A few days after the events described in the last chapter, CaptainHazzard summoned the boys to him and informed them that it was time tostart out and establish "depots" for the storing of food and blanketsas far as was practicable, in the direction of the pole. This was inorder that any parties sent out to explore might not run the chance ofbeing lost in the antarctic snows without having some place to whichthey could retreat. The "depots" were to be marked as rapidly as theywere made with tall bamboo poles, each of which bore a black flag.
The boys pitched in to this occupation with great enthusiasm and, withthe aid of the motor-sledge, soon had established three depots,covering a radius of some eighty miles from the camp. This workbrought them to the verge of the chain of snow-mountains, beyond whosewhite crests they believed lay the pole. Somewhere along the coastline of this chain of mountains, too, so the lieutenant calculated,lay the Viking ship, which, in the years that had elapsed since thewhalemen had seen her, must have drifted towards their bases on theever-shifting polar currents. For the Great Barrier, solid as itseems, is not stationary, and many scientists hold that it is subjectto violent earthquakes, caused by the subsidence of great areas of icyland into the boiling craters of polar volcanoes.
A careful study of the position, in which the whalemen set down theyhad spied the ship, and a calculation of the polar drift during thetime that had elapsed from their discovery, had enabled CaptainHazzard to come, as he believed, very nearly locating the exactsituation of the mysterious vessel.
"Somewhere to the southeast, at the foot of the snow-mountains, Ifirmly believe that we shall find her," he said.
It was a week after the establishment of the last depot that the boyswere ready to make their first flight in polar regions. The GoldenEagle's vacuum tank and crank-case were attached and a supply ofnon-freezing oils and gasolene drums, carefully covered with warmfelt, taken on board.
"Your instructions are," were Captain Hazzard's parting words, "to flyto the southward for a distance of a hundred miles or so, but nofurther. You will report the nature of the country and bring back yourobservations made with the instruments."
The Golden Eagle, which had been assembled earlier in the spring, waswheeled out of her shed and, after a brief "grooming," was ready forher first flight in the antarctic regions.
"It seems queer," observed Frank, "to be flying an aeroplane, that hasbeen through so many tropical adventures, in the frozen regions of thesouth pole."
"It does, indeed," said the professor, who, with Billy Barnes, hadobtained permission to accompany the boys.
Captain Hazzard, himself, would have come but that he and CaptainBarrington had determined to make surveys of the ice surrounding theSouthern Cross, in order to decide whether the ship had a speedychance of delivery from her frozen bondage.
The Golden Eagle shot into the icy air at exactly ten minutes pastnine on the morning of the 28th of September. It was a perfect day,with the thermometer registering 22 above zero. So accustomed had theybecome to the bitter cold of the polar winter that even this lowtemperature seemed oppressive to the boys, and they wore only theirordinary leather aviation garments and warm underclothes. A plentifulsupply of warm clothing was, however, taken along in case of need.Plenty of provisions and a specially contrived stove for melting snowinto water were also carried, as well as blankets and sleeping bags.
The shout of farewell from the sojourners at the camp had hardly diedout before the aviators found themselves flying at a height of threehundred feet above the frozen wastes. Viewed from that height, theaspect stretched below them was, indeed, a desolate one. As far as theeye could reach was nothing but the great whiteness. Had it not beenfor the colored snow goggles they wore the boys might have beenblinded by the brilliancy of the expanse, as cases of snow blindnessare by no means uncommon in the Antarctic.
On and on they flew toward the mighty snow mountains which toweredlike guardian giants ahead of them. The barograph showed that aftersome hours of flying they had now attained a height of two thousandfeet, which was sufficient to enable them to clear the ridge. Viewedfrom above, the snow mountains looked like any other mountains. Theywere scarred by gullies and valleys in the snow, and only the lack ofvegetation betrayed them as frozen heaps. Perhaps not mountains in theordinary sense at all, but simply mighty masses of ice thrown up bythe action of the polar drift.
"Look, look," quavered Billy Barnes, as they cleared the range andtheir eyes fell on the expanse beyond.
The boy's exclamation had been called forth by the sight of an immensemountain far to the southward of them.
From its summit was emerging a cloud of black smoke.
"A volcano!" exclaimed Frank, in blank astonishment.
"Such another as Mount Erebus and Mount Terror, also within theantarctic circle, but not either of which is as big as this one. Ishould imagine," said the professor. "Boys, let us head for it," heexclaimed; "it must be warm in the vicinity of the crater and perhapswe may find some sort of life existent there. Even the fur-bearingpollywog may reside there. Who knows?"
All agreed, without much argument, that it came within the scope oftheir duties to investigate the volcano, and they soon were wingingtoward it. As they neared the smoking cone they observed that itssides were formed of some sort of black stone, and with that, mingledwith the smoke that erupted from its mouth, came an occasional burstof flame.
"It's in eruption," gasped Billy. "We'd better not get too near toit."
"I apprehend no danger," said the professor. "Both Scott andShackleton and our own Wilkes examined the craters of Mounts Erebusand Terror, when steam and flames were occasionally spurting fromthem, without suffering any bad consequences."
Acting on the professor's advice the aeroplane was grounded at a pointsome distance from the summit of the mountain, on a small flatplateau. The warmth was perceptible, and some few stunted bushes andtrees clung to the sides of the flaming mountain. The professor wasdelighted to find, flitting among the vegetation, a small fly withpink and blue wings, which he promptly christened the SanburritisAntarcticitis Americanus. He netted it without difficulty and poppedit into a camphor bottle and turned, with the boys, to regarding themountain.
"Let's climb it and examine the crater," exclaimed Frank, suddenly,the instinct of the explorer strong in him.
"Bully," cried Billy; "I'm on."
"And me," exploded Harry.
"I should dearly love to," spoke the professor; "perhaps we candiscover some more strange insects at the summit."
The climb was a tedious one, even with the aid of the rope they hadbrought with them from the Golden Eagle; and with which part of theparty hauled the others over seemingly impassable places. At last,panting, and actually perspiring in the warm air, they stood on thelip of the crater and gazed down.
It was an awe-inspiring sight.
The crater was about half-a-mile across the top, and its rocky sidesglowed everywhere with the glare of the subterranean fires. A reek ofsulphurous fumes filled the air and made the adventurers feel dizzy.They, therefore, worked round on the windward side of the crater, andafter that felt no ill consequences.
For a long time they stood regarding the depths from which the heavyblack smoke rolled up.
"There's no danger of an eruption, is there?" asked Billy, somewhatapprehensively.
"I don't apprehend so," rejoined the professor. "A survey of the sidesof the crater convinces me that it is many years since the volcano wasactive."
"It is a wonderful feeling to think that we are the first human beingswho have ever seen it," exclaimed Frank, impulsively.
"It is, indeed," agreed the professor. "This is a great discovery andwe must take possession of it in the name of the United States. Let uscall it Mount Hazzard in commemoration of this expedition."
And so with a cheer the great antarctic volcano was named in honor ofthe leader of the expedition.
At the foot of the flaming
mountain, originated no doubt by thewarmth, were numerous large lakes filled with water of a deep greenishblue hue.
"I wonder if there aren't some fish in those lakes?" wondered theprofessor, gazing at the bodies of water so far below them. "At anyrate there may be some kinds of creatures there that are veryuncommon. Conditions such as they must exist under would make themunlike any others on earth, provided the waters are inhabited."
"It's easy enough to see," said Frank.
"How so?"
"We can clamber down the mountain side and get in the aeroplane andfly down to examine the lakes," said the boy.
"Bless my soul, that's so," ejaculated the man of science. "Do youknow, for a moment I had quite forgotten how it was possible to gethere. That is a wonderful machine that you boys have there."
The climb down the mountain side was almost more difficult anddangerous than the ascent, but at last all, even the professor, wereonce more at the side of the Golden Eagle. They were soon on board,and in long spirals, Frank dropped to the earth, landing not far fromthe edge of one of the small lakes.
"How curiously honeycombed the rocks are," exclaimed Frank, as theygot out of the craft.
Indeed the face of the cliff that towered above the lakes did presenta singular appearance, there being myriads of holes in its face at aheight of a few inches above the surface of the water.
"Doubtless some freak of the volcanic nature of the earth hereabouts,"explained the professor; "but they do, indeed, look curious."
The water of the lake, on being tested, was found to be quite freshand agreeable to the taste though it was warmish and seemed to have anadmixture of iron in it. All about them--strangest freak of all--smallgeysers of hot water bubbled, sending up clouds of steam into the air.
"This is like an enchanted land," was Billy's comment, as he gazedabout him. Indeed, what with the towering black mountain above themwith its perpetual cloud of smoke hovering above its crest, the greenlakes of warm water and the bubbling, steaming geysers, it did seemlike another world than ours.
Some time was occupied by a thorough investigation of the small lakeand the boys and their scientific companion then advanced on a largerone that lay at some distance.
"Do you think it is wise to go so far from the aeroplane?" askedHarry.
"Why, there's nothing here that could attack us," the professor wasbeginning, when he stopped short suddenly with an exclamation.
"Look there!" he exclaimed, pointing down at the ground. "A humantrack."
The boys looked and saw the imprint of a foot!
Yet, on inspection, it was unlike a human foot and seemed more likethe track of a bear. Several other prints of a similar nature becamevisible now that they examined the spongy soil carefully.
"Whatever do you think it is?" Frank asked of the professor, who wasexamining the imprints with some care.
"I don't know, my dear boy," he replied. "It looks like the foot of abear, and yet it appears to be webbed as if it might be that of somehuge water animal."
"Yes, but look at the size of it," argued Billy. "Why, the animalwhose foot that is must be an immense creature."
"It's certainly strange," mused the professor, "and suggests to methat we had better be getting back to our aeroplane."
"You think it is dangerous to remain here, then?" asked Harry, withsome dismay.
"I do, yes," was the naturalist's prompt reply. "I do not know whatmanner of animal it can be that left that track, and I know the tracksof every known species of mammal."
"Perhaps some hitherto unknown creature made it," suggested Billy.
"That's just what I think, my boy," was the reply. "I have, as I said,not the remotest conception of what sort of a creature it could be,but I have an idea from the size of that track that it must be theimprint of a most formidable brute."
"Might it not be some prehistoric sort of creature like the mammothsof the north pole or the dinosauras, or huge flying-lizard?" suggestedFrank.
"I'm inclined to think that that is what the creature is," rejoinedthe scientist. "It would be most interesting to remain here and try toget a specimen, but in the position we are in at present we should becut off from the aeroplane in case an attack came from in front ofus."
"That's so," agreed Frank. "Come on, boys, let's get a move on. We cancome back here with heavy rifles some day, and then we can afford totake chances. I don't like the idea of facing what are possiblyformidable monsters with only a pistol."
"My revolver can--," began Billy, drawing the weapon in question--whenhe stopped short.
The faces of all blanched as they, too, noted the cause of theinterruption.
A harsh roar had suddenly filled the air, booming and reverberatingagainst the gloomy cliffs like distant thunder.
Suddenly Billy, with a shout that was half a scream, called attentionto the holes they had noticed at the foot of the acclivity.
"Look, look at that!" he chattered, his teeth clicking like castanetswith sheer terror.
"We are lost!" shouted the professor, starting back with blanchedcheeks.
From the strange holes they had previously noticed at the foot of thecliffs, dozens of huge creatures of a form and variety unknown to anyin the party, were crawling and flopping into the lake.
That their intentions were hostile was evident. As they advanced in aline that would bring them between the boys and their aeroplane, theyemitted the same harsh, menacing roar that had first started theadventurers.
"Run for your lives," shouted Frank, as the monsters cleaved thewater, every minute bringing them nearer.