"And how do you know that?"
"If I am wrong we shall soon find out. If I am right we shall equally
soon know it!"
He was searching the point of land with his glass, and seemed
disinclined to continue the subject, so with rather unpleasant emotions,
I concluded to wait for developments. It could not now belong before I
should know if there was any foundation for Torrence's talk. Certainly
what he had said savored of lunacy.
We now bore down upon the island rapidly, and saw a rocky ledge
surmounting a narrow beach, where we concluded to land. The promontory
had a flat top, about thirty feet above the sea and we lowered ourselves
gently down upon it. Scarcely had we done so than Torrence said:
"We shall probably have to explore in order to find traces of our
inhabitant; and I wonder, therefore, if it would not be wiser to sail
around the island before disembarking. It would certainly save
trouble."
We concluded therefore to take a leisurely tour of discovery, and
ascertain the size and general contour before landing; and so without
further ado, we rose again, almost as soon as we had touched the ground.
The island was rocky, but not without vegetation, its arable parts being
carpeted with vivid green. There was also a quantity of small trees,
bearing a peculiar fruit, which neither of us had ever seen before.
Inland, it rose into billowy hillocks, to probably an elevation of a
couple of hundred feet, near the center. Its shores were indented with
a number of bays or inlets, some of which made considerable inroad upon
it. To the best of our judgment it was about four miles long, and of
very irregular width, as in places these inlets nearly cut it in two.
Thousands of pigeons flew out wherever we approached their rocky
nestings, but there appeared to be no other animal life.
"And where is your inhabitant?" I asked, when we had gone around the
greater part of the coast.
"We may not be able to find him at all," he answered; "I said we should
probably discover traces of him if we searched. For my part, I have not
given that up."
But the words were scarcely spoken when he sprang to the governing board
and halted the vessel. I saw that we were hovering over a green sward
which sloped gently to the water's edge near the head of one of the
inlets described. Lowering ourselves gradually we landed on a grassy
knoll, and Torrence immediately threw out the ladder and went over. I
followed him, and in a minute saw what had attracted his attention from
above, but which had entirely escaped mine. It was a rough looking
stone, set on end, in the sward, and there being no other stones in the
vicinity, it presented rather a peculiar appearance, inasmuch as it
seemed almost certain that it had been placed there by human hands. We
examined it with growing interest. There was something uncanny in
finding such an object in such a place. It looked like a monument
intended to mark a tomb, or the headstone of a grave in some country
churchyard. It was about three feet high, nearly covered with a green
mould, and had the appearance of great age.
"This," said Torrence, "is the first indication I have found!"
He was passing his hand over the face of the stone.
"Your single inhabitant must be a giant to plant such a rock as that!" I
observed.
"Not at all," said Torrence; "I have no idea that he even touched it."
"Then you think nature placed it there?"
"Neither; but what is this?"
He was still examining the face of the thing studiously, with both hands
and eyes. I stooped down to examine it. There was a roughness or
indentation, which did not seem to be natural. Scraping the moss away
from the crevices, we discovered to my amazement the following
inscription, which I herewith give from a careful copy in my note book
[Illustration: Inscription]
There could be no possible doubt about this being an intentional design,
but in what tongue, or what it meant was a mystery. We puzzled over it
for an hour, when Torrence suggested that they might be English letters,
rudely and ignorantly carved. "For instance," he said, "the first might
very well be an N. The second is evidently an E; while the third is
unmistakably intended for an I. Now the fourth is the same as the
first. The fifth cannot well be other than an L. The sixth is the same
as the second, and the last is a T." When we looked at it in this way,
it seemed clear enough. Indeed what else could it be? But what the
word meant, remained a mystery. Suddenly it occurred to us that it
might be more than one word. "Suppose," said Torrence, "that the last
five letters are intended to form the word 'Inlet'--a pronounced feature
of the coast of this island--and that the first two stand for North
East. There we seem to have it--North East Inlet--the stone probably
refers to something of interest in, or about the North East Inlet of the
island!"
Surely we had solved the problem. But when I reminded Torrence that we
had been searching for traces of his alleged inhabitant, and that he
should not be surprised at this discovery, he said:
"True enough; but exactly where they would be, or what they would look
like, or even if this was the right island, I could not tell; but now I
feel sure that I am right."
"The stone was evidently put here by some one," I remarked.
"Undoubtedly. There is not the slightest appearance of its having been
deposited by nature; and the letters were cut with rough tools, by
ignorant hands."
"And you believe a human being could have reached this spot without an
air ship?"
"There is not one chance in a million that it could have been done," he
replied; "certainly _never_ by the course we have taken. But there are
stretches of land reaching far to the north; and in certain seasons,
under the most exceptional circumstances, possibly some lost scout of
the Arctic seas might have drifted here, had he once pushed his way
across the frozen belt. I say it is possible; but that is all. Before
we leave we shall know whether it is a fact."
We lingered a few minutes while I made the copy of the inscription, and
then climbed back into the air ship, bound for the North East Inlet.
Skimming slowly around the shore we soon discovered the indentation we
were looking for, and following up its course for a few hundred yards
above the mouth, reached another of those turfy knolls, with which the
island abounded. Around this the water ran directly into the land,
forming a diminutive lake a little higher up, with grassy slopes upon
every side. It was a beautiful spot, entirely protected from the surf,
and screened from the winds as well. Indeed, so sheltered and peaceful
a nook was it, and withal so inviting, that we decided to descend and
look around, having observed nothing extraordinary from above.
"If I do not discover something interesting here," said Torrence, "I
shall be disappointed."
Having landed on the hillock above the lake we separated, walking in
opposite directions. The ground was covered with a brilliant, mossy
turf, where the black bed rock did not protrude; but where it did so,
only served to enhance the intensity of color by contrast. I had not
walked far when I heard Torrence call:
"Hello! Look at this!"
I hurried over to where he was. There was no doubt about it. He had
made a discovery. On a grassy knoll, not far from the water's edge, was
a small structure like a tomb, built of rough stones to the height of a
man's breast, and about five feet in diameter. It looked old, was moss
grown, and covered with a heavy cap stone. We felt convinced that in
this cairn was concealed some important secret, and that it was
undoubtedly the place referred to. We went immediately to work to
remove the upper stone, which we found quite difficult, but by working
an iron wedge which we secured from the air ship, it slowly yielded to
our endeavors. The stones were closely knitted together, having been
set in a rough mortar, made out of some tenacious kind of mud, but we
gradually worked them loose, and one by one rolled them on the ground.
In half an hour we had an opening large enough to look into. It was
dark, but Torrence leaned over the edge and groped about with his hands.
Presently he was tugging at something and exclaimed:
"I believe I've got it."
A minute later he pulled out an iron box by a ring in the lid. It was
covered with rust, and had a keyhole but no key. We shook it gently.
There was something inside, and we tried to raise the lid; but it was
immovable. I proposed to pound it open if possible with some of the
stones at our feet, but before doing so, we decided to examine the
crevices of the cairn for a key. It was well we did, for our search was
rewarded by the discovery of an old brass key, covered with green oxide.
We polished it up with some sand, but before it would open the box we
had to go to the air ship after a little oil to lubricate the chambers.
At last we were successful, and turning back the lid looked in; but I
drew back with horror at the first glance, for directly under my eyes
was the rough, though strongly executed picture of a madman. It was one
of those crude, intense drawings that gives the immediate impression of
lifelikeness. Old and stained as the picture was, it was evident that
the artist had seized upon the most salient features of his subject, and
reproduced them with terrible effect. It was the simplest sketch
imaginable, but the wild and painful glare of the eyes was intensified
by a reddish brown scar. which ran down the middle of the forehead.
Directly under this picture, which, by the by, was done upon a piece of
old cloth, was this extraordinary inscription
[Illustration: Inscription]
Examining the box again we found directly under the picture another
paper which upon examination proved to be an outlandish, water-stained
document. At the first glance it looked like a foreign language, which
we had no doubt it was, but our attention being attracted by certain
words that looked like English, we examined it more carefully, and to
our amazement discovered that the paper was really in our own language,
though evidently executed by such an ignorant hand as scarcely to be
recognized as such. We took possession of it, and I here give a careful
copy of it, without attempting to reproduce the handwriting, which is
almost unintelligible.
"Tu thim az finds these roks and kontents plese rede with kare an in
charty's nam help ef he bee livin the pore kretur we shipreke saylers is
kompeled to leve on this lonsum plase. Us 3 abil Bodid seamen was reked
in the ice from the Brig John W. Saunders, whaler, of the city of Hull.
There was 13 others of us wen the ship squeeched and busted, levin us
wid nothin but sum vittels and a few valybles, wich we tride to save.
We bilt some sleds outen her timbers, and loded thim with sich vittels
an truk as we wanted tu sav and started over the ice. God amity nos how
fur or wher we traveled tu, hevin no berins no nothin tu go bi, and God
amity nos the orful sufferins we suffered. All on us dide but us 3. We
traveled over montans ov ice, and it seemed like we kep a travelin fur
yers, tho in koors we nos it went so long as thet. Bimby we finds
oursels a flotin on a chunk o ice ni az big az a farm. Our vittels was
ni gone afore we struk the flotin' ice, and all was ded but us 3 Ned
Merrick, Jo Niles and Jan von Broekhuysen who is uf dutch parents but
English birth. We kep a flotin on the ice tel the long nite past and
the day kum agin; but we sede as how Jan was doin quer and one day he
went plum mad and tried to kil us. We tide him down, and then we sited
this iland, tho in wut part uf the erth we kan't tel. We sede we wus
flotin strate fur here and the sea was ruf but not so kold as before.
We dun wut we kud fur our chums as dide but we kudent help oursels,
lesen them, and so lef, thim bak on the ice tu rot. Wen we got close tu
this iland the sea wus up, and our ice chunk struk a rok and busted
afore we landed. Jan von Broekhuysen struk his hed agin a rok and we
brung him ashore levin a bludy streke behind. His fored got split in tu
and he wuz the orfulest site we ever sede--he warnt moren abut 20 yers o
age and that lik he got in the hed or his goin mad wun, plum noked the
reckolecshun outen him. He node uz not--nor wher he hed bin, nor wher
be wuz, nor his own nam, nor nothin--nor yit kud he speke a single word.
We hev heered as how a nok in the hed wud sometimes strik the memry
outen man, but niver is we seed one in sich a fix afore. Jan van
Broekhuysen node nuthin'. He wuz like tu one jes born--the rok wut
split his hed made the terriblest lookin skar we ever seed, and we
washed it out and dun the best we kud for him but waz not fix to sow it
up agin. He seen us drink the water outen the spring, and he dun so 2.
he seen us ketch the birds in the roks and ete um and he dun so 2, he
seen us ketch the fish and he dun wut we dun. The frute here is bitter
but it helps tu kepe us aliv. Now how long we has lived here we kan't
tel, but we iz goin awa in a bote we bilt outen skraps o drift wood and
stuff we found preferin tu resk the orful sea and ice agin than tu liv
and rot on this place wher man kums not. Jan von Broekhuysen has grode
afeerd o us and runs awa wenever we gos ni him and we seldum ketches a
site o' him. We has lost all kont o time and don't no how long we has
ben here nor wen we kum nor nothin--but ther has ben 1 dark spel and 2
lite spels, and we think it must a ben a yer sence we kum. Siknes and
hardship has ni ruined us mind and body, and we don't keer wut bekomes o
us. We bilds this ere rok hut around this box wich we fetched with us
havin' sum o' our valybles. We makes a pikter of Jan von Broekhuysen and
paints that skar on his hed wid our own blud but we douts ef eny man
will ever see him agin az he is wilder and skeerier nor a gote. We haz
also razed a rok in anuder place for a sine. It is with sorro that we
leves our ole komrade--but we kan nether ketch nor tame him. Ef we node
wut part uv tho erth we wus in we wud no wher to strik fur, but we
don't, and rekon we will both be drownd afore gettin any whers. Ef eny
person finds Jan be kind to him. We leves here amejetly. Jan is livin'
on birds eggs, birds, and fish, and sum o them qur apples there ain't
mutch else tu ete. Kind frends we saz farewel
"Yours Truly,
(Signed) { "NED MERRICK,
{ "JOE NILES."
The original is very difficult to read, both on account of its peculiar
orthography and from its being smirched and weather-stained. We went to
the air ship where I recorded this discovery, and then sealed it up in
the cairn, carrying the original paper with us.
"Sailor like," observed Torrence, "there is not a date in the paper from
beginning to end."