WE ENTER THE POLAR GULF.
How the _Polar King_ penetrated what appeared an insurmountable
obstacle, and the joyful proof that the hills did not belong to a
polar continent, but were a continuous congregation of icebergs,
frozen in one solid mass, are already known to the reader.
The gallant ship continued to make rapid progress toward the open
water lying ahead of us. Mid-day found us in 84' 10" north latitude
and 150' west longitude. The sun remained in the sky as usual to add
his splendor to our day of deliverance and exultation.
We felt what it was to be wholly cut off from the outer world. The
chances were that the passage in the ice would be frozen up solid
again soon after we had passed through it. Even with our dogs and
sledges the chances were against our retreat southward.
The throbbing of the engine was the only sound that broke the
stillness of the silent sea. The laugh of the sailors sounded hollow
and strange, and seemed a reminder that with all our freedom we were
prisoners of the ice, sailing where no ship had ever sailed nor human
eye gazed on such a sea of terror and beauty.
Happily we were not the only beings that peopled the solitudes of the
pole. Flocks of gulls, geese, ptarmigan, and other Arctic fowls
wheeled round us. They seemed almost human in their movements, and
were the links that bound us to the beating hearts far enough off then
to be regretted by us.
Every man on board the vessel was absorbed in thought concerning our
strange position. The beyond? That was the momentous question that lay
like a load on every soul.
While thinking of these things, Professor Starbottle inquired, if with
such open water as we sailed in, how soon I expected to reach the
pole.
"Well," said I, "we ought to be at the 85th parallel by this time.
Five more degrees, or 300 miles, will reach it. The _Polar King_ will
cover that distance easily in twenty hours. It is now 6 P.M.; at 2
P.M. to-morrow, the 12th of May, we will reach the pole."
Professor Starbottle shook his head deprecatingly. "I am afraid,
commander," said he, "we will never reach the pole."
His look, his voice, his manner, filled me with the idea that
something dreadful was going to happen. My lips grew dry with a sudden
excitement, as I hastily inquired why he felt so sure we would never
reach the object of our search.
"What time is it, commander?" said he.
I pulled forth my chronometer; it was just six o'clock.
"Well, then," said he, "look at the sun. The sun has swung round to
the west, but hasn't fallen any."
I looked at the sun, which, sure enough, stood as high as at mid-day.
I was paralyzed with a nameless dread. I stood rooted to the deck in
anticipation of some dreadful horror.
"Good heavens!" I gasped, "what--what do you mean?"
"I mean," said he, "the sun is not going to fall again on this course.
It's we who are going to fall."
"The sun will fall to its usual position at midnight," I stammered;
"wait--wait till midnight."
"The sun won't fall at midnight," said the professor. "I am afraid to
tell you why," he added.
"In God's name," I shouted, "tell me the meaning of this!"
I will never forget the feeling that crazed me as the professor said:
"I fear, commander, we are falling into the interior of the earth!"
"You are mad, sir!" I shouted. "It cannot be--we are sailing to the
North Pole."
"Wait till midnight, commander," said he, shaking my hand.
I took his hand and echoed his words--"Wait till midnight." After a
pause I inquired if he had mentioned his extraordinary fears to any
one else.
"Not a soul," he replied.
"Then," said I, "say nothing to anybody until midnight."
"Ay, ay, sir," said he, and disappeared.
The sailors evidently expected that something was going to happen on
account of the sun standing still in the heavens. They were gathered
in groups on deck discussing the situation with bated breath. I
noticed them looking at me with wild eyes, like sheep cornered for
execution. The officers avoided calling my attention to the unusual
sight, possibly divining I was already fully excited by it.
Never was midnight looked for so eagerly by any mortal on earth as I
awaited the dreadful hour that would either confirm or dispel my
fears.
Midnight came and the sun had not fallen in the sky! There he stood as
high as at noonday, at least five degrees higher than his position
twenty-four hours before.
Professor Starbottle, approaching me, said: "Commander, my
prognostication was correct; you see the sun's elevation is unchanged
since mid-day. Now one of two things has happened--either the axis of
the earth has approached five degrees nearer the plane of its orbit
since mid-day or we are sailing down into a subterranean gulf! That
the former is impossible, mid-day to-day will disprove. If my theory
of a subterranean sea is correct, the sun will fall below the horizon
at mid-day, and our only light will be the earth-light of the opposite
mouth of the gulf into which we are rapidly sinking."
"Professor," said I, "tell the officers and the scientific staff to
meet me at once in the cabin. This is a tremendous crisis!"
Ere I could leave the deck the captain, officers, doctor, naturalist,
Professor Rackiron, and many of the crew surrounded me, all in a state
of the greatest consternation.