Sir Reginald--to offer some explanation of the motive which influenced
me in my proposal that we should come hither," he remarked, setting his
wine-glass down on the table. "I had a threefold object in view. In
the first place, I felt curious to know whether it would be possible to
find, _at the bottom of the sea_, an object the position of which is
only approximately known. In the second place, I was anxious to secure
a relic. And in the third place, I was almost equally anxious to
recover a most valuable document which I was convinced had gone down in
the unfortunate _Daedalus_. With regard to the first-named object, you
have already witnessed our complete success. I have also been
successful in the remaining two."
The speaker paused here; but it was so evident from his manner that he
had not yet said all he had to say upon the subject that his companions
contented themselves with mere simple monosyllabic murmurs of polite
congratulation, and then awaited in silence a further communication.
The professor continued silent and evidently plunged deep in a somewhat
sombre reverie for several minutes; then he lifted his head and said
somewhat hesitatingly:
"You will perhaps be surprised to learn that my life has not been left
wholly ungilded by the halo of romance. Five-and-twenty years ago, when
Science had perhaps not obtained so tight a grip upon me as she now has,
it was my fate to meet the loveliest woman I have ever beheld. She was
an only daughter, of English parentage; and chance threw us somewhat
more intimately together than is usual with people who become acquainted
casually and informally. I fell blindly, madly in love with this
peerless creature; and, gentlemen, I have since--and alas, too late!--
had reason to believe that, strange as such a circumstance may appear to
you, she did not altogether escape a reciprocal passion. But my
studious habits had brought with them one serious disadvantage--I was
indescribably diffident and shy; so much so that when the time arrived
that I must either unbosom myself or let her pass away out of my life,
perhaps for ever, I found myself without the courage to make the
necessary declaration. We parted without a word of love having passed
between us. She remained single for five years--to give me an
opportunity of declaring myself, as I now know--and then married a man
far more worthy of her than I could ever have proved. Gentlemen, her
only child, a lad of fifteen, went down with the ill-fated _Daedalus_;
and the mother is to-day breaking her heart because, by some perverse
chance, she does not possess a single memento of her lost boy. My visit
to the wreck, however, will remove that source of grief; for I shall
have the melancholy satisfaction of transmitting to the dear lady, by
the first safe conveyance which offers itself, the watch and chain and
the signet-ring which he wore when he bade her a final farewell. In the
moment that I conquered the last difficulty connected with the
construction of this ship, and felt assured that she would prove a
success, I vowed to myself that, by the courtesy of our amiable host, I
would avail myself of the means she would offer for securing some
memento of that poor lad; and I have to-day at once performed my vow and
passed through scenes of such surpassing horror as probably no mortal
has ever witnessed before, and which language has no words to describe.
"The third object of my visit to the wreck is before you in the shape of
yonder package. It is a manuscript book filled with jottings and
memoranda, the result of some thirty years of profound research in the
many bypaths of science. It was the property of an officer of the ship
with whom I had corresponded for many years; and, knowing how greatly I
coveted the book, he left it me in his will, probably little thinking,
poor fellow! that it was fated to go with him to the bottom of the sea.
On being made acquainted with the circumstances of his death, and also
with his bequest, I surmised at once that the precious volume must have
been in his immediate possession when the ship foundered. And having
visited him on board, as well as had occasion to notice the place in
which the book was ordinarily kept, I had very little difficulty in
placing my hand upon it."
"I suppose matters are in a very terrible state on board the wreck?"
asked the baronet.
"So bad," was the reply, "that, knowing what I now know, I cannot think
of any motive powerful enough to induce me to repeat my visit. I had
two very strong motives for going on board the ship; and, as each
successive horror presented itself, I thought, surely there can be
nothing worse than this; and I pressed onward, only to encounter greater
and still greater horrors at every step. But I would not go there again
even to achieve what I have achieved to-day."
"Ah!" said the baronet, "I have a great curiosity to see what the ship
herself looks like after such a tremendous catastrophe; but, if the
sights to be witnessed on board her be one-tenth part so bad as your
words would lead one to suppose, I would not go near her for the world."
"Nor I," said the colonel.
"Nor I," added Mildmay.
"You are wise, gentlemen," remarked the professor. "I can quite
understand your curiosity; but, were you to gratify it, your pleasure
would be effectually destroyed for the remainder of the voyage."
"That reminds me to ask the question, Where are we going next?" said Sir
Reginald.
The professor shrugged his shoulders and spread out his hands, palms
upwards.
"The world is all before you where to choose," he replied. "You have
only to name a place, and it will be strange indeed if we cannot get
there."
"Well, for my own part, I am of opinion that it will be wise for us to
devote this trip as far as possible to the visiting of such spots as it
is difficult or impossible to reach by any other means. What say you,
gentlemen?"
This from the baronet.
The others expressed their full coincidence in this opinion.
"Very well, then," continued Sir Reginald; "my proposal is that, as the
days are now at their longest, and this is therefore the most favourable
time for such an expedition--and as, moreover, the _Flying Fish's_
stores have as yet been barely broached--we make the best of our way
forthwith _to the North Pole_, there to enjoy a little of the choice
sport which we may reasonably hope to find among animals that have never
yet seen the face of man."
"A most admirable proposal, and one which we are especially well adapted
to successfully carry out," exclaimed the professor enthusiastically.
The colonel and Mildmay also gave their cordial assent to the plan.
"Very well, then; that is settled," remarked von Schalckenberg. "Now,
to revert for a moment to the subject of the wreck. You have not been
on board her, as I have; but, even with the comparatively distant view
you have had of her, I think you must have seen that she is injured
beyond all possibility of repair; to say nothing of the fact that she is
lying in a spot from which it would be difficult--quite impossible,
indeed, without our assistance--to recover her. Now, it has occurred to
me that, all things taken into consideration, it would be a good deed to
destroy her. What say you, gentlemen? It would afford us an excellent
opportunity for making trial of one of our shells."
"Destroy her, by all means," said the baronet.
"I can see no possible objection," observed the colonel.
"Nor I," remarked Mildmay. "As to assisting in her recovery, I would
not stir so much as my little finger to do it; she has already drowned
some five hundred human beings, which is quite enough mischief for one
ship."
"Quite so," coincided the professor. "Then we will do the deed after
dinner."
Accordingly, half an hour later, the party rose from the table and made
their way to the pilot-house, where the professor delivered a little
lecture on the mode of firing the shells. Then, accompanied by the
colonel, who had proffered his assistance, von Schalckenberg proceeded
to the fore end of the ship to make the requisite arrangements. It
being a first experiment, the preparation occupied fully ten minutes--or
ten times as long as he should allow himself in future, the professor
remarked. Then, all being ready, a return was made to the pilothouse;
the anchors were withdrawn from the ground, and the _Flying Fish_ was
got under weigh. The monster circled once or twice round the doomed
wreck, seeking the most suitable point of attack, which having been
decided upon, the sharp nose of the submarine ship was pointed straight
at the _Daedalus_, and the professor touched a knob. At the same
instant--so it appeared, so rapid was the discharge--there was a
blinding flash of light on board the wreck, a terrific concussion, but
no sound, and the wreck _vanished_; that is the only word which
adequately describes the suddenness and completeness of her destruction.
The concussion was so violent that it jarred the _Flying Fish_
throughout the whole of her vast frame; indeed, but for her tremendous
strength she would in all probability have herself been destroyed. As
it was, no damage or harm whatever was done on board beyond throwing the
four occupants of the pilothouse somewhat violently to the floor, and
terrifying the cook and the hitherto sedate George almost out of their
senses.
But perhaps even they were less frightened than were the captain and
crew of a small Levant trader which happened at the moment to be almost
directly above the scene of the explosion. All hands felt the jar; the
watch below frantically sprang on deck under the impression that they
had collided with another vessel; and the skipper, who happened to be
standing near the taffrail, was horrified beyond expression to see an
immense cone of water some thirty feet high rise out of the sea just
astern of his vessel, to fall next moment with a deafening splash and an
accompanying surge which tossed the little vessel as helplessly about
for a moment or two as though she had been the merest cockle-shell. It
took that skipper nearly half an hour to fully recover his faculties;
and when he did so, his first act was to go below and solemnly make an
entry in his official log to the effect that, on such and such a date at
such an hour, in latitude and longitude so and so, the weather at the
time being fine, with a moderate breeze from S.W., the schooner _Pomona_
had experienced a terrific shock of earthquake with an accompanying
disturbance of water which nearly swamped the ship. This entry he
signed in the presence of the mate, secured that officer's signature to
it also, and then, reviving his courage with a glass of grog stiff
enough to float a marlinespike, he retired to his bunk.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
EN ROUTE FOR THE NORTH POLE.
The destruction of the wreck having been effected, the _Flying Fish_
moved a few miles northward until she reached a small level sandy patch
affording a good berth for the night, and there she was once more placed
upon the ground and anchored.
Nothing whatever occurred to disturb the repose of the travellers; and,
after passing a tranquil night, they assembled at the breakfast table
punctually at eight o'clock on the following morning. An hour later,
having finished their meal, the quartette rose, and made their way to
the pilot-house, where preparations were at once commenced for an ascent
to the surface. On this occasion the professor being anxious that the
other members of the party should become conversant with the method of
handling the ship, the baronet placed himself at the tiller--from which
post the entire apparatus controlling the movements of the vessel could
be reached--and, with von Schalckenberg at his elbow to correct him in
the event of a possible mistake, the ascent was begun. This, from
prudential motives, was slowly accomplished, and at a distance of five
fathoms from the surface a pause was made for the purpose of taking a
good look round and thus avoiding all possibility of inflicting damage
on passing ships in the act of breaking water. It was well that this
precaution was observed; for their first glance revealed to them the
bottom of a large steamer close at hand and coming rapidly straight
toward them; and had the _Flying Fish_ continued to rise she would have
broken water directly under the stranger's bows. As it was, by backing
astern a few yards they gave the steamer good room to pass; and it was
both interesting and novel to see the great mass go plunging heavily
past with the long sea-grass waving and trailing from her bottom, and
the great propeller spinning rapidly round, now completely immersed, and
anon lifted almost entirely out of the water. Once clear of her, the
_Flying Fish_ sank to a depth of ten fathoms, and after a ten-mile run
at full speed, once more paused to reconnoitre. This time the sea was
clear for at least a mile in every direction--which was as far as they
could see in the then condition of the water--and they at once rose to
the surface.
The horizon proved to be clear in every direction save to the southward,
in which quarter the upper spars of the steamer they had so lately
encountered were still visible. The wind was blowing a moderate breeze
from S.S.E.--almost a dead fair wind for the _Flying Fish_--the weather
also was delightfully fine and clear; it was therefore promptly resolved
to take to the air once more and thus wing their way northward.
The valves of the air-chambers were accordingly thrown open to their
full extent, when, with a screaming roar, the highly compressed air at
once rushed forth, and in less than half a minute the huge bulk of the
ship was lying poised as lightly as an air-bubble on the surface of the
heaving water. The main vapour-valve was then cautiously opened, and a
partial vacuum produced, when, as easily as a sea-bird, the _Flying
Fish_ rose at once into the air. The engines were next turned ahead,
the helm adjusted, and the northward journey was fairly begun.
The wind was blowing at the rate of about fifteen miles an hour, and
nearly dead fair; the engines were therefore set so as just to turn
round and no more; this gave the ship a speed of about twelve knots
through the air, which, added to the rate of the wind, gave a total
speed of twenty-seven knots over the ground--or rather over, the water--
and at this pace they calculated that, after making the necessary
allowance in their course for the set of the wind, they would reach the
Irish coast, in the vicinity of Cape Clear, at about five o'clock the
next morning. Their reason for not travelling faster was that, as the
baronet said, they were on a pleasure cruise, and having been pent up
inside the hull for fully thirty-six hours, they felt that a few hours
in the open air would be an acceptable change.
They pursued their flight throughout the day at an altitude of only a
thousand feet above the sea, except when they encountered a ship--which
happened only once during the hours of daylight--and when this occurred
they rose, on the instant of sighting her, to the highest attainable
distance, in pursuance of their resolve to attract as little attention
as possible, descending again to their former level as soon as they had
passed beyond her range of vision. At this latter elevation they were
able to enjoy to the full the health-giving properties of the pure sea-
breeze, and to revel in a prospect--though it was only that of the
restless sea--of nearly forty nautical miles on every side; the horizon,
that is to say, forming a circle of little less than eighty miles
diameter round about them. And though it may be hastily thought that,
with a sea bare of craft there was little or nothing to interest the
travellers, this was by no means the case; for at their height the water
was clear and transparent for a long distance below the surface, and the
gambols of the fish, of which there were great numbers visible,
including several schools of porpoises and a solitary whale, could be
seen distinctly, affording a most interesting sight; and when they grew
tired of this they promenaded the spacious deck, or lounged about in
chairs, smoking their cigars or pipes, and discussing with much
animation their future prospects. And now, for the first time, a fact
in connection with the automatic balancing apparatus brought itself
under their notice. It was this. They found that, let them walk about
the ship where and as much as they chose, the balance of the ship always
remained perfect; but the little jets of air which, at their every
movement, were admitted into the hull to maintain its equilibrium, soon
had a perceptible influence on the vessel's buoyancy, causing her to
slowly but steadily descend toward the surface of the sea, thus
necessitating periodic visits to the pilot-house to renew the vacuum.
This set the professor's brain to work, and by nightfall he succeeded--
with the aid of a second barometer having a small piece of highly
magnetised steel floating on the top of the mercurial column, and a
couple of magnetised steel bars--in constructing a somewhat rude but
thoroughly efficient apparatus for automatically maintaining the ship at
any desired height, unaffected by the movements, be they few or many, of
those on board.
By the time that this apparatus had been fixed, and subjected to the
test of an hour's conscientious walking fore and aft the deck by the
entire party, the dinner-hour had arrived, and they retired below with
such appetites as only a day's exposure to the tonic effects of a sea-
breeze--minus all uncomfortable motion--could produce. The fullest
justice was consequently done to the meal, after which they made their
way once more to the deck, and there, under a brilliant star-lit sky,
gave themselves up to the soothing influence of _the weed_ and the
renewed enjoyment of their novel position. Midnight found them quite
ready for their state-rooms, and at that hour they accordingly retired;
the professor first of all, as a matter of precaution, increasing the
ship's altitude to four thousand feet above the sea-level, and then
paying a visit of inspection to the engine-room. Matters were found to
be all right there; the engines were working smoothly and noiselessly,
the bearings were quite cool, and the automatic feed was doing its work
to perfection. The ship, then, being at such a height as to be clear of
all danger, and steering herself in the required direction, with all the
machinery in perfect working order, the weather also being fine and
wearing a settled aspect, von Schalckenberg told himself that there was
not the slightest necessity for the maintenance of a look-out, and he
therefore also retired. A quarter of an hour later the whole of the
crew were sunk in profound repose, and the _Flying Fish_, left to
herself, was leisurely wending her way northward at a height of nearly a
mile above the earth's surface.
The first of the quartette to put in an appearance on deck next morning
was the professor, who was awakened just as day was breaking by the
faint sound of a steam whistle. Springing hastily from his very
comfortable couch, he rushed up the companion way and into the open air,
without even pausing to don his nether garments. Springing to the guard
rail he looked around and below him, and the half-formed fear that
something had gone amiss, and that the ship was in danger, was at once
dissipated. He saw that the _Flying Fish_ was moving rapidly along with
the land beneath her, the breeze having freshened during the night,
whilst still blowing from the same quarter, causing them to reach the
Irish coast sooner than had been anticipated. The mercury stood at the
same height in the tube as it had done when they retired to rest on the
preceding night; the ship had consequently maintained her approximate
height above the sea-level, the only variation being that due to the
greater or lesser density of the atmosphere; which was eminently
satisfactory, as it showed that the professor's hastily constructed
apparatus for maintaining an uniform level had been faithfully
performing its duty.
These facts ascertained, von Schalckenberg cast his glance over the
scene spread out beneath him, in order to ascertain, if possible, his
position. The morning was beautifully clear, the atmosphere being
entirely destitute of clouds, and the only obstacle to uninterrupted
vision was a thick mist which overspread the earth outstretched below
him like an immense map. This, to a certain extent, rendered prompt
identification of the locality difficult; but a lake of very irregular
triangular shape was immediately underneath the ship, and from S. round
to about W.S.W., at a distance of about eight miles, extended a range of
hills which, from their height, the professor easily identified as
Macgillicuddy's Reeks, the lake below being Killarney. Other hills
towered up out of the mist all round the ship, and, at a distance of
some twenty miles straight ahead, appeared the Stack Mountains. Towns,
villages, farm buildings, and solitary cabins were dotted about all over
the country, and beyond all, from S.S.E. round by S. and W. to N., could
be seen the blue sea, dotted here and there with the brown sails of the
fishing craft or the scarcely whiter canvas of the coasters.
Satisfied that all was right, the professor returned to the pilot-house,
and, closing the doors to exclude the intense cold of the higher
atmospheric region, perfected the vacuum in the air chambers, causing
the ship to immediately soar aloft to the enormous height of thirty-five
thousand feet; having done which he made his way below again and plunged
into his bath.
On meeting his companions at the breakfast-table, von Schalckenberg
informed them of the position and elevation of the ship, and they at
once expressed an ardent desire to go out on deck immediately after
breakfast to view the magnificent prospect spread out around and beneath
them.
"You will have to put on your diving suits then, gentlemen," remarked
the scientist, "for you would find it quite impossible to breathe in the
extremely rarefied atmosphere which now supports us; moreover, it is so
intensely cold that, unless exceedingly well protected, you would soon
freeze to death. But I quite agree with you that the prospect,
embracing as it does a circle of--let me see," and he made a hasty
calculation on the back of an envelope--"yes, a circle of very nearly
four hundred and sixty miles in diameter, must be well worth looking
at."
Accordingly, on the completion of the meal, the quartette descended to
the diving-room, and there donned their armour, taking the additional
precaution of adding a flannel overall to their ordinary inner diving
dress. Thus equipped, they made their way to the pilot-house, carefully
closing all doors behind them on the way, and sallied out on deck.
The spectacle which then met their gaze was novel beyond all power of
description, and can only be feebly suggested. The sky overhead was of
an intense ultramarine hue, approaching in depth to indigo, gradually
changing, as the eye travelled downward from the zenith toward the
horizon, to a pallid colourless hue. The stars--excepting those near
the horizon--were almost as distinctly visible as at midnight; whilst
the sun, shorn of his rays, hung in the sky like a great ball of molten
copper; the moon also, reduced to a thin silver thread-like crescent,
had followed the sun into the sky, and hung a few degrees only above the
eastern horizon.