THE ANDEAN STORM.
West of them there was a deep and narrow gorge between high mountains.
Down through this with the speed of a race horse there came a tumbling
funnel-shaped cloud.
So swift did it come and so unexpected was it, that the voyagers were
wholly unprepared and taken by surprise.
But in that swift instant all realized what it meant.
A storm in the Andes is a terrible affair. Darting among the great peaks
it sweeps with cyclonic fury through the valleys, carrying destruction
in its path until its force is spent.
Such was now swooping down upon the air-ship like a mighty bird of prey.
There was no time to get out of the way to make any change in course.
Barney and Pomp sprang into the forward cabin, shutting the door behind
them.
Frank and the captain leaped into the pilot-house.
They were not a moment too soon.
The storm struck the air-ship like a thunderbolt. What saved it from
being totally destroyed was a literal wonder.
It was utterly impossible for any of the voyagers to recall what
transpired in that period while the air-ship was in the clutches of the
hurricane.
Frank had turned the lever to send the air-ship above the storm. But he
had not done this quickly enough.
The weight of the storm had kept it down. It was whirled about like a
top, dashed hither and thither madly.
The voyagers were hurled about the interior like puppets. Nothing could
be seen beyond the windows, nor could they even guess where they were
being whirled.
How long this lasted they were never able to guess.
Frank gave up all as lost. He had not the slightest faith that the
helices and masts would successfully resist the shock.
When the wind ceased for a moment its force, he expected to be dashed to
atoms upon the earth below.
But the unexpected often happens.
The storm departed almost as suddenly as it came. The wind died out, the
air-ship ceased whirling and the blackness disappeared.
The sun burst forth once more and all was again light.
Barney crawled out from under a heap of wreckage, and Pomp relaxed a
grip on the skylight frame.
Frank crept out from under the electric keyboard, and Captain Beere
appeared from the wine closet with a fragment of the door in his hand.
“Great whales!” he bellowed; “I’ve sailed the high seas in many a hot
typhoon, but I never saw the equal of this one.”
“We seem to be afloat,” said Frank, with an attempt to straighten a
crick in his neck.
Then he glanced out of the window and saw that the helices were
revolving furiously.
The air-ship was speeding upward and frost was forming on the windows.
But Frank quickly checked the helices.
The Spectre sank a mile or two very quickly and continued going down
until the gauge recorded an altitude of two thousand feet. Then all went
to the windows and gazed out.
The scene spread below was a startling one.
Instead of tropical forests or craggy heights there was visible nothing
but a mighty expanse of water.
As far as the eye could reach in all directions this was all that could
be seen.
Astounded, the voyagers regarded the scene for a time in silence.
Then Frank cried:
“On my word I believe we have been carried clean over the continent and
out to sea.”
“Begorra, it’s the ocean,” averred Barney.
“Golly! we must hab trabeled pretty fast,” declared Pomp.
But Captain Nicodemus studied the scene below critically and then said
decidedly:
“It is the big lake again.”
“What!” exclaimed Frank.
“It is the lake we’re looking for,” declared the mariner. “We have made
it at last, thanks to the storm.”
Frank was astounded.
“I have never heard of any body of water as large as this in Central
South America,” he said.
“Well, I can’t help that,” said the captain logically; “here it is.”
“You say this is the Transient Lake?”
“I do.”
With redoubled interest the aerial voyagers now gazed upon the great
body of water below.
None were disposed to dispute the old captain, and Frank, scanning the
horizon more intently, saw the faint haze of the shore.
“By Jove!” he exclaimed, “it is a big body of fresh water. However, here
we are. Now to recover the treasure. What course shall we pursue,
Captain Nicodemus?”
The old captain was much excited.
He walked up and down the deck, rubbing his hands and studying the
horizon.
At length he said:
“Steer west, skipper—due west.”
Frank complied with this.
The air-ship sailed westward for several hours. And still the great
expanse of water lay beneath. Frank reckoned it full two hundred miles
from shore to shore.
At length the western shore became well defined.
And now as they approached it, a curious thing was observed. The waters
of the lake seemed to have risen and flooded a part of the country
beyond, so that the water was full of trees and tangled brush.
Nicodemus was surprised.
“This was not the case when we were here,” he declared; “it is curious.
I can see nothing of the shore where we rested.”
“It is under water,” said Frank.
“Yes.”
“Well, can you guess at the locality?”
“Yes. Yonder peak was north by west. Here—here was about the spot where
we camped. The gold mound should be three miles or more in that
direction out in the lake.”
These facts established, the interest of all reached fever height. The
air-ship was held stationary over that spot.
A discussion was now held as to the best course to be pursued.
“Of course we can do no better than to wait for the disappearance of the
lake,” said Nicodemus. “That may happen at any time.”
“Is there any regularity to the event?” asked Frank.
“That I cannot say,” replied the captain. “We were here but a few weeks,
and the lake disappeared and reappeared only once in that time.”
“I have to suggest, then,” said Frank, “that we sail over to that
distant peak and wait there until some change comes.”
The peak in question overhung the lake, so that its disappearance could
be instantly noted.
The plan was adopted.
Soon the Spectre was resting upon this mountain height. A good spot was
found for the air-ship to rest.
Night now shut down rapidly. As all on board were intensely weary, they
retired early to rest.
Barney was left on guard. The night was black as Erebus.
The Celt sat in the bow of the air-ship where he could easily reach the
valve of the searchlight. There was no danger of his sleeping at his
post.
As the hours wore on, Barney relaxed his vigilance somewhat. It was past
the hour of midnight when an unlooked for thing occurred.
A curious sound came from the distance over the lake.
It was a strange sullen roar and a curious sound like the suction of
water through an orifice.
“Begorra, that’s a queer sound,” he muttered. “Phwativer can it be?”
He listened again.
Then he acted upon impulse and turned on the full glare of the
searchlight. The pathway of radiance shot out over the lake.
Barney had expected to see the shimmer of the waters.
But he was startled at the fact that they were not visible. The glare of
light showed only sand and rocks and weeds.
The pathway of radiance extended for fully a mile. But nowhere was water
visible.
“Tare an’ ’ounds!” gasped the Celt, “phwat the divil is the maning av
that?”
For a moment he was stupefied.
Then the realization of a startling truth dawned upon him. He sprang to
his feet.
“Mither presarve us!” he muttered, “the lake has gone an’ disappeared,
as the captain said it would.”
He started for the cabin to call Frank and the captain. But before he
reached the cabin stairs second thought impelled him to change his mind.
“Divil a bit,” he muttered; “there’s no nade av that. Shure, they’ll see
the thing fer thimsilves to-morrow, an’ to chate thim av their sleep now
wud be foolish enough.”
So he went back to his post.
He flashed the rays of the searchlight over the sandy bed of the
Transient Lake. Satisfied that there was no error, and that the lake had
really departed, he finally shut off the rays and abandoned himself
again to his duty of pacing the deck.
The night wore on.
Usually Pomp would come on duty to relieve him before the morning hour.
But this night Barney had agreed to keep the full watch, if Pomp would
do the same the next night, giving each a chance for a full night’s
sleep.
Toward morning Barney relaxed his vigilance and sat in the cabin
doorway, communing with his thoughts. It was just daylight when he heard
a movement below.
He saw Frank Reade, Jr., cross the cabin.
Instantly he cried:
“Och hone, Misther Frank, shure I’ve a surproise for ye. The lake has
gone intoirely, sor!”
This assertion created a sensation.