THE BLACK POOL
"What are you going to do, Andy?" asked Jack, as he watched the old
hunter.
"What am I going to do? Why, I'm going to blast out some of this meat,
that's what I'm going to do! I heard you boys talking about elephants
and other things being preserved for centuries in a cake of ice, and,
if that's true, why won't the meat in this petrified city be preserved
just as well? It's always below freezing here, and that's cold enough."
"But the meat has turned to stone," objected Mark.
"Only the outside part of it, to my thinking," answered Andy. "I
believe that inside these lumps of rock we'll find good, fresh meat!"
"But how are you going to get it?" asked Jack.
"Just as I told you--blast it out with some of the powder from my
cartridges. I used to be a miner before I turned hunter, and when we
wanted gold we used to fire a charge in some rocks. Now we want meat,
and I'm going to do the same thing. I'll put some powder underneath
this block of stone that looks as if it was a chunk of roast beef, and
we'll see what happens. It's lucky I saved some of my cartridges."
While he was talking the old hunter had taken some of the powder and
put it back in one of the paper shells. Then, making a fuse by twisting
some powder grains in a piece of paper he happened to have in his
pocket, he inserted it in the improvised bomb, using some dirt and
small stones with which to tamp down the charge. He discovered a crack
in the big stone, which they hoped would prove to be a chunk of roast
beef, and Andy put the cartridge in that.
"Look out now, boys," he called, "I'm going to light the fuse. I didn't
make a heavy charge, but it might do some damage, so we'll go outside."
They hurried from the place, with its silent guests and waiters, and
reached the street. A moment later there sounded a dull explosion.
"Now, let's see what we've got!" called Jack.
Back to the kitchen they ran, the two boys in the lead.
"Why--why--the stone has disappeared!" cried Jack, in disappointment,
as he glanced all around.
"Yes, but look here," added Mark. "Here are bits of meat," and he
picked up from the stone table some scraps of meat.
"Is it really roast beef?" cried Jack. "Good to eat?"
Mark smelled of it. Then he put the morsel cautiously to his lips. The
next instant it had disappeared. It was proof enough.
"Good! I should say it was good!" exclaimed Mark. "I wish there was
more of it! What happened to the rock of meat, Andy?"
"I used too heavy a charge, and it blew all to pieces. I'll know better
next time. There are lots more chunks of meat, and we'll soon have a
feast. I'll make another bombshell."
He worked rapidly while Jack sampled some of the shreds of meat that
had been scattered about by the explosion. The beef was perfectly
cooked, and in spite of its great age it was as fresh and palatable as
frozen meat ever is. Besides the heat generated by the explosion had
partly thawed it, so that there was no trouble in chewing it.
Once more came the explosion, a slight one this time, and when the
adventurers re-entered the kitchen they found that what had been a lump
of stone had been broken open, and the middle part, like the kernel of
a nut, was sweet and good. It was cooked, so they did not have to eat
it raw.
"Say, maybe this isn't good!" exclaimed Jack, chewing away. "It's the
best ever!"
"And there's enough in this city to keep us alive for months, if we
can't find the projectile in that time," declared Andy.
"Don't you think we will?" asked Mark.
"Of course, but I was only just mentioning it. Now, eat all you want,
boys, I have quite a few cartridges left. I didn't fire away as many as
I thought I did, and we can blast out a dinner any time we want it. So
eat hearty!"
They needed no second invitation, and for the first time in several
days they had enough to eat. It was comfortable in the petrified
restaurant, too, for they could move about without carrying their
life-torches constantly in their hand. The gases from the perforated
boxes filled the rooms, and were not quickly dispelled by the poisonous
vapors as they were outside, so they could walk around in comparative
freedom.
"Now, if we could only blast out a loaf of bread, we'd be all right,"
said Jack. They found some petrified loaves, but on breaking one open
it was found to be stone all the way through.
Spurred on by an overwhelming thirst, they wandered about the dead
city, but found no moisture. They tried to chew some of the pale green
vegetation that grew more plentiful on this side of the moon, but it
was exceedingly bitter, and they could not stand it, though there was
some juice in it.
They crossed the city, and wandered out into the country beyond. It
appeared to have been a fertile land before the stone death settled
down on it. They saw farmers in the fields, turned into images, beside
the oxen with which they had been plowing. But nowhere was there a sign
of water. Had it not been for a frozen rice pudding, they would have
perished that first day in the stone city.
As it was, they dragged out a miserable existence, eating from time to
time of the blasted meat. But even this palled on them after a while,
for their lips were parched and cracked, and their tongues were swollen
in their mouths.
"I can't stand this any longer!" cried Jack.
"What are you going to do?" asked Mark.
"Go out and look for water. There must be some in the country outside
if there isn't any in this city. I'm going to have a look. Besides, if
I'm going to die, I might as well die while I'm busy. I'm not going to
sit here in this dreadful place and give up."
His words urged them to follow him, and, with lagging steps, for they
were weak and faint, they went from the restaurant, which they had made
their home since coming to the petrified city.
Out into the open fields they went, but their search seemed likely to
be in vain. Between times of looking for the water they scanned the sky
for a sight of the projectile, which, hoping against hope, they thought
they might see hovering over them. But there was no sight of it.
They came to a vast, level plain, girt with mountains, a lonesome
place, where there was no sign of life. Listlessly they walked over it.
Suddenly Andy, who was in the lead, uttered a cry and sprang forward.
The boys ran to him, and found the old hunter gazing into the depths of
a great black pool, which filled a depression in the surface of the
moon. It was a small crater, and was filled, nearly to the top, with
some black liquid, which gloomily reflected back the light of the sun.
"I'm going to have a drink!" cried Andy, and before the boys could stop
him he threw himself face downward at the edge of the black pool.