* * * * *XII.We were in the midst of dinner when down the beach came a great, white, swaggering bear, sniffing the air from side to side, for the fumes of bacon, sausage, and fried potatoes which happened just then to be in the pan. The suddenness of the apparition froze every drop of sporting blood in my veins; but this perhaps, is not so much to be marveled at, when it is remembered that we had left our arms and ammunition in the air ship, full fifty yards away, though fortunately in the other direction. Dropping the remains of dinner on the ground, we ran with one accord and mortifying speed to the big machine, tumbled in over the side, and hauled up the ladder with a dexterity never before equalled. Here we armed ourselves with a couple of Winchester rifles, and then crawled up on deck to watch the enemy. It was a painful sight to see our excellent repast scattered right and left, nosed, pawed, and devoured before our very eyes; but it was satisfactory to observe that the beast burned his mouth and paws in his greediness. When he got through licking his chops and sucking his fingers he had time to look around, and catching sight of the air ship, was surprised. Evidently he was familiar with that part of the coast and had never seen such a thing before. We decided to wait until curiosity had brought him nearer, which it was not long in doing. Still sniffing, now probably for danger, the monster slowly approached, and when two-thirds of the distance had been covered, he stopped suddenly, overcome with astonishment. It was our time to fire, and crack went the rifles, almost at the same instant. It had been previously agreed that I was to aim for the head, while Torrence was to shoot immediately behind the shoulder. The animal started up with a snort, surprised and wounded. He showed his teeth and snapped as he caught sight of us, and then turned and began licking his wound. I was surprised that he had not keeled over stone dead, for as the blood trickled down over his long, dirty, white hair it looked to me as if it issued from a vital point, but it was difficult to tell. Presently the sound of our voices renewed his anger, and he came at us, on a gallop. We waited until he touched the vessel, when, just as we were about to fire again, the bear raised himself upon his hind legs as if trying to get a foothold to board us, and rolled over dead without a struggle. We discharged our rifles into the animal's skull as he lay there, and then after a few minutes went to work upon him. It was a great find, as he was large and fat. We soon had him bled, and cut up into convenient sizes. We left the skin for other explorers, not caring to bother with it, but the principal part of the meat was carefully stowed on board. After this adventure we went back and finished our dinner, or rather we cooked another; this time being careful to carry the rifles with us.As we sat smoking our pipes around the camp fire, after finishing our repast, I asked Torrence why he had been so anxious to kill a reindeer."For marks!" he said, blowing a volume of smoke into the air."Marks!" I exclaimed in astonishment; "what marks? What are you talking about?""Ear marks," he answered, still puffing away at his pipe."And why are the ear marks of a Spitzbergen reindeer especially interesting?" I inquired.Torrence looked at me thoughtfully as he answered:"Because they have been made by the hand of man!""And why shouldn't they be?""For a very simple reason. Because man does not inhabit these islands!""Then how is your theory supported?""By an enormous array of accumulated evidence that there are vast continents to the north of us, which are inhabited both by man, reindeer, and other animals!""You meancontinent, notcontinents," I suggested."On the contrary; I believe there are continents fully equaling in size Europe, Asia, Africa and the two Americas!"Had the fellow lost his mind? I looked carefully to see if he were serious, and observing no indications of a joke, answered:"Your theory might be all right if there was room enough around the pole for all the land you speak of; but as there isn't, I am afraid you'll have to be contented with one very moderate-sized continent, which I will admit it is barely possible may exist. As for its being inhabited, I don't believe it.""It's a pity, Gurthrie, for you'll have to believe a great deal more than that before you get through with this journey. But speaking of the reindeer, do you know that immense herds of them roam over these islands; and that the enormous numbers which have been killed in former years—amounting to several thousand sometimes, in a single season—tends to support the theory that they have migrated from another land? But that is not all; for these creatures carry with them stronger evidences of a habitable region to the north—for they cannot have migrated from the south.""And what is that evidence?" I asked."The ear marks we were speaking of," continued Torrence, "thousands of these reindeer are marked; that is, they have their ears cut in a way to indicate that it was done by the hand of man. It is the opinion of many hunters in this region that these animals have emigrated from an unknown country to the north; and that is my belief also!""But you spoke ofcontinents!" I urged."And I still speak of continents. But wait; I do not wish to startle you, or shake your faith in my sanity. What I know, I know; and what I know, you shall soon see for yourself. But mind, we are going into a warmer climate, and we shall find all that I have intimated. But a little at a time; do not strain your mind with thoughts you have never yet learned to assimilate."I admitted that if it were a fact about the ear marks it was certainly a curious one; whereupon Torrence declared that it was only one out of many reasons for the theory, which he would explain later. Altogether there was a conviction in his manner which was very impressive. I listened to him talk for more than an hour, and must confess that he produced an array of alleged facts that were startling. He ended by declaring that our discoveries would vastly exceed those of Columbus in their magnitude, and that we should go down to history as the greatest of all explorers!When Torrence stopped talking, our pipes had gone out, and the fire was reduced to a few glowing coals. We got up to make preparations for a final departure into the great unknown, and I confess, with a good deal more awe than I had previously thought possible. If Torrence was oppressed by the contemplation of what we were about to undertake, he only showed it by a more earnest and serious demeanor than he had yet exhibited. For my part, I dreaded to leave the island, overcome with the thought of what might be awaiting us. Beyond this, I was seriously puzzled by my brother's remark about continents, and their size, but could not bring myself to insist on an explanation, which he seemed, for the present, disinclined to give. We had started together, and we must pull together for the rest of the journey, come what might.We now made a thorough and exhaustive examination of the machine, and were gratified to find that everything was still in perfect order, as we did not wish to land upon an unknown continent without the means of returning. The vessel had been so thoroughly built, regardless of cost, that she seemed as staunch as when she first came out of the hands of the contractors at London. We took aboard several casks of fresh water for drinking, besides our bear meat; put everything to rights, and then shutting ourselves inside, concluded to take a long sleep before resuming our journey northward. Nothing disturbed us; not even a polar bear discovered our position, and when we arose at the end of twenty hours' rest, we partook of another hearty meal, and were ready to move.Taking our places on deck, Torrence touched the controllers, and in a minute we were suspended a couple of hundred feet above the beach. Then slowly we commenced navigating the tortuous coast, first bearing eastwardly across the bay, and then following up the shore line as far as the Norwegian isles, a reef of rocky keys off the northwest coast. Here we took careful bearings; made allowances for the rather singular behavior of the compass, and then heading the ship due north, bore away upon our course.I felt as if I were about to sail over the face of an unknown planet, and in a great measure, it was just this that we were destined to accomplish. I was fully alive to the terrors of that mysterious, strangely isolated quarter of our globe, where it seemed as if the Almighty had set his ban against man's advance, by encircling it with an impenetrable barrier, to cross which, every effort, of which history holds any record, was fruitless.When the granite cliffs of Spitzbergen were fading from our view, Torrence turned to me, and said with emphasis:"Mark my word! We are going to find a better climate ahead than we have left behind. We are going to find land, and a race of men who are unknown to the world. We are going to find many other things; but put that much down as a record if you will;" and so I have entered it.We were alone, and with a loneliness never felt before. The last saw-like edge of Spitzbergen had sunk below the water line to the south. Yes, even that terribly Northern foothold must now be looked upon as a southern home, when compared with our present resting place. Should we ever look forward to reaching it, as a tropical paradise—the bourne of all our hopes and expectations? For Spitzbergen had known men; it was a part of our own world, and as I watched it fade and sink away it seemed close to all I had ever known and loved in my dear old earth, where nothing could ever be so solemnly, so awfully foreign as where we were, and where we were going.Suddenly it became cold, and looking down we saw that the ocean had grown strangely quiet, the sparkle and motion of the waves having left it. Descending to a lower level we saw that we were passing over a field of pack ice, solid and impenetrable; and we slackened speed, and sunk still lower to examine it.As we slipped along close above its hummocky surface, at the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour, we could appreciate some of the difficulties with which Arctic explorers have had to contend. What a herculean task to forge ahead through such an obstacle, whether with ship or sled! And yet with what absolute ease we seemed about to solve the puzzle of the ages. However, we were still a long way from the pole, and there was no telling what might happen before reaching it. At times I would be seized with a superstitious dread of some awful impending calamity, or of some horrible condition of the earth's surface or atmosphere, which would make it impossible for man to live where we were going. But Torrence was firm and resolute, and if such thoughts ever troubled him, he did not speak of them. I could scarcely believe that we should continue to the end as easily as we had begun, and advance without hindrance into the forbidden mysteries beyond.It grew colder, although I can truly say, so well were we provided against the weather, that neither of us had suffered, and we continued to sit on deck in our top coats without inconvenience. Torrence made half a turn in the screw controlling our elevation, and we rose slightly higher, as there were dangerous looking inequalities in the ice ahead. We also moderately increased our speed, keeping, however, low enough, and running with just such headway as would enable us to see to the best advantage the formations below and around us.Presently it began to snow, and the ice field became covered with a tattered sheet, the uneven protuberances sticking through in dirty patches. But it was only a summer shower, which we ran out of in a dozen or twenty miles, leaving the sea of frozen waves and hummocks bare again. Then we came to floes, or extended areas of ice that had not packed, wind-driven into the solid masses behind, but were still shifting about with the current, undecided as to their future course. The crunching and roaring of these masses was horrible. Detached areas, miles in extent, would rush at each other with Titanic power, and meeting, rend the air with deafening crashes like the wrecking of a thousand trains.Next came the piling up into strange, fantastic shapes. Pyramids, towers, and grim fortifications would threaten each other for a minute, and then slowly advancing, meet with a report like thunder, splitting the air from earth to heaven, and melt into each other, to be again squeezed and piled into new designs. It was an awful, yet fascinating sight. But the worst had not come. Onward we swept over this crunching and grinding world, roaring in agony to free itself from the embrace of the demon Cold, which was slowly but surely stiffening it into immovable forms. And as we advanced, the thundering of the under world grew less, for there was no more movement. The forts, the towers, and the pyramids had become fixed and silent, and a city of weird architecture followed. A city of frozen monuments, deserted streets, of isolated villas, cathedrals, parks, and gardens, lakes of dazzling whiteness, turreted battlements with mounted guns commanding open spaces, and distant rivers threading the land beyond. But a deathlike silence reigned. It was a marvelous change, but a greater still was coming. Looking far to the north we observed that these singular ice forms were growing in size and splendor, so that it seemed advisable to rise a little higher to avoid a collision. But they grew. The forts became lofty houses; the houses cathedrals, and the cathedrals great ragged mountains of ice, with pinnacles reaching skyward.* * * * *"This," said Torrence, turning toward me with great solemnity, "is the Palæocrystic Sea—the sea of ancient ice—the sea which man has never crossed. We have passed the limits of the known; beyond lies the mystery of the undiscovered world. A world which you will soon admit is greater, and of far more importance than our own!"Although I could not gather his meaning, there was an import in his words that appalled me.* * * * *And now the scene grew more terrible with each mile of advance. Ages of freezing and thawing, accumulations of snow and ice, had produced a spectacle more awful than words can picture. A sea of mountains and valleys; of cañons black in eternal night. A sea of silence. A sea of death.* * * * *But I will not dwell upon the horrors that separate the known from the unknown. The Palæocrystic is simply an unexplored belt of ice surrounding the poles. Indeed it is not known to be unbroken, or to be of equal severity throughout. It might be termed a ribbon of ice mountains, which has been ages in forming, and which probably will not average more than fifty miles in breadth, and at some points, doubtless much narrower. Beyond it we came upon free ice again, and further reached the open polar sea.Here was a marked change in the temperature, and as the air currents were from the north, the frozen area had little effect. Our thermometer showed a few degrees above freezing, and a tendency to rise still higher.We now felt that we were fairly launched into an unknown world. A placid ocean stretched beneath to an unexplored horizon."Now!" exclaimed Torrence with enthusiasm; "if there are any discoveries to be made, we ought soon to make them."Taking out a pair of field glasses we searched the skyline from the upper deck."No land in sight!" said Torrence; "but if I am not mistaken, yonder is a flock of wild geese, leading our course, and not more than half a mile ahead."They might be petrels!" I suggested."Whatever they are, I propose to give them a chase. A bird or two for dinner wouldn't be a bad idea!"Although I had never hunted wild geese in an air ship, I agreed that it ought to be good sport.XIII.Steering directly after the geese on an ascending plane, we put on a tremendous spurt and soon had the whole gang squawking and floundering before us. There were hundreds, and when pressed, set the pace at a rate that made the air whizz by like a hurricane. It was intensely exciting. But the air ship was too swift to afford the slightest chance of their escape. In a few minutes we had overtaken them, broken their columns, and flown directly into the flock. Our shotguns were ready, but, strange as it may seem, we did not use them, because more than a dozen of the birds fell dead upon our deck from sheer fright, and we let the others escape. It was a strange experience; a method of hunting probably never indulged in before; and it was not at all surprising that the birds should have been frightened to death. The geese proved to be fat and a great delicacy.We then dropped to our former level and speed, and resumed the lookout for land. Ice floes were still occasionally met, though steadily diminishing in size and apparent solidity. A few hours later we passed the last of them, and then met only an occasional chunk, or hummock, which seemed to be floating northward. We determined the direction by descending close to the surface of the water, and making a careful examination. There could be no doubt about it; the currents which carried these ice masses were trending northward. It seemed to imply some mystery, as yet unconsidered, although Torrence thought it possible that they might be vortex in character, returning again to their starting point.At the usual hour we went below to partake of our midday meal, having first reduced our speed to a rate not exceeding ten miles an hour, not wishing to run upon anything startling during the stay below. It was fortunate we had done so, for upon coming on deck again, we saw a small blue line to starboard, apparently not more than a dozen or fifteen miles away."Land!" We both shouted in a breath.Immediately we changed our course in the direction of this island, as it appeared; and while drifting toward it, considered whether we should call it Attlebridge Land or Torrence Island. Suddenly Torrence, clapping his hand to his head, exclaimed:"If it's what I now believe it to be, we have not the right to name it!""And what do you believe it to be?" I asked."An island," said he."And why have we not the right to name it?""Because I believe it has been already discovered. Because I believe it is inhabited!""Inhabited!" I shouted; "and by whom?""By a man.""By a man, or by men? Which did you say?""I said by a man—by one man—I believe that island has asingle inhabitant, but we shall see!"Again I looked at my brother with curiosity, half-wondering if he were demented."I understood you to say that the Palæocrystic Sea was the dividing line between the known and the unknown world."And you understood me correctly," he replied,"There is but one man in the world who knows anything about this island; in fact he is the only man living who has a right to name it.""I should imagine that the inhabitant you speak of would have an equal right," I observed."That is just where you make your mistake," said Torrence with a knowing look. "Were he an ordinary man he might have; but under the circumstances—hardly!""And what are the circumstances? Why should he not name it?" I insisted."Because he is an idiot!" said Torrence.I started."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[image]InscriptionThere 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; "certainlyneverby 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[image]InscriptionExamining 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."I had not thought of this before."He may have been here for years," I added."He may," Torrence replied, and then producing a paper from a large packet, asked me what I thought of the signature.I started, for I recognized it at once. It was one of those I had seen through the keyhole in the hotel Mustapha, and the signature was the same as the one before me—Ned Merrick. I then recalled the fact that I had heard my brother address the mysterious stranger—I mean the sailor we had first met upon the Thames boat, and whom afterward I had seen at the Mustapha—as Merrick. Could it be possible that he was the same who had escaped through the ice belt to this island? I was amazed, but before I could make an inquiry Torrence continued:"I now am certain that this island is inhabited, as I told you, unless, perchance, the man has died. I am also sure of the continents; for the man Merrick having told me the truth in this most amazing case, it is probable that he has not lied in other matters, especially as he gave me proof, and as his story coincides with my own views. Let us look for Jan von Broekhuysen, then we will proceed upon our voyage."We made a careful search for this extraordinary individual, but not finding any traces of him, we returned to the vessel and prepared to go.As we were clearing the coast a creature of scarcely human aspect, clad in a robe of feathers and covered to the waist with a mass of tawny gray hair, appeared to rise out of the sand. He probably emerged from the shelter of some neighboring rock, and stood for a moment looking at us in amazement. On a motion to alter our course, as if to pursue him, the creature disappeared as suddenly and strangely as he had come. He was simply invisible, and it would have been useless to waste our time in an effort to capture him. There was no doubt to our minds that this was Jan von Broekhuysen.* * * * *XIV.Northward again we proceeded on our journey, and from the upper deck surveyed the solitude of an ocean unknown to human eyes. All traces of ice had vanished; the sea was tranquil and the air pleasant. Naturally enough our conversation fell upon the mysterious cairn and its contents."In my opinion," said Torrence, "this Jan von Broekhuysen is the most unique creation of our planet. He is the only human being of his kind since creation. I will guarantee that not in a million years has the earth produced such another!"I asked him what he meant, and suggested the possibility of others having been lost under like circumstances, while admitting the improbability of their having reached such a latitude."That is not it at all!" he exclaimed; "Jan von Broekhuysen stands alone, and for this reason. Because he is the only living creature of our race who has been put alone in an uninhabited world, and who has never seen nor communicated with a fellow-creature!""You mean since he was twenty years old, for I believe the paper says that was his age," said I."No," replied Torrence, "I mean nothing of the kind. I mean that never, for a single instant, has he seen or communicated with a fellow-being until he saw us!""I don't understand you. Doesn't the paper say he twenty years old when wrecked?""Certainly. But doesn't the paper say that when he struck he lost his memory?""But what of that? he's sure to have seen plenty of people in the first part of his life.""Gurt, that fellow never had any other part to his life. His life began afresh after landing on that island. His past having been wiped out, he was born again. His memory being gone, the past had no existence for him. He knew no more about a previous existence than you or I know about a life before this. Practically he was reincarnated, inasmuch as his brain had lost every picture and every record of the past. He came as a new man to a new world, knowing nothing. The first twenty years of his life was no more his than if it had belonged to another body. I claim that Von Broekhuysen is the most unique creature that ever visited our planet!"I was impressed, and thought some time before answering. Finally I said:"It is doubtless a remarkable case, but you must be accurate in your statements, and when you declare that the fellow has never either seen or communicated with a fellow-being since losing his memory, you must not forget his comrades, Niles and Merrick, who were with him for a year afterward; surely he must remember them.""Not at all," said Torrence; "when those men left him he was only a year old, so to speak. He had entered his new existence but a twelvemonth before; and although he had the size and strength of a man, he was but an infant, so far as his mind was concerned, and I defy any one to recall anything which happened at that time of their lives. No one can remember what happened when he was but a year old. I have thought it all out, old boy, and Von Broekhuysen ought to belong to a museum!"There was no gainsaying what my brother said. I wanted to ask him how Merrick had made his escape, and what had become of the other fellow, but a look warned me that an appropriate time had not come for these questions. I was impressed with the marvelous way in which Torrence had been prepared for our discovery by this extraordinary man, Merrick, who must have seen more of the mysteries of the Arctic regions than any human being alive.We were sailing over a sea of vast extent, whose shores were mythical. Whither would it lead us? Although it was the time of year when we might reasonably expect to find moderate weather, even in high latitude, we were amazed to find the air so temperate and pleasant as it was. We sat on deck nearly all the time, when not engaged in eating or sleeping, and often without our top coats. We kept constant watch on the horizon, the water below us, and the sky above; expecting at any moment to discover the outline of some unknown continent, but as the monotony of sky and water continued we began to sympathize with Columbus.Twenty-four hours after leaving the island, which we agreed to call Von Broekhuysen, we estimated that we could not have come less than four hundred miles, and yet there had not been the slightest indication of land, although we had not changed our course half a degree. It was the same placid, unmarked, and unknown ocean. Whither were we drifting?It was about here that the meteorological conditions of the atmosphere began to strike me as peculiar. The northern horizon had been subjected to a singular phenomenon for a good many hours, which I ascribed to one of those effects of light so common in these latitudes. It was simply a crescent-shaped cloud, growing in height as we advanced. At first it subtended the segment of an arc of about sixty degrees across the horizon, steadily ascending toward the zenith with our progress. But gradually this form lost its definiteness, and melted into the sky in a mellow haze, which softened the light and obscured the sun. We were glad enough to have the glare off the water, as it had been quite trying, but I was at a loss to account for the phenomenon which had abolished it. If Torrence understood this he failed to explain it to me—advising me to wait and see what would happen. I mention it here as an important fact bearing upon our future discoveries. I had never before seen so peculiar a cloud, retaining a definite form for so long a time, fixed in density and character save that the arc grew as we proceeded; and I naturally puzzled myself a good deal meditating on it. But it was not until later that I ascertained the cause of this astounding phenomenon.
* * * * *
XII.
We were in the midst of dinner when down the beach came a great, white, swaggering bear, sniffing the air from side to side, for the fumes of bacon, sausage, and fried potatoes which happened just then to be in the pan. The suddenness of the apparition froze every drop of sporting blood in my veins; but this perhaps, is not so much to be marveled at, when it is remembered that we had left our arms and ammunition in the air ship, full fifty yards away, though fortunately in the other direction. Dropping the remains of dinner on the ground, we ran with one accord and mortifying speed to the big machine, tumbled in over the side, and hauled up the ladder with a dexterity never before equalled. Here we armed ourselves with a couple of Winchester rifles, and then crawled up on deck to watch the enemy. It was a painful sight to see our excellent repast scattered right and left, nosed, pawed, and devoured before our very eyes; but it was satisfactory to observe that the beast burned his mouth and paws in his greediness. When he got through licking his chops and sucking his fingers he had time to look around, and catching sight of the air ship, was surprised. Evidently he was familiar with that part of the coast and had never seen such a thing before. We decided to wait until curiosity had brought him nearer, which it was not long in doing. Still sniffing, now probably for danger, the monster slowly approached, and when two-thirds of the distance had been covered, he stopped suddenly, overcome with astonishment. It was our time to fire, and crack went the rifles, almost at the same instant. It had been previously agreed that I was to aim for the head, while Torrence was to shoot immediately behind the shoulder. The animal started up with a snort, surprised and wounded. He showed his teeth and snapped as he caught sight of us, and then turned and began licking his wound. I was surprised that he had not keeled over stone dead, for as the blood trickled down over his long, dirty, white hair it looked to me as if it issued from a vital point, but it was difficult to tell. Presently the sound of our voices renewed his anger, and he came at us, on a gallop. We waited until he touched the vessel, when, just as we were about to fire again, the bear raised himself upon his hind legs as if trying to get a foothold to board us, and rolled over dead without a struggle. We discharged our rifles into the animal's skull as he lay there, and then after a few minutes went to work upon him. It was a great find, as he was large and fat. We soon had him bled, and cut up into convenient sizes. We left the skin for other explorers, not caring to bother with it, but the principal part of the meat was carefully stowed on board. After this adventure we went back and finished our dinner, or rather we cooked another; this time being careful to carry the rifles with us.
As we sat smoking our pipes around the camp fire, after finishing our repast, I asked Torrence why he had been so anxious to kill a reindeer.
"For marks!" he said, blowing a volume of smoke into the air.
"Marks!" I exclaimed in astonishment; "what marks? What are you talking about?"
"Ear marks," he answered, still puffing away at his pipe.
"And why are the ear marks of a Spitzbergen reindeer especially interesting?" I inquired.
Torrence looked at me thoughtfully as he answered:
"Because they have been made by the hand of man!"
"And why shouldn't they be?"
"For a very simple reason. Because man does not inhabit these islands!"
"Then how is your theory supported?"
"By an enormous array of accumulated evidence that there are vast continents to the north of us, which are inhabited both by man, reindeer, and other animals!"
"You meancontinent, notcontinents," I suggested.
"On the contrary; I believe there are continents fully equaling in size Europe, Asia, Africa and the two Americas!"
Had the fellow lost his mind? I looked carefully to see if he were serious, and observing no indications of a joke, answered:
"Your theory might be all right if there was room enough around the pole for all the land you speak of; but as there isn't, I am afraid you'll have to be contented with one very moderate-sized continent, which I will admit it is barely possible may exist. As for its being inhabited, I don't believe it."
"It's a pity, Gurthrie, for you'll have to believe a great deal more than that before you get through with this journey. But speaking of the reindeer, do you know that immense herds of them roam over these islands; and that the enormous numbers which have been killed in former years—amounting to several thousand sometimes, in a single season—tends to support the theory that they have migrated from another land? But that is not all; for these creatures carry with them stronger evidences of a habitable region to the north—for they cannot have migrated from the south."
"And what is that evidence?" I asked.
"The ear marks we were speaking of," continued Torrence, "thousands of these reindeer are marked; that is, they have their ears cut in a way to indicate that it was done by the hand of man. It is the opinion of many hunters in this region that these animals have emigrated from an unknown country to the north; and that is my belief also!"
"But you spoke ofcontinents!" I urged.
"And I still speak of continents. But wait; I do not wish to startle you, or shake your faith in my sanity. What I know, I know; and what I know, you shall soon see for yourself. But mind, we are going into a warmer climate, and we shall find all that I have intimated. But a little at a time; do not strain your mind with thoughts you have never yet learned to assimilate."
I admitted that if it were a fact about the ear marks it was certainly a curious one; whereupon Torrence declared that it was only one out of many reasons for the theory, which he would explain later. Altogether there was a conviction in his manner which was very impressive. I listened to him talk for more than an hour, and must confess that he produced an array of alleged facts that were startling. He ended by declaring that our discoveries would vastly exceed those of Columbus in their magnitude, and that we should go down to history as the greatest of all explorers!
When Torrence stopped talking, our pipes had gone out, and the fire was reduced to a few glowing coals. We got up to make preparations for a final departure into the great unknown, and I confess, with a good deal more awe than I had previously thought possible. If Torrence was oppressed by the contemplation of what we were about to undertake, he only showed it by a more earnest and serious demeanor than he had yet exhibited. For my part, I dreaded to leave the island, overcome with the thought of what might be awaiting us. Beyond this, I was seriously puzzled by my brother's remark about continents, and their size, but could not bring myself to insist on an explanation, which he seemed, for the present, disinclined to give. We had started together, and we must pull together for the rest of the journey, come what might.
We now made a thorough and exhaustive examination of the machine, and were gratified to find that everything was still in perfect order, as we did not wish to land upon an unknown continent without the means of returning. The vessel had been so thoroughly built, regardless of cost, that she seemed as staunch as when she first came out of the hands of the contractors at London. We took aboard several casks of fresh water for drinking, besides our bear meat; put everything to rights, and then shutting ourselves inside, concluded to take a long sleep before resuming our journey northward. Nothing disturbed us; not even a polar bear discovered our position, and when we arose at the end of twenty hours' rest, we partook of another hearty meal, and were ready to move.
Taking our places on deck, Torrence touched the controllers, and in a minute we were suspended a couple of hundred feet above the beach. Then slowly we commenced navigating the tortuous coast, first bearing eastwardly across the bay, and then following up the shore line as far as the Norwegian isles, a reef of rocky keys off the northwest coast. Here we took careful bearings; made allowances for the rather singular behavior of the compass, and then heading the ship due north, bore away upon our course.
I felt as if I were about to sail over the face of an unknown planet, and in a great measure, it was just this that we were destined to accomplish. I was fully alive to the terrors of that mysterious, strangely isolated quarter of our globe, where it seemed as if the Almighty had set his ban against man's advance, by encircling it with an impenetrable barrier, to cross which, every effort, of which history holds any record, was fruitless.
When the granite cliffs of Spitzbergen were fading from our view, Torrence turned to me, and said with emphasis:
"Mark my word! We are going to find a better climate ahead than we have left behind. We are going to find land, and a race of men who are unknown to the world. We are going to find many other things; but put that much down as a record if you will;" and so I have entered it.
We were alone, and with a loneliness never felt before. The last saw-like edge of Spitzbergen had sunk below the water line to the south. Yes, even that terribly Northern foothold must now be looked upon as a southern home, when compared with our present resting place. Should we ever look forward to reaching it, as a tropical paradise—the bourne of all our hopes and expectations? For Spitzbergen had known men; it was a part of our own world, and as I watched it fade and sink away it seemed close to all I had ever known and loved in my dear old earth, where nothing could ever be so solemnly, so awfully foreign as where we were, and where we were going.
Suddenly it became cold, and looking down we saw that the ocean had grown strangely quiet, the sparkle and motion of the waves having left it. Descending to a lower level we saw that we were passing over a field of pack ice, solid and impenetrable; and we slackened speed, and sunk still lower to examine it.
As we slipped along close above its hummocky surface, at the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour, we could appreciate some of the difficulties with which Arctic explorers have had to contend. What a herculean task to forge ahead through such an obstacle, whether with ship or sled! And yet with what absolute ease we seemed about to solve the puzzle of the ages. However, we were still a long way from the pole, and there was no telling what might happen before reaching it. At times I would be seized with a superstitious dread of some awful impending calamity, or of some horrible condition of the earth's surface or atmosphere, which would make it impossible for man to live where we were going. But Torrence was firm and resolute, and if such thoughts ever troubled him, he did not speak of them. I could scarcely believe that we should continue to the end as easily as we had begun, and advance without hindrance into the forbidden mysteries beyond.
It grew colder, although I can truly say, so well were we provided against the weather, that neither of us had suffered, and we continued to sit on deck in our top coats without inconvenience. Torrence made half a turn in the screw controlling our elevation, and we rose slightly higher, as there were dangerous looking inequalities in the ice ahead. We also moderately increased our speed, keeping, however, low enough, and running with just such headway as would enable us to see to the best advantage the formations below and around us.
Presently it began to snow, and the ice field became covered with a tattered sheet, the uneven protuberances sticking through in dirty patches. But it was only a summer shower, which we ran out of in a dozen or twenty miles, leaving the sea of frozen waves and hummocks bare again. Then we came to floes, or extended areas of ice that had not packed, wind-driven into the solid masses behind, but were still shifting about with the current, undecided as to their future course. The crunching and roaring of these masses was horrible. Detached areas, miles in extent, would rush at each other with Titanic power, and meeting, rend the air with deafening crashes like the wrecking of a thousand trains.
Next came the piling up into strange, fantastic shapes. Pyramids, towers, and grim fortifications would threaten each other for a minute, and then slowly advancing, meet with a report like thunder, splitting the air from earth to heaven, and melt into each other, to be again squeezed and piled into new designs. It was an awful, yet fascinating sight. But the worst had not come. Onward we swept over this crunching and grinding world, roaring in agony to free itself from the embrace of the demon Cold, which was slowly but surely stiffening it into immovable forms. And as we advanced, the thundering of the under world grew less, for there was no more movement. The forts, the towers, and the pyramids had become fixed and silent, and a city of weird architecture followed. A city of frozen monuments, deserted streets, of isolated villas, cathedrals, parks, and gardens, lakes of dazzling whiteness, turreted battlements with mounted guns commanding open spaces, and distant rivers threading the land beyond. But a deathlike silence reigned. It was a marvelous change, but a greater still was coming. Looking far to the north we observed that these singular ice forms were growing in size and splendor, so that it seemed advisable to rise a little higher to avoid a collision. But they grew. The forts became lofty houses; the houses cathedrals, and the cathedrals great ragged mountains of ice, with pinnacles reaching skyward.
* * * * *
"This," said Torrence, turning toward me with great solemnity, "is the Palæocrystic Sea—the sea of ancient ice—the sea which man has never crossed. We have passed the limits of the known; beyond lies the mystery of the undiscovered world. A world which you will soon admit is greater, and of far more importance than our own!"
Although I could not gather his meaning, there was an import in his words that appalled me.
* * * * *
And now the scene grew more terrible with each mile of advance. Ages of freezing and thawing, accumulations of snow and ice, had produced a spectacle more awful than words can picture. A sea of mountains and valleys; of cañons black in eternal night. A sea of silence. A sea of death.
* * * * *
But I will not dwell upon the horrors that separate the known from the unknown. The Palæocrystic is simply an unexplored belt of ice surrounding the poles. Indeed it is not known to be unbroken, or to be of equal severity throughout. It might be termed a ribbon of ice mountains, which has been ages in forming, and which probably will not average more than fifty miles in breadth, and at some points, doubtless much narrower. Beyond it we came upon free ice again, and further reached the open polar sea.
Here was a marked change in the temperature, and as the air currents were from the north, the frozen area had little effect. Our thermometer showed a few degrees above freezing, and a tendency to rise still higher.
We now felt that we were fairly launched into an unknown world. A placid ocean stretched beneath to an unexplored horizon.
"Now!" exclaimed Torrence with enthusiasm; "if there are any discoveries to be made, we ought soon to make them."
Taking out a pair of field glasses we searched the skyline from the upper deck.
"No land in sight!" said Torrence; "but if I am not mistaken, yonder is a flock of wild geese, leading our course, and not more than half a mile ahead.
"They might be petrels!" I suggested.
"Whatever they are, I propose to give them a chase. A bird or two for dinner wouldn't be a bad idea!"
Although I had never hunted wild geese in an air ship, I agreed that it ought to be good sport.
XIII.
Steering directly after the geese on an ascending plane, we put on a tremendous spurt and soon had the whole gang squawking and floundering before us. There were hundreds, and when pressed, set the pace at a rate that made the air whizz by like a hurricane. It was intensely exciting. But the air ship was too swift to afford the slightest chance of their escape. In a few minutes we had overtaken them, broken their columns, and flown directly into the flock. Our shotguns were ready, but, strange as it may seem, we did not use them, because more than a dozen of the birds fell dead upon our deck from sheer fright, and we let the others escape. It was a strange experience; a method of hunting probably never indulged in before; and it was not at all surprising that the birds should have been frightened to death. The geese proved to be fat and a great delicacy.
We then dropped to our former level and speed, and resumed the lookout for land. Ice floes were still occasionally met, though steadily diminishing in size and apparent solidity. A few hours later we passed the last of them, and then met only an occasional chunk, or hummock, which seemed to be floating northward. We determined the direction by descending close to the surface of the water, and making a careful examination. There could be no doubt about it; the currents which carried these ice masses were trending northward. It seemed to imply some mystery, as yet unconsidered, although Torrence thought it possible that they might be vortex in character, returning again to their starting point.
At the usual hour we went below to partake of our midday meal, having first reduced our speed to a rate not exceeding ten miles an hour, not wishing to run upon anything startling during the stay below. It was fortunate we had done so, for upon coming on deck again, we saw a small blue line to starboard, apparently not more than a dozen or fifteen miles away.
"Land!" We both shouted in a breath.
Immediately we changed our course in the direction of this island, as it appeared; and while drifting toward it, considered whether we should call it Attlebridge Land or Torrence Island. Suddenly Torrence, clapping his hand to his head, exclaimed:
"If it's what I now believe it to be, we have not the right to name it!"
"And what do you believe it to be?" I asked.
"An island," said he.
"And why have we not the right to name it?"
"Because I believe it has been already discovered. Because I believe it is inhabited!"
"Inhabited!" I shouted; "and by whom?"
"By a man."
"By a man, or by men? Which did you say?"
"I said by a man—by one man—I believe that island has asingle inhabitant, but we shall see!"
Again I looked at my brother with curiosity, half-wondering if he were demented.
"I understood you to say that the Palæocrystic Sea was the dividing line between the known and the unknown world.
"And you understood me correctly," he replied,
"There is but one man in the world who knows anything about this island; in fact he is the only man living who has a right to name it."
"I should imagine that the inhabitant you speak of would have an equal right," I observed.
"That is just where you make your mistake," said Torrence with a knowing look. "Were he an ordinary man he might have; but under the circumstances—hardly!"
"And what are the circumstances? Why should he not name it?" I insisted.
"Because he is an idiot!" said Torrence.
I started.
"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
[image]Inscription
[image]
[image]
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; "certainlyneverby 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
[image]Inscription
[image]
[image]
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
{ "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."
I had not thought of this before.
"He may have been here for years," I added.
"He may," Torrence replied, and then producing a paper from a large packet, asked me what I thought of the signature.
I started, for I recognized it at once. It was one of those I had seen through the keyhole in the hotel Mustapha, and the signature was the same as the one before me—Ned Merrick. I then recalled the fact that I had heard my brother address the mysterious stranger—I mean the sailor we had first met upon the Thames boat, and whom afterward I had seen at the Mustapha—as Merrick. Could it be possible that he was the same who had escaped through the ice belt to this island? I was amazed, but before I could make an inquiry Torrence continued:
"I now am certain that this island is inhabited, as I told you, unless, perchance, the man has died. I am also sure of the continents; for the man Merrick having told me the truth in this most amazing case, it is probable that he has not lied in other matters, especially as he gave me proof, and as his story coincides with my own views. Let us look for Jan von Broekhuysen, then we will proceed upon our voyage."
We made a careful search for this extraordinary individual, but not finding any traces of him, we returned to the vessel and prepared to go.
As we were clearing the coast a creature of scarcely human aspect, clad in a robe of feathers and covered to the waist with a mass of tawny gray hair, appeared to rise out of the sand. He probably emerged from the shelter of some neighboring rock, and stood for a moment looking at us in amazement. On a motion to alter our course, as if to pursue him, the creature disappeared as suddenly and strangely as he had come. He was simply invisible, and it would have been useless to waste our time in an effort to capture him. There was no doubt to our minds that this was Jan von Broekhuysen.
* * * * *
XIV.
Northward again we proceeded on our journey, and from the upper deck surveyed the solitude of an ocean unknown to human eyes. All traces of ice had vanished; the sea was tranquil and the air pleasant. Naturally enough our conversation fell upon the mysterious cairn and its contents.
"In my opinion," said Torrence, "this Jan von Broekhuysen is the most unique creation of our planet. He is the only human being of his kind since creation. I will guarantee that not in a million years has the earth produced such another!"
I asked him what he meant, and suggested the possibility of others having been lost under like circumstances, while admitting the improbability of their having reached such a latitude.
"That is not it at all!" he exclaimed; "Jan von Broekhuysen stands alone, and for this reason. Because he is the only living creature of our race who has been put alone in an uninhabited world, and who has never seen nor communicated with a fellow-creature!"
"You mean since he was twenty years old, for I believe the paper says that was his age," said I.
"No," replied Torrence, "I mean nothing of the kind. I mean that never, for a single instant, has he seen or communicated with a fellow-being until he saw us!"
"I don't understand you. Doesn't the paper say he twenty years old when wrecked?"
"Certainly. But doesn't the paper say that when he struck he lost his memory?"
"But what of that? he's sure to have seen plenty of people in the first part of his life."
"Gurt, that fellow never had any other part to his life. His life began afresh after landing on that island. His past having been wiped out, he was born again. His memory being gone, the past had no existence for him. He knew no more about a previous existence than you or I know about a life before this. Practically he was reincarnated, inasmuch as his brain had lost every picture and every record of the past. He came as a new man to a new world, knowing nothing. The first twenty years of his life was no more his than if it had belonged to another body. I claim that Von Broekhuysen is the most unique creature that ever visited our planet!"
I was impressed, and thought some time before answering. Finally I said:
"It is doubtless a remarkable case, but you must be accurate in your statements, and when you declare that the fellow has never either seen or communicated with a fellow-being since losing his memory, you must not forget his comrades, Niles and Merrick, who were with him for a year afterward; surely he must remember them."
"Not at all," said Torrence; "when those men left him he was only a year old, so to speak. He had entered his new existence but a twelvemonth before; and although he had the size and strength of a man, he was but an infant, so far as his mind was concerned, and I defy any one to recall anything which happened at that time of their lives. No one can remember what happened when he was but a year old. I have thought it all out, old boy, and Von Broekhuysen ought to belong to a museum!"
There was no gainsaying what my brother said. I wanted to ask him how Merrick had made his escape, and what had become of the other fellow, but a look warned me that an appropriate time had not come for these questions. I was impressed with the marvelous way in which Torrence had been prepared for our discovery by this extraordinary man, Merrick, who must have seen more of the mysteries of the Arctic regions than any human being alive.
We were sailing over a sea of vast extent, whose shores were mythical. Whither would it lead us? Although it was the time of year when we might reasonably expect to find moderate weather, even in high latitude, we were amazed to find the air so temperate and pleasant as it was. We sat on deck nearly all the time, when not engaged in eating or sleeping, and often without our top coats. We kept constant watch on the horizon, the water below us, and the sky above; expecting at any moment to discover the outline of some unknown continent, but as the monotony of sky and water continued we began to sympathize with Columbus.
Twenty-four hours after leaving the island, which we agreed to call Von Broekhuysen, we estimated that we could not have come less than four hundred miles, and yet there had not been the slightest indication of land, although we had not changed our course half a degree. It was the same placid, unmarked, and unknown ocean. Whither were we drifting?
It was about here that the meteorological conditions of the atmosphere began to strike me as peculiar. The northern horizon had been subjected to a singular phenomenon for a good many hours, which I ascribed to one of those effects of light so common in these latitudes. It was simply a crescent-shaped cloud, growing in height as we advanced. At first it subtended the segment of an arc of about sixty degrees across the horizon, steadily ascending toward the zenith with our progress. But gradually this form lost its definiteness, and melted into the sky in a mellow haze, which softened the light and obscured the sun. We were glad enough to have the glare off the water, as it had been quite trying, but I was at a loss to account for the phenomenon which had abolished it. If Torrence understood this he failed to explain it to me—advising me to wait and see what would happen. I mention it here as an important fact bearing upon our future discoveries. I had never before seen so peculiar a cloud, retaining a definite form for so long a time, fixed in density and character save that the arc grew as we proceeded; and I naturally puzzled myself a good deal meditating on it. But it was not until later that I ascertained the cause of this astounding phenomenon.