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21 - Baron Trump's Marvellous Underground Journey - Ingersoll Lockwood · Daily Sci-Fi Books

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty one. How we were lighted on our way
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  Speaker 1: down the dark and silent river. Sudden and fierce onslaught
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  Speaker 1: upon our beautiful boat of shell, a fight for life
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  Speaker 1: against terrible odds, And how Bulgar stood by me through it,
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  Speaker 1: all cold air and lumps of ice, our entry into
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  Speaker 1: the cavern, whence they came the boat of Shell comes
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  Speaker 1: to the end of its forage. Sunlight in the world
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  Speaker 1: within a world, and all about the wonderful window through
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  Speaker 1: which it poured and the mysterious land it lighted. I
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  Speaker 1: dare say, dear friends, that you are puzzling your brains
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  Speaker 1: to think out how it was possible for me to
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  Speaker 1: row away from the wonderful city of the former folk
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  Speaker 1: without running our boat continually ashore. Ah, you forget that
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  Speaker 1: the keen eyed Bulger was at the helm, and that
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  Speaker 1: it was not the first time that he had piloted
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  Speaker 1: me through darkness impenetrable to my eyes. But more than this,
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  Speaker 1: I soon discovered that the plashing of my silver oars
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  Speaker 1: kept my little friends, the fire lizards, in a constant
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  Speaker 1: state of alarm. And although I couldn't hear the crackling
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  Speaker 1: of their tails, yet the tiny flashes of light served
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  Speaker 1: to outline the shore admirably. So I pulled away with
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  Speaker 1: a will and down this dark and silent river, for
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  Speaker 1: there was a current, although hardly perceptible. Bulgar and I
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  Speaker 1: were borne along in the beautiful bark of Tortoiseshell, with
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  Speaker 1: its prow of carved and burnished silver. During my sojourn
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  Speaker 1: in the land of the Pseudopsies, I had one day,
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  Speaker 1: while calling upon the learned barrel Brow, noticed a beautifully
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  Speaker 1: carved silver hand lamp of the Pompeian pattern among his curiosities.
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  Speaker 1: I asked him if he knew what it was. He
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  Speaker 1: replied that he did, adding that it had doubtless been
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  Speaker 1: brought from the upper world by his people, and he
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  Speaker 1: begged me to accept it as a keepsake. I did so,
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  Speaker 1: and upon leaving the city of Silver, I filled it
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  Speaker 1: with fish oil and fitted a silken wick to it.
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  Speaker 1: It was well that I had done so, for after
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  Speaker 1: a while the fire lizards disappeared entirely, and Bowker and
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  Speaker 1: I would have been left in total darkness had I
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  Speaker 1: not drawn forth my beautiful silver lamp, lighted it and
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  Speaker 1: suspended it from the beak of the silver swan, which
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  Speaker 1: curved its graceful neck above the bow of our boat.
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  Speaker 1: After lying on my oars long enough to set some
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  Speaker 1: food before bulgar and partake a sum myself, I again
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  Speaker 1: started on my voyage down the silent river, no longer
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  Speaker 1: shrouded in impenetrable gloom. I had not taken over half
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  Speaker 1: a dozen strokes when suddenly one of my oars was
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  Speaker 1: almost twisted out of my hand by a vicious tug
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  Speaker 1: from some inhabitant of these dark and sluggish waters. I
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  Speaker 1: resolved to quicken my stroke in order to escape another
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  Speaker 1: such a wrench, for the silver oars fashioned by the
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  Speaker 1: Pseudopsis for me, were a very delicate make, intended only
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  Speaker 1: for very gentle usage. Suddenly, another vicious snap was made
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  Speaker 1: at my other oar, and this time the animal succeeded
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  Speaker 1: in retaining its hold, for I dared not attempt to
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  Speaker 1: wrench the oar out of its grip for fear of
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  Speaker 1: breaking it. It was a large cras station of the
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  Speaker 1: crab family, and its milk white shell gave it a
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  Speaker 1: ghost like look as it struggled about in the black waters,
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  Speaker 1: fiercely intent to keep its hold upon the oar. The
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  Speaker 1: next instant, a similar creature had fastened firmly upon my
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  Speaker 1: other oar, and there I sat utterly helpless. But worse
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  Speaker 1: than this, the dark waters were now fairly alive, with
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  Speaker 1: these white armored guards of this underworld stream, each apparently
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  Speaker 1: bent upon setting an immediate end to my progress through
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  Speaker 1: their domain. They now began a series of furious efforts
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  Speaker 1: to lay hold of the sides of my boat with
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  Speaker 1: their large claws, but happily, its polished surface made this
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  Speaker 1: impossible for them to accomplish. Up to this moment, Bulgar
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  Speaker 1: had not stirred a muscle or uttered a sound, But
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  Speaker 1: now a sharp growl from him told me that something
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  Speaker 1: serious had happened at his end of the boat. It
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  Speaker 1: was serious, indeed, for several of the largest of the
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  Speaker 1: fierce crustaceans had laid hold of the rudder and were
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  Speaker 1: wrenching it from side to side as if to tear
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  Speaker 1: it off. Every attempt, of course, caused a tug at
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  Speaker 1: the tiller ropes held between Bulgar's teeth, But bracing himself firmly,
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  Speaker 1: he resisted their furious efforts as well as he could,
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  Speaker 1: and succeeded in saving the rudder for the time being.
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  Speaker 1: All of a sudden, our frail bark of shell crashed
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  Speaker 1: into some sort of obstruction and came to a dead standstill.
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  Speaker 1: Peering into the darkness. To my horror, I saw that
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  Speaker 1: the wily enemy had spanned the river with chains made
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  Speaker 1: up of living lynx, by each laying hold of his
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  Speaker 1: neighbor's claw, the chain thus formed, being then rendered almost
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  Speaker 1: as strong as steel by the interweaving of their double
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  Speaker 1: rows of small hooked legs. Our advance was not only blocked,
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  Speaker 1: but death, an awful death, seemed to be staring us
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  Speaker 1: in the face. For what possible hope of escape could
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  Speaker 1: there be if Bulger and I should leap into the water,
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  Speaker 1: now alive, with these fast swimming creatures whirling their huge
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  Speaker 1: claws about in search for some way to get at us.
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  Speaker 1: From the brave manner in which Bulger was holding the
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  Speaker 1: madly swinging helm, I saw that he was determined not
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  Speaker 1: to surrender. But alas bravery is but a sorry thing
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  Speaker 1: for two to fight a thousand with. And yet I
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  Speaker 1: had not lost my head. Don't think that true. I
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  Speaker 1: was hard pressed the very dust of the balance. If
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  Speaker 1: thicker on their side might make my scale kick the beam,
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  Speaker 1: I had hauled both oars into the boat by reaching
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  Speaker 1: over and beating off the claws fastened upon them, and
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  Speaker 1: had up to this moment driven back every one of
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  Speaker 1: the fierce creatures, which had succeeded in throwing one of
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  Speaker 1: its claws over the edge of the boat. But now,
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  Speaker 1: to my horror, I felt that our little craft was
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  Speaker 1: being slowly but surely drawn stern first toward the river bank.
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  Speaker 1: In order to accomplish this, the crustaceans had thrown out
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  Speaker 1: a line composed of their bodies gripped together, and had
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  Speaker 1: made it fast to the rudder. Not an instant was
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  Speaker 1: to be lost. Once upon the bank, the fierce creatures
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  Speaker 1: would swarm around us by the ten thousands, drag us down,
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  Speaker 1: pinch us to death, and tear us piecemeal. An idea
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  Speaker 1: flashed upon me. It was this, It is folly to
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  Speaker 1: attempt to resist these countless swarms of crustaceans by the
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  Speaker 1: use of one pair of weak hands, even though they
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  Speaker 1: be aided by Bulger's keen and willing teeth. We should,
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  Speaker 1: after a brief struggle, go down, as the brave man
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  Speaker 1: in the sewer went down when the famished rats leapt
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  Speaker 1: upon him from every side at once, or as the
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  Speaker 1: stray buffalo goes down when the pack of ravenous wolves
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  Speaker 1: closes up its circle about him. If I am to
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  Speaker 1: save my life, it must be by striking a blow
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  Speaker 1: that will reach every one of these small but fierce
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  Speaker 1: enemies at the same instant, and thus paralyze them, or
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  Speaker 1: at least bewilder them, until I can succeed in making
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  Speaker 1: my escape. Quickly, drawing my brace of pistols, I held
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  Speaker 1: their muzzles close to the water and discharge them at
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  Speaker 1: the same instant. The effect was terrific, like a crash
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  Speaker 1: of a terrible thunderbolt. The report burst forth and echoed
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  Speaker 1: through these vast and silent chambers, until it seemed as
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  Speaker 1: if the great vaulted roof of rock had, by some
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  Speaker 1: awful convulsion of nature, been cast roaring and rattling down
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  Speaker 1: upon the face of these black and sluggish waters. When
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  Speaker 1: the smoke had cleared away, a strange but welcome sight
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  Speaker 1: met my gaze. Tens of thousands of the huge crabs
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  Speaker 1: floated lifeless upon the surface of the river, with their
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  Speaker 1: shells split by the concussion the full length of their bodies.
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  Speaker 1: It proved to have been a masterly stroke on my part,
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  Speaker 1: and dear friends, you will believe me when I tell
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  Speaker 1: you that I drew a deep breath as I set
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  Speaker 1: my silver oars against the thole pins, and, having worked
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  Speaker 1: my boat clear of the swarm of stunned crustaceans, rowed
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  Speaker 1: away for dear life, Dear life. Ah, yes, dear life.
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  Speaker 1: For whose life is not dear to him? Even though
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  Speaker 1: it be dark and gloomy at times? Is there not
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  Speaker 1: always something or some one to live for? Is there
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  Speaker 1: not always a glam glimmer of hope that the morrow's
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  Speaker 1: sun will go up brighter than it did this morning? Well, anyway,
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  Speaker 1: I repeat that I rode away for dear life, while
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  Speaker 1: Bulgar held the tiller ropes and kept our frail bark
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  Speaker 1: of polished shell in the middle of the stream. Whether
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  Speaker 1: the air was actually colder, or whether it was merely
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  Speaker 1: the natural chill that so often strikes the human heart
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  Speaker 1: after it had been beating and throbbing with alternate hope
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  Speaker 1: and fear, I couldn't say at the time, But I
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  Speaker 1: knew this much, that I suddenly found myself suffering from
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  Speaker 1: the cold for the first time since my descent into
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  Speaker 1: the world within a world. The air nipped my finger
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  Speaker 1: tips that soft, balmy, June like atmosphere was gone, and
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  Speaker 1: I made haste to put on my fur trimmed top coat,
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  Speaker 1: which I had not made much use of lately. At
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  Speaker 1: that moment, one of my oars struck against some hard
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  Speaker 1: substance floating in the waters. I put out my hand
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  Speaker 1: to feel of it. To my great surprise, it proved
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  Speaker 1: to be a lump of ice, and very soon another
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  Speaker 1: and another went floating by us. We were most surely
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  Speaker 1: entering a region where it was cold enough to make ice.
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  Speaker 1: I was not sorry for this, for, to tell the truth,
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  Speaker 1: Bulgar and I were both beginning to feel the effects
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  Speaker 1: of our long sojourn in the rocky chambers of this underworld,
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  Speaker 1: whose atmosphere, though soft and warm, yet lacked the elasticity
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  Speaker 1: of the open air ice caverns would be a complete change,
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  Speaker 1: and the cold air would no doubt send our blood
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  Speaker 1: tingling through our veins, just as if we were out
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  Speaker 1: a slain in the upper world on a winter's night,
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  Speaker 1: when the stars twinkle over our heads and the snow
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  Speaker 1: crystals creak beneath our runners. Soon now huge icicles began
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  Speaker 1: to dot the roof of rock that spanned the river
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  Speaker 1: and shafts and columns of ice dimly visible along the shore,
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  Speaker 1: seemed to be standing there like silent sentries, watching our
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  Speaker 1: boat as it threaded its way through the ever narrowing channel,
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  Speaker 1: and now to a faint glow of light reached us
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  Speaker 1: from I knew not where, so that by straining my
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  Speaker 1: eyes I could see that the river had taken a
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  Speaker 1: sweep and entered a vast cavern with roofs and walls
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  Speaker 1: of ice fretted and carved into fantastic depths and niches,
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  Speaker 1: and shells and cornices. With hearing, their shapes so fanciful
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  Speaker 1: that it seemed to me I had entered some vast
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  Speaker 1: hall of statuary, where hero and warrior, Nymph and maiden
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  Speaker 1: shepherd and bird catcher filled these shells and niches in
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  Speaker 1: glorious array. Farther advance by water was impossible, for the
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  Speaker 1: blocks of ice, knitted together like a floe, closed the
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  Speaker 1: river completely. I therefore determined to make a landing, draw
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  Speaker 1: my boat upon the shore, and continue my journey on foot.
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  Speaker 1: The mysterious light, which up to this moment had shed
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  Speaker 1: its pale glimmer like an Arctic night, upon the roofs
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  Speaker 1: and walls of ice of these silent chambers now began
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  Speaker 1: to strengthen, so that Bulgar and I had no difficulty
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  Speaker 1: in picking our way along the shore. In fact, we
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  Speaker 1: crossed and recrossed the river itself when the whims seized us,
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  Speaker 1: for it now went winding on ahead of us, like
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  Speaker 1: a broad ribbon of ice, through caverns and corridors. Suddenly
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  Speaker 1: I came to a halt and stood as motionless as
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  Speaker 1: the fantastic forms of ice surrounding me. What could it mean?
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  Speaker 1: Were my eyes weakened by my long sojourn in the
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  Speaker 1: world within a world plain me cruel tricks. Surely there
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  Speaker 1: can be no mistake, I whispered to myself. That light yonder,
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  Speaker 1: which pours its glorious effulgence upon those spires and pinnacles,
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  Speaker 1: those towers and turrets of ice, is the sunshine of
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  Speaker 1: the upper world. Can it be that my marvelous underground
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  Speaker 1: journey is ended, that I stand upon the threshold of
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  Speaker 1: the upper world once more? Vulgar too recognizes this flood
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  Speaker 1: of sunshine, and, breaking out into a fit of joyous barking,
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  Speaker 1: dashes on ahead to be the first one to feel
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  Speaker 1: its gentle warmth. After our long journey through the dark
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  Speaker 1: and silent passages of the world within a world. But
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  Speaker 1: I dare not trust my eyes, and, fearing lest he
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  Speaker 1: should fall into some ambush or meet with some dread accident,
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  Speaker 1: I called him back to me. Together we hurry along
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  Speaker 1: as rapidly as possible. Now I note that we are
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  Speaker 1: drawing near to the end of the vast corridor through
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  Speaker 1: which we have been making our way for some time,
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  Speaker 1: and that we stand upon the portal of a mighty
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  Speaker 1: subterranean region, lighted with real sunlight. It stretches away as
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  Speaker 1: far as the eye can reach, And so high is
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  Speaker 1: the roof that spans this vast under world that I
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  Speaker 1: cannot see whether it be of ice or not. All
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  Speaker 1: that I can see is that through one of its
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  Speaker 1: sloping sides there streams a mighty torrent of sunlight, which
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  Speaker 1: pours its splendor with unstinting hand upon the wide highways,
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  Speaker 1: the broad terraces, the sheer parapets, and the sloping banks
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  Speaker 1: which diversify this ice world. Can it be that one
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  Speaker 1: side of this mighty mountain, which nature has here hollowed
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  Speaker 1: out and set like a peaked roof over this vast
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  Speaker 1: subterranean region, is a gigantic window of ice itself, through
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  Speaker 1: which the sunlight of the outer world streams in in
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  Speaker 1: this grand way, like a silent cataract of light, like
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  Speaker 1: a deluge of sunshine. No, this could not be, for now,
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  Speaker 1: upon a second look, I saw that this flood of light,
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  Speaker 1: thus streaming through the side of the mountain, came through
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  Speaker 1: it like a mighty pencil of rays, and striking the
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  Speaker 1: opposite walls with its brilliancy a hundredfold increased, rebounded in
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  Speaker 1: a thousand directions, flooding the whole region with its s effulgence,
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  Speaker 1: and dying away in faint and pearl like glimmer in
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  Speaker 1: the vast approach where I had first noted it. And
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  Speaker 1: therefore I understood that Nature must have set a gigantic
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  Speaker 1: lens twice a thousand feet or more in diameter in
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  Speaker 1: the sloping side of this hollow mountain, a perfect lens
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  Speaker 1: of purest rock crystal, which, in gathering in its mysterious bosom,
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  Speaker 1: the sunlight of the outer world threw it intensely radiant
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  Speaker 1: and dazzling white into the gloomy depths of this world
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  Speaker 1: within a world, so that when the sun went up
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  Speaker 1: out there, it went up and here as well, but
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  Speaker 1: became cold as it was beautiful, bringing no warmth, no
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  Speaker 1: other cheer save light to this subterranean region, which for
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  Speaker 1: thousands of centuries had lain locked in the crystal embrace
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  Speaker 1: of frozen lakes and brooks, and rivers and torrents and waterfalls,
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  Speaker 1: once bubbling and flowing and rushing headlong through fair lands
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  Speaker 1: of the Upper world, but suddenly checked in their course
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  Speaker 1: by some bursting forth of mighty pent up forces, and
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  Speaker 1: turned downward into these icy depths, condemned to everlasting rest
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  Speaker 1: and silence, their crystals, locked in a sleep that never
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  Speaker 1: would know an awakening, mocked in their dreams by this
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  Speaker 1: mysterious sunlight that came with the smile and the fair,
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  Speaker 1: winsome look of the real, and yet was so powerless
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  Speaker 1: to set them free, as once it did when the
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  Speaker 1: springtime came in the upper world. All these thoughts, and
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  Speaker 1: many others besides, flitted through my mind as I stood
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  Speaker 1: looking up at that mighty lens in its setting of
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  Speaker 1: mightier rock, And so deeply impressed was I by the
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  Speaker 1: sight of such a great flood of sunlight pouring through
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  Speaker 1: this gigantic hull's eye which Nature had set in the
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  Speaker 1: rocky side of the hollow mountain peak and illumining this underworld.
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  Speaker 1: That the longer I gazed upon the wonderful spectacle, the
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  Speaker 1: more firmly enthralled my senses became by it. The deep silence,
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  Speaker 1: the deliciously pure air, the ever varying tints of the light,
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  Speaker 1: as the mighty ice columns acting the part of prisms,
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  Speaker 1: literally filled those vast chambers with the rainbow's glorious glow,
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  Speaker 1: imparted unto the spell resting upon me such unearthly power
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  Speaker 1: that it might have held me there until my limbs
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  Speaker 1: hardened into icy crystals, and my eyes looked out with
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  Speaker 1: a frozen stare, had not the ever watchful Bulgar given
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  Speaker 1: a gentle tug at the skirt of my coat and
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  Speaker 1: aroused me from my enthralling meditation. End of Chapter twenty
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  Speaker 1: one