XI
The morning was radiant; not a cloud in the sky, nor a hatful of wind. It was Torry's turn to rest, while I kept watch, and that he needed it was shown by the fact that he slept until noon. Meanwhile I got my own breakfast, and set his aside; and then resumed the lookout above. From my lofty perch I caught the occasional glint of a sail, or the dark trail of smoke from a southerly steamer, but these were quickly dropped astern, no matter what their course. Our rate of progress was uninterrupted, and the fascination of flight grew with familiarity. When Torrence came on deck he decided to increase our speed, wishing to make the coast of Norway before night, on account of the intricacy of the mountain channels to be encountered there.
"Once in sight of land," he said, "we can shape our course and elevation accordingly."
I agreed with him, and the water was soon rushing beneath us at a fearful rate. Both sailing ships and steamers were now passed like stationary objects, but the wonder with which we inspired the passengers unfortunately escaped our observation. The day was warm, and the speed agreeable, allowing us to remain on deck in comfort.
While racing, we passed a fleet of schooners loaded with lumber. The consternation caused on board was made apparent by the blast of half a dozen trumpets, which reached our ears in a chorus, although we left the boats so rapidly that the sound was only heard for a minute, and in a quarter of an hour the fleet was out of sight.
At 4 o'clock we caught the first glimpse of the island peaks, off the coast of Norway, and knowing that it would not be dark until after ten, we slackened speed.
Nearing the land the sight was singularly beautiful. The dark blues and greens against the black rocks of those mountain islands, made an intensely vivid picture. Between these lofty heights were revealed far-stretching vistas of bluest sea, bounded again by other islands and other mountains.
Torrence said he should not venture in any of these channels, but proposed running entirely outside the cordon of islands, keeping the coast well in hand upon the right. Fortunately there would be but two or three hours of darkness, or it might have been expedient to seek a higher level to avoid the possibility of accident by collision; as it was, a sharp lookout would be all that was necessary.
After sailing up the coast for a couple of hours, I went below to prepare supper, which we decided to eat on deck, so as not to miss the magnificent scenery. This we did, and later I was instructed in the art of aerial navigation, and after changing our course a few points to seaward for safety, Torrence went below to sleep, leaving me in charge. During this watch our speed was materially lowered, as we did not deem it wise to run rapidly along this dangerous coast, while I was alone on deck.
The feeling of power as I sat there with absolute control of the vessel was exhilarating. I had never had such a sensation before. Like a visitor from another planet I floated on above the sea, inspecting the most exquisitely weird and beautiful scenery, made doubly entrancing by the lingering twilight, which seemed as if it would never fade away. The intensity of the coloring, the purity of the atmosphere, and the marvelous shapes of these mountain islands, made impressions not easily obliterated. There was an endless variety of fiords and water vistas opening between them, and each vista and each island showed something new.
Torrence slept soundly until 10:30 o'clock when, as the twilight had deepened into gloom, I thought it best to call him, and went below to sleep myself. The night was quickly passed, as there was little of it, and in the watches we rounded the headlands of the Sogne, the Geiranger, and the Romsdal fiords, and then steering a little more to the east with the trend of the coast, made for the great bay of Trondhjem, which we reached about the middle of the afternoon. Skirting the opening of the fiord, Torrence asked if I thought it worth while to pay a visit to this historic city of the Norwegians – Trondhjem being one of their most important and beautiful towns. If we concluded to go, he said it would be best, in order not to attract attention, to land upon one of the lonely island hilltops near the town, and thence make our way by foot and boat. We talked the matter over, but finally decided to let all towns alone, it being possible that the authorities held orders for our detention, as they had in Hull.
"We are quite safe where we are," said Torrence, "and when we stop, let it be away from people."
Having decided to stick to the air ship, we went directly on past the mouth of the bay without entering it. The town itself is a number of miles further up the fiord.
We now headed straight for the North Cape, which we reached in about five days from London. We passed the Lofoten isles, the Vest fiord, Tromsoe, Hammerfest, and other points of beauty and interest along this marvelous coast, without stopping at any of them, and landed upon the northernmost point of Europe without accident. On this desolate headland we decided to make our first landing, to overhaul the machinery, stretch our legs, and have a general pow-wow on Mother Earth before proceeding further.
An elevated plain, lopped off at one end by a wall of granite, hundreds of feet high, and overlooking the sea, stood ready to receive us. No human habitation is visible, but thousands of pigeons living in the crannies of the cliff were frightened at our approach, and flew about wildly in all directions. Above this plain we halted, and then slowly began our descent.
At the water level on the east is a steamboat landing, where the Olaff Kyrre stops once or twice during the summer for the benefit of tourists who find their way to the top by a winding path cut in the face of the wall. Thence to the northern cliff is a level walk of over a mile across this plain, along which a wire is stretched to guide those who happen to be caught in a fog, which at times is very dense and sudden.
This plain afforded the isolation we sought, and with a slow and steady movement we descended upon it. We touched the ground so lightly that I was not aware of our landing until Torrence threw out the ladder and stepped over. I followed immediately, and then we sent up a shout of triumph for the success that had so far attended our journey. We walked around the air ship, admiring her from every point of view, and then went away to see how she looked at a distance. She was perfect! The grandest thing ever constructed; the most powerful engine for the advance of man's material welfare ever executed. Torrence made a careful examination of her working parts. Not a screw or bearing was out of place; and not withstanding the way we had speeded her on occasions, she was none the worse for it. She was carefully oiled, and where necessary lubricated with graphite, and we had the satisfaction of knowing that she was in quite as good condition as on leaving London.
"I am willing to trust my life in her across the frozen sea!" said Torrence, observing her with intense admiration.
"Now is the time to decide if you're not," I answered; "though for my part I believe she is safer than dry land!"
"That is exactly my idea," said he, "although, if you should feel inclined to change your mind, there is another chance at Spitzbergen, where we shall stop again before the final leap."
"I have not the slightest intention of doing so, old boy, in fact I am quite as anxious to get to the pole as you are; and strange as it may seem I feel safer in the air ship than standing here."
We were unanimous in our determination to go to the pole, and I will guarantee that no expedition ever started for there with so good a prospect of reaching it, or with greater comforts than we had.
We cooked our supper near the edge of the cliff overlooking the Arctic Ocean, and we both felt that it was a solemn occasion, for we should soon be placing an impassable gulf between ourselves and the land of human habitations, and entering the great solitudes of the unexplored North.
As there was no wood for fuel, we used an armful of our own kindling, which we had brought for just such occasions, and while drinking hot coffee we discussed the past, and the prospect of the future.
"I am absolutely certain of success," said Torrence; "nothing but an air ship can reach the pole, and an air ship has never yet tried to get there. What's the use of an old water-tank endeavoring to screw her way through a continent of ice. She might as well run her nose against Gibraltar, in the hope of coming out on the other side. The mystery to me is why no one has ever tried this before."
"You're not there yet, old man," I answered; "don't crow before you're out of the woods."
"Ah!" said Torrence, smiling, "I believe the worst wood we had to get out of was London; and having shot the rapids at Gravesend, I think we can go the rest of the way."
I was quite as enthusiastic as he, but being without his knowledge, had not the same convictions.
"And so Spitzbergen will be our next stopping place?" I observed, between mouthfuls of coffee.
"Yes, when we shoot off this cliff to the northward we'll set neither eye nor foot on land for five hundred miles. So make the most of this boggy sward while we have it. Five hundred miles to the north of this is pretty far north – and then – "
"And then our real journey begins," I interrupted.
"You may say so," he answered, broiling a piece of bacon with a fork over the coals. "Certainly the most interesting part begins after leaving Spitzbergen. I flatter myself that the entire voyage from that point will be one of unusual interest."
I had every confidence in our ability to reach the pole, for without the difficulty of ice to encounter, I could see no good reason why we should not. Moreover, the season of the year would insure pleasant weather in high latitudes; there would probably be no detention, as in other expeditions, and it seemed a reasonable presumption that we should reach 90° north, while the summer was yet at its height.
Presently a dense fog came rolling in from the sea, and in a few minutes the air ship was lost to view, although not more than forty or fifty yards from where we were sitting. We continued eating our lunch like a couple of specters on each side of the fire, until, finding that we were getting wet, I got up to go after some oilskins. I thought I knew exactly where the machine was, believing that I had sat down with my back toward it, and at best did not suppose it possible to lose so large an object so close at band. I walked until quite sure that I had covered the distance separating me from it, and then continued to walk on farther. Suddenly I stopped, convinced that I had mistaken the direction. I started upon another course, and after another unsuccessful tramp stopped again. Then I called for Torrence, and told him that I was lost. His voice sounded much farther than I thought it should, and I tried to get back to him by following it. Presently he called out imperatively:
"Stop! don't try to find me. Stand perfectly still until it clears!"
"Why not? if you'll keep on talking I'm sure to find you."
Then he shouted vehemently.
"Stop! for God's sake, stop! You're risking your life with every step. Have you forgotten that we're on the edge of a precipice?"
I had not forgotten it, but his words startled me into realizing the danger of my position, and I stood perfectly still. Strangely enough I had not thought of the possibility of tumbling over the cliff, believing all the while that I was walking in the opposite direction; but now the murmur of the sea on the rocks below convinced me that I was nearer than I had supposed.
"If you move at all," shouted Torrence, "go only one step at a time. I mean, look carefully at each step before you take it."
I could not imagine how I had come so far, for his voice sounded strangely distant.
"Have you moved from where I left you?" I called.
"No," was the answer, "and don't intend to."
"That's right. I think I can find you if you keep talking."
"All right; go ahead; but watch the ground carefully at every step!"
The truth is I could not see much above a yard at a time, and a misstep would have been fatal. Torrence continued to talk, and I slowly advanced in the direction from which his voice seemed to come. Suddenly my way was blocked by a solid wall and in another instant I saw that it was the air ship. I now perceived why the voice had been so faint, for I had wandered clear around the machine, which had intercepted it.
Feeling my way carefully to the ladder I called out that all was well.
"No matter about the skins," came the answer, "let us get off as soon as possible. Go into the saloon and fetch a ball of twine from the locker; tie one end to the step, then make your way slowly!"
I found the twine; groped forward with the ball in my hand, and reached camp without accident. Then we commenced carrying our cook tools back to the boat.
"There is no place like home!" yelled Torrence, returning with the last load. In another minute he had climbed over the side, and drawing a breath of relief, added:
"It is fortunate we travel by air instead of land or water, because we shan't have to wait for the fog!"
A few minutes more and the ladder was hauled in, the gangway closed, the hatch to the upper deck shut down, and we were comfortably established in our cosy cabin. Then Torrence going to his controlling board, pressed a button, moved a lever, turned a screw, and we were swung gently up, and resumed our journey north, 11° west, headed for Spitzbergen, which Torrence said we should reach within twenty-four hours.
I don't know why it was always such an indescribable pleasure to feel clear of earth; and yet this was the fact. The first sensation of being above the ground was a thrill of inexplicable delight. It seemed as if we were lifted into a higher plane of being, morally as well as bodily, involving a certain arrogant sympathy for those left behind. The poor creatures knew so little about life, and it even amazed me to think that I had been one of them for so many years without realizing the depravity of my state. Life without an air ship was not worth the living; but with it, I could answer Mr. Mallock's question without thought or hesitation.
When the fog cleared we were many miles to seaward, and the rock-bound coast of Europe showed only as a dark line against the horizon. Torrence said there was nothing to prevent our going into the cuddy for a sleep, which we needed, that in our present position there was no danger; that collision was impossible, and falling equally so. That the air ship was headed for Spitzbergen, and could take care of herself – in short, that we should be just as safe as if sleeping in the Mustapha. I suggested the possibility of icebergs but he explained that we were above the altitude of the highest ever known in this quarter, and that, moreover, it was improbable that any would be passed at this season and this locality. And so, taking his word for it, we both turned in and slept ten hours without waking. At the end of that time we felt like new men, and climbed up on deck to look out.
A dull gray sea, bounded only by the sky-line, was rushing away beneath, and so far as I could tell, our speed and elevation had remained unchanged. Despite my brother's assurance, I could not help feeling that we had taken an awful risk about the icebergs; but when he told me that the ice masses formed off Spitzbergen were greatly inferior in size to those coming down from Greenland, I was better satisfied. Indeed, it was very rare, he said, that an iceberg in this part of the ocean was more than one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet in height; they were differently shaped, being flat on top, and covering considerable area, but never high; while our own altitude was more than a thousand feet. Torrence had made quite a study of the polar regions, and I had great confidence in his judgment.
On we sped – I cannot say during the day, for there was no night, although we kept a record of the time, and at regular intervals darkened our sleeping apartments to delude ourselves into the belief that it was night above. While on watch we sunk to a lower level, as being warmer, although it was getting to be the time of year when the mercury seldom falls below freezing even in this latitude. Occasional masses of ice were now passed, though none of any considerable size, and I can truthfully say that, except when above the clouds, we had not, so far, suffered from cold.
About thirty hours after leaving the North Cape of Norway the irregular, saw-shaped outline of Spitzbergen peeped above the horizon. Our passage had been uneventful, and as we neared the barren shores of the west island, there was nothing to invite us to linger. We decided, however, to land for a short time before pursuing our journey northward.
Proceeding with care we entered the channel to the east of Prince Charles Foreland, known as Foreland Bay. Moving up this passage to its upper terminal, and then crossing King's Bay, we effected a landing opposite Cape Mitra, on the eastern shore of Cross Bay. The whole country was desolate beyond description, and we only halted for another examination of our vessel before plunging into the great unknown beyond.
We touched earth on a shelly beach, and congratulated ourselves on having reached this high latitude in safety.
Drift wood abounded, and we soon had a roaring fire, with the prospect of a good meal ahead. We took care this time to guard against fog by carrying a line from the air ship to our encampment.
Torrence wanted to shoot a reindeer, an ice fox, or a polar bear before leaving, although neither of us cared to make a sporting tour for fear of getting lost; moreover, the time was valuable. There were no indications of life from our point of landing, although we knew the islands abounded in Arctic game, and that the animals mentioned were plentiful. Torrence seemed particularly anxious to run across a herd of deer, and when I suggested that a white bear would be a finer sight, he shrugged his shoulders and said:
"Perhaps; but I have special reasons for wanting a deer, which I will explain later; meanwhile let us get dinner."
And so we set to work upon the best our larder afforded, feeling that it would probably be our last meal on land for a very indefinite time. Indeed when I thought of the future and the unexplored regions ahead, and the mysteries of the unknown awaiting us, I confess to some nervous apprehension.
The realm we were about to penetrate had been from all time screened from the eyes of man; was it not sacrilege to force the hand of Providence and expose it now?
* * * * *
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 mean continent, not continents," 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 of continents!" 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.