Five Thousand Miles Underground; Or, the Mystery of the Centre of the Earth by - (best novels of all time txt) 📕

us, and of our ship, though how I do not know, as I thought I had kept it a great secret. By almost superhuman struggles he made his way to our island. He says he concealed himself aboard the Mermaid the night before we sailed, but I hardly believe it possible. It seems——”

“He did it, for I saw him!” interrupted Mark.

“You saw him!” cried Mr. Henderson.

Then Mark told of the many things that had puzzled him so, how he had seen the queer figure slinking aboard the boat, of the disappearance of food from time to time, and of the strange noises in the storeroom.

“That bears out what he told me,” the professor said. “Hankos says he used to steal out nights and take what food he could get, and he also mentions some one, answering to Mark’s description, who nearly discovered him once as he hurried back into the apartment.

“However, it seems to be true, since Mark confirms it. At any rate Hankos stayed in hiding, and made the entire trip with us, and, just as we all became overcome with the strange gas he escaped, having begun to expand to his original giant size, and being unable to remain any longer in his cramped quarters.”

“That’s so, he did!” cried Mark. “I saw him come out of the place just before I lost my senses. It was a terrible sight, and none of you would believe me when I told you some of the occurrences afterward.”

“You must forgive us for that,” the professor said. “We have learned much since then.”

“What did Hankos do after he left the ship when it landed in this country?” asked Jack.

“He traveled until he came to this village, which is the chief one of this country,” replied the professor. “Part of the time he followed us at a distance, being able to travel very fast.”

Mark remembered the strange figure of a giant he had seen on the hill tops several times, and knew that he had been observing the being who had played such a queer part in their lives.

“When he came back among his own people,” went on Mr. Henderson, “they would not receive him at first, believing him to be an impostor. But Hankos convinced them of his identity and was allowed to don the golden armor, which is the badge of kingship. He had only been in office for a little while when he heard of the arrival of the strange thing, which turned out to be our ship. He recognized it from the description, and, learning that we were likely to be sacrificed to the fury and ignorance of the giants, he hurried here and saved our lives.

“He says he can never thank us enough for being the means whereby he was able to get back to his own country, and says the freedom of this whole inner world is ours. He has given orders that we are to go wherever we like, and none will molest us. He tells me the land is a wonderful one, compared to our own, and urges us to make a long journey. He would like to go with us, only, now that he has resumed his natural size, he can not get inside the ship.”

“Hurrah for King Hankos!” cried Jack and the others joined him in a hearty cheer.

The giant in the golden armor evidently understood the compliment which was paid him, for he waved his helmet in the air and responded with a shout of welcome that made the ground tremble.

Hankos waited until the professor had translated all of the story to the other travelers. Then the genial giant began to talk some more, and the professor listened intently.

“He says,” spoke Mr. Henderson to his friends, “that we will be supplied with all the fruit we want, and with the best of the houses to sleep in on our journey. He also tells me he has great stores of shining stones and piles of the metal of which his armor is made, and that we are welcome to as much as we want. If this means unlimited gold and diamonds, we may make our fortunes.”

“Jest let me git ma’ hand on a few sparklers an’ I’ll quit work!” exclaimed Washington.

“I have told him,” the scientist went on, “that we will take advantage of his kind offer. We will start on our trip in a day or so, after we have looked over the ship to see if it is not damaged. He tells me the gold and sparkling stones are several thousand miles away, on top of a high mountain. We will make that our objective point.”

The interview between the king and Mr. Henderson having ended, the former waved his sword in the air and the swarm of big men came back. They had been hiding back in the woods. Now their manner was very different. They carefully, removed the rollers and ropes, and soon there was brought to the adventurers an immense pile of fine fruits. If our friends had stayed there a year they could not have eaten it all. The giants were judging the appetites of the travelers by their own.

That night the adventurers slept more soundly than they had since entering the strange world. They felt they had nothing to fear from the giants. In the morning they were not molested, though big crowds gathered to look at the ship. But they kept back a good distance. The machinery was found to be in good shape, save for a few repairs, and when these were made, the professor announced he would start on a long journey.

For several weeks after that the travelers swung about in their ship, sometimes sailing in the air and again on big seas and lakes viewing the wonders of the inner world. They were many and varied, and the professor collected enough material for a score of books which he said he would write when he got back to the outer world once more.

One afternoon, as they were sailing over a vast stretch of woodland, which did not seem to be inhabited, Mr. Henderson, looking at one of the gages on the wall, asked:

“Boys do you know how far you have traveled underground?”

“How far?” asked Jack, who hated to guess riddles.

“More than four thousand miles,” was the answer.

“But we haven’t come to that mountain of gold and diamonds,” said Mark. “I am anxious to see that.”

“Have patience,” replied the professor. “I have not steered toward it yet. There are other things to see.”

Just then Washington’s voice could be heard calling from the conning tower:

“We’re coming to a big mountain!”

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE TEMPLE OF TREASURE

“What’s that?” fairly yelled the professor.

“We am propelling ourselves in a contiguous direction an’ in close proximity to an elevated portion of th’ earth’s surface which rises in antiguous proximity t’ th’ forward part of our present means of locomotion!” said the colored man in a loud voice.

“Which means there may be a collision,” the professor said, as he and the boys hurried toward the tower.

“Jest what I said,” retorted Washington. “What’ll I do?”

“Send the ship a little higher,” answered Mr. Henderson. “We mustn’t hit any mountains.”

Washington forced more gas into the holder, and speeded the negative gravity machine up some, so that the Mermaid, which was flying rather low, ascended until it was in no danger of colliding with the peak which reared its lofty height just ahead of them.

As the ship sailed slowly over the mountain, Mark gazed down and exclaimed:

“Doesn’t that look like the ruins of some building?”

The professor took a pair of field glasses from a rack in the wall and took a long view.

“It must be the place,” he said in a low voice.

“What place?” asked Jack.

“The temple of treasure,” was the answer. “Hankos told me it was on top of the highest mountain in the land, and this must be it, for it is the loftiest place we have seen. But we must be careful, for there is danger down there.”

“What kind?” asked Mark.

“The place was long ago deserted by the giants,” Mr. Henderson went on. “Ages ago it was one of their storehouses for treasure, but there were wars among themselves, Hankos said, and this part of the country was laid waste. Savage beasts took up their abode in the temple, and since then, in spite of the great size of the giants, they have not dared to venture here. If we brave the animals we may have all the gold and diamonds we can take away.”

“Then for one, I’m willin’ t’ go down an’ begin th’ extermination at once,” put in Andy. “I’ve always wanted t’ be rich.”

“We must proceed cautiously,” the professor said. “We are ill prepared to fight any such beasts as we saw at the big geyser. At the same time they may have deserted this place. I think we will lower the ship down over the temple, and spend several hours in observation. Then, if nothing develops, we can enter and see if the treasure is there.”

This plan was voted a good one, and the Mermaid after having been steered directly over the ruined temple, was brought to a halt, and enough gas let out so that it fell to about fifty feet in the air above it.

The adventurers began their watch. The afternoon waned and there were no signs of any beasts in or about the temple.

“I reckon we can take a chance,” said Andy, who was anxious to get his hands on some diamonds.

“Better wait until morning,” counseled Mr. Henderson. “It will soon be dark, and it doesn’t look like a nice place to go stumbling about in by moonlight.”

So, though all but the scientist were anxious, they had to wait until the night had passed. Several times Washington got up to see if the temple had, by any chance, taken wings during the long hours of darkness, but each time he found it was still in place.

“Seems laik it’ll never come mornin’,” he said.

But dawn came at length, and, after a hasty breakfast, preparations to enter the temple were made. Andy loaded his gun for “bear” as he expressed it, and the boys each took a revolver.

The ship was lowered to as level a place as could be found, and then, seeing that everything was in readiness for a quick departure, the professor led the way out of the Mermaid.

The entrance to the temple was through a big arched gateway. Some of the stones had fallen down, and the whole structure looked as if it might topple over at any moment.

“Go carefully,” cautioned Mr. Henderson. “Watch on all sides and up above. Better let Andy and me go ahead.”

The scientist and the old hunter led the way. Through the arch they went, and emerged into what must at one time have been a magnificent courtyard. Before them was the temple proper, a vast structure, with an opening through which fifty men might have marched abreast. But the doors were gone, and the portal was but a black hole.

“I hope there ain’t any ghosts in there,” said Washington, with a shiver.

“Nonsense!” exclaimed the professor. “There may be things as bad, but there are no such things as ghosts. Have your gun ready, Andy.”

With every sense on the alert, the old hunter advanced. Every one was a bit nervous, and, as Mark and Jack afterward admitted, they half expected some terrible beast to rush out at them. But nothing of the kind happened, and they went into the interior of the temple.

At first it was so dark they could see nothing. There were vast dim shapes on every side, and from the hollow echo of their footsteps they judged the roof must be very high and the structure big in every way.

Then, as their eyes became used to the darkness, they could make out, up front, something like an altar or pulpit.

“Perhaps that’s where they offered up the gold and diamonds as a sacrifice to their gods,” spoke Mark in a whisper.

“Sacrifice to their gods!” came back a hundred echoes and the sound made every one shudder.

“Oh!” said Washington, in a low voice.

“Oh! Oh! Oh!” repeated the echoes in voices of thunder.

“Well, this is pleasant,” spoke Andy, in his natural tones, and, to the surprise of all there was no echo. It was only when a person whispered or spoke low that the sound was heard. After that they talked naturally.

“You stay here, and Andy and I will go up front and see what there is,” said Mr. Henderson. “Be on your guard, and if you hear us coming back in a hurry, run!”

It was with no little feeling of nervousness that the boys, Bill, Tom and Washington watched the two men move off in the darkness. They could hear their footsteps on the stone flags and could dimly see them.

“They must be almost to the altar by this time,” said Mark, after a long pause.

Hardly had he spoken than there came a loud sound from where Mr. Henderson and Andy had gone. It was as if some giant wings were beating the air. Then came shrill cries and the voice of the old hunter could be heard calling:

“Kneel down, Professor! Let me get a shot at the