CHAPTER XXVII
A GREAT JOURNEY
Such indeed, seemed to be the case. The golden-armored giant, afterstanding for a few moments in an attitude of command, waved his swordthree times about his head, and uttered a command, in a voice thatsounded like thunder. Then the prostrate ones arose, and, making lowbows hurried away in all directions.
Watching them disappear, the golden one sheathed his weapon andapproached the ship. He caught sight of the professor and the two boysin the conning tower, for Mark had gone there when he found the shipbeing transported, and held up his two hands, the palms outward.
"It is the sign of peace in the language all natives employ," said theprofessor. "I think I shall trust him."
Followed by the boys he descended from the little platform in the tower,and to the door that opened on the deck.
"Shall we go out?" he asked.
"We can't be much worse off," replied Mark. "Let's chance it."
So, not without many misgivings, they slid back the portal and steppedout to face the strange and terrible being who had so suddenly come totheir rescue.
The giant in the golden armor did not seem surprised to see them. Infact he acted as though he rather expected them. He continued to hold upone hand, with the palm, outward, while, with the other, he removed hishelmet and bowed low. Then he cast his sword on the ground and advancedtoward the ship. When within ten feet he sat down on the ground, andthis brought his head nearer the earth, so that his auditors could bothsee and hear him to better advantage.
As soon as the giant saw the travelers were outside their ship he beganto speak to them in a voice, which, though he might have meant it to below and gentle, was like the bellowing of a bull. At the same time hemade many gestures, pointing to the ship, to himself and to Mark.
"What is he saying, professor?" asked Jack.
"I can't understand all he says," Mr. Henderson replied. "He uses somewords derived from the Latin and some from the Greek. But by piecing itout here and there, and by interpreting his motions I am able to get atsomething."
"And what is it all about?"
"It is a strange story," the scientist replied. "He has only gone abouthalf way through it. Wait until he finishes and I will tell you."
The golden-armored giant, who had stopped in his narrative while Jackwas speaking, resumed. His gestures became more rapid, and his wordscame faster. Several times Mr. Henderson held up his hand for him tocease, while he puzzled out what was meant.
At one point, the professor seemed much startled, and motioned for thestrange being to repeat the last part of his discourse. When this hadbeen done Mr. Henderson shook his head as though in doubt.
At length the story was finished, and the lone giant, for there were noothers in sight now, folded his arms and seemed to await what theprofessor's answer might be. Mr. Henderson turned to the boys, and tothe others of the _Mermaid's_ company, who, by this time, had joinedhim, and said:
"Friends, I have just listened to a strange story. It is so strangethat, but for the fact that our own adventures are verging on themarvelous, I could hardly believe it. In the first place, this man hereis the king of this country. That is why all the other natives obeyedhim.
"In the second place it seems he has been a passenger in our boat, andcame here from the earth's surface with us!"
"What's that?" cried Jack.
"That explains the strange happenings!" ejaculated Mark. "No wonder Icould never solve the secret of the storeroom."
"You are right, it does," replied Mr. Henderson. "I will not go into allthe details of how it happened, but it seems the big hole through whichwe came is only one of two entrances to this inner world. Rather it isthe entrance, and there is another, close to it, which is the exit.Through the latter a big stream of water spouts up, just as one poursdown through the opening we used.
"Hankos, which is the name of the king, was for many years a student ofscience. He longed to see where the big stream of upward spurting waterwent, and wanted to know whence came the down-pouring one. So heundertook a daring experiment.
"He constructed a great cylinder, and, keeping his plans a secret,conveyed it to the spouting water, entered it, and, by means of pulleysand levers, after he had shut himself inside, cast himself into theup-shooting column. He took along compressed air cylinders to supply anatmosphere he could breathe, and some food to eat, for it appears ourgiant friends are something of inventors in their way. The current ofwater bore him to the surface of the earth, and he was cast up on theocean, in what was probably taken for a waterspout if any one saw it.
"Then a strange thing happened. No sooner did Hankos open his cylinder,which served him as a boat, than he lost his gigantic size, owing to thedifference of the two atmospheres. He became almost of the same size asourselves, except that his skin hung in great folds on him, and heseemed like a wrinkled old man. His clothes too, were a world too large.
"He had a terrible time before he reached shore, and a hard one afterit, for his strange appearance turned almost every one against him. Hewas sorry he had ventured to solve the mystery of the up-shooting streamof water, for he was worse than an outcast.
"Then he began to plan to get back to his own inner world. But he couldnot find the downward stream, and, not knowing the language of thecountries where he landed, he had no means of ascertaining. He traveledfrom place to place, always seeking for something that would lead himback to his own country.
"Finally he heard of us, and of our ship, though how I do not know, as Ithought I had kept it a great secret. By almost superhuman struggles hemade 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 hadseen the queer figure slinking aboard the boat, of the disappearance offood from time to time, and of the strange noises in the storeroom.
"That bears out what he told me," the professor said. "Hankos says heused to steal out nights and take what food he could get, and he alsomentions some one, answering to Mark's description, who nearlydiscovered him once as he hurried back into the apartment.
"However, it seems to be true, since Mark confirms it. At any rateHankos stayed in hiding, and made the entire trip with us, and, just aswe all became overcome with the strange gas he escaped, having begun toexpand to his original giant size, and being unable to remain any longerin his cramped quarters."
"That's so, he did!" cried Mark. "I saw him come out of the place justbefore I lost my senses. It was a terrible sight, and none of you wouldbelieve me when I told you some of the occurrences afterward."
"You must forgive us for that," the professor said. "We have learnedmuch since then."
"What did Hankos do after he left the ship when it landed in thiscountry?" asked Jack.
"He traveled until he came to this village, which is the chief one ofthis country," replied the professor. "Part of the time he followed usat a distance, being able to travel very fast."
Mark remembered the strange figure of a giant he had seen on the hilltops several times, and knew that he had been observing the being whohad played such a queer part in their lives.
"When he came back among his own people," went on Mr. Henderson, "theywould not receive him at first, believing him to be an impostor. ButHankos convinced them of his identity and was allowed to don the goldenarmor, which is the badge of kingship. He had only been in office for alittle while when he heard of the arrival of the strange thing, whichturned out to be our ship. He recognized it from the description, and,learning that we were likely to be sacrificed to the fury and ignoranceof the giants, he hurried here and saved our lives.
"He says he can never thank us enough for being the means whereby he wasable to get back to his own country, and says the freedom
of this wholeinner world is ours. He has given orders that we are to go wherever welike, 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 liketo go with us, only, now that he has resumed his natural size, he cannot get inside the ship."
"Hurrah for King Hankos!" cried Jack and the others joined him in ahearty cheer.
The giant in the golden armor evidently understood the compliment whichwas paid him, for he waved his helmet in the air and responded with ashout of welcome that made the ground tremble.
Hankos waited until the professor had translated all of the story to theother travelers. Then the genial giant began to talk some more, and theprofessor listened intently.
"He says," spoke Mr. Henderson to his friends, "that we will be suppliedwith all the fruit we want, and with the best of the houses to sleep inon our journey. He also tells me he has great stores of shining stonesand piles of the metal of which his armor is made, and that we arewelcome to as much as we want. If this means unlimited gold anddiamonds, 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 advantageof his kind offer. We will start on our trip in a day or so, after wehave looked over the ship to see if it is not damaged. He tells me thegold and sparkling stones are several thousand miles away, on top of ahigh mountain. We will make that our objective point."
The interview between the king and Mr. Henderson having ended, theformer 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 verydifferent. They carefully, removed the rollers and ropes, and soon therewas brought to the adventurers an immense pile of fine fruits. If ourfriends had stayed there a year they could not have eaten it all. Thegiants were judging the appetites of the travelers by their own.
That night the adventurers slept more soundly than they had sinceentering the strange world. They felt they had nothing to fear from thegiants. In the morning they were not molested, though big crowdsgathered to look at the ship. But they kept back a good distance. Themachinery was found to be in good shape, save for a few repairs, andwhen these were made, the professor announced he would start on a longjourney.
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 thewonders of the inner world. They were many and varied, and the professorcollected enough material for a score of books which he said he wouldwrite 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 thegages 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 ityet. There are other things to see."
Just then Washington's voice could be heard calling from the conningtower:
"We're coming to a big mountain!"