*XIII.*
Steering directly after the geese on an ascending plane, we put on atremendous spurt and soon had the whole gang squawking and flounderingbefore us. There were hundreds, and when pressed, set the pace at arate that made the air whizz by like a hurricane. It was intenselyexciting. But the air ship was too swift to afford the slightest chanceof their escape. In a few minutes we had overtaken them, broken theircolumns, and flown directly into the flock. Our shotguns were ready,but, strange as it may seem, we did not use them, because more than adozen of the birds fell dead upon our deck from sheer fright, and we letthe others escape. It was a strange experience; a method of huntingprobably never indulged in before; and it was not at all surprising thatthe birds should have been frightened to death. The geese proved to befat and a great delicacy.
We then dropped to our former level and speed, and resumed the lookoutfor land. Ice floes were still occasionally met, though steadilydiminishing in size and apparent solidity. A few hours later we passedthe last of them, and then met only an occasional chunk, or hummock,which seemed to be floating northward. We determined the direction bydescending close to the surface of the water, and making a carefulexamination. There could be no doubt about it; the currents whichcarried these ice masses were trending northward. It seemed to implysome mystery, as yet unconsidered, although Torrence thought it possiblethat they might be vortex in character, returning again to theirstarting point.
At the usual hour we went below to partake of our midday meal, havingfirst reduced our speed to a rate not exceeding ten miles an hour, notwishing to run upon anything startling during the stay below. It wasfortunate we had done so, for upon coming on deck again, we saw a smallblue line to starboard, apparently not more than a dozen or fifteenmiles away.
"Land!" We both shouted in a breath.
Immediately we changed our course in the direction of this island, as itappeared; and while drifting toward it, considered whether we shouldcall 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 itis 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 a _singleinhabitant_, but we shall see!"
Again I looked at my brother with curiosity, half-wondering if he weredemented.
"I understood you to say that the Palaeocrystic Sea was the dividingline 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 equalright," I observed.
"That is just where you make your mistake," said Torrence with a knowinglook. "Were he an ordinary man he might have; but under thecircumstances--hardly!"
"And what are the circumstances? Why should he not name it?" Iinsisted.
"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 equallysoon know it!"
He was searching the point of land with his glass, and seemeddisinclined to continue the subject, so with rather unpleasant emotions,I concluded to wait for developments. It could not now belong before Ishould know if there was any foundation for Torrence's talk. Certainlywhat he had said savored of lunacy.
We now bore down upon the island rapidly, and saw a rocky ledgesurmounting a narrow beach, where we concluded to land. The promontoryhad a flat top, about thirty feet above the sea and we lowered ourselvesgently down upon it. Scarcely had we done so than Torrence said:
"We shall probably have to explore in order to find traces of ourinhabitant; and I wonder, therefore, if it would not be wiser to sailaround the island before disembarking. It would certainly savetrouble."
We concluded therefore to take a leisurely tour of discovery, andascertain the size and general contour before landing; and so withoutfurther ado, we rose again, almost as soon as we had touched the ground.
The island was rocky, but not without vegetation, its arable parts beingcarpeted 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 acouple of hundred feet, near the center. Its shores were indented witha number of bays or inlets, some of which made considerable inroad uponit. To the best of our judgment it was about four miles long, and ofvery irregular width, as in places these inlets nearly cut it in two.Thousands of pigeons flew out wherever we approached their rockynestings, but there appeared to be no other animal life.
"And where is your inhabitant?" I asked, when we had gone around thegreater part of the coast.
"We may not be able to find him at all," he answered; "I said we shouldprobably discover traces of him if we searched. For my part, I have notgiven that up."
But the words were scarcely spoken when he sprang to the governing boardand halted the vessel. I saw that we were hovering over a green swardwhich sloped gently to the water's edge near the head of one of theinlets described. Lowering ourselves gradually we landed on a grassyknoll, and Torrence immediately threw out the ladder and went over. Ifollowed him, and in a minute saw what had attracted his attention fromabove, but which had entirely escaped mine. It was a rough lookingstone, set on end, in the sward, and there being no other stones in thevicinity, it presented rather a peculiar appearance, inasmuch as itseemed almost certain that it had been placed there by human hands. Weexamined it with growing interest. There was something uncanny infinding such an object in such a place. It looked like a monumentintended to mark a tomb, or the headstone of a grave in some countrychurchyard. It was about three feet high, nearly covered with a greenmould, 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!" Iobserved.
"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 handsand eyes. I stooped down to examine it. There was a roughness orindentation, which did not seem to be natural. Scraping the moss awayfrom the crevices, we discovered to my amazement the followinginscription, which I herewith give from a careful copy in my note book
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 itfor an hour, when Torrence suggested that they might be English letters,rudely and ignorantly carved. "For instance," he said, "the first mightvery well be an N. The second is evidently an E; while the third isunmistakably intended for an I. Now the fourth is the same as thefirst. The fifth cannot well be other than an L. The sixth is the sameas 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 theword meant, remained a mystery. Suddenly it occurred to us that itmight be more than one word. "Suppose," said Torrence, "that the lastfive letters are intended to form the word 'Inlet'--a pronounced featureof the coast of this island--and that the first two stand for NorthEast. There we seem to have it--North East Inlet--the stone probablyrefers to someth
ing of interest in, or about the North East Inlet of theisland!"
Surely we had solved the problem. But when I reminded Torrence that wehad been searching for traces of his alleged inhabitant, and that heshould not be surprised at this discovery, he said:
"True enough; but exactly where they would be, or what they would looklike, or even if this was the right island, I could not tell; but now Ifeel 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 beendeposited by nature; and the letters were cut with rough tools, byignorant hands."
"And you believe a human being could have reached this spot without anair ship?"
"There is not one chance in a million that it could have been done," hereplied; "certainly _never_ by the course we have taken. But there arestretches of land reaching far to the north; and in certain seasons,under the most exceptional circumstances, possibly some lost scout ofthe Arctic seas might have drifted here, had he once pushed his wayacross the frozen belt. I say it is possible; but that is all. Beforewe leave we shall know whether it is a fact."
We lingered a few minutes while I made the copy of the inscription, andthen climbed back into the air ship, bound for the North East Inlet.
Skimming slowly around the shore we soon discovered the indentation wewere looking for, and following up its course for a few hundred yardsabove the mouth, reached another of those turfy knolls, with which theisland abounded. Around this the water ran directly into the land,forming a diminutive lake a little higher up, with grassy slopes uponevery side. It was a beautiful spot, entirely protected from the surf,and screened from the winds as well. Indeed, so sheltered and peacefula nook was it, and withal so inviting, that we decided to descend andlook around, having observed nothing extraordinary from above.
"If I do not discover something interesting here," said Torrence, "Ishall be disappointed."
Having landed on the hillock above the lake we separated, walking inopposite directions. The ground was covered with a brilliant, mossyturf, 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 notwalked far when I heard Torrence call:
"Hello! Look at this!"
I hurried over to where he was. There was no doubt about it. He hadmade a discovery. On a grassy knoll, not far from the water's edge, wasa small structure like a tomb, built of rough stones to the height of aman's breast, and about five feet in diameter. It looked old, was mossgrown, and covered with a heavy cap stone. We felt convinced that inthis cairn was concealed some important secret, and that it wasundoubtedly the place referred to. We went immediately to work toremove the upper stone, which we found quite difficult, but by workingan iron wedge which we secured from the air ship, it slowly yielded toour endeavors. The stones were closely knitted together, having beenset in a rough mortar, made out of some tenacious kind of mud, but wegradually 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 wasdark, 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 wascovered 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 wasimmovable. I proposed to pound it open if possible with some of thestones at our feet, but before doing so, we decided to examine thecrevices of the cairn for a key. It was well we did, for our search wasrewarded 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 wehad 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 Idrew back with horror at the first glance, for directly under my eyeswas the rough, though strongly executed picture of a madman. It was oneof those crude, intense drawings that gives the immediate impression oflifelikeness. Old and stained as the picture was, it was evident thatthe artist had seized upon the most salient features of his subject, andreproduced them with terrible effect. It was the simplest sketchimaginable, but the wild and painful glare of the eyes was intensifiedby 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 ofold cloth, was this extraordinary inscription
Inscription]
Examining the box again we found directly under the picture anotherpaper which upon examination proved to be an outlandish, water-staineddocument. At the first glance it looked like a foreign language, whichwe had no doubt it was, but our attention being attracted by certainwords that looked like English, we examined it more carefully, and toour amazement discovered that the paper was really in our own language,though evidently executed by such an ignorant hand as scarcely to berecognized as such. We took possession of it, and I here give a carefulcopy of it, without attempting to reproduce the handwriting, which isalmost unintelligible.
"Tu thim az finds these roks and kontents plese rede with kare an incharty's nam help ef he bee livin the pore kretur we shipreke saylers iskompeled to leve on this lonsum plase. Us 3 abil Bodid seamen was rekedin 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 uswid 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 vittelsan truk as we wanted tu sav and started over the ice. God amity nos howfur or wher we traveled tu, hevin no berins no nothin tu go bi, and Godamity nos the orful sufferins we suffered. All on us dide but us 3. Wetraveled over montans ov ice, and it seemed like we kep a travelin furyers, tho in koors we nos it went so long as thet. Bimby we findsoursels a flotin on a chunk o ice ni az big az a farm. Our vittels wasni gone afore we struk the flotin' ice, and all was ded but us 3 NedMerrick, Jo Niles and Jan von Broekhuysen who is uf dutch parents butEnglish birth. We kep a flotin on the ice tel the long nite past andthe day kum agin; but we sede as how Jan was doin quer and one day hewent plum mad and tried to kil us. We tide him down, and then we sitedthis iland, tho in wut part uf the erth we kan't tel. We sede we wusflotin 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 tuthis iland the sea wus up, and our ice chunk struk a rok and bustedafore we landed. Jan von Broekhuysen struk his hed agin a rok and webrung him ashore levin a bludy streke behind. His fored got split in tuand he wuz the orfulest site we ever sede--he warnt moren abut 20 yers oage and that lik he got in the hed or his goin mad wun, plum noked thereckolecshun outen him. He node uz not--nor wher he hed bin, nor wherbe 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 memryouten man, but niver is we seed one in sich a fix afore. Jan vanBroekhuysen node nuthin'. He wuz like tu one jes born--the rok wutsplit his hed made the terriblest lookin skar we ever seed, and wewashed it out and dun the best we kud for him but waz not fix to sow itup 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, heseen us ketch the fish and he dun wut we dun. The frute here is bitterbut it helps tu kepe us aliv. Now how long we has lived here we kan'ttel, but we iz goin awa in a bote we bilt outen skraps o drift wood andstuff we found preferin tu resk the orful sea and ice agin than tu livand rot on this place wher man kums not. Jan von Broekhuysen has grodeafeerd o us and runs awa wenever we gos ni him and we seldum ketches asite o' him. We has lost all kont o time and don't no how long we hasben here nor wen we kum nor nothin--but ther has ben 1 dark spel and 2lite spels, and we think it must a ben a yer sence we kum. Siknes andhardship has ni ruined us mind and body, and we don't keer wut bekomes ous. We bilds this ere r
ok hut around this box wich we fetched with ushavin' sum o' our valybles. We makes a pikter of Jan von Broekhuysen andpaints that skar on his hed wid our own blud but we douts ef eny manwill ever see him agin az he is wilder and skeerier nor a gote. We hazalso razed a rok in anuder place for a sine. It is with sorro that weleves our ole komrade--but we kan nether ketch nor tame him. Ef we nodewut part uv tho erth we wus in we wud no wher to strik fur, but wedon't, and rekon we will both be drownd afore gettin any whers. Ef enyperson 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'tmutch 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 peculiarorthography and from its being smirched and weather-stained. We went tothe air ship where I recorded this discovery, and then sealed it up inthe cairn, carrying the original paper with us.
"Sailor like," observed Torrence, "there is not a date in the paper frombeginning 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 largepacket, asked me what I thought of the signature.
I started, for I recognized it at once. It was one of those I had seenthrough the keyhole in the hotel Mustapha, and the signature was thesame as the one before me--Ned Merrick. I then recalled the fact that Ihad heard my brother address the mysterious stranger--I mean the sailorwe had first met upon the Thames boat, and whom afterward I had seen atthe Mustapha--as Merrick. Could it be possible that he was the same whohad escaped through the ice belt to this island? I was amazed, butbefore 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 theman Merrick having told me the truth in this most amazing case, it isprobable that he has not lied in other matters, especially as he gave meproof, and as his story coincides with my own views. Let us look forJan von Broekhuysen, then we will proceed upon our voyage."
We made a careful search for this extraordinary individual, but notfinding 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, cladin a robe of feathers and covered to the waist with a mass of tawny grayhair, appeared to rise out of the sand. He probably emerged from theshelter of some neighboring rock, and stood for a moment looking at usin amazement. On a motion to alter our course, as if to pursue him, thecreature disappeared as suddenly and strangely as he had come. He wassimply invisible, and it would have been useless to waste our time in aneffort to capture him. There was no doubt to our minds that this wasJan von Broekhuysen.
* * * * *