Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 January 1911 — A Columbus of Space [ARTICLE]

A Columbus of Space

By Garrett P. Serviss.

Copyright' by Frank A. Munsey Co. CHAPTER VI. Lost In The Crystal Mountains. If wo had seen 7 the danger earlier, and had not been so tumbled topsyturvy by the pitching of the car in the wind, I suppose that Edmundwould have prevented the collision, just as he had steered .us away from some of the meteors, by setting up an “atomic reaction,” serving for a push. But there was no chance for that. The blow against the precipice was not, however, as severe as it had seemed to me, and the car was not smashed. —But the* fall was terrible. There was only one thing which saved us from destruction. At the base of the great cliff of solid ice against which the wind had hurled the car, an immense deposit of snow had collected. We were all tumbled in a heap, the car and the sleds being Inextricably entangled with the wire ropes. Fortunately, however, the stout windows were not broken, and after we had struggled to our feet, as the car lay on its side, Edmund managed to open the door., lie made us put on our furs, but even with them we found the cold almost intolerable. But the natives paid no attention to it. 1 Not one of them was seriously hurt, and they were still attached to the sled, so firmly had they been bound under Edmund’s direction before we started from the hummock. We unloosened them and then began to examine the situation. Above us towered the icy precipice' disappearing in whirling clouds high overhead, and the wind drove square against it with the roar of Niagara. The air was filled with snow and icedust, and at times we could not see objects 10 feet away. Our poor furry companions huddled togethef as soon as we got them upon their feet, and were of no use to themselves or to us.

"Well, we've got to get out of this mighty quick,” said Edmund. “Come hustle now, and we’ll repair the ship.” We got to work, Juba alone aiding us, and soon had the sleds out of the tangle and again properly attached to the car. Then we- entered the latter, and Edmund fumbled a while with his machinery. In the course of ten or fifteen minutes he said it was damaged, but would stilk work, and that we'd start as soon as we could replace the natives on the sleds. We got them together with a great deal of trouble, for they were frightened out of their wits, and would have run away, had they known where to go. But they had sense enough to understand, that their safety depended entirely upon us. When they were once more safely attached we entered the car and prepared to ascend. “You notice,” said Edmund, "that this wind is variable, and there’s our chance." We hadn’t noticed it, but he had, and that was sufficient. —-r^ ‘"When the blasts weaken,” he continued, "the air springs back from the face of the then whirls round to the left. I’ve no doubt that there's a passage there, through which the wind finds its way back behind this icy mountain, and if wq can get there we shall probably find some sort of Shelter. "Then, I hope, it'll be comparatively an easy thing to make our way into a calmer region of the atmosphere. I'm going to take advantage of the first lull.”

It worked out just as he had predicted. As the wind surged back, after a particularly vicious rush against the mighty blue cliff, we eut loose and sailed up into it, and away we went. We rushed past the glittering wall'so swiftly that it made our heads swim. In two or three minutes we rounded a corner, and then found ourselves in a kind of atmospheric eddy, where the car simply spun round and round, with the two united sleds hanging below it. "Now for it!” said Edmund, and touched a knob.. Instantly we rose rapidly. We must have shot up a couple of thousand feet, when the wind caught us again, coming apparently over the top of the icy barrier that he had flanked. It swept us off with terrific speed. Suddenly the air cleared all about. The spectacle that opened around and below was—well, I wish I could describe it! But a hundred languages rolled into one cpuldn’t do it. We were in the midst 6f the crystal mountains! They towered around us on every side and stretched away in ranges of shining pinnacles. And such shapes! Such cplors! Such flashing and blazing of gigantic rainbows and prisms! There were mountains that looked to my amazed eyesight as lofty and massive as Mont Blanc, "composed all of crystalline ice, refracting and reflecting the sunbeams with iridescent splendor! For now we could begin to see the orb of the sun itself, poised on the edge of the jagged, gem-glitter-ing horizon. The Jeweled summit split Its beams into a million bright halos, i There was one mighty peak, still ahead of ua, but toward which we were rushed sidewise with terrific speed, that will haunt my dreams forever. It towered high above oar level, and

was simply one awful coruscating Alp of- light, darting out on every side blinding rays of a thousand splendid hues, as if a whole worldful of emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds bad been heaped together in one stu- ’ pen dons pile and set on fire by the .sun! * , We were speechless, even to Edmund. But presently he spoke, very calmly, . but what tie said instantly changed our amazement to terror. ’ "Boys," he said, “there’s sonfelhfng serious the matter with the apparatus. I can’t make the car rise higher. I can no longer causer it to react against an obstacle. We are at the mercy of the wind. If it carries us against- that glittering devil, no power under heaven can help |is!” If my hair had not whitened before, It certainly would have whitened now. When we were swept against the first icy precipiee the danger had come upon us suddenly, unexpectedly, out of a concealing cloud. But now we had to bear the fearful strain of expectation, to see ourselves hurried to destruction with our eyes open to the terrible truth. I thought that even Edmund’s iron face paled a little. On we rushed, still borne sidewise, so that the spectacle was straight before us in all Its awfulness, as, with fascinated eyes, we stared through the window. We were almost upon the mountain-peak, when Edmund shouted with a glad voice: "We're safe! Look!” he continued. “See how those particles, of ice, swept from the face of the tempest, leap Kit her ward." and then whirl round the peak. We may touch itrput fhtr alr7 having a free vent on each side, will carry us one way or the other before a serious shock occurs.” He had hardly finished speaking when the crisis arrived. We did just touch the front of a cliff, but it was narrow and sloping, and the wind, howling pdst it, carried us in an instant round the obstruction. r “Scared ourselves for nothing.” said Edmund. “We were really as safe as a boat in a rapid. The velocity of the current sheered us off. But there was a worse danger, which we hadn't yet had time to think about. 'We began to think of it, however, when, after the'scintil-1-ant peak was left behind, we saw Edmund again working away at his machinery, while at the same time the car commenced to sink. "What’s the matter. ; now?" I asked. “We seem to be gomg down." “So we are,” Edmund replied, "and I'm afraid we’ll notlgo up again right away. The power Ts failing all the while. It will be pretty hard on us to have it stop in this frightful place but it looks as though that were our late.”

Lest and helpless in these moun tains of ice! The thought was too terrible to be entertained. For thJ frst time since this adventure began i heard connected words from Henry’s lips. Their emphasis was terrible. . "Edmund Stonewall,” he said hoarsely, “if you are the caude of my death with your infernal invention, may you be condemned to —" But he never finished the sentence. His face turned as white as a sheet, and he sank upon the floor. "Poor fellow!” said Edmund. “He’s fainted.” In a few minutes Jack and I had Henry in his senses again, but as weak as a child, and lying on one of the cushioned benches. In the meantime the car had descended upon the snow in a deep valley, where we were protected from the wind. , = In the profound depression where we now found ourselves a kind of twilight prevailed. We got out of the car, unloosed our companions from the sleds And then began to look around. All about us towered the crysta. mountains, their bases —where they were not buried in snow and broken ice—reflecting deep hu’es of purple and ultramarine, while their upper parts, where the sunlight touched them, sparkled with amazing brilliance. Henry was now able to join us, but not a word was said concerning his outbreak. Was there ever such a situation as ours? .

Cast away, in a place wild and wonderful beyond imagination, millions of miles from all human aid or sympathy; millions of miles, even, from the very world that had witnessed our birth! I could, in bitterness of spirit, have laughed at the mere suggestion that there was any hope for us. As yet, at that very moment, not only was there hope, but there was even the certainty of deliverance. It lay in the brain of the wonderful man who had brought us thither. - I have told you that it was twilight in the valley where we were. But when, as frequently occurred, tempests of snow burst over the mountains above us and filled the air, twilight was turned to deepest night, and then we had to ill}£pinate the electric lights in the car. The natives, being used to darkness, needed no artificial illumination. In fact, we found that as soon as the sunlight reached us their great eyes were almost blinded, and they suffered cruglly from an infliction so utterly beyond all their experience. Edmund never lost his self-com-mand. He tried to cheer us up. “I’m going to make some hot coffee,” he said, “and then I’ll sit down and think it out. But first I must see to our fellows there, for we may have to stay here a while, and even with their furry skins they’ll suffer from this kind of weather." Under his directions we took a lot of extra furs from the car and, stretching theou upon the upright stakes attached to the corners of the sleds,, we made a kind of tent, undmr which the natives huddled for urthtectlon. >

There being no wind to speak of here, this Was not so difficult as it might seem. The fellows were very glad of the shelter that we had given them, for some of them were already beginning to shiver. No Sooner were they housed than they 7 fell to eating. We then entered the car and turned on the electric range, and 10 minutes later we were enjoying our coffee. When we had finished we got out our „pipeß and smoked, as if there had beeir no crystal * mountains tottering over us and no howling tempest tearing through the cloud-filled sky 1000 feet or so above our heads. We talked of our adventure and of home-t-home 26,000,000 miles away! -In-fact, U might have been nearer 30,000,000 by this time, for Edmund had told us that Venus, having passed conjunction, was beginning to recede from the earth.

~ But Edmund did not join in our conversation now. He sat apart, thinking; and we respected his isolation, knowing that our only chance of escape lay id him. At last, without saying a word, he went outside and remained a long time. Then he came back smiling. ' “I’ve found the solution,” he said. “We’ll get out all right, but we shall have to Wait a while.” •. • * • ' . “What is it” we asked in concert. “What have — “Albert,” he said, turning to me. “you ought to know what libration means. Well, it’s libration that is going to save us. As Venus travels around the sun, she turns just once on her axis in making one circuit. The eonsequen ce,ad r you~aTready.khow7iß that she has one side where the sun never rises, while the other side always faces the sun. “But since her orbit is not a perfect circle, she travels a little faster at certain times and a little-slower at others, while her slow rotation on her axis never varies. The result is that along the border between the day and night hemispheres there is a narrow strip where the sun rises and sets once in each of her years, which are about 225 of our days in length. “On this strip the sun shines continuously for about sixteen weeks, gradually rising during eight of those weeks and gradually sinking for eight weeks more. Then, during the following sixteen weeks-dhe sun is entirely absent from the strip. “Now, we are just in that strip, and we may thank our stars for it. —By good luck, after we Were swept past that blazing peak of ice which nearly shipwrecked us, the wind carried us on so far before the power gave out that we descended on the 'Sunward side of the crest of the icy range.

“The sun is at present just beginning to rise on this part of the plane. , and it will continue tc rise for several weeks. The result will be that a great melting of ice and snow will take place all around us here, and a river will he formed in this valley, flowing off toward the sunward hemisphere, exactly where we want to go. “I'm going to take advantage of the torrent and float down with it. It’s our only chance, for we couldn’t possibly clainber over all this hummockj ICC and drag the car with us.” “Why not leave the car behind, then?” asked Henry. Edmund looked at him and smiled. “Do you want to stay on Venus all your life?” he asked. “I can repair the mechanism, if I can find certain substances which I am sure exist on this planet as well as on the earth. “But there is no use of looking for them in this icy waste. No, we can never abandon the car; we must take it with us, and the only way to take it is with the aid of the river of ice and snow-water which will soon be created by the rising sun.” “But how will you manage to float?” I asked. “The car, being air-tight, will float like a bouy.” “And how about the natives?” “Ah! I’ll have to think about that. But we’ll save them, too, if possible.” Of course, Edmund was right; he always was. But I’ll cut short the story of our stay in that awful valley. Every 24 hours, by the calendar clock, we saw that the sun had risen higher; and as it rose, the sky cleared; and its beams, falling uninterruptedly, became hotter and hotter. Soon we had no longer any use for furs, or for the electric heat in the car. At the same time the melting began. It was a new danger for us, yet we watched it joyously, since it offered ofir only chance of escape. We were just in the bottom of the valley, near its head. ' It wound away before us, turning out of sight beyond a vast bill of ice. Streams began to trickle down the heights behind us, and uniting, they formed a rivulet at our feet, flowing over smooth ice with great velocity. Edmund’s plan for saving the natives was now put into operation. “I’ll take Juba into the car,” he said. “There’s just room for him. For the others, we’ll fasten the sleds one on each side of the car, which is bouyant enough to float them, and they’ll have to take their chances outside.” We made all these arrangements, while the rivulet gradually swelled into a torrent. Before it had become too broad and deep we managed to place the car, with the sleds like outriders, across the center of its course. Then we took our places and waited. Higher and higher rose the water, while from the slopes behind and around us avalanches of ice descended, and great cataracts began to leap and pour. It was a mercy that we were so situated that the avalanches did not reach us, although we received some pretty hard knocks from ice floes borne away in the cur* rest. - - --.

At last the stream became —deep enough to float us. Shall I ever forget that moment? There came a great sudden wave of water, forced 'on by a great slide of ice. We were lifted upon its crest, and away we went! The car was more bouyant than I had believed possible. The sleds, fastened on each side, served to give it a certain stability, and it did not sink as deep as the bottom of the windows. The latter though formed of glass of great thickness, might have been broken by the tossing ice' if they had not been divided into many small panes, separated by bars of steel, which projected a few inches on the outside. “I made that arrangement for meteors,” said Edmund, “but I never thought of ice when I did it.” The increasing force of the current sopn sent us spinning down the valley. We swept around the nearest ice peak on the left, and as we passed under its projecting buttresses a fearful roar above informed uS'YBAt an avalanche was let loose. We could not withdraw our eyes from the window on that side of the car, and presently immense masses of ice came crashing into the water, throwing it over us in floods and half drowning the poor wretches on the sleds. Still, they clung on, fastened together, and we could do nothing to help them. The uproar continued, and the ice came down faster and faster with a deluge of water. The car pitched and rolled, until we could hardly keep our feet, hanging on to every support within reach. Poor Juba was a picture of abject terror. He hung, moaning, to a bench, his hugh eyes aglow with fright. Suddenly the car seemed to be lifted from the water. Then it fell back again and was submerged, so that we were buried In night. We rose again to the surface, and Edmund, glancing from the window, shouted: ' “They’re gone! Heaven have pity on them!” In spite of their fastenings the water and the ice had swept every living soul from the sled on the left! We rushed to the other window. It was the same story there —the sled on that side was empty, too! I saw a furry body tossed in the torrent alongside, and then it disappeared in the raging water. At the same time Edmund exclaimed: “Heaven forgive me for bringing these poor creatures here, to lose them!” (To be continued.)