Fifteen Hundred Miles an Hour Read online

  Produced by Dagny & Marc D'Hooghe at https://www.freeliterature.org

  FIFTEEN

  HUNDRED

  MILES

  AN HOUR

  _Edited by_

  CHARLES DIXON.

  _Illustrated by Captain ARTHUR LAYARD, late R.E._

  _LONDON_

  BLISS, SANDS AND FOSTER

  CRAVEN STREET, STRAND, W.C.

  1895

  "OUR VOYAGE BEGINS AT LAST."]

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER I. WE PREPARE FOR OUR JOURNEY

  CHAPTER II. WE LEAVE EARTH IN THE "SIRIUS"

  CHAPTER III. OUR VOYAGE BEYOND THE CLOUDS

  CHAPTER IV. AWFUL MOMENTS

  CHAPTER V. THE GLORIES OF THE HEAVENS

  CHAPTER VI. WE NEAR MARS

  CHAPTER VII. OUR ARRIVAL AND SAFE DESCENT

  CHAPTER VIII. A STRANGE WORLD

  CHAPTER IX. THE MORROW--AND WHAT CAME OF IT

  CHAPTER X. CAPTIVITY

  CHAPTER XI. LOVE AND JEALOUSY

  CHAPTER XII. CONDEMNED TO DIE

  CHAPTER XIII. THE CRAG REMAGALOTH

  CHAPTER XIV. ACROSS THE DESERT CHADOS

  CHAPTER XV. RIVALS MEET AGAIN

  CHAPTER XVI. VOLIN?

  CHAPTER XVII. AT THE TEMPLE ON THE HILL VEROSI

  CHAPTER XVIII. THE FIGHT FOR VOLIN?

  CHAPTER XIX. WEDDED

  CHAPTER XX. THE LAST WORDS FROM YONDER

  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

  "OUR VOYAGE BEGINS AT LAST" _Frontispiece_ "ALONE IN SPACE" "ITS HUGE SCALY CARCASE" "VOLIN?" "... THE 'SIRIUS' ... BOLDLY OUTLINED AGAINST THE SKY" "SCORES OF STRANGE BEASTS HURRIED OUT FROM UNDER THEM"

  INTRODUCTION

  The narrative contained in the papers which are given to the world inthis book, is of so marvellous a character as to have made me longhesitate before venturing on their publication. Even now I do so in thefull expectation of scorn and unbelief.

  I owe it to the world to state exactly how these papers came into myhands. That done, I must leave it to their own appearance of truth tocommand belief.

  The year before last, I was travelling through Northern Africa on ascientific expedition. It was early in the month of May that I reachedthe northern confines of the Great Desert, amongst the featherypalm-groves in the delicious oasis of Biskra.

  I had started one day, with the first streak of dawn, upon a shortexpedition into the desert. My two Arab followers were anxious tocover as much distance as possible before the heat of the sun becameoppressive.

  It was about ten o'clock before we halted for breakfast, and the oasisof Biskra looked but a black spot on the northern horizon. The heavensup to now were an intensely brilliant blue, but a dark cloud far awayover the distant desert could be seen rapidly increasing in size.

  Gradually the whole vault of sky assumed a coppery aspect, and thesun shone paler and paler each moment. The heat and oppressivenesswere almost unbearable; not a breath of air relieved the suffocatingatmosphere. The sun finally disappeared behind the curtain of loweringcloud, and a darkness began to creep over the earth. The Arabs preparedfor the storm which they knew from experience was brewing. The dreadedsandstorm was approaching. It came on the wings of the southern galewith terrific speed, and suddenly the air became almost as dark asmidnight, full of fine blinding sand. We could not see twenty pacesahead; and now the sluggish atmosphere was stirred with the rushing andshrieking of a mighty wind.

  As I gazed for one brief moment upwards during a lull in the storm, myeyes were almost blinded by a brilliant light, brighter than the flamefrom an incandescent lamp, and a thousand times as large, which seemedto shoot from out of space. At the same awful moment the very dome ofheaven seemed cracked asunder by a loud report, different from anythingI had ever heard before. It was a solid and metallic sound, louderand sharper than the report of tons of exploding nitro-glycerine.The earth shook and trembled to its utmost foundations, and the rocksseemed to recoil at the frightful explosion. The Arabs were struckdumb and motionless with horror, and I, for several moments, was asone stone-blind. With the report a huge body seemed to have struck therocks a short distance from us, but it was impossible to tell what itwas until the fury of the storm was somewhat spent. The worst was nowover; and the sand, the thunder, and the darkness vanished almost assuddenly as they came. But we did not venture forth until the welcome,glorious sun shone down again upon the wet rocks; and then the Arabsengaged in fervent prayer to Allah for our miraculous deliverance froma terrible fate.

  Almost the first object that my eyes rested upon, as soon as we leftour retreat under the rocks, was a large round mass of dark-lookingsubstance, a hundred yards away. In amazement I walked towards the spotwhere it lay hissing and steaming on the bare, wet rocks, surrounded bya thick coating of hailstones, which the hot sun was rapidly melting.It was a meteorolite of unusual dimensions, measuring exactly threefeet nine inches in height, and was shaped like a huge gourd. A largecrack extended completely down one side, about an inch across in itswidest part.

  I cautioned the Arabs to preserve the strictest secrecy, and made themswear by the Prophet's beard that they would reveal to no man whatthey had seen, and then we returned to Biskra. It was my intention toobtain a few suitable tools and requisites, and then return to themeteorolite at once to investigate. It would evidently take some hoursto cool; besides, if we did not get back, search parties would bescouring the desert in quest of us, and they might by chance discoverthis wonderful "stone." I felt already that this stone belonged to me.My interest in it was all-absorbing.

  Early the next morning, with three Arabs, I went off, armed withwedges, a heavy hammer, some drills, a quantity of gunpowder, andfuse. We found the stone just as we left it on the previous day, andevidently still unvisited by man.

  I first of all tried to force open the crack with the wedges, but thesubstance was exceedingly tough, the appliances at my command verycrude, and I made no progress. Then I set my followers to work to boretwo holes into the "stone," and fill them with gunpowder. This planworked admirably--the drill cutting its way through the soft spongymass with great quickness, and I was soon ready to fire my fuse, andretire behind the rocks to wait events.

  It was an anxious moment for me. We had not to wait long for thereports, which sounded like a couple of rifle cracks, and then we ranforward to examine our prize. Alas! it was shattered into fragments,some of them blown to a distance of many yards.

  The charges were too strong. I was profoundly disappointed, and set theArabs to work to gather up the largest pieces and load our camels withthem.

  I was sitting dejectedly enough upon the sand, more interested inthe action of a pair of vultures than in the doings of my men, whenAchmed, one of my Arabs, made his appearance, holding in his arms avery curious-looking fragment of the meteorolite. It looked like arusty piece of iron ore, oblong in shape, and had evidently undergonegreat pressure. Examination told me that this substance was iron, andits disproportionate lightness, together with a blow from the hammer,revealed the fact that it was not solid! It looked for all the worldlike a large conical shot. I set off alone on my camel to the oasis,all impatient to get home and examine my prize.

  I could neither eat nor sleep until I had finished my task. Lockingmyself in my room, I began my investigation with a singularpresentiment that I was on the eve of some important discovery. Norwere my feelings unjustified by events. With the aid of a hammer andchisel, after some considerable trouble and labour, I broke open thissingular-looking mass of battered rusty iron, and its strange contentsrolled out on to the table! Of what we
re they composed? Nothing but along and carefully-folded pile of papers--so tightly packed that theymight have been under hydraulic pressure; but their appearance filledme with the intensest surprise and most utter amazement! Here andthere the edges were burnt and charred, but otherwise they were in asingularly good state of preservation, and the writing upon them wasalmost as legible as when it was penned. The paper had evidently beenmade on earth, for it bore the watermark of a well-known London firm.

  The most singular part of all this strange occurrence, however, remainsnow to be told. Most of these manuscripts were written in a good, bold,upright hand, and they were addressed and dated from

  "The City of Edos, Planet of Mars, or Gathma. December the 9th, 1878."

  Was I awake or dreaming? Many times did I read those three lines,walking about the room meantime to convince myself that all wasreality! This strange letter from an unknown world must have been tenyears in the air! These manuscripts were evidently of a scientificas well as of a popular character; and as a scientific man myself,I felt already that a bond of sympathy existed between my unknowncorrespondent far away out yonder beyond the sky, and myself! A voicefrom another world; a message from the vast unseen--how I longedto read these papers, to examine them, to revel in their secrets,and to enjoy them! What a hidden world of wonder, of adventure, ofexploration, lay before me if the documents were genuine!

  I sat up the entire night, eagerly reading through these strange papers.

  Africa had now, for the present, lost its charm. I set off back againto Europe with all despatch, bent on investigating the whole matter.

  Fortunately, my efforts were crowned with a most gratifying triumph.

  Doctor Hermann, F.R.S., F.R.A.S., F.R.G.S., the author of aconsiderable portion of these manuscripts, I discovered had been aneccentric and little-known individual, living a very secluded lifeon a small estate near the Yorkshire fells, a wild lonely spot, farfrom cities. That he was a member of the Royal, the Astronomical, andthe Geographical Societies, I easily satisfied myself. He had beenabsolutely devoted to science--for this all the other enjoyments andobligations of life were discarded; he lived but for one object, thestudy and investigation of Nature's choicest secrets. This was theall-absorbing faith of his life. From information supplied in thesemanuscripts, I learned the exact place of his strange abode, andwas able to visit it, and to make many enquiries in the immediateneighbourhood concerning him. He was described to me as a tall, spareman, with a benevolent-looking face, past the prime of life, withgrey beard and moustache, clear grey eyes, and close-cropped hair. Innature, gentle and tender as a woman, but brave as a lion, and with areputation for firmness and great strength of will. I was also toldthat he had a very big telescope erected in his barn, and some ofthe old folks living in the fells always insisted that the Doctor andthe Devil were on quite too intimate terms. He had no friends in theneighbourhood. One old serving-woman used to look after the house,but she had been dead some years, and had not been on speaking termswith any of the good people living near. His man-of-all-work, SandyCampbell, generally accompanied his master in all his wanderings. Sandywas almost as much of a character as his master--a close, reticentScot, who could never be got to talk, even when under the influence ofwhisky, a liquor he appeared to have been particularly fond of. TheDoctor had few visitors. John Temple, a Bradford cotton lord, had beenoften seen in his company; and a young engineer from Leeds, calledHarry Graham, had been also known in the neighbourhood as a frequentguest of the Doctor's. Singularly enough, these names were the onesgiven in the manuscripts, and therefore help to confirm their truth.

  I also learnt that, some fourteen years ago, Doctor Hermann and his mansuddenly disappeared from the neighbourhood, and it was said they hadgone abroad on a scientific expedition, the house having been denudedof its furniture and left standing empty. From that day to this, noone had occupied the premises. Pursuing my investigations further,I found that at precisely the same time John Temple, the Bradfordmillionaire, left this country, presumably on a voyage round the world;and enquiries at the great firm of manufacturing engineers in Leedsalso revealed the fact that this Harry Graham, their cleverest manager,left their employment to go abroad at the same date. Not one of thesepersons has been heard of since.

  The mystery of all these persons disappearing at the same time, andnever being heard of again by mortal man, is now cleared away! I holdthe secret, which was flashed to me on the wings of the storm, fromboundless space, upon the sands of the Sahara. The following weird andstartling story will satisfactorily explain the cause and purpose ofthese individuals' departure, minutely describe their wonderful andthrilling experiences, and publish to the world the reason why thelonely house on the Yorkshire fells remains tenantless, and is rapidlyfalling into ruins; and the rich estates of John Temple, cotton lordand millionaire, are still amongst the unclaimed treasures in thejealous keeping of the High Court of Chancery!

  The following is in the Doctor's bold and characteristic handwriting.

  _Extract from Dr. Hermann's instructions to the finder of the MSS._

  "Should these manuscripts chance to fall into the hands of anycivilised man, it is my earnest wish, though of German extractionmyself, that they should be published--if published at all--in theEnglish tongue. Truth shall prevail, and our return to earth shallscatter, like thistle-down before the autumn winds, the scepticismwhich I mistake not will encircle them, as soon as man may read them.It is my cherished hope to return to my mother world, and to tell inperson of that glorious life and those sublime wonders of a New World.Adieu!"

  This brief extract must suffice as introduction. The next chapterwill begin at once with the story proper, omitting the uninterestingpreliminary portion of the manuscripts.

  _Fifteen Hundred Miles an Hour_