Fifteen Hundred Miles an Hour Read online

  CHAPTER III.

  OUR VOYAGE BEYOND THE CLOUDS.

  Long before morning dawned over Earth, on the second day of our voyagethrough space, we had reached such an enormous altitude, that eventhe outlines of the continents could not be traced with any degreeof clearness. The large masses of land were sharply defined from theoceans, but all trace of peninsulas, isthmuses, and islands was lost.The Polar crescents of gleaming snow stood clearly out in bold relief,but the waters of the Earth were becoming very grey in appearance.

  By 9 a.m. on the 3rd of May, we were close upon forty thousand milesabove the Earth. Our life in the _Sirius_ was very methodical, anda brief description of one day's routine will be sufficient for thepurposes of this narrative.

  Every two hours of night the watch was relieved, the person left incharge being responsible for the safe working of the various apparatus.At 7 a.m. Sandy prepared breakfast; at 1 p.m. we had dinner; at 5 p.m.,tea; at 9 p.m., supper. The intervals between meals were passed bythe Doctor almost exclusively in scientific observations, writing hisjournals, and carefully inspecting the machinery and instruments. ToGraham was allotted the task of keeping all in order, and compiling arecord of the distance travelled each day. Temple assisted the Doctorin many of his labours. He was likewise busy upon a work on finance--agreat scheme for liquidating the national debts of Europe, which hadbeen a favourite hobby of his for years. He also helped to write muchof the present journal. Sandy's time was fully taken up in variousdomestic arrangements, and in looking after his dog. We usually wentto bed at 11 p.m., but if anything exceptional occurred we stayed uplater, and sometimes we were too excited to go to rest at all. TheDoctor insisted on each one of the party taking a certain amount ofexercise daily, and also swallowing a small dose of a drug of his owndiscovery.

  For the first week our voyage was somewhat uneventful. Each day wecontinued to dash with stupendous speed towards the zenith. The earth,now, was greatly and rapidly changing in appearance. Our nights wereremarkably short, and the period of sunlight became longer and longerin duration. We were soon to pass beyond the influence of the Earth'sshadow, and to enter a region of perpetual day.

  On the tenth day of our departure from Earth, when we were quite360,000 miles above its surface, the moon completed her sideralrevolution, and we saw the outer surface of the satellite for the firsttime in the history of mankind.

  Unfortunately, we were too far away to make a very minute examination,but the scene vividly depicted through the Doctor's largest telescopewas one never likely to be forgotten. We were gazing upon a new world;the eyes of mortal man had never rested on that portion of the moon'ssurface now before us; and, oh, how different did it appear from thatpale orb we are all of us so accustomed to see lighting the darknessof Earth! Perhaps it is well that her gleaming yellow surface remainsunchanged, in aspect, to all mortal eyes. Her surface, to the dwellersupon Earth, has become a symbol of peace, eloquent of deathly calm.

  Our nights now became shorter and shorter--with great rapidity, until,at the end of the third week of our departure from Earth, when we hadaccomplished a distance of 800,000 miles, we reached those remoteregions of space where the mighty shadow, cast by our planet, tapersdown to a point, and the sun in all his glory reigns eternally supreme.

  Our sensations were almost beyond description when the _Sirius_ was atlast fairly launched into the vast, boundless void of silent space. Solong as we felt the influence of Earth, and journeyed on our way underthe shelter of her mighty shadow, the bonds that held us to our motherworld were still unbroken.

  Then, things at least seemed earthly. Now, every Earth-tie was severed;surrounded by a solemn, limitless sea of space, unconceivable,unfathomable, filled with brilliant and eternal light, such as no manhad beheld before, every one of us was filled with awe; and even theever-cool and dauntless Doctor himself was well-nigh overwhelmed withthe majestic splendour of the scene around us. We felt as if we hadnow ceased to be human; that we no longer belonged to Earth, but wereoutcasts, with no home or bond of human fellowship away from ourfloating carriage; doomed to live for ever, and to spend eternity incrossing this radiant ether sea! The silence was profound. The calmeststillness of Earth is as the tempest-roar in comparison with theawe-inspiring quietness of Here! The very beating of our pulses rangclearly out on space; the ticking of our watches became even painful inits loud intensity. Our hearts and our courage began to fail us. Onlythe Doctor, with his nerves of steel, refrained from uttering wordsof regret for thus rashly leaving Earth for the sake of prying intothe very laboratory of the Universe! Supernatural influences seemed tosurround us. We started as men; we seemed to be fast evolving into newbeings, governed by no human impulses--controlled by no human forces.Still the _Sirius_ sped on. Upwards the good air-ship flashed withterrible velocity, bearing us whither--ah, whither? When we became morefamiliar with the vastness around us, the feelings of dread passedgradually away.

  The view from the windows was impressively grand. The sun shone witha brilliancy unknown on Earth, even in the tropics, but the heat wasby no means oppressive. Far as the eye could reach, all was brilliantyellow light, endless, profound!

  We now derived the greatest benefit from the spectacles, prepared onthe same principle as the helioscope, which Doctor Hermann had providedfor our use, the brilliancy of the light being most painful and tryingto the eyes. Time, now, was one endless day of brightest sunshine,so that our only means of judging the hours of day, and what westill called night for the sake of convenience, was by the aid of ourchronometers.

  Soon after we reached these remote regions of eternal light, we beganto experience considerable difficulty in breathing. At times thisbecame so bad, that all of us lapsed into a state of semi-stupor. Thiscaused us the gravest anxiety and alarm, and as we sped onwards thetrouble increased. Clearly something was going wrong. The terriblethought that air was absolutely about to fail us, in spite of all theDoctor's careful experiments and calculations, filled us with thoughtstoo horrible to express. The condensers worked admirably, but drivenat their utmost capacity, they still failed to furnish sufficientbreathable atmosphere. Singularly enough, poor Rover felt thisdiminishing supply of air far more than his human companions, and forhours scarcely moved or breathed. The Doctor was puzzled, Graham wasperplexed, Temple and Sandy very much depressed--the latter especiallyso. After many careful experiments and a thorough examination ofthe _Sirius_, we at last found the cause in a loosened window. Theremedying of this necessitated one of us going out on to the balconyand climbing the corniced sides.

  Graham volunteered the hazardous duty.

  The Doctor, with his usual forethought, and showing how well he hadplanned-out his gigantic scheme to the very smallest detail, and howcarefully he had provided for all the contingencies human intelligencecould foresee, had brought with him a modified diver's helmet, with theair-tubes attached, and a small cock-tap was fastened in the side ofthe _Sirius_, through which air-pipes could be passed. This apparatuswe adjusted on Graham's head, and round his body hung a coil of finemanilla rope. Our speed was now considerably reduced. While the Doctorassisted him to mount the ladder which led to the door, and opened andclosed it as he went through on to the balcony, Temple and Sandy workedthe pumps which supplied him with air. This door had to be closed veryquickly, to prevent our own air escaping. We eventually heard him atwork on the defective window, and the great improvement in the airof our chambers was sufficient evidence that he had succeeded in histask. Still, he did not return; for quite ten minutes we were in thegreatest suspense as to his movements. The air-pipes had been drawnout nearly to their fullest extent, which was a singular circumstance,and one that seemed to bode no good, as half their length was amplysufficient for Graham's needs. Our concern rapidly grew into absolutealarm for the safety of our companion, until at last we had the signalthat he was waiting to be admitted. It was a welcome relief to us all,and Sandy could not refrain from uttering cheer after cheer of welcome,forgetting his work of pumping until sternly cal
led to his duty bythe Doctor. As soon as the door was opened, poor Graham fell into theDoctor's arms, and for several hours he lay unconscious, in spite ofall our remedies and careful treatment. Something had happened, and foran explanation of the mystery we had to wait until our friend regainedconsciousness, and was able to relate his thrilling story. This he musttell in his own words.

  "Notwithstanding the still high rate of speed at which we weretravelling, I experienced no inconvenience upon getting to thebalcony," began Graham, drinking off a small glass of strong brandywhich Temple insisted on his taking, "nor did I have any trouble inclimbing up the ring ladder to the defective window. The damage wastrifling in itself, and easily repaired; but I noticed, as I wentup, what looked to be a long crack in the side of the _Sirius_, anddetermined to lower myself down and examine it. I fastened the rope toone of the rings, and lowered a part of it sufficiently long to reachthe supposed crack: the end of the rope hung loosely down into spacefrom the ring above. I cautiously began to descend, hand under hand,down the smooth, gleaming side of the _Sirius_. The distance seemedlonger than I had calculated, and I could not see very well out of theglasses, for my breath dimmed them. I went cautiously lower and lower,when to my utter horror the bight of the rope gave way, and I slippeddown many yards, to find myself hanging by the hands alone in space,below the _Sirius_.

  "ALONE IN SPACE."]

  "For one brief, awful moment every drop of blood in my body seemedfrozen, when I realised the fact that I was swinging by the hands abovethe unfathomable gulf of space! Thanks to a nerve which has never yetfailed me, my presence of mind did not forsake me. I tried to forgetwhat was below, and to concentrate all my thoughts on what was above.Above was safety; below, the most horrible death a human being couldsuffer. I shudder now to think of it. I knew it was no use to call forassistance, you had it not in your power to relieve me. Not one ofyou could have lived out there without a proper supply of air. My onlychance rested on trying to get back again--a wild and almost hopelessfight for life. The ring which held the rope had broken loose, andwas hanging at the end. That saved me. It prevented the rope slippingfrom my grasp as I fell; and by pulling myself up a little way, I gotmy feet in the ring, and relieved the terrible strain upon my arms.Big beads of perspiration streamed down my forehead, and the stiflingatmosphere in the helmet added to my woes, as I realised all thehorrors of my awful position. Then, all the time, I was tormented withthe possibility of the air-pipes breaking, and then--ah, then, to meeteternity, and fall downwards--WHERE?"

  "Graham, your experiences must have been unutterably terrible,"remarked Temple.

  "The mental torture of such a terrible situation must have seemedbeyond human endurance. Try a little more brandy, and finish your storylater on, when you feel stronger," said the Doctor.

  "No, thanks, Doctor; I begin to feel myself again, and would like torelate all while the facts are still fresh in my memory."

  "With a desperation," continued Graham, "only born of a wild desire forlife, I commenced my struggle upwards. Swinging from side to side, andtwisting round and round above that gleaming yellow gulf, whose depthsno mortal could sound, I slowly climbed, hand over hand, for a littleway, and then stopped to rest. I soon, alas! realised the fact thatgoing down was much easier than coming up, and every moment I felt myarms losing strength. Oh! how horribly smooth and remorseless did theshining sides of the _Sirius_ seem! Not a projection of any kind toassist me. Several times I was almost giving up in despair, and endingmy frightful misery by dropping quietly into the yawning void below,but the natural love for life implanted in every animate creature heldme back, whilst hope whispered encouragement in my ears. I could hearyour voices; the sound of my pulse as it throbbed on in its agony wasstartlingly distinct. I heard Sandy call out the hour--I had only beenfive minutes in my dreadful position, after all, yet it seemed ages andages. Suddenly an idea struck me, and that was if I could manage tohold on by one hand, with the other I might pass the end of the ropeunder my foot and form a loop.

  "This I succeeded in doing, and was thus able to rest my arms a little,at intervals, as I slowly struggled upwards. How heavy the helmetseemed to be getting! I felt slowly drifting into unconsciousness, anddeath. In what seemed to me an eternity, I at last reached the otherend of the rope, which I had left hanging loose. By a great effort Igot this end through the ring and secured it, thus making a loop inwhich I was able to stand for a few moments and rest. I cannot tellyou how deliciously sweet those few seconds were; they seemed like arespite from the very jaws of death. I actually examined the supposedcrack which had been the cause of all my misfortune, and found thatit was not a flaw, but a mere scratch in the outer coating of the_Sirius_. After this all was comparatively easy. I soon got on to thebalcony, untied the rope, and gave the signal at the door. Then allwas blank; my senses left me. I suppose the mental strain had beentoo much, and that the overstrung nerves had collapsed at last. Iremembered nothing more until I found myself under your care, and wassurprised to learn that for three hours I had lain unconscious."

  "We all congratulate you on your wonderful escape, Graham," saidTemple. "A bottle of our best port shall be uncorked. It will put newlife into you, man."

  "And, Graham," remarked the Doctor, "you will perceive that yourperilous undertaking has brought about good results. The air we arenow breathing is all right again. We have lost but little time, forthe moment we knew you were safe the motors were started again at fullpressure."

  "The leakage," rejoined Graham, addressing the Doctor, "was absurdlytrivial, yet it makes one shudder to think what would be the case didour air escape in any larger quantity."

  "It only shows how scrupulously careful we must be, and neglect noprecautions for our safety," said Temple.

  "The perils of our position must keep each one of us alert. Unforeseenterrors may surround us; at any moment we may encounter unknown perils;we may be rushing into the midst of forces that will require all ourfortitude to contend against them. We are in the midst of danger, andhave to grapple with any difficulty that may present itself, withouthaving the benefit of any human experience to guide us. But we shallpull through; we shall pull through, my friends; and think of ourglorious reward!" remarked Doctor Hermann, working himself up into anenthusiastic state of excitement as he spoke.

  "What are the results of your observations and calculations to-day,Doctor?" said Graham. "I reckon we are now one million two hundred andfifty thousand miles from home!"

  "You were asking me, Graham, about the results I arrived at to-day,"continued the Doctor. "Briefly, they may be summarised thus. I findthat we are now entirely beyond the attractive forces of the planet,Earth. We are now, as it were, in a neutral position; not yet closeenough to Mars to come within the influence of his attraction."

  Four hours after the Doctor had thus spoken, that is to say at twentyminutes past two in the afternoon, the transit of Earth commenced.He had timed the occurrence to a second. Slowly the sphere of Earthcrept into view, and crossed gradually towards the centre of the sun,and finally passed beyond the disc into space again. No words ofhuman tongue can adequately express the sensations we experienced aswe watched the planet Earth, now nothing but a small, dark ball inappearance, travel across the fiery background of the sun. To knowthat that mere speck was a universe peopled with millions of livingcreatures--to know that that tiny black disc, so far out yonder, wasin reality a vast and mighty world, floating in space, yet so small incomparison to other orbs around us, impressed upon our minds the grandsublimity of Nature's works.

  For many weeks after the events recorded in this chapter, the _Sirius_sped on without a single notable occurrence to relieve the monotony ofthe journey. Our first Christmas Day was observed with all customaryhonours, Sandy providing us with a royal feast; and the evening wasgiven up to conviviality and amusement. The Doctor and Temple playedchess; Sandy, with his short pipe and unlimited whiskey, now and thensang us a North-country ballad; Rover lay quietly at his master'sfeet; Graham smoked huge C
abanas, told stories, fired off jokes,and sang many a Yorkshire ditty. All of us felt the magic spell ofChristmas-tide, and the observance of the festal day filled our heartswith renewed hope, and served to increase and strengthen the bond ofbrotherly unity in our little party.

  We were now 8,820,000 miles from Earth, or, reducing this vast numberto more comprehensive language, we had accomplished slightly morethan a quarter of our journey. We still continued to find ethersufficiently dense to be converted into a breathable atmosphere, andinto water--everything promised well for the ultimate success of ourdaring enterprise. Alas! for all human hopes and human anticipations;we little dreamed of what the future was about to bring!