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364 CHAPTER XXXVIII No Outlet— Blasting the Rock VER since the commencement of our marvel- ous journey, I had experienced many sur- / prises, had suffered from many illusions. I thought that I was case-hardened against all sur- prises and could neithersee nor hear anything to amaze me again. However, when I saw these two letters, which had heen engraved three hundred years before, I stood fixed in an attitude of mute surprise. > Not only was there the signature of the learned and enterprising alchemist written in the rock, but I held in my hand the identical instrument with which he had laboriously engraved it. It was im- possible, without showing an amount of incredulity ecarcely becoming a sane man, to deny the existence of the traveler, and the reality of that voyage which I believed all along to have been a myth — the mysti- fication of some fertile brain. While these reflections were passing through my mind, my uncle, the Professor, gave way to an ac- cess of feverish and poetical excitement. "Wonder- ful and glorious Genius, great Saknussem," he cried, "you have omitted no resourse to show to other mortals the way into the interior of our mighty globe, and your fellow-creatures can find the trail left by your illustrious footsteps, three hundred years ago. You have been careful to secure for others the contemplation of these wonders and marvels of creation. Your name engraved at every important stage of your glorious journey, leads the hopeful traveler direct to the mighty discovery to which you devoted such energy and courage. The audacious traveler, who shall follow your footsteps to the last, will doubtless find your initials engraved with your own hand upon the center of the earth. I will be that audacious traveler — 7, too, will sign my name upon the very same spot, upon the central granite stone of this wondrous work of the Creator. But in justice to your devotion, and to your being the first to indicate the road, let this Cape, seen by you upon the shores of this sea discovered by you, be called for all time, Cape Saknussem." This is what I heard, and I began to be roused to the pitch of enthusiasm indicated by those words. A fierce excitement roused me. I forgot everything. The dangers of the voyage, and the perils of the re- turn journey, were now as nothing! What another man had done in ages past, could, I felt be done again; I was determined to do it myself, and now nothing that man had accomplished appeared to me impossible. "Forward — forward/' I cried in a burst of genuine and hearty enthusiasm. Where the Raft Brought Them I HAD already started in the direction of the somber and gloomy gallery, when the Profes- sor stopped me ; he, the man so rash and hasty, he, the man so easily roused to the highest pitch of anthusiasm, checked me, and asked me to be patient and show more calm, "Let us return to our good friend, Hans," he said; "we will then bring the raft down to this place." I must say that though I at once yielded to my uncle's request; it was not without dissatisfaction, and I hastened along the rocks of that wonderful coast. "Do you know, my dear uncle," I said, as we walked along, "that we have been singularly helped by a concurrence of circumstances, right up to this very moment." "So you begin to see it, do you, Harry?" said the Professor, with a smile. "Doubtless," I responded, "and strangely enough, even the tempest has been the means of putting us on the right road. Blessings on the tempest! It brought us safely back to the very spot from which fine weather would have driven us forever. Sup- posing we had succeeded in reaching the southern and distant shores of this extraordinary sea, what would have become of us? The name of Saknussem would never have appeared to us, and at this mo- ment we should have been cast away upon an in- hospitable coast, probably without an outlet." "Yes, Harry, my boy, there is certainly some- thing providential in that wandering at the mercy of wind and waves towards the south; we have come back exactly north; and what is better still, we fall upon this great discovery. There is something in it which is far beyond my comprehension. The coincidence is unheard-of, marvelous!" "What matter! It is not our duty to explain facts, but to make the best possible use of them." "Doubtless, my boy; but if you will allow me " said the really-delighted Professor. A Discussion of Geography <« T* XCUSE me, sir, but I see exactly how it will &-^ be; we shall. take the northern route; we I J shall pass under the northern regions of Europe, under Sweden, under Russia, under Siberia, and who knows here — instead of burying ourselves under the burning plains and deserts of Africa, or beneath the mighty waves of the ocean; and that is all, at this stage of our journey, that I care to know. Let us advance, and Heaven will be our guide!" "Yes, Harry, you are right; quite right; all is for the best. Let us abandon this horizontal sea, which could never have led to anything satisfactory. We shall descend, descend, and everlastingly de- scend. Do you know, my dear boy, that to reach the interior of the earth we have only five thousand miles to travel!" "Bah!" I cried, carried away by a burst of en- thusiasm, "the distance is scarcely worth .speaking about. The thing is to make a start." My wild, mad, and incoherent speeches continued until we rejoined our patient and phlegmatic guide. All was, we found, prepared for an immediate de- parture. There was not a single parcel out of it3 proper place. We all took up our posts on the raft, and the sail being hoisted, Hans received his direc- tions, and guided the frail barque towards Cape Saknussem, as we had definitely named it. The wind was very unfavorable to a craft that was unable to sail close to the wind. We were con- tinually reduced to pushing ourselves forward by means of poles. On several occasions the rocks ran far out into deep water and we were compelled to make a long round. At last, after three long and weary hours of navigation, that is to say, about six o'clock in the evening, we found a place at which we could land. I jumped on shore first. In my present state of excitement and enthusiasm, I was always first. My