The Ruler of the Ocean of the Air/Chapter III

Chapter III: At the Site of Former Bliss
The crew of the balloon which had covered many thousand kilometers before landing at the edge of Asia had also seen the wonderful airship.

Nor were they mistaken when they said that it had flown in the direction of the Caucasus. This was the direction the airship had taken, toward Georgia, toward the regions between the Caspian and the Black Sea.

It was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining on a wonderful landscape, one could almost believe that this was the German Alps.

Coniferous trees covered the slopes of the mountains, here and there were meadows, and lower down in the valleys foamed crystal clear streams. Up high were mountains, the highest of which were covered with snow and ice, but there was not a human being to be seen in this glorious region.

It was as if this wonderful valley was shunned. There were only a few birds above the forest, carnivorous birds looking for prey.

Suddenly the birds paused in their regular flight. They flapped their wings and disappeared in the lower reaches of the canyons.

What was this disturbance which drove off these sailors of the sky? It must have been that gray, strange object which suddenly came shooting out from between the white tips of two sky-high mountains.

Like an arrow this strange phenomenon moved through the sky, but now it was turning, now it was flying through the air along the side of the mountain.

It moved above the pines and fir trees and now it approached the green meadows.

Yes, this was the strange airship which the Frenchmen had seen, the strange craft which had appeared so suddenly that people thought they were looking at a phantom.

Directly over a rocky plateau, over a clearing in the forest, it stopped. The propellers stopped turning, but a strange force seemed to hold it in place. It remained motionless, about twenty meters above the surface. Then a strange banging was heard, and a silk ladder fell to the ground.

This ladder had barely touched the ground when a man climbed out of the ship, the same man in the blue uniform, and even now he was wearing the mask.

He was followed by a second figure, which also presented a strange appearance. No, this was no son of the white race. The colorful clothing that covered the lithe, sinewy figure covered brown limbs. This young man had to have grown up under a tropical sun.

He followed the man in front of him with great agility. They quickly reached the ground one after the other.

This second man did not wear a mask. His young, brown face wore an unusual, dreamy expression, almost gentle, feminine. It was only when his eyes lit up that one could see that this man too must be possessed of an indomitable spirit.

He was a member of a noble people; the fine, aquiline nose, the regular features proved him to be from India. This young man who was standing humbly next to the masked man in the blue captain's uniform had to be a Hindu, the son of a nation ruled by the English.

Now he looked steadfastly at his noble companion, whose breast was shaken by sorrow. The portions of his face not covered by the mask were pale as death and a deep, hollow groan revealed that this man was struggling with the strongest emotion.

"Sahib," said the young Hindu gently in the mellifluous tones of his native tongue. "Sahib, why have you returned to this place? Oh master, don't you know that it is nothing but pain and suffering for you to come here, that it tears apart your heart? And yet you come to this place from time to time only to torture yourself."

"You are right, my faithful soul," was heard from the bearded lips of the masked man. "No agony of hell is as terrible as the pain I feel when I visit the place where I once thought that I had found the greatest bliss on earth. But I cannot help myself, I am driven back to this place. Maybe in time I will cease to think of the past as much as I do now. But even though I can fly to the ends of the sky, even though the whole earth, the whole universe are open to me, there is a sinister force that brings me back here again and again, to this place where I was once so happy. Come, I have to see the place again."

The masked man took off and made his way through the brush, pushing the branches to the side.

He was armed now. In his belt which girded his hips were two revolvers, ready to fire at an instant's notice. At his left side was a heavy, curved saber in a black scabbard, a weapon that could only be wielded by a very strong hand.

The Indian servant, for such he appeared to be, was also armed. The handles of silver pistols could be seen sticking out from his garments, and also one of those curious Indian swords whose handle was covered with jewels.

Through the pine forest they made their way. Sometimes they heard a rustling sound. Then they stopped, but it was always just a fox or some other wild animal that had been disturbed by them and was seeking safety in flight.

"Master," the Indian suddenly spoke. "Men shun this valley which is home only to animals. You will not find any strangers here."

"Nor would I recommend it," he grunted. "Woe to whoever dares to disturb the peace of the grave. I am no demon, no devil, but here I would destroy anyone who dares disturb the peace. But here we are, everything looks undisturbed."

He took off the hat with the gold band, the Indian servant crossed his arms in front of his chest and bowed deeply, as if he were paying obeisance to someone.

There was a clearing and in this clearing the ruins of buildings.

It seems there had once been a large farm here. Now only its foundations remained. Even these were starting to disappear under the encroaching vegetation.

A high wall which surrounded the property could still be seen, and within it the remains of buildings of various sizes. A terrible fire must have raged here, for its effects could still be seen even on the stones. Here and there were also remnants of burned wood beams.

The masked one surveyed all this with his burning gaze, then he directed his steps toward the edge of the forest.

There were three mounds there, but on top of these were large boulders, so large that it must have taken a number of strong men to roll them up there.

And again a deep groan escaped from the lips of the masked man. In front of the largest of the mounds he threw himself to the ground. And this man, who usually appeared like a piece of iron, was now completely broken and pressed his brow against the cold stone.

"Here they rest!" he groaned. "I had to pile up rocks in order to keep the wolves and bears from digging up the dead. I have fought of the rapacious beasts, but I cannot fight the memories. Again and again they return to torture me! Back then I fancied myself the happiest of men. But how long did it last? A few short years, then it was all over. Oh, the demons, the animals who destroyed my happiness. These wretches whom I will hunt all over this earth. The ones who ruined even me! They accomplished it that I was hunted like a common criminal. I, a man who in his entire life had no other object than to fight for human rights! I was a thorn in the side of these ruffians, but they knew how to get to me. Alas, I can still see it, the night when I returned and saw the fire from a distance, when I raced here like a maniac only to find the corpses of my loved ones. They had been murdered, murdered without mercy. Everything that was mine was destroyed and I, I was declared an outlaw, a criminal, a man to be executed by the hangman. They thought they had finished me, the villains who envied me for my bliss!"

"Compose yourself, master," said the Indian whose usually bright eyes were filled with tears. "You are making yourself miserable."

"No," said the man as he raised himself from the ground. "I can deal with it. They took everything from me, everything, they thought they had accomplished my ruin. But one thing they could not take from me—my genius and my knowledge. This they could not take. And this I have used to construct the vehicle with which I sail the oceans of the air. They have made it impossible for me to remain on earth, the villains. Well, now I am the ruler of the sky!"

Now the man had returned to his usual self. He gave one last look filled with awful pain to the mounds in which the dead were at rest, but then his eyes started to glow with a terrible fire. It was the fire if revenge.

"Yes, at these graves I have sworn," he continued. "Here I made a vow that I would exact vengeance. Vengeance against the knaves who dishonored me, who made me in the eyes of the world a criminal, vengeance against the destroyers of my happiness! This is my first task. But then there will be others. I will appear everywhere where there is injustice. I will appear everywhere, I, Captain Mors, like a bolt of lightning from the sky, I will appear with my wonderful craft which gives me power, I will appear as a terrible avenger. I will travel all over this earth, I will not die until my work is complete. I just had to visit the site of my bliss one more time. Now the time for vengeance is at hand."

He hastily turned around and placed his cap on the brown hair. With firm steps he left this settlement which was now shunned by all humans.

"Master, where do you want to seek for these wretches?" asked the Indian. "You don't even know where to find them. You did not even get a good look at the ones who ruined your happiness. Who knows what might have happened to them. They might have found a bitter end by now."

"No," shouted the masked man in terrible tones. "If that were the case, there would be no justice left in this world. I can feel it, I can still exact revenge. I shall seek them, I will find them. With my craft I can travel anywhere. Back to the airship which shall carry me from here like lightning, up into the highest reaches of the aerial ocean where no man has gone before. Into the unexplored reaches of this planet, and later, if my genius will make certain improvements, maybe into the universe, into the world of the stars. Nothing is impossible to me!"

With admiration the Indian looked upon the proud man who was now walking away with hasty steps. It was as if he was trying to escape from the place where he had once been so happy.

In a great hurry he rushed to the airship, followed by his companion. They both climbed up, then there was the shrill sound of a bell, the rope ladder disappeared, the machine roared, and proud as an eagle the steerable airship rose toward the morning sun.