Fifteen Hundred Miles An Hour 1

Fifteen Hundred Miles An Hour 1

Fifteen Hundred Miles An Hour

 

Author: Charles Dixon

 

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.

VOLINÈ

 

CHAPTER XVII.

AT THE TEMPLE ON THE HILL VEROSI

 

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE FIGHT FOR VOLINÈ

 

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"

"VOLINÈ"

"... 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 in

this book, is of so marvellous a character as to have made me long

hesitate before venturing on their publication. Even now I do so in the

full expectation of scorn and unbelief.

 

I owe it to the world to state exactly how these papers came into my

hands. That done, I must leave it to their own appearance of truth to

command belief.

 

The year before last, I was travelling through Northern Africa on a

scientific expedition. It was early in the month of May that I reached

the northern confines of the Great Desert, amongst the feathery

palm-groves in the delicious oasis of Biskra.

 

I had started one day, with the first streak of dawn, upon a short

expedition into the desert. My two Arab followers were anxious to

cover as much distance as possible before the heat of the sun became

oppressive.

 

It was about ten o'clock before we halted for breakfast, and the oasis

of Biskra looked but a black spot on the northern horizon. The heavens

up to now were an intensely brilliant blue, but a dark cloud far away

over the distant desert could be seen rapidly increasing in size.

 

Gradually the whole vault of sky assumed a coppery aspect, and the

sun shone paler and paler each moment. The heat and oppressiveness

were almost unbearable; not a breath of air relieved the suffocating

atmosphere. The sun finally disappeared behind the curtain of lowering

cloud, and a darkness began to creep over the earth. The Arabs prepared

for the storm which they knew from experience was brewing. The dreaded

sandstorm was approaching. It came on the wings of the southern gale

with terrific speed, and suddenly the air became almost as dark as

midnight, full of fine blinding sand. We could not see twenty paces

ahead; and now the sluggish atmosphere was stirred with the rushing and

shrieking of a mighty wind.

 

As I gazed for one brief moment upwards during a lull in the storm, my

eyes were almost blinded by a brilliant light, brighter than the flame

from an incandescent lamp, and a thousand times as large, which seemed

to shoot from out of space. At the same awful moment the very dome of

heaven seemed cracked asunder by a loud report, different from anything

I had ever heard before. It was a solid and metallic sound, louder

and sharper than the report of tons of exploding nitro-glycerine.

The earth shook and trembled to its utmost foundations, and the rocks

seemed to recoil at the frightful explosion. The Arabs were struck

dumb and motionless with horror, and I, for several moments, was as

one stone-blind. With the report a huge body seemed to have struck the

rocks a short distance from us, but it was impossible to tell what it

was until the fury of the storm was somewhat spent. The worst was now

over; and the sand, the thunder, and the darkness vanished almost as

suddenly as they came. But we did not venture forth until the welcome,

glorious sun shone down again upon the wet rocks; and then the Arabs

engaged in fervent prayer to Allah for our miraculous deliverance from

a terrible fate.

 

Almost the first object that my eyes rested upon, as soon as we left

our retreat under the rocks, was a large round mass of dark-looking

substance, a hundred yards away. In amazement I walked towards the spot

where it lay hissing and steaming on the bare, wet rocks, surrounded by

a thick coating of hailstones, which the hot sun was rapidly melting.

It was a meteorolite of unusual dimensions, measuring exactly three

feet nine inches in height, and was shaped like a huge gourd. A large

crack extended completely down one side, about an inch across in its

widest part.

 

I cautioned the Arabs to preserve the strictest secrecy, and made them

swear by the Prophet's beard that they would reveal to no man what

they had seen, and then we returned to Biskra. It was my intention to

obtain a few suitable tools and requisites, and then return to the

meteorolite at once to investigate. It would evidently take some hours

to cool; besides, if we did not get back, search parties would be

scouring the desert in quest of us, and they might by chance discover

this 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 with

wedges, a heavy hammer, some drills, a quantity of gunpowder, and

fuse. We found the stone just as we left it on the previous day, and

evidently still unvisited by man.

 

I first of all tried to force open the crack with the wedges, but the

substance was exceedingly tough, the appliances at my command very

crude, and I made no progress. Then I set my followers to work to bore

two holes into the "stone," and fill them with gunpowder. This plan

worked admirably--the drill cutting its way through the soft spongy

mass with great quickness, and I was soon ready to fire my fuse, and

retire behind the rocks to wait events.

 

It was an anxious moment for me. We had not to wait long for the

reports, which sounded like a couple of rifle cracks, and then we ran

forward 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 the

Arabs to work to gather up the largest pieces and load our camels with

them.

 

I was sitting dejectedly enough upon the sand, more interested in

the action of a pair of vultures than in the doings of my men, when

Achmed, one of my Arabs, made his appearance, holding in his arms a

very curious-looking fragment of the meteorolite. It looked like a

rusty piece of iron ore, oblong in shape, and had evidently undergone

great pressure. Examination told me that this substance was iron, and

its disproportionate lightness, together with a blow from the hammer,

revealed the fact that it was not solid! It looked for all the world

like a large conical shot. I set off alone on my camel to the oasis, all impatient to get home and examine my prize.