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THE GREAT STONE OF SARDIS
THE GREAT STONE OF SARDIS
CONTENTS THE GREAT STONE OF SARDIS CHAPTER I. THE ARRIVAL OF THE EUTERPE-THALIA CHAPTER II. THE SARDIS WORKS CHAPTER III. MARGARET RALEIGH CHAPTER IV. THE MISSION OF SAMUEL BLOCK CHAPTER V. UNDER WATER CHAPTER VI. VOICES FROM THE POLAR SEAS CHAPTER VII. GOOD NEWS GOES FROM SARDIS CHAPTER VIII. THE DEVIL ON THE DIPSEY CHAPTER IX. THE ARTESIAN RAY CHAPTER X. "LAKE SHIVER” CHAPTER XI. THEY BELIEVE IT IS THE POLAR SEA CHAPTER XII. CAPTAIN HUBBELL TAKES COMMAND CHAPTER XIII.
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CHAPTER I. THE ARRIVAL OF THE EUTERPE-THALIA
CHAPTER I. THE ARRIVAL OF THE EUTERPE-THALIA
It was about noon of a day in early summer that a westward-bound Atlantic liner was rapidly nearing the port of New York. Not long before, the old light-house on Montauk Point had been sighted, and the company on board the vessel were animated by the knowledge that in a few hours they would be at the end of their voyage. The vessel now speeding along the southern coast of Long Island was the Euterpe-Thalia, from Southampton. On Wednesday morning she had left her English port, and many of her pas
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CHAPTER II. THE SARDIS WORKS
CHAPTER II. THE SARDIS WORKS
At the little station of Sardis, in the hill country of New Jersey, Roland Clewe alighted from the train, and almost instantly his hand was grasped by an elderly man, plainly and even roughly dressed, who appeared wonderfully glad to see him. Clewe also was greatly pleased at the meeting. “Tell me, Samuel, how goes everything?” said Clewe, as they walked off. “Have you anything to say that you did not telegraph? How is your wife?” “She's all right,” was the answer. “And there's nothin' happened,
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CHAPTER III. MARGARET RALEIGH
CHAPTER III. MARGARET RALEIGH
After breakfast the-following morning Roland Clewe mounted his horse and rode over to a handsome house which stood upon a hill about a mile and a half from Sardis. Horses, which had almost gone out of use during the first third of the century, were now getting to be somewhat in fashion again. Many people now appreciated the pleasure which these animals had given to the world since the beginning of history, and whose place, in an aesthetic sense, no inanimate machine could supply. As Roland Clewe
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CHAPTER IV. THE MISSION OF SAMUEL BLOCK
CHAPTER IV. THE MISSION OF SAMUEL BLOCK
Not far from the works at Sardis there was a large pond, which was formed by the damming of a stream which at this point ran between high hills. In order to obtain a sufficient depth of water for his marine experiments, Roland Clewe had built an unusually high and strong dam, and this body of water, which was called the lake, widened out considerably behind the dam and stretched back for more than half a mile. He was standing on the shore of this lake, early the next morning, in company with sev
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CHAPTER V. UNDER WATER
CHAPTER V. UNDER WATER
When the Dipsey, the little submarine vessel which had started to make its way to the north pole under the ice of the arctic regions, had sunk out of sight under the waters, it carried a very quiet and earnestly observant party. Every one seemed anxious to know what would happen next, and all those whose duties would allow them to do so gathered under the great skylight in the upper deck, and gazed upward at the little glass bulb on the surface of the water, which they were towing by means of an
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CHAPTER VI. VOICES FROM THE POLAR SEAS
CHAPTER VI. VOICES FROM THE POLAR SEAS
Although Sammy Block and his companions were not only far up among the mysteries of the region of everlasting ice, and were sunk out of sight, so that their vessel had become one of these mysteries, it was still perfectly possible for them to communicate, by means of the telegraphic wire which was continually unrolling astern, with people all over the world. But this communication was a matter which required great judgment and caution, and it had been a subject of very careful consideration by R
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CHAPTER VII. GOOD NEWS GOES FROM SARDIS
CHAPTER VII. GOOD NEWS GOES FROM SARDIS
When Roland Clewe, after a voyage from Cape Tariff which would have been tedious to him no matter how short it had been, arrived at Sardis, his mind was mainly occupied with the people he had left behind him engulfed in the arctic seas, but this important subject did not prevent him from also giving attention to the other great object upon which his soul was bent. At St. John's, and at various points on his journey from there, he had received messages from the Dipsey, so that he knew that so far
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CHAPTER VIII. THE DEVIL ON THE DIPSEY
CHAPTER VIII. THE DEVIL ON THE DIPSEY
After a troubled night, Roland Clewe rose early. He had made up his mind that what Sammy had to communicate was something of a secret, otherwise it would have been telegraphed at once. For this reason he had not sent him a message asking for immediate and full particulars, but had waited. Now, however, he felt he could wait no longer; he must know something definite before he saw Margaret. Not to excite suspicion by telegraphing at untimely hours, he had waited until morning, and as the Dipsey w
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CHAPTER IX. THE ARTESIAN RAY
CHAPTER IX. THE ARTESIAN RAY
In less than a week after the engagement of Roland Clewe and Margaret Raleigh work on the great machine which was to generate the Artesian ray had so far progressed that it was possible to make some preliminary experiments with it. Although Clewe was sorry to think of the very undesirable companion which Samuel Block had carried with him into the polar regions, he could not but feel a certain satisfaction when he reflected that there was now no danger of Rovinski gaining any knowledge of the mom
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CHAPTER X. “LAKE SHIVER”
CHAPTER X. “LAKE SHIVER”
Steadily the Dipsey worked her way northward, and as she moved on her course her progress became somewhat slower than it had been at first. This decrease in speed was due partially to extreme caution on the part of Mr. Gibbs, the Master Electrician. The attenuated cable, which continually stretched itself out behind the little vessel, was of the most recent and improved pattern for deep-sea cables. The conducting wires in the centre of it were scarcely thicker than hairs, while the wires forming
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CHAPTER XI. THEY BELIEVE IT IS THE POLAR SEA
CHAPTER XI. THEY BELIEVE IT IS THE POLAR SEA
With no intention of ascending again into any accidental holes in the ice above them, the voyagers on the Dipsey kept on their uneventful way, until, upon the third day after their discovery of the lake, the electric bell attached to the heavy lead which always hung suspended below the vessel, rang violently, indicating that it had touched the bottom. This sound startled everybody on board. In all their submarine experiences they had not yet sunk down low enough to be anywhere near the bottom of
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CHAPTER XII. CAPTAIN HUBBELL TAKES COMMAND
CHAPTER XII. CAPTAIN HUBBELL TAKES COMMAND
It was a high-spirited and joyous party that the Dipsey now carried; not one of them doubted that they had emerged from under the ice into the polar sea. To the northeast they could see its waves shining and glistening all the way to the horizon, and they believed that beyond the cape in front of them these waters shone and glistened to the very north. They breathed the polar air, which, as they became used to it, was exhilarating and enlivening, and they basked in the sunshine, which, although
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CHAPTER XIII. LONGITUDE EVERYTHING
CHAPTER XIII. LONGITUDE EVERYTHING
The sun was as high in the polar heavens as it ever rises in that part of the world. Captain Hubbell stood on the deck of the Dipsey with his quadrant in hand to take an observation. The engines had been stopped, and nearly everybody on the vessel now surrounded him. “Longitude everything,” said Captain James Hubbell, “latitude ninety, which is as near as I can make it out.” “My friends,” said Mr. Gibbs, looking about him, “we have found the pole.” And at these words every head was uncovered. Fo
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CHAPTER XIV. A REGION OF NOTHINGNESS
CHAPTER XIV. A REGION OF NOTHINGNESS
In the office of the Works at Sardis, side by side at the table on which stood the telegraph instrument, Margaret Raleigh and Roland Clewe, receiving the daily reports from the Dipsey, had found themselves in such sympathy and harmony with the party they had sent out on this expedition that they too, in fancy, had slowly groped their way under the grim overhanging ice out into the open polar sea. They too had stood on the deck of the vessel which had risen like a spectre out of the waters, and i
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CHAPTER XV. THE AUTOMATIC SHELL
CHAPTER XV. THE AUTOMATIC SHELL
In a large building, not far from the lens-house in which Roland Clewe had pursued the experiments which had come to such a disappointing conclusion, there was a piece of mechanism which interested its inventor more than any other of his works, excepting of course the photic borer. This was an enormous projectile, the peculiarity of which was that its motive power was contained within itself, very much as a rocket contains the explosives which send it upward. It differed, however, from the rocke
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CHAPTER XVI. THE TRACK OF THE SHELL
CHAPTER XVI. THE TRACK OF THE SHELL
During the course of his inventive life Roland Clewe had become accustomed to disappointments; he was very much afraid, indeed, that he was beginning to expect them. If that really happened, there would be an end to his career. But when he spoke in this way to Margaret, she almost scolded him. “How utterly absurd it is,” she said, “for a man who has just discovered the north pole to sit down in an arm-chair and talk in that way!” “I didn't discover it,” he said; “it was Sammy and Gibbs who found
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CHAPTER XVII. CAPTAIN HUBBELL DECLINES TO GO WHALING
CHAPTER XVII. CAPTAIN HUBBELL DECLINES TO GO WHALING
The most impatient person on board the Dipsey was Captain Jim Hubbell. Sarah Block was also very anxious to go home as soon as matters could be arranged for the return journey, and she talked a great deal of the terrible fate which would be sure to overtake them if they should be so unfortunate as to stay until the season of the arctic night; but, after all, she was not as impatient as Captain Hubbell. She simply wanted to go home; but he not only greatly desired to return to his wife and family
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CHAPTER XVIII. Mr. MARCY'S CANAL
CHAPTER XVIII. Mr. MARCY'S CANAL
The twelve men and the one woman on board the Dipsey, now lying at anchor in the polar sea, were filled with a warming and cheering ardor as they began their preparations for the homeward journey, although these preparations included what was to all of them a very painful piece of work. It was found that it would be absolutely necessary to disengage themselves from the electric cord which in all their voyaging in these desolate arctic regions, under water and above water, had connected them with
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CHAPTER XIX. THE ICY GATEWAY
CHAPTER XIX. THE ICY GATEWAY
When Mr. Gibbs and his party returned to the Dipsey, after descending the iceberg, their report created a lively sensation. “Why, it's like goin' home,” said Mrs. Block. “Perhaps I may find my shoes.” It was not a very strange thing that they should have again met with this little ice-locked lake, for they had endeavored to return by a route as directly south as the other had been directly north. But no one had expected to see the lake again, and they were not only surprised, but pleased and enc
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CHAPTER XX. “THAT IS HOW I LOVE YOU”
CHAPTER XX. “THAT IS HOW I LOVE YOU”
For several days the subject of the great perforation made by the automatic shell was not mentioned between Margaret and Roland. This troubled her a great deal, for she thoroughly understood her lover's mind, and she knew that he had something important to say to her, but was waiting until he had fully elaborated his intended statement. She said nothing about it, because it was impossible for her to do so. It made her feel sick even to think of it, and yet she was thinking of it all the time. At
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CHAPTER XXI. THE CAVE OF LIGHT
CHAPTER XXI. THE CAVE OF LIGHT
Margaret was put into the charge of her faithful house-keeper, and Roland did not see her again until the evening. As she met him she began immediately to talk upon some unimportant subject, and there was that in her face which told him that it was her desire that the great thought which filled both their minds should not be the subject of their conversation. She told him she was going to the sea-shore for a short time; she needed a change, and she would go the next day. He understood her perfec
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CHAPTER XXII. CLEWE'S THEORY
CHAPTER XXII. CLEWE'S THEORY
Seated in the car, which was steadily ascending the great shaft, Roland Clewe took no notice of anything about him. He did not look at the brilliantly lighted interior of the shaft, he paid no attention to his instruments, he did not consult his watch, nor glance at the dial which indicated the distance he had travelled. Several times the telephone bell rang, and Bryce inquired how he was getting along; but these questions he answered as briefly as possible, and sat looking down at his knees and
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CHAPTER XXIII. THE LAST DIVE OF THE DIPSEY
CHAPTER XXIII. THE LAST DIVE OF THE DIPSEY
When the engines of the Dipsey had stopped, and she was quietly floating upon the smooth surface of Lake Shiver, Mr. Gibbs greatly desired to make a connection with the telegraphic cable which was stretched at the bottom of the ocean, beneath him, and to thus communicate with Sardis, But when this matter was discussed in council, several objections were brought against it, the principal one being that the cable could not be connected with the Dipsey without destroying its connection with the lit
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CHAPTER XXIV. ROVINSKI COMES TO THE SURFACE
CHAPTER XXIV. ROVINSKI COMES TO THE SURFACE
When Sammy Block and his companion explorers had journeyed from Cape Tariff to Sardis, they found Roland Clewe ready to tender a most grateful welcome, and to give full and most interested attention to the stories of their adventures and to their scientific reports. For a time he was willing to allow his own great discovery to lie fallow in his mind, and to give his whole attention to the wonderful achievement which had been made under his direction. He had worked out his theory of the formation
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CHAPTER XXV. LAURELS
CHAPTER XXV. LAURELS
Nothing but a perusal of the newspapers, magazines, and scientific journals of the day could give any idea of the enthusiastic interest which was shown all over the civilized world in Roland Clewe's account of the discovery of the north pole. His paper on the subject, which was the first intimation the public had of the great news, was telegraphed to every part of the world and translated into nearly every written language. Sardis became a Mecca for explorers and scientific people at home and ab
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