Chapter 57 Chapter fifteen

The residents listened to the emergency announcement from the engineer, put down their work, and watched the summit of Mount Franklin silently. The volcano came back to life.Steam rose through the layers of ore rock that had accumulated beneath the crater.But would an underground fire cause a violent explosion?It's hard to predict.However, even if the volcano may erupt, it does not necessarily mean that the entire Lincoln Island will suffer.The magma flowing out of the volcano does not necessarily cause disasters. There are strips of condensed lava on the north-facing hillside. From here, it can be seen that the desert island has already suffered this kind of test.Moreover, according to the shape of the crater, its gap is opened on the upper edge. It can also be concluded that most of the magma will be sprayed on the part of the deserted island opposite the fertile area.

However, past situations may not necessarily answer future questions.At the summit of a volcano, the original crater is often blocked and a new crater is drilled.This has happened in both the southern and northern hemispheres, such as Mount Edna, Popocatipetl, and Orizaba.On the eve of the explosion, anything could happen.In fact, earthquakes often follow volcanic eruptions, which can change the internal structure of the volcano and open a new way for the magma to escape. Cyrus.Smith explained these things to the partners.Without exaggeration, he explained to everyone the positive and negative possibilities.In short, they cannot be stopped.It should also be stated that, unless an earthquake shakes the ground, the Palace of Granites will probably not be in danger.But if a new crater were to be opened from the south side of Mount Franklin, the corral would be seriously threatened.

From that day on, the smoke on the top of the mountain has not disappeared; and it can be seen that although there is no flame in it, the puff of smoke is getting higher and thicker.Especially in the lower part of the central crater, the smoke coming out is thicker. Anyway, as the season warms up, the work resumes.The work of building the ship is proceeding as fast as possible.Cyrus.Using the waterfall on the bank, Smith set up a hydraulic sawmill; this way, the trunks were quickly sawn into planks and brackets.The mechanism is as simple as those used in rural Norwegian sawmills.A horizontal mechanism to turn the block and a vertical mechanism to turn the hacksaw are all that is needed.Using a wheel, two rollers, and several blocks, the engineer assembled it smoothly.At the shipyard, at the end of September, the skeleton of the future schooner was formed.The ribs have almost been completed, and all the keel is temporarily bound by hoops, and the outline of the ship can be roughly seen.This schooner, with its sharp prow and long slender after-half, must have been well suited for long voyages.But the planking work will take a considerable amount of time to complete.Fortunately, after the explosion of the pirate's brig, they kept all the ironwork on the ship.Pencroft and Ayrton removed some screws and many brass nails from the planks and damaged ribs, and this spared a great deal of iron work; but the carpentry was far from complete.

Work on the ship was stopped for a week in order to reap the hay and harvest the various crops on the high ground.After the busy farming, all the time was devoted to the work of installing the schooner.By night, the workers are exhausted.In order not to waste a moment, they changed the time for eating; lunch was at twelve o'clock, and dinner was not served until after dark.After eating, I went to the Granite Palace and went to bed immediately. Sometimes they talk about interesting things, and it also delays bedtime.In this case the inhabitants speak of the future.It might be possible to change their surroundings by going to inhabited land in a schooner; and they talked cheerfully of the changes that would then take place.But when talking about these plans, one thought always prevailed, that is, they would return to Lincoln Island later.This territory has been successfully developed by them with countless labors. Once they get in touch with the United States, they can get a new impetus, so they will never give it up.Especially Pencroft and Neb, who hoped to live their lives on Lincoln Island.

Herbert, said the sailor, you'll never leave Lincoln Island, will you? Yes, Pencroft, especially if you make up your mind to stay here, and I shall not leave it. I have made up my mind long ago, my boy, said Pencroft, I will wait for you here.You bring your wife and children here, and I will educate your children to be lively and innocent little ones! So be it.Herbert blushed and smiled. And you, Mr. Smith, continued Pencroft fervently, you are always the leader of the island!ah!How many people can the island support?At least ten thousand people! Thus they chatted and laughed, and Pencroft went on talking.In the end, according to their ideals, the correspondents really started a kind of newspaper, the Lincoln Island Herald-News!

That's how people feel.The reason why human beings can become the spirit of all things is because of a desire: to engage in an immortal cause, which can last forever after his own death.It is precisely because of this belief that human beings have established their own authority and become the masters of the world without shame! Besides these, who knows whether Japp and Top have ideals for their future? Ayrton said to himself secretly that he hoped to see Sir Glenarvan again and let him know that he had changed his ways. On the evening of October 15, the conversation dragged on longer than usual.It was nine o'clock.Although everyone didn't want to go to sleep, they couldn't help but let out a long yawn, indicating that it was time to rest.Pencroft was walking towards the bed when the telegraph bell rang in the dining-room.

Cyrus.Smith, Keating.Spilett, Herbert, Ayrton, Pencroft, Neb, everyone was present.None of the inhabitants went to the corral. Cyrus.Smith stood up.Friends, you look at me, I look at you, I can hardly believe my ears. How is this going?cried Neb, is the devil ringing the bell? No one answered. In this stormy weather, said Herbert, could it be the induction of electric currents Herbert didn't finish his sentence.Everyone looked at the engineer, who shook his head negatively. Wait a minute, Keating.If it had been a signal, Spilett said, whoever it was, he would have followed it up. But who do you think that is?asked Neb aloud.

who?Pencroft replied that, except he Another bell rang, interrupting the sailor. Smith went to the telegraph and posed a question to the corral: what would you like? After a while, the pointer gave an answer to the residents of Granite Palace on the code table: Come to the corral at once. Finally have the answer!Smith said aloud. Yes!Finally have the answer!Now the secret is about to be revealed.Inspired by an intense interest, the fatigue of the inhabitants was forgotten.This interest urged them to the corral, and completely dissuaded them from rest.Without saying a word, they quickly left Granite Palace and came to the beach.Only Japp and Top remained at home, and they did not need them this time.

It was very dark.The new moon has set with the sun.As Herbert had just said, the dark cloud, like a dome, hung low over the head, so that the stars could not see through it.A few bolts of lightning flashed in the distance from the storm, illuminating the horizon. Perhaps in a few hours the island would be full of thunder.The weather was very bad that night. But, no matter how dark it was, they found the familiar corral road. They climbed up the left bank of the Mercy, came to the plateau, crossed the drawbridge over the Glycerin, and took the road through the forest. Their pace is very fast, and everyone can't restrain their excitement.Now, no doubt, they will soon know the answer to this long guessed charade!This answer was also the name of the mysterious man; what a relation he had to the lives of the inhabitants, how generous he was in his service, how powerful he was!If the stranger had not been with them, ignorant of their daily affairs, and had not heard every word of conversation at Granite Palace, how could he have always been there to help them in the nick of time?

Everyone walked quickly forward with their own thoughts in mind, and under the arch of branches it was so dark that it was impossible to see where the road was.There was no sound in the forest.Under such low air pressure, birds and beasts are quiet and motionless.Not even a breeze to move the leaves.Only the footsteps of the residents echoed on the frozen ground. After walking for a quarter of an hour, Pencroft broke the silence around him: We should bring a torch. The engineer answered him: We can find torches in the corral. It was twelve past nine when Smith and his companions left Granite Palace.The Mercy River was five miles from the corral, and at nine forty-seven they had covered three miles.

At this time, lightning illuminated the dark forest and the entire island.The flashes of lightning made it almost impossible for them to open their eyes.Apparently, a storm was coming. The lightning was getting brighter and more frequent.Distant thunder rumbled in the air.The air was very dull. The residents seemed to be driven by an irresistible force, and hurried on their way. At ten o'clock a blinding flash of lightning lit up the corral fence.When they reached the door, there was a thunderclap like a thunderbolt. After a while, Smith led everyone through the corral to the door of the house. The telegram was sent from the corral, so the stranger was presumably in the house.However, there was no light coming from the window. The engineer knocked on the door. no answer. Cyrus.Smith opened the door and the residents entered the house.It was pitch black.Neb struck a match, and in a short while lit the lamp, which illuminated every corner of the room. There was no one in the house.Everything is the same as the last time they left here. Are we delusional?Cyrus.Smith murmured. No!it's out of the question!The telegram states clearly: Come to the corral at once. They went to the desk dedicated to the telegraph.Everything was as usual, the batteries were still in their boxes, and the telegraph was in its original condition. Who got here in the end?asked the engineer. It's me, Mr. Smith.Ayrton replied. that's in four days ago. ah!A notice!Herbert pointed to a note on the table and shouted. Written in English on the paper: Follow the new wire all the way. let's go!Smith said aloud.He had already understood that the telegram was not sent from the corral, but was sent directly to Granite Palace from the mysterious dwelling, by a wire attached to the old wire. Neb took up the lighted lamp, and they all left the corral.At this time, the storm was coming fiercely.After the lightning, there is thunder.In the flash, the smoky summit of the volcano can be seen here and there. No telegraph wires were to be found here and there between the houses in the corral and the fence.The engineer ran to the first pole, and in the light of the lightning he saw a new wire trailing from the insulation all the way to the ground. Have!He said. This wire is dragged on the ground, like a submarine cable, covered with a layer of insulating material to protect the current from flowing freely inside.It seemed to go through the forest and the southern spur of Mount Franklin, as far as the Sierra. follow it!Cyrus.Smith said. Residents immediately hurried forward along the wires. The thunder continued to roar, and even speech could not be heard.However, now everyone is hurrying as fast as possible, and they don't care about talking. Cyrus.Smith and his companions climbed up the spur between the valley of the corral and the valley of the waterfall, and crossed the river at the narrowest point.Wires, sometimes perched on lower branches, sometimes dragged along the ground, guided them.The engineer thought the stranger's quarters might be at the end of the valley, and presumably the wires ended there. But that's not the case at all.They had to climb up the southwest spur and descend to the barren uplands, which terminated in grotesque, barren basalt cliffs.From time to time the inhabitants bent down to feel for the wires; in fact it was now certain that the wires led all the way to the sea.The lodging they had so long eluded must lie deep in the rocks along the coast. The sky was literally on fire.The lightning flashed continuously.Several bolts of lightning hit the top of the volcano surrounded by thick smoke.The volcano seemed to burst into flames.A little before eleven o'clock the inhabitants came to the bluffs which overlooked the ocean to the west.got windy.Below five hundred feet, the waves were churning. By Smith's reckoning they had been a mile and a half from the corral. The wire had been pulled through a mass of rocks along one of the canyon's cliffs.The rock barely balanced, and the residents followed the wires and ventured over them.There was always the danger of falling into the sea here, especially the descent was very difficult, but they didn't think about the danger; they couldn't help themselves.An irresistible force, like a magnet, attracted them to that mysterious place. This canyon was difficult to pass even in the daytime, but they almost didn't know how to walk, and actually walked down the canyon. They walked through the bright light, and the rocks rolled on the ground one after another, bursting out sparks, like fireballs one by one.Smith led the way, Ayrton at the end.They move forward step by step.They fell down on the wet and slippery stones for a while, struggled for a while, and continued to crawl forward. The wire swerved abruptly to the rocks on the beach.The beach is full of reefs, and the waves wash over the rocks from time to time.Residents have reached the end of the basalt cliffs. Here is a narrow watershed, which is parallel to the sea level.Residents walk along the power lines, across the watershed.In less than a hundred paces, the watershed descended gently to the surface of the sea. The engineer groped in the dark and found that the wire had been drilled into the seabed. His companions were all stunned. They cried out, feeling very discouraged, almost hopeless!Did they have to dive into the water to find caves in the sea?Judging by the emotional impulse of the time, they would have done so without hesitation. The engineer stopped everyone. He led his companions into a stone cave. Wait a minute, he said, the tide is high now.When the tide goes out, the road will appear. how do you know Pencroft asked. If we couldn't get to him, he wouldn't want us! Cyrus.Smith's tone was full of confidence, and no one objected.Moreover, his view is also logical.There is probably a cave at the bottom of the cliff, which, though submerged at the present high tide, will be passable as long as the tide goes down. They have to wait a long time.Residents huddled silently in a deep hole.At this time, the torrential rain began to pour down, and the thunder echoed rumbling from the rocks. The spirits of the residents were running high.Numerous strange and weird thoughts appeared in their minds.They estimated that they would see a god with a majestic appearance that was different from ordinary people, because only such a person fit the mysterious saint they imagined on the island. By midnight, Smith took the lamp and went below the beach to probe. Sure enough, the engineer did not expect.After the water fell, a huge hole was revealed.The wire was bent at a right angle and entered the open harbor from the hole. Cyrus.Smith returned to his companions and said simply: In another hour the cave will be passable. So, are there really holes?asked Pencroft. Don't you believe it yet?Smith asked back. But the water level in the cave must be quite high.Herbert said. I think there are two possibilities, one is that there is no water in the cave and we can walk in it, and the other is that although there is water, there are vehicles for us to use.Smith said. An hour passed.Everyone climbed to the sea in the rain.At this time, the opening of the water surface was already eight feet long, like a bridge hole, and the surging waves were surging below. The engineer bent down and saw a black object floating on the water.He pulls it over.It turned out to be a boat tied to the sharp stone in the cave.The hull was covered with iron sheets, and there were two oars inside. aboard!Smith said. The inhabitants immediately boarded the boat.Neb and Ayrton were at the oars, and Pencroft at the helm.Cyrus.Smith held a lamp in the bow to light the way. The boat initially passes an oval cornice, then the top suddenly rises.But it was so dark and so dimly lit that it was impossible to see the width, length, and height of the hole, nor how deep it was.There was no sound in this basalt cave.No sound from outside, not even the rumble of thunder, could penetrate its thick walls and reach inside. There are such huge caves in many places in the world.They are natural cellars formed during the geological age of the earth.Some are filled with sea water.Some have entire lakes hidden inside.There are many such caves, such as Fingal's cave on the island of Stafa in the Hebrides; the caves of Lyford, Norway; and the gigantic Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, five hundred feet high and more than twenty miles long!Nature has dug these caves all over the world for people to admire. Do the caves that the inhabitants are now exploring lead all the way to the center of the deserted island?The engineer gave brief instructions from time to time, and Pencroft steered the ship in a zigzagging quarter of an hour.Suddenly, the engineer ordered: Further to the right! The boat changed direction and moved close to the right wall.The engineer wondered if the wires were still going through the hole along this side. The wires are still nailed to the rock here. Go forward!Smith said. The boat was propelled by two oars in the dark water. They rowed on for another quarter of an hour, and were now about half a mile from the mouth of the cave, when Smith called again: Stop the ship! The boat stopped.I saw a dazzling light illuminating the huge cave, which was dug deep in the ground of the deserted island.The inhabitants never imagined that such a place existed. A hundred feet overhead hangs a circular vault, supported by many basalt columns.These innumerable stone pillars have been erected since the earliest days of the earth's formation, and there are many jagged domes and grotesque laces on the pillars.The basalt beams are nested within one another, varying in height from forty to fifty feet.Although the raging tide outside the cave is rushing, the sea water inside is always calmly washing the bottom of the pillars.The engineer pointed out a bright light source, which illuminated the entire cavern, and all the stone walls were illuminated with light. Under the bright light, the water waves also reflected patches of silver light, and the boat seemed to be floating between the upper and lower dazzling areas. The central light source emits light in all directions, and it clearly illuminates every corner of the cave, every protruding rock.The nature of this light cannot be concealed from the inhabitants.This is an electric light source, and its silvery white color is enough to illustrate this point.It is the sun in the cave, and it illuminates the whole cave. Cyrus.Smith made a gesture, and the sculls started again.The splashing water is like a burst of jeweled drizzle.The boat sailed toward the light source, where it was now less than half a hawse. The width of the water here is nearly three hundred and fifty feet.Behind the dazzling light source, there is a large wall of basalt rock, completely blocking the way out there.This part of the cave is quite wide, and the sea water forms a small lake.The dome, the walls, the terminating cliff, all the prisms and pinnacles were bathed in electric light, and they were so brilliantly illuminated that it seemed as if the light emanated from themselves. In the center of the lake floated a long, cigar-like thing.It didn't move, just lying quietly on the water.Light shone from its sides, as if from two white-hot ovens.It has the appearance of a gigantic whale, about two hundred and fifty feet long, and rises ten to twelve feet above the water. The boat approached it slowly.Cyrus.Smith stood in the bow and watched, almost uncontrollably excited.Then suddenly, seizing the correspondent by the arm, he exclaimed: It's him!It must be him!he Then he sat down and murmured a name.Only Keating.Spilett heard what he said. The correspondent evidently knew the name, for he had a strange reaction when he heard it, and then said hoarsely: he!The free-spirited man! It's him!Smith said. Under the command of the engineer, the boat came alongside the strange floating object.They were docked to the left of it, where a ray of light shone through the thick glass. Smith and his companions ascended the platform.There is an open gap here.Everyone walked down from the warehouse together. At the end of the escalator was a deck lit by electric lights.There was a door at the end of the deck, and Smith went up and opened it. This is a richly decorated room.The inhabitants move swiftly through this room and into the adjoining study, where a glow is cast from the bright ceiling. At the end of the study was a door, also closed, which the engineer opened. This is a very spacious hall.It is like a museum, displaying all kinds of precious mineral products, artworks and magical industrial products.Seeing these many things, the residents almost thought that they had suddenly arrived in a illusory realm. They saw lying on a noble sofa a man who did not seem to notice their entry at all. That's when Smith spoke.His companions were very surprised, only to hear him say: Captain Nemo, did you send us here?we are coming.