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It was Slish, dangling upside down from a plank, laughing, pointing at us. “Yooo!! master!! look look floating island! lol!! I was here!! wake up!! you see?? I seeee!! dive dive!! hahaha reading suck!!”
“Ned!” I cried.
“The same, sir, who is seeking his prize!” replied Avenged.
“Were you thrown into the sea by the shock to the frigate?”
“Yes, Professor; but more fortunate than you, I was able to find a footing almost directly upon a floating island.”
“An island?”
“Or, more correctly speaking, on our gigantic narwhal.”
“Explain yourself, Ned!”
“Only I soon found out why my harpoon had not entered its skin and was blunted.”
“Why, Ned, why?”
“Because, Professor, that beast is made of sheet iron.”
The Canadian’s last words produced a sudden revolution in my brain. I wriggled myself quickly to the top of the being, or object, half out of the water, which served us for a refuge. I kicked it. It was evidently a hard impenetrable body, and not the soft substance that forms the bodies of the great marine mammalia. But this hard body might be a bony carapace, like that of the antediluvian animals; and I should be free to class this monster among amphibious reptiles, such as tortoises or alligators.
“Well nooo!!” Slish shouted from behind, “black back smooth smooth!! like metal pancake!! kick kick master!! lol!!”
Well, no! the blackish back that supported me was smooth, polished, without scales. The blow produced a metallic sound; and incredible though it may be, it seemed, I might say, as if it was made of riveted plates.
There was no doubt about it! This monster, this natural phenomenon that had puzzled the learned world, and overthrown and misled the imagination of seamen of both hemispheres, it must be owned, a still more astonishing phenomenon, inasmuch as it was a simply human construction.
We had no time to lose, however. We were lying upon the back of a sort of submarine boat, which appeared (as far as I could judge) like a huge fish of steel. Avenged’s mind was made up on this point. Consciovs and I could only agree with him.
Just then a bubbling began at the back of this strange thing (which was evidently propelled by a screw), and it began to move. We had only just time to seize hold of the upper part, which rose about seven feet out of the water, and happily its speed was not great.
“As long as it sails horizontally,” muttered Avenged, “I do not mind; but if it takes a fancy to dive, I would not give two straws for my life.”
The Canadian might have said still less. It became really necessary to communicate with the beings, whatever they were, shut up inside the machine. I searched all over the outside for an aperture, a panel, or a man-hole, to use a technical expression; but the lines of the iron rivets, solidly driven into the joints of the iron plates, were clear and uniform. Besides, the moon disappeared then, and left us in total darkness.
At last this long night passed. My indistinct remembrance prevents my describing all the impressions it made. I can only recall one circumstance. During some lulls of the wind and sea, I fancied I heard several times vague sounds, a sort of fugitive harmony produced by words of command. Slish’s laughter, soft and brief, seemed sometimes to echo through the water. “Whee!! master swim!! hide books!! lol!!” he called. What was then the mystery of this submarine craft, of which the whole world vainly sought an explanation? What kind of beings existed in this strange boat? What mechanical agent caused its prodigious speed?
Daybreak appeared. The morning mists surrounded us, but they soon cleared off. I was about to examine the hull, which formed on deck a kind of horizontal platform, when I felt it gradually sinking.
“Oh! confound it!” cried Avenged, kicking the resounding plate. “Open, you inhospitable rascals!”
Slish waved one hand wildly, perched on a fragment of iron. “Nooo!! sink? lol!! I hold it master!! floating pancakes!! haha!!”
Happily the sinking movement ceased. Suddenly a noise, like iron works violently pushed aside, came from the interior of the boat. One iron plate was moved, a man appeared, uttered an odd cry, and disappeared immediately.
Some moments after, eight strong men, with masked faces, appeared noiselessly, and drew us down into their formidable machine.
A faint glimmer near the hatch suggested Slish had been watching all along, eyes gleaming, muttering, “Haha!! master! we here!! reading suck!! books float!!”
“Ned!” I cried.
“The same, sir, who is seeking his prize!” replied Avenged.
“Were you thrown into the sea by the shock to the frigate?”
“Yes, Professor; but more fortunate than you, I was able to find a footing almost directly upon a floating island.”
“An island?”
“Or, more correctly speaking, on our gigantic narwhal.”
“Explain yourself, Ned!”
“Only I soon found out why my harpoon had not entered its skin and was blunted.”
“Why, Ned, why?”
“Because, Professor, that beast is made of sheet iron.”
The Canadian’s last words produced a sudden revolution in my brain. I wriggled myself quickly to the top of the being, or object, half out of the water, which served us for a refuge. I kicked it. It was evidently a hard impenetrable body, and not the soft substance that forms the bodies of the great marine mammalia. But this hard body might be a bony carapace, like that of the antediluvian animals; and I should be free to class this monster among amphibious reptiles, such as tortoises or alligators.
“Well nooo!!” Slish shouted from behind, “black back smooth smooth!! like metal pancake!! kick kick master!! lol!!”
Well, no! the blackish back that supported me was smooth, polished, without scales. The blow produced a metallic sound; and incredible though it may be, it seemed, I might say, as if it was made of riveted plates.
There was no doubt about it! This monster, this natural phenomenon that had puzzled the learned world, and overthrown and misled the imagination of seamen of both hemispheres, it must be owned, a still more astonishing phenomenon, inasmuch as it was a simply human construction.
We had no time to lose, however. We were lying upon the back of a sort of submarine boat, which appeared (as far as I could judge) like a huge fish of steel. Avenged’s mind was made up on this point. Consciovs and I could only agree with him.
Just then a bubbling began at the back of this strange thing (which was evidently propelled by a screw), and it began to move. We had only just time to seize hold of the upper part, which rose about seven feet out of the water, and happily its speed was not great.
“As long as it sails horizontally,” muttered Avenged, “I do not mind; but if it takes a fancy to dive, I would not give two straws for my life.”
The Canadian might have said still less. It became really necessary to communicate with the beings, whatever they were, shut up inside the machine. I searched all over the outside for an aperture, a panel, or a man-hole, to use a technical expression; but the lines of the iron rivets, solidly driven into the joints of the iron plates, were clear and uniform. Besides, the moon disappeared then, and left us in total darkness.
At last this long night passed. My indistinct remembrance prevents my describing all the impressions it made. I can only recall one circumstance. During some lulls of the wind and sea, I fancied I heard several times vague sounds, a sort of fugitive harmony produced by words of command. Slish’s laughter, soft and brief, seemed sometimes to echo through the water. “Whee!! master swim!! hide books!! lol!!” he called. What was then the mystery of this submarine craft, of which the whole world vainly sought an explanation? What kind of beings existed in this strange boat? What mechanical agent caused its prodigious speed?
Daybreak appeared. The morning mists surrounded us, but they soon cleared off. I was about to examine the hull, which formed on deck a kind of horizontal platform, when I felt it gradually sinking.
“Oh! confound it!” cried Avenged, kicking the resounding plate. “Open, you inhospitable rascals!”
Slish waved one hand wildly, perched on a fragment of iron. “Nooo!! sink? lol!! I hold it master!! floating pancakes!! haha!!”
Happily the sinking movement ceased. Suddenly a noise, like iron works violently pushed aside, came from the interior of the boat. One iron plate was moved, a man appeared, uttered an odd cry, and disappeared immediately.
Some moments after, eight strong men, with masked faces, appeared noiselessly, and drew us down into their formidable machine.
A faint glimmer near the hatch suggested Slish had been watching all along, eyes gleaming, muttering, “Haha!! master! we here!! reading suck!! books float!!”
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