A Journey To The Center Of The Earth Part 4

"We're leaving?" I asked in a weakened voice.

"Yes, the day after tomorrow, early in the morning."

I could listen to no more, and fled to my little room.

There was no more doubt. My uncle had spent his afternoon purchasing some of the items and tools that were necessary for his journey. The pa.s.sage was packed with rope ladders, knotted cords, torches, flasks, grappling irons, ice picks, iron-tipped walking sticks, pickaxes, enough of a load for at least ten men.

I spent an awful night. Next morning I was called early. I had decided not to open the door. But how to resist the sweet voice that p.r.o.nounced the words, "My dear Axel"?

I came out of my room. I thought my pale countenance and my red and sleepless eyes would work on Grauben's sympathies and change her mind.

"Ah! my dear Axel," she said to me. "I see you are better, and that the night's rest has calmed you down."

"Calmed me down!" I exclaimed.

I rushed to the mirror. Well, in fact I did look better than I had expected. It was hard to believe.

"Axel," she said, "I've had a long talk with my guardian. He is a bold scholar, a man of immense courage, and you must remember that his blood flows in your veins. He has told me about his plans, his hopes, and why and how he hopes to reach his goal. He will no doubt succeed. My dear Axel, it's a wonderful thing to devote yourself to science like this! What honor will fall on Mr. Lidenbrock, and reflect on his companion! When you return, Axel, you'll be a man, his equal, free to speak and to act independently, and finally free to ..."

The girl, blus.h.i.+ng, did not finish the sentence. Her words revived me. Nevertheless, I still refused to believe we would leave. I drew Grauben toward the professor's study.

"Uncle, is it true, then, that we'll leave?"

"What! You doubt it?"

"No," I said, so as not to irritate him. "Only I'd like to know what need is there to hurry."

"Time, of course! Time, flying with irrecuperable speed!"

"But it is only May 26th, and until the end of June-"

"What, ignorant! do you think you can get to Iceland so easily? If you had not deserted me like a fool, I would have taken you to the Copenhagen office at Liffender & Co., and you would have seen that there's only one trip every month from Copenhagen to Reykjavik, on the 22nd."

"And so?"

"So, if we wait for June 22nd, we'll be too late to see the shadow of Scartaris touch the crater of Snaefells. We must therefore travel to Copenhagen as fast as we can so as to find a means of transportation. Go and pack your suitcase!"

There was not a word I could reply to this. I returned to my room. Grauben followed me. She undertook to pack all things necessary for my voyage. She was no more moved than if I had been starting for a little trip to Lubeck or Helgoland.p Her little hands moved without haste. She talked quietly. She provided me with the most sensible reasons for our expedition. She delighted me, and yet I felt a deep rage against her. Now and then I felt I should break out into a temper, but she took no notice and methodically continued her quiet task. Her little hands moved without haste. She talked quietly. She provided me with the most sensible reasons for our expedition. She delighted me, and yet I felt a deep rage against her. Now and then I felt I should break out into a temper, but she took no notice and methodically continued her quiet task.

Finally the last strap was buckled. I went downstairs.

All through the day, the purveyors of instruments, weapons, and electric devices had multiplied. Martha was losing her head.

"Is the master mad?" she asked.

I nodded.

"And he's taking you with him?"

I nodded again.

"Where to?" she said.

I pointed to the center of the earth with my finger.

"Into the cellar?" exclaimed the old servant.

"No," I said. "Deeper!"

The evening came. But I was no longer conscious of pa.s.sing time.

"Tomorrow morning," my uncle said, "we leave at six o'clock."

At ten o'clock I fell on my bed like an inert ma.s.s.

During the night, terror gripped me again.

I spent it dreaming of abysses! I was a prey to delirium. I felt myself grasped by the professor's strong hand, dragged along, hurled down, sinking! I dropped down unfathomable precipices with the accelerating speed of bodies falling through s.p.a.ce. My life had become nothing but an endless fall.

I awoke at five o'clock, exhausted by fatigue and emotion. I went downstairs to the dining-room. My uncle was at the table. He devoured his breakfast. I looked at him with horror. But Grauben was there. I said nothing. I could eat nothing.

At half-past five there was a rattle of wheels outside. A large carriage was there to take us to the Altona railway station. It was soon loaded up with my uncle's packages.

"Where's your suitcase?" he said.

"It's ready," I replied, with faltering voice.

"Then hurry up to bring it down, or we'll miss the train!"

It was now manifestly impossible to struggle against destiny. I went up again to my room, and rushed after him by letting my suitcase slide down the stairs.

At that moment my uncle was solemnly surrendering "the reins" of the house to Grauben. My pretty Virland girl maintained her usual calm. She kissed her guardian, but could not hold back a tear in brus.h.i.+ng my cheek with her sweet lips.

"Grauben!" I exclaimed.

"Go, my dear Axel," she said to me, "you're leaving your fiancee, but you'll find your wife when you return."

I took her into my arms and then seated myself in the carriage. Martha and the girl, standing at the door, waved their last farewell. Then the horses, roused by the driver's whistling, ran off at a gallop on the road to Altona.

VIII.

ALTONA, A REAL SUBURB of Hamburg, is the terminus of the Kiel railway, which was supposed to carry us to the Belts. In twenty minutes we were in Holstein.q At half-past six the carriage stopped at the station; my uncle's numerous packages, his voluminous travel items were unloaded, transported, weighed, labeled, loaded into the luggage car, and at seven we sat facing each other in our compartment. The whistle sounded, the engine started to move. We were off.

Was I resigned? Not yet. Yet the cool morning air and the scenes on the road, rapidly changing due to the speed of the train, distracted me from my great worry.

As for the professor's reflections, they obviously overtook this slow conveyance with his impatience. We were alone in the carriage, but we sat in silence. My uncle examined all his pockets and his traveling bag with the most minute care. I saw that indeed none of the items necessary for the realization of his project were missing.

Among other doc.u.ments, a carefully folded sheet of paper bore the letterhead of the Danish consulate with the signature of Mr. Christiensen, consul in Hamburg and a friend of the professor's. This should make it easy for us to obtain letters of reference for the Governor of Iceland in Copenhagen.

I also observed the famous doc.u.ment, carefully hidden in the most secret pocket of his portfolio. I cursed it from the bottom of my heart, and then studied the landscape again. It was a vast series of uninteresting, monotonous, loamy and fertile flats; a very favorable landscape for the construction of railways, suitable for the straight lines so beloved by railway companies.

But I had no time to get tired of this monotony; for in three hours we stopped at Kiel, close to the sea.

As our luggage was checked through to Copenhagen, we did not have to look after it. Nevertheless, the professor kept a cautious eye on it while it was being transported to the steamer. There, it disappeared in the hold.

In his haste, my uncle had so well calculated the connection between the train and the steamer that we had a whole day to kill. The steamer Ellenora Ellenora would not leave until night. would not leave until night.

Hence a nine-hour fever during which the irascible traveler sent the steamboat and of railway administrators to the devil, as well as the governments which tolerated such abuses. I was forced to echo him when he approached the captain of the Ellenora Ellenora with this subject. He wanted to force him to heat up the engines without wasting a moment. The captain disposed of him summarily. with this subject. He wanted to force him to heat up the engines without wasting a moment. The captain disposed of him summarily.

In Kiel, as elsewhere, a day eventually pa.s.ses. What with walking on the verdant sh.o.r.es of the bay at the extreme of which lies the little town, exploring the dense woods which make it look like a nest amongst thick foliage, admiring the villas, each with a little bath house, and moving about and grumbling, at last ten o'clock came.

The heavy coils of smoke from the Ellenora Ellenora rose to the sky; the bridge shook with the shudders of the boiler; we were on board, and owners of two berths, one above the other, in the s.h.i.+p's only cabin. rose to the sky; the bridge shook with the shudders of the boiler; we were on board, and owners of two berths, one above the other, in the s.h.i.+p's only cabin.

At a quarter past ten the moorings were loosed and the steamer glided rapidly over the dark waters of the Great Belt.

The night was dark; there was a sharp breeze and rough sea; a few lights appeared on sh.o.r.e through the thick darkness; later on, I cannot tell when, a dazzling light from some lighthouse glittered above the waves; and that is all I can remember of this first pa.s.sage.

At seven in the morning we landed at Korsor, a small town on the west coast of Zealand. There we transferred from the boat to another train, which took us across just as flat a country as the plain of Holstein.

Three hours' traveling brought us to the capital of Denmark. My uncle had not shut his eyes all night. In his impatience I believe he was trying to accelerate the train with his feet.

At last he discerned a stretch of sea.

"The Sound!" he exclaimed.

At our left was a huge building that looked like a hospital.

"That's a lunatic asylum," said one of our traveling companions.

Very good! I thought, just the place where we should spend the rest of our days! And large though it is, that asylum is not big enough to contain all Professor Lidenbrock's madness!

At ten in the morning, at last, we set foot in Copenhagen; the luggage was loaded on to a carriage and taken to the Hotel Phoenix in Bredgade along with ourselves. This took half an hour, for the station is outside of the town. Then my uncle, after refres.h.i.+ng himself quickly, dragged me along with him. The porter at the hotel could speak German and English; but the professor, as a polyglot, questioned him in good Danish, and it was in the same language that this individual directed him to the Museum of Northern Antiquities.

The director of this curious establishment, in which marvels are piled up from which the ancient history of the country might be reconstructed by means of its stone weapons, its cups and its jewels, was Professor Thomson, a scholar, friend of the Danish consul at Hamburg.

My uncle had a cordial letter of introduction to him. As a general rule one scholar greets another with coolness. But here it was completely different. Mr. Thomson, a helpful man, extended a warm welcome to Professor Lidenbrock and the same to his nephew. It is hardly necessary to mention that the secret was preserved in the presence of the excellent museum director. We simply wanted to visit Iceland as disinterested amateurs.

Mr. Thomson put himself at our disposal, and we visited the quays so as to look for a s.h.i.+p getting ready for departure.

I still hoped that there would be absolutely no means of transportation; but no such luck. A small Danish schooner, the valkyrie, valkyrie, was to set sail for Reykjavik on the 2nd of June. The captain, Mr. Bjarne, was on board. His future pa.s.senger, full of joy, shook his hands so hard they almost broke. The good man was a little astonished at this grip. He found it quite simple to go to Iceland, since that was his profession. My uncle considered it sublime. The worthy captain took advantage of this enthusiasm to charge us double for the pa.s.sage. But we did not trouble ourselves about such trifles. was to set sail for Reykjavik on the 2nd of June. The captain, Mr. Bjarne, was on board. His future pa.s.senger, full of joy, shook his hands so hard they almost broke. The good man was a little astonished at this grip. He found it quite simple to go to Iceland, since that was his profession. My uncle considered it sublime. The worthy captain took advantage of this enthusiasm to charge us double for the pa.s.sage. But we did not trouble ourselves about such trifles.

"Be on board on Tuesday, at seven in the morning," said Captain Bjarne, after having pocketed a considerable number of dollars.

We then thanked Mr. Thomson for his kindness, and returned to the Hotel Phoenix.

"It's going well! It's going very well!" my uncle repeated. "What a fortunate coincidence that we've found this s.h.i.+p that's ready to leave! Now let's have breakfast and go visit the town."

We went first to Kongens Nytorv, an irregular square with a pedestal and two innocent cannons that aim at something but frighten no one. Close by, at No.5, there was a French "restaurant," kept by a chef called Vincent; we had a sufficient breakfast for the moderate price of four marks each.r I then took a childish pleasure in exploring the city; my uncle let me take him with me, but he took notice of nothing, neither the insignificant royal palace, nor the pretty seventeenth-century bridge that spans the ca.n.a.l in front of the museum, nor that immense cenotaph of Thorvaldsen's,s decorated with horrible murals, which contains a collection of the sculptor's works, nor the toylike chateau of Rosenberg, nor the beautiful Renaissance building of the Stock Exchange, nor its spire composed of the twisted tails of four bronze dragons, nor the great windmill on the ramparts whose huge arms swelled in the sea breeze like the sails of a s.h.i.+p. decorated with horrible murals, which contains a collection of the sculptor's works, nor the toylike chateau of Rosenberg, nor the beautiful Renaissance building of the Stock Exchange, nor its spire composed of the twisted tails of four bronze dragons, nor the great windmill on the ramparts whose huge arms swelled in the sea breeze like the sails of a s.h.i.+p.

What delicious walks we would have had together, my pretty Virland girl and I, along the harbor where the double-deckers and the frigate slept peaceably under their red roofing, by the green banks of the strait, through the deep shades of the trees amongst which the fort is half concealed, where the cannons thrust their black necks between the branches of alder and willow!

But, alas! she was far away, my poor Grauben, and could I hope ever to see her again?

Meanwhile, whereas my uncle saw none of these delightful places, he was very much struck by the sight of a certain clock tower on the island of Amager, which forms the southwestern part of Copenhagen.

I was ordered to walk in that direction; I embarked on a small steamer which crosses the ca.n.a.ls, and in a few minutes it landed at the quay of the dockyard.

After crossing a few narrow streets where some convicts, in part yellow and part grey trousers, were at work under the orders of the wardens, we arrived at the Vor Frelsers Kirke. There was nothing remarkable about the church. But there was a reason why its tall spire had attracted the professor's attention. Starting from the platform, an external staircase wound around the spire, the spirals circling up into the sky.

"Let's go up," said my uncle.

"But the vertigo?" I replied.

"All the more reason, we must get used to it."

"But-"

"Come, I tell you, let's not waste time."

I had to obey. A guard who lived at the other end of the street handed us the key, and the ascent began.

My uncle went ahead with a lively step. I followed him not without terror, because unfortunately my head turned dizzy very easily. I had neither an eagle's balance nor his steely nerves.

As long as we were enclosed on the interior staircase, everything went well; but after a hundred and fifty steps fresh air hit me in the face, and we were on the platform of the tower. There the aerial staircase began, only guarded by a thin rail, and the narrowing steps seemed to ascend into infinite s.p.a.ce.

"I'll never be able to do it!" I exclaimed.

"What kind of a coward are you? Up!" the professor replied mercilessly.

I had to follow, clinging to every step. The keen air made me dizzy; I felt the spire rocking with every gust of wind; my legs began to fail; soon I crawled on my knees, then on my stomach; I closed my eyes; I had s.p.a.ce sickness.

At last, my uncle dragging me by the collar, I reached the ball.

"Look down!" he exclaimed. "Look down carefully! We must take lessons in abysses." abysses."

Ragged clouds drifted over my head.

I opened my eyes. I saw the houses flattened as if they had been squashed by a fall, in the midst of a fog of smoke. Ragged clouds drifted over my head, and through an optical inversion they seemed stationary, while the steeple, the ball and I were all moving along with fantastic speed. Far away on one side was the green country, on the other the sea sparkled under beams of sunlight. The Sound stretched away to Elsinore,t dotted with a few white sails, like sea-gulls' wings; and in the misty east and away to the northeast lay outstretched the faintly-shadowed sh.o.r.es of Sweden. All this immensity of s.p.a.ce whirled before my eyes. dotted with a few white sails, like sea-gulls' wings; and in the misty east and away to the northeast lay outstretched the faintly-shadowed sh.o.r.es of Sweden. All this immensity of s.p.a.ce whirled before my eyes.

Nevertheless I had to get up, stand straight, look. My first lesson in vertigo lasted an hour. When I finally got permission to go down and touch the solid street pavements with my feet, I was aching all over.