Captain Hardy1 reeled toward the cabin door. His face was chalky white.
“Lucille!” he gasped2.
The same thought was in Jack3 Wallis’ mind. He followed at once.
The companionway was stained with blood, the cabin floor the same. On went the two hunters.
There by the galley4 fire, which was out, lay the stark5 and stiff forms of three more of the crew.
They were in positions to show that they had fought for their lives.
But where were the other two and Lucille?
“Mark Vane and Alvan Bates, with Lucille, are missing!” declared the excited captain. “What can have become of them?”
“There is but one theory.”
“What?”
“They have been taken away as prisoners.”
“As prisoners?”
“Yes.”
“But by whom?”
“As yet I cannot answer. Human fiends, no doubt. See, the ship has been ransacked6 and many things carried away.”
“You are right.”
“I have an idea.”
“What is it?”
“Below us lies the great continent?”
“Yes.”
“I fancy it is inhabited by various tribes of savages7 who are hostile. They have come out on to the pack, hunting, and have found the ship.”
“My God! and they have taken Lucille away, captive?”
“Yes.”
For a moment tears of agony streamed down Captain Hardy’s face.
Then he grasped Jack’s hand.
“My boy,” he said, in agony, “it is a fearful blow! Life is sped for me now. The Albatross will never see home again!”
“Don’t give up.”
“But how can it? How can we ever go back and leave Lucille here?”
“We will not!”
Jack Wallis’ voice rang out with clarion8 pitch.
“I tell you we will rescue Lucille if we have to follow those wretches9 to the very heart of the Antarctic continent itself!”
“Brave boy!” cried Captain Hardy. “But will the ship be here? Can we find our way back?”
“We have our bearings. But I hope that we may overtake the wretches before they have gone very far.”
“Then let us be off!”
“At once!”
“We will return and bury these poor fellows later.”
“Yes; all depends upon prompt pursuit.”
Leaving the ship, the two desperate men set out upon the trail. It was a broad and easy one to follow.
The air had moderated very much. Indeed, there was a faint mist creeping up from the sea.
The barbarians10 left huge footprints in the snow, and it was from these that Captain Hardy drew his deductions11.
“I tell you they are literal giants!” he declared. “No doubt they are fearful fighters.”
“Yet they cannot, one of them, stop a rifle ball without getting sick,” said Jack.
“You are right, there!”
On through the snow for hours the two men followed the tracks.
All that day and the next they followed it. Happily they had taken the precaution to bring eatables.
A few hours’ sleep in the snow was all the rest they got, but they were consoled with the cheerful fact that every moment the trail grew fresher.
And now, from the horizon line, there had arisen vast heights of snowy white. Towering yet above them all was a mighty12 peak, which sent forth13 flame and smoke.
“A volcano!” declared Captain Hardy. “I’ll wager14 we will find the settlement of the barbarians not far from that.”
“I think you may be very sure of it,” declared Jack Wallis.
But as they drew nearer the coast line suddenly some startling incidents occurred.
Jack, who was in advance, suddenly halted.
A cry of alarm pealed15 from his lips.
At that moment they had been approaching a vast pile of conglomerated ice. Suddenly, from behind it, a number of strange-looking beings sprang forth.
They were gigantic in stature16 and dressed in skins, with the tusks17 of the seal for horns upon their head-dresses, which consisted of untanned seal hide, with holes for the eyes and mouth.
They were armed with huge battle clubs, with the bones of huge fish and huge rocks for heads, and javelins18 tipped with stone or fish bones.
At sight of the two men they came forward with a rush.
Brandishing19 their weapons and yelling, they rushed forward.
It was a critical moment.
It was a question of life or death, and there seemed but one move for the two men to make.
“Aim low!” cautioned Captain Hardy. “Take the first man!”
Then their rifles spoke20.
Two of the barbarians fell.
Fortunately our adventurers had good repeating Winchesters, and they were enabled to keep up a good steady fire.
But the barbarians now began hurling21 their javelins. One nearly impaled22 Jack. This caused him to shout:
“This way, Captain Hardy! We must get shelter!”
Both retreated to the cover of some blocks of ice and the battle went on.
They pluckily23 held the foe24 at bay. But the barbarians seemed to become legion in number.
It seemed as if a hundred of them at least had appeared upon the scene from some mysterious source.
And now our adventurers made an appalling25 discovery.
This was that they had neglected to take sufficient ammunition26 from the ship with them. But a few more rounds of cartridges27 were left.
With blanched28 faces they looked at each other.
“My boy,” said Captain Hardy, steadily29, “I fear it is all up with us!”
“It looks so, captain.”
“What an awful fate!”
“At least we will die game!”
Wallis shut his lips tightly and resumed the firing. He made every shot tell. But presently he found that he had but three cartridges left.
And the barbarians were every moment growing bolder. A hand-to-hand combat would be sure to be fatal.
A few moments more and they would certainly have overwhelmed the two brave men, had it not been for an intervention30.
And this came from a most unexpected quarter.
Suddenly, what seemed like a veritable bolt of lightning dropped from the sky, and right among the barbarians.
There was a fearful explosion.
Tons of ice and snow rose to the height of fifty feet in the air. Dozens of the barbarians were torn in shreds31.
Astounded32, Jack and Captain Hardy looked up and beheld33 a sight the like of which they had never seen before.
“Great Neptune34!” gasped the captain. “A ship sailing in the air!”
This was what it seemed.
But in place of sails were flapping wings. The hull35 was of different shape. It was a ship, but not one intended for sailing the seas.
That it was not a supernatural apparition36 was evident, for at the rail were four men, all of them shouting encouraging words.
“Keep up, friends!” came down from above. “We will help you!”
“Ahoy!” gasped Captain Hardy, in amazement37. “Who are you?”
“This is Frank Reade, Jr.’s airship, the Dart38. We are Americans!”
“And so are we,” replied Hardy. “I’ve commanded many a good ship in my life, but I never yet saw one that sailed in the air.”
At this the aerial voyagers laughed.
“Wait and we will descend39!” they cried.
Then the Dart settled rapidly until it alighted upon the ice. At the rail four men were standing40.
One was a tall, handsome young man, another was short and wore glasses, one was an Irishman, and the fourth was a negro, as black as coal.
The reader, of course, recognizes them as Frank Reade, Jr., Barney and Pomp, and the scientist, Professor Gaston.
They had left home some six weeks previous and had enjoyed a first-class trip of eight thousand miles or more.
One thing was certain. They had arrived in the nick of time to save the lives of Captain Hardy and Jack.
Stories were soon exchanged. Frank Reade, Jr., listened with deep interest to the story of the whalers.
When he was told about Lucille’s capture by the Antarctic natives he was at once aroused, and cried:
“She shall be rescued, and have no fear, Captain Hardy!”
“God bless you, sir!” cried the overjoyed captain. “Of course, you have it in your power to do so with your airship?”
“I believe so. At least we will try.”
“Antarctic natives!” cried Professor Gaston, at once interested. “Well, that settles one important point, don’t it, that the South Pole regions are inhabited?”
“It does!” agreed Frank. “And yonder are mountains and a volcano!”
The scientist was, however, just now interested in the barbarians.
A visit was made to the spot where the electric bomb had exploded.
Some of the primitive41 weapons of the barbarians were secured. Several of them had escaped mutilation and a look was taken at their features.
“Of the Aryan type!” declared Professor Gaston. “Barbarians in every sense of the word. The shape of the skull42 precludes43 anything but low intellect.”
The remaining or surviving barbarians had vanished.
Where they had gone was something of a mystery. Certain it was they were not in sight anywhere.
It was decided44 to follow their trail as well as possible through the snow.
This was not difficult.
It was well-defined and broad.
For some ways the airship kept on.
Then the volcano and its attendant peaks drew nearer.
To the surprise of all it was seen that the slope of the volcanic45 mountain were devoid46 of snow.
What was more, there actually seemed to be vegetation upon it.
But this was probably in the form of Arctic mosses47 and ferns, which grow in very barren places and even under the snow.
But as the airship now rapidly drew nearer to the volcano a startling discovery was made.
“Look!” cried Jack Wallis, in amazement. “The mountain is hollow!”
Indeed, the appearance of a mighty yawning cavity in its side seemed to warrant this assertion.
The volcano looked like a walnut48 shell cut in halves, with its side cut open.
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收听单词发音
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1
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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4
galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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6
ransacked
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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7
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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clarion
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| n.尖音小号声；尖音小号 | |
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9
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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11
deductions
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| 扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演 | |
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12
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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13
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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wager
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| n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌 | |
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15
pealed
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| v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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17
tusks
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| n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头 | |
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18
javelins
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| n.标枪( javelin的名词复数 ) | |
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19
brandishing
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| v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 )；炫耀 | |
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20
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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21
hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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22
impaled
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| 钉在尖桩上( impale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23
pluckily
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| adv.有勇气地，大胆地 | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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25
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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26
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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28
blanched
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| v.使变白( blanch的过去式 )；使（植物）不见阳光而变白；酸洗（金属）使有光泽；用沸水烫（杏仁等）以便去皮 | |
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29
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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30
intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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31
shreds
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| v.撕碎，切碎( shred的第三人称单数 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件） | |
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32
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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33
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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34
Neptune
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| n.海王星 | |
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35
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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36
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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37
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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38
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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39
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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40
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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41
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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42
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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43
precludes
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| v.阻止( preclude的第三人称单数 )；排除；妨碍；使…行不通 | |
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44
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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45
volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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47
mosses
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| n. 藓类, 苔藓植物 名词moss的复数形式 | |
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48
walnut
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| n.胡桃，胡桃木，胡桃色，茶色 | |
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