Luis Senarens

“ One morning, or rather just as the explorers had risen, for it was the latter part of the Antarctic night of six long months, Barney spied a strange scene ahead.
Mighty mountain ranges showed, rising to fearful heights, and all were devoid of ice or snow.
Indeed, several of them appeared to be active volcanoes.
At once the Celt gave the alarm.
Everybody piled on deck, and Professor Gaston seemed the most excited of any.
“Hurrah!” he cried. “At last we have reached the South Pole. In place of an open sea as in the Arctic, we have mighty volcanic mountains.” ”

“ In a moment the vicinity was thronged with armed natives.
Frank saw that the crisis had come. There was no use in dallying further.
He picked up a bomb brought him by Barney and hurled it fairly into the midst of the murderous horde.
In a flash there was a frightful explosion. Heaps of dead and dying Esquimaux lay upon the ground.
The survivors fled wildly. Frank leaped from the airship’s deck. He rushed into the nearest bough hut.
There was Gaston bound hand and foot.
“Thank God! you have come to save me!” cried the scientist. “You are none too soon!”
“But there is yet danger!” cried Frank. ”

“ But before doing this he half prostrated himself at Frank’s feet.
“Oh! good, kind American!” he cried. “There will always be a place in the heart of Nicolas for you. Never shall I forget you!”
Then all mounted their horses. The couriers rode in advance. All saluted the voyagers and then the cavalcade dashed away.
Our voyagers watched them until long out of sight.
Then Frank Reade, Jr., drew a deep breath.
“One man’s wrongs righted!” he said. “I am very glad!”
“Amen!” said Professor Gaston, and Barney and Pomp looked their feelings. ”

“ The Dart rapidly neared the mountain range. And as it did so, beyond them was revealed a wonderful sight.
As far as the eye could reach all was a fertile valley of green. Indeed, small lakes dotted this region, and there were rivers and forests.
“The Polar country!” cried Gaston, with excitement. “Surely it is a wonderful discovery. Is it inhabited?”
The airship slowly sailed over the mountain peaks. Suddenly Gaston pointed to a tall one and declared.
“That is the South Pole, or at least it is exactly upon the spot where the pole should be!”
Over the Antarctic country the airship drifted. ”

“ The barbarians seemed to have acquired a fearful terror of the airship. At sight of it now they beat an inglorious retreat.
Up the valley they rushed, in headlong haste. The Dart descended until within one hundred feet of the ground.
“All right, Pomp!” cried Frank, “hold right where you are. We are going to invade that big, stone building. Be ready to give us help!”
“A’right, Marse Frank!” replied Pomp, readily.
The victorious explorers now charged the barbarians’ settlement. They deserted their houses and fled incontinently. ”

“ But now another startling thing was seen. Into the vast cavity a large body of men were seen to be rushing.
“It is the home of the barbarians!” cried Professor Gaston, in amazement. “More and more wonderful!”
The aerial voyagers gazed upon the spectacle in sheerest wonder.
Into the mighty aperture rushed the Antarctic natives. In a few moments not one was in sight.
The airship now rapidly settled down at the foot of the volcano. ”

“ This ice will never break up.”
“You are wrong!” cried Frank. “This is an airship. We sail in the air.”
“An airship!” the poor fellow passed his hand across his brow in a troubled manner. “No, no; it is really a dream! I shall soon awake, as I have many times before.”
Then he lapsed into a revery.
“Let him be!” said Frank, compassionately. “Poor fellow, his brain is weak. He will be stronger soon.”
Barney was soon himself again and as chipper as ever. ”

“ Now Barney had not one at hand, but he shouted:
“Howld an an’ I’ll get a rope. Shure, I’ll help ye!”
And away went the whole-souled Irishman back to the airship.
The raft was drifting very slowly so he had plenty of time.
But when he reached the Dart his first move was to sound the alarm. Very quickly all hands were on deck.
“What’s the matter?” asked Frank, who came up with his rifle in his hand.
“Shure, sor, there’s a poor divil out there on a raft as wants help!” cried Barney.
“On a raft?”
“Yis, sor.”
“Dear me!” exclaimed Professor Gaston. “Let us hasten to his relief!” ”

“ Captain Hardy shrugged his shoulders.
“You cannot go there with your airship,” he said.
“Very true!”
“How then do you propose to go?”
“On foot.”
“Mercy! a handful of men like us will stand no show with such a myriad of foes, however insufficiently armed.”
“How many of the natives do you reckon there are?” asked Frank.
“At least several thousand.”
The young inventor was silent. He realized that there was logic in Captain Hardy’s words.
But he was not to be defeated.
“Barney,” he said, “go down and fetch up those long, black boxes in the forward cabin.” ”

“ This brought them over tempestuous seas, and in these latitudes the airship encountered a terrific storm.
It was the means of nigh causing the wreck of the Dart.
The voyagers were all in the cabin at dinner.
The wheel had been lashed and the Dart was traveling at a fair rate of speed.
Suddenly something like an explosion brought every man to his feet.
The next moment they were hurled about the cabin like puppets.
“My God!” cried Professor Gaston, in mortal terror. “The airship is falling!”
“Steady!” shouted Frank. “We must reach the wheel!” ”

“ But Frank Reade, Jr., had no intention of making a stop.
“Not this time!” he declared. “I have other matters on hand. Besides, it would be hardly safe to land there.”
“Safe!” ejaculated Gaston, in amazement. “Why not?”
“Easy enough. A vast concourse of people like that are apt to lose their heads and do the airship much damage.”
“That could not be among civilized people!”
“They are the most to be feared as they cannot keep their hands off knowing well the nature of the machine. Superstitious fear keeps the savage at a safe distance.”
“Upon my word I believe you are right!” cried the professor. ”

“ Away went the two jokers at full speed across the snow. They reached the slope a few moments later.
The slide was fully a hundred yards in length, and was quite steep and slippery. Frank looked anxious.
“I fear they are rash,” he said. “If one of them should fall he might break some bones.”
But Professor Gaston laughed.
“Have no fear,” he said. “They will make it all safely. It is fun for them.”
The two jokers were now on the brow of the descent. They were chaffing each other in a friendly manner.
“Am yo’ ready, I’ish?” cried Pomp.
“Begorra, I am!” ”

“ Sabe dis chile!” he yelled, wildly. “Wha’ am de mattah?”
The shoe flew off and Pomp was instantly relieved. He was wide awake now. He knew that he had received a tremendous shock, but he could not tell whether it had struck him in the feet or his head.
He imagined that the fire had caused some part of the framework of his bunk to become charged.
Could he have seen Barney at that moment in the engine-room he would have been enlightened.
The Celt was doubled up into a round ball, laughing for all he was worth, silently.
“Fo’ massy sakes, wha’ am mah shoe?” sputtered Pomp. ”

“ So the Dart crossed the Polar region as quickly as possible.
Straight across the region they went, until once more the circular range of mountains was crossed, and the region of ice and snow again was spread to view.
“We have crossed the South Pole,” declared Frank Reade, Jr., “and we have started northward for home. Now, we may proceed with more of leisure. I am anxious to take a look at some of the countries we pass over, notably Africa.”
“I am more than agreeable,” declared Professor Gaston. “In fact, it is your pleasure, Mr. Reade.” ”

“ But I think myself that one feels the cold of the northern frigid zone more than that of the south.”
“Well, sor,” cried Barney, not to be outdone in an argument, “what’s that but being a bit colder!”
“You may be colder,” laughed the professor, “but the weather is not.”
“Shure, thin, phwy is it that I am so much colder?” protested Barney.
“A peculiar state of affairs which gives two different colds. The atmosphere at the South Pole is a trifle more mild. It is a volcanic region, and perhaps that may account for it. It is true that the Arctic cold is more penetrating. ”

“ At first the explorers thought them human beings, but a closer glance showed that they were huge white bears.
Six of the monsters were boarding the airship in the coolest possible manner.
“Great heavens!” exclaimed Professor Gaston. “What does that mean, Frank?”
“It looks as if the bears had taken possession of our property,” declared the young inventor.
“Can they do any harm?”
“Certainly. We must tackle them at once.”
The prospect of tackling the six monsters was by no means a pleasant one.
The white bear is known as a powerful and savage beast and not easily handled. ”

“ Thus they stood by the airship’s rail as the Siberian police came up.
“What ho!” cried the leader, a tall, bewhiskered fellow, reining in his horse at sight of Nicolas, “there is your man, guards! Seize the dog and iron him!”
The fellow spoke in the Russian language. Every word was plain to Frank Reade, Jr.
The unfortunate exile cowered by the airship’s rail. The guards would have seized him, but Frank said, quietly:
“Stand firm! Aim!”
Barney was in the door of the pilot house with his rifle at his shoulder. Frank, Pomp and Professor Gaston each held a rifle aimed at the foe. ”

“ The airship took its flight from the volcanic valley, leaving the terrified barbarians to themselves.
As straight as the birds could fly the Dart returned to the spot, where the Albatross was nipped in the ice.
Then a descent was made.
The first move was to reverently bury the victims of the massacre and restore things to order aboard the ship.
Then Frank took a quick and comprehensive survey of the ice pack.
He saw that the Albatross lay between two ridges of block ice. It would take a century to dig a channel through with pick and shovel. ”

“ 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 descend!” they cried.
Then the Dart settled rapidly until it alighted upon the ice. At the rail four men were standing.
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. ”

“ A mighty open space, or perhaps it might be called cavern, occupied several acres in extent, and all roofed by the shell of the volcano.
But in the centre of this vast underground area was what looked like a lake of molten gold as it lay under the gleam of the searchlight.
However, Frank saw that it was nothing of the kind, but a vast basin of boiling lava.
A stream of the boiling liquid ran down into the basin from an orifice in the mountain wall.
The walls of the immense cavern were of hardened lava, apparently. It was certainly a queer freak of nature. ”

“ White man stay. Mebbe no come back. Stay here!”
Gaston saw that he was in for it. Yet he did not believe for a moment that his life was as yet in special danger.
He ransacked his brain in vain for a subterfuge by which to foil the Esquimaux. But each time he was disappointed.
Finally he was led away into the fir forest. A few moments more of delay and he would have been rescued by his friends.
Frank was in the engine-room when he heard the whistle of alarm.
“Quick, then!” cried Frank. “Pomp, you stay with the airship.”
Barney and Spencer grabbed their rifles and followed Frank. ”

“ Indeed, when the Dart’s rail was reached the monster was hardly three yards behind. A dozen yards more and Pomp would certainly have been captured.
Over the rail at a leap went the darky. The next moment he reached the cabin door.
He threw his weight against it and it gave way. Into the cabin he sprang. The bear paused at the door.
While the brute seemed to be meditating upon the feasibility of entering, Pomp procured an elephant rifle.
This threw a deadly explosive shell of Frank Reade, Jr.’s own invention. Pomp took steady aim at the brute. ”

“ And every day Professor Gaston took a new observation. Every day he declared that they were growing nearer the Pole.
“I have a great curiosity,” he declared. “You know it is a commonly accepted belief that the region about the South Pole is very open and warm. That in fact ice does not exist there at all!”
“I believe that is true,” declared Frank. “The most extensive volcanic region in the world, I believe, lies adjacent to the South Pole.” ”

“ Hundreds of miles in area was the fertile country of the South Pole.
Various animals were seen, but in all the three hundred miles of sailing across the fertile and warm area our voyagers saw nothing of human beings.
However, Gaston declared:
“It is but a small part we have explored as yet. They may exist in some other section. Our sole object now is to locate the two poles. Some other time we may be able to more extensively explore each. Eh, Mr. Reade?”
“That is agreeable to me,” replied Frank. “Indeed, we have not come prepared for a very long sojourn in this region.” ”

“ The fervid appeal reached the heart of every one of the voyagers.
Frank interpreted the story to them, and then taking the poor wretch’s hand, said:
“They shall never take you while we live. We believe your story and will aid you.” ”

“ This may be the Czar’s territory, but when the prisoner is on the deck of the airship he is under the protection of the American flag, and that flag the United States will never permit Russia nor any other foreign country to outrage.”
The Russian officer could not reply to this sweeping declaration for some moments. He knew enough of international law to know that Frank Reade, Jr., was technically right.
“Nevertheless,” he said, gritting his teeth, savagely, “you are a good ways from America, and your fate would never be known. Unless you surrender the prisoner we will shoot every one of you.” ”

“ It did not take Barney and Pomp long to flay the lions. They were magnificent skins, and would make beautiful robes when properly dressed.
Upon returning to the Dart, Professor Gaston was found busily arranging some botanical specimens.
He listened to the account of the lion hunt with interest.
“There are plenty of sportsmen in America,” he declared, “who would give a large sum for the sport you have just enjoyed, could they purchase it. You are fortunate.”
As nothing was to be gained by lingering longer in the vicinity, Frank caused the Dart to rise and the journey was resumed. ”

“ Chairman,” said Professor Gaston, courteously, “allow me to introduce to you Frank Reade, Jr., the most famous inventor on earth to-day.”
The young inventor blushed with this glowing eulogy.
But he bowed to the chairman and exchanged a few pleasant words with him; then Professor Gaston addressed the society:
“Mr. Reade is the foremost inventor of the day. He is the creator of the Submarine Boat and many other wonderful things. He has now come to the front with a new airship with which he offers to travel from zone to zone in the efforts to locate the Poles. ”