"Jack handed me what looked like a peculiarly constructed opera
glass, and requested me to take a peep at Cape Lisburne through the
transparent section at the bow. Though we were miles away, I felt that
I could reach out and pick up a pebble anywhere along this rock-bound
shore. This explained a mystery, and I turned to Jack and said: 'I
can now understand how it was that you discovered me at such a great
distance, for when I first saw you, your ship was but a speck, and
several points to the east of north.'
"'Yes,' he said, 'I discovered you on the lookout when several leagues
away. I had not expected to find civilized people so far north. As soon
as I saw you, I put the Eolus to her greatest speed directly toward
you, lest you should leave the lookout. As I came nearer I felt sure
that I recognized your features, and I at once made up my mind that
I had found one whom I could trust to assist me in the work I had
undertaken to perform. This fortunate meeting enables me to return
immediately, and relieve the painful anxiety of many loving hearts
concerning my safety. They had a most exaggerated conception of the
perils I would be compelled to encounter in attempting to traverse
these frozen regions.'
"He told me a wonderful story of his trials, perils and adventures in
getting past the great ice barriers, and his discovery of a World of
Truth beyond.
"When we had circumnavigated the country for miles around, we slowly
descended to earth and alighted at the same spot from which we started,
and as we separated, he to return to his new home beyond the ice
barriers, I to come to you, he placed his portmanteau in my hands and
said:
"'Go to Dr. Thomas K. Day, at Kansas City, and if he will agree to
publish the manuscript contained in this portmanteau and scatter it
broadcast over the world, place it in his hands and tell him to use the
gold contained also therein, which was contributed by the crew of the
Ice King for that purpose; for nothing but gold, the fetich of this
benighted and money enslaved external world, can command labor; and
yet it is labor and not gold, that is the sole producer of everything
essential to the sustenance and comfort of humanity. If Dr. Day cannot
be found, or is so situated that he cannot attend to this matter, use
the gold yourself to find a publisher, and have eight printed volumes
for me when I return with another manuscript of even more value, from
the same fruitful field of discovery.'
"And now Dr. Day," continued my visitor, "will you undertake to
discharge the trust committed to you by Jack Adams?"
"I will gladly do so" I replied, "for anything from Jack will surely be
a blessing to humanity."
He placed the portmanteau in my hands and said:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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