As Oqua ceased speaking, the Sea Rover arose to the surface by the
side of the Silver King, the hatches were opened, and in a few minutes
we were welcomed on board the electric yacht by Captain Thorfin, and
invited to an elegant supper. The day had certainly been most agreeably
spent but its lessons were too suggestive and far-reaching in their
character to be adequately presented in this small volume. I was
fatigued by the incessant activity since early morning and was glad of
an opportunity to retire to my state-room and rest.
I was awake early next morning and after a hearty breakfast, we were
soon speeding down the Cocytas between two lofty walls of granite.
There was nothing to be seen but these towering cliffs for the first
few miles and Captain Thorfin gave us a specimen of the speed of
the Silver King. The cliffs seemed to dart past us as if we were on
board of a lightning express train, and yet we could scarcely feel
the motion of the vessel. I confess that I felt a little nervous at
such astonishing speed, but Captain Thorfin assured us that there was
no danger, as the submarine patrols removed every obstruction and
preserved a uniform depth of water.
I asked the Captain what was the greatest speed of his vessel and he
replied that he had never tested it. He had made one hundred miles an
hour but the excursionists generally preferred to travel slowly. On
this trip we would average fifty, and so reach Kroy in about three
hours.
During the last two hours of our journey we were passing through a
densely populated country. Great communal homes appeared on either
side and large manufacturing plants at frequent intervals. But our
interest was centered at the mouth of the river and our attention was
chiefly directed over the bow. Soon a point of land appeared where
the river seemed to part in twain. This I recognized as the island I
had seen from the airship which had brought us to the continent, and
here is where the city of Kroy had been situated. My interest had been
aroused and as the Silver King turned into the northern channel, the
island became the center of attraction. On the larboard side the same
scenes of sylvan beauty, palatial buildings and groups of happy, joyous
people continued, but it was now the uninhabited island that absorbed
my attention.
I could see, in places, through the tangled brushwood and tall trees
which lined the shore, glimpses of shattered walls and tumuli, over-run
by vines and briers, such as in many parts of the outer world are so
attractive to archeologists, as the ruins of some ancient civilization.
At one point I noticed what appeared to have been costly monuments to
the dead and I said to Norrena:
"Surely that must have been a cemetery."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account