"That explains the strange happenings!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Mark. "No wonder I could never solve the secret of the storeroom."
"You are right, it does," replied Mr. Henderson. "I will not go into all the details of how it happened, but it seems the big hole through which we came is only one of two entrances to this inner world. Rather it is the entrance, and there is another, close to it, which is the exit. Through the latter a big stream of water spouts up, just as one pours down through the opening we used.
"Hankos, which is the name of the king, was for many years a student of science. He longed to see where the big stream of upward spurting water went, and wanted to know whence came the down-pouring one. So he undertook a daring experiment.
"He constructed a great cylinder, and, keeping his plans a secret, conveyed it to the spouting water, entered it, and, by means of pulleys and levers, after he had shut himself inside, cast himself into the up-shooting column. He took along compressed air cylinders to supply an atmosphere he could breathe, and some food to eat, for it appears our giant friends are something of inventors in their way. The current of water bore him to the surface of the earth, and he was cast up on the ocean, in what was probably taken for a waterspout if any one saw it.
"Then a strange thing happened. No sooner did Hankos open his cylinder, which served him as a boat, than he lost his gigantic size, owing to the difference of the two atmospheres. He became almost of the same size as ourselves, except that his skin hung in great folds on him, and he seemed like a wrinkled old man. His clothes too, were a world too large.
"He had a terrible time before he reached sh.o.r.e, and a hard one after it, for his strange appearance turned almost every one against him. He was sorry he had ventured to solve the mystery of the up-shooting stream of water, for he was worse than an outcast.
"Then he began to plan to get back to his own inner world. But he could not find the downward stream, and, not knowing the language of the countries where he landed, he had no means of ascertaining. He traveled from place to place, always seeking for something that would lead him back to his own country.
"Finally he heard of us, and of our ship, though how I do not know, as I thought I had kept it a great secret. By almost superhuman struggles he made his way to our island. He says he concealed himself aboard the Mermaid the night before we sailed, but I hardly believe it possible.
It seems----"
"He did it, for I saw him!" interrupted Mark.
"You saw him!" cried Mr. Henderson.
Then Mark told of the many things that had puzzled him so, how he had seen the queer figure slinking aboard the boat, of the disappearance of food from time to time, and of the strange noises in the storeroom.
"That bears out what he told me," the professor said. "Hankos says he used to steal out nights and take what food he could get, and he also mentions some one, answering to Mark"s description, who nearly discovered him once as he hurried back into the apartment.
"However, it seems to be true, since Mark confirms it. At any rate Hankos stayed in hiding, and made the entire trip with us, and, just as we all became overcome with the strange gas he escaped, having begun to expand to his original giant size, and being unable to remain any longer in his cramped quarters."
"That"s so, he did!" cried Mark. "I saw him come out of the place just before I lost my senses. It was a terrible sight, and none of you would believe me when I told you some of the occurrences afterward."
"You must forgive us for that," the professor said. "We have learned much since then."
"What did Hankos do after he left the ship when it landed in this country?" asked Jack.
"He traveled until he came to this village, which is the chief one of this country," replied the professor. "Part of the time he followed us at a distance, being able to travel very fast."
Mark remembered the strange figure of a giant he had seen on the hill tops several times, and knew that he had been observing the being who had played such a queer part in their lives.
"When he came back among his own people," went on Mr. Henderson, "they would not receive him at first, believing him to be an impostor. But Hankos convinced them of his ident.i.ty and was allowed to don the golden armor, which is the badge of kingship. He had only been in office for a little while when he heard of the arrival of the strange thing, which turned out to be our ship. He recognized it from the description, and, learning that we were likely to be sacrificed to the fury and ignorance of the giants, he hurried here and saved our lives.
"He says he can never thank us enough for being the means whereby he was able to get back to his own country, and says the freedom of this whole inner world is ours. He has given orders that we are to go wherever we like, and none will molest us. He tells me the land is a wonderful one, compared to our own, and urges us to make a long journey. He would like to go with us, only, now that he has resumed his natural size, he can not get inside the ship."
"Hurrah for King Hankos!" cried Jack and the others joined him in a hearty cheer.
The giant in the golden armor evidently understood the compliment which was paid him, for he waved his helmet in the air and responded with a shout of welcome that made the ground tremble.
Hankos waited until the professor had translated all of the story to the other travelers. Then the genial giant began to talk some more, and the professor listened intently.
"He says," spoke Mr. Henderson to his friends, "that we will be supplied with all the fruit we want, and with the best of the houses to sleep in on our journey. He also tells me he has great stores of shining stones and piles of the metal of which his armor is made, and that we are welcome to as much as we want. If this means unlimited gold and diamonds, we may make our fortunes."
"Jest let me git ma" hand on a few sparklers an" I"ll quit work!"
exclaimed Washington.
"I have told him," the scientist went on, "that we will take advantage of his kind offer. We will start on our trip in a day or so, after we have looked over the ship to see if it is not damaged. He tells me the gold and sparkling stones are several thousand miles away, on top of a high mountain. We will make that our objective point."
The interview between the king and Mr. Henderson having ended, the former waved his sword in the air and the swarm of big men came back.
They had been hiding back in the woods. Now their manner was very different. They carefully removed the rollers and ropes, and soon there was brought to the adventurers an immense pile of fine fruits.
If our friends had stayed there a year they could not have eaten it all. The giants were judging the appet.i.tes of the travelers by their own.
That night the adventurers slept more soundly than they had since entering the strange world. They felt they had nothing to fear from the giants. In the morning they were not molested, though big crowds gathered to look at the ship. But they kept back a good distance. The machinery was found to be in good shape, save for a few repairs, and when these were made, the professor announced he would start on a long journey.
For several weeks after that the travelers swung about in their ship, sometimes sailing in the air and again on big seas and lakes viewing the wonders of the inner world. They were many and varied, and the professor collected enough material for a score of books which he said he would write when he got back to the outer world once more.
One afternoon, as they were sailing over a vast stretch of woodland, which did not seem to be inhabited, Mr. Henderson, looking at one of the gages on the wall, asked:
"Boys do you know how far you have traveled underground?"
"How far?" asked Jack, who hated to guess riddles.
"More than four thousand miles," was the answer.
"But we haven"t come to that mountain of gold and diamonds," said Mark. "I am anxious to see that."
"Have patience," replied the professor. "I have not steered toward it yet. There are other things to see."
Just then Washington"s voice could be heard calling from the conning tower:
"We"re coming to a big mountain!"
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE TEMPLE OF TREASURE
"WHAT"S that?" fairly yelled the professor.
"We am propelling ourselves in a contiguous direction an" in close proximity to an elevated portion of th" earth"s surface which rises in antiguous proximity t" th" forward part of our present means of locomotion!" said the colored man in a loud voice.
"Which means there may be a collision," the professor said, as he and the boys hurried toward the tower.
"Jest what I said," retorted Washington. "What"ll I do?"
"Send the ship a little higher," answered Mr. Henderson. "We mustn"t hit any mountains."
Washington forced more gas into the holder, and speeded the negative gravity machine up some, so that the Mermaid, which was flying rather low, ascended until it was in no danger of colliding with the peak which reared its lofty height just ahead of them.
As the ship sailed slowly over the mountain, Mark gazed down and exclaimed: