I. T. Thurston - "The Bishop's Shadow"

Anatole France - "Sur la pierre blanche"

Sir Walter Scott - "Waverley"

Lawrence J. Leslie - "The Strange Cabin on Catamount Island"

The Master of the World

J >> Jules Verne >> The Master of the World




But since it had been impossible for me to penetrate here, would it
not be equally impossible for me to get out again, except upon the
"Terror?" Ah, if the mists would but lift! Perhaps I should recognize
the place. What was as yet a mere hypothesis, would become a starting
point to act upon.

However, since I had freedom to move about, since neither the captain
nor his men paid any heed to me, I resolved to explore the hollow.
The three of them were all in the grotto toward the north end of the
oval. Therefore I would commence my inspection at the southern end.

Reaching the rocky wall, I skirted along its base and found it broken
by many crevices; above, arose more solid rocks of that feldspar of
which the chain of the Alleghanies largely consists. To what height
the rock wall rose, or what was the character of its summit, was
still impossible to see. I must wait until the sun had scattered the
mists.

In the meantime, I continued to follow along the base of the cliff.
None of its cavities seemed to extend inward to any distance. Several
of them contained debris from the hand of man, bits of broken wood,
heaps of dried grasses. On the ground were still to be seen the
footprints that the captain and his men must have left, perhaps
months before, upon the sand.

My jailers, being doubtless very busy in their cabin, did not show
themselves until they had arranged and packed several large bundles.
Did they purpose to carry those on board the "Terror?" And were they
packing up with the intention of permanently leaving their retreat?

In half an hour my explorations were completed and I returned toward
the center. Here and there were heaped up piles of ashes, bleached by
weather. There were fragments of burned planks and beams; posts to
which clung rusted iron-work; armatures of metal twisted by fire; all
the remnants of some intricate mechanism destroyed by the flames.

Clearly at some period not very remote the hollow had been the scene
of a conflagration, accidental or intentional. Naturally I connected
this with the phenomena observed at the Great Eyrie, the flames which
rose above the crest, the noises which had so frightened the people
of Pleasant Garden and Morganton. But of what mechanisms were these
the fragments, and what reason had our captain for destroying them?

At this moment I felt a breath of air; a breeze came from the east.
The sky swiftly cleared. The hollow was filled with light from the
rays of the sun which appeared midway between the horizon and the
zenith.

A cry escaped me! The crest of the rocky wall rose a hundred feet
above me. And on the eastern side was revealed that easily
recognizable pinnacle, the rock like a mounting eagle. It was the
same that had held the attention of Mr. Elias Smith and myself, when
we had looked up at it from the outer side of the Great Eyrie.

Thus there was no further doubt. In its flight during the night the
airship had covered the distance between Lake Erie and North
Carolina. It was in the depth of this Eyrie that the machine had
found shelter! This was the nest, worthy of the gigantic and powerful
bird created by the genius of our captain! The fortress whose mighty
walls none but he could scale! Perhaps even, he had discovered in the
depths of some cavern, some subterranean passage by which he himself
could quit the Great Eyrie, leaving the "Terror" safely sheltered
within.

At last I saw it all! This explained the first letter sent me from
the Great Eyrie itself with the threat of death. If we had been able
to penetrate into this hollow, who knows if the secrets of the Master
of the World might not have been discovered before he had been able
to set them beyond our reach?

I stood there, motionless; my eyes fixed on that mounting eagle of
stone, prey to a sudden, violent emotion. Whatsoever might be the
consequences to myself, was it not my duty to destroy this machine,
here and now, before it could resume its menacing flight of mastery
across the world!

Steps approached behind me. I turned. The inventor stood by my side,
and pausing looked me in the face.

I was unable to restrain myself; the words burst forth -- "The Great
Eyrie! The Great Eyrie!"

"Yes, Inspector Strock."

"And you! You are the Master of the World?"

"Of that world to which I have already proved myself to be the most
powerful of men."

"You!" I reiterated, stupefied with amazement.

"I," responded he, drawing himself up in all his pride, "I,
Robur--Robur, the Conqueror!"





Chapter 16

ROBUR, THE CONQUEROR




Robur, the Conqueror! This then was the likeness I had vaguely
recalled. Some years before the portrait of this extraordinary man
had been printed in all the American newspapers, under date of the
thirteenth of June, the day after this personage had made his
sensational appearance at the meeting of the Weldon Institute at
Philadelphia.

I had noted the striking character of the portrait at the time; the
square shoulders; the back like a regular trapezoid, its longer side
formed by that geometrical shoulder line; the robust neck; the
enormous spheroidal head. The eyes at the least emotion, burned with
fire, while above them were the heavy, permanently contracted brows,
which signified such energy. The hair was short and crisp, with a
glitter as of metal in its lights. The huge breast rose and fell like
a blacksmith's forge; and the thighs, the arms and hands, were worthy
of the mighty body. The narrow beard was the same also, with the
smooth shaven cheeks which showed the powerful muscles of the jaw.

And this was Robur the Conqueror, who now stood before me, who
revealed himself to me, hurling forth his name like a threat, within
his own impenetrable fortress!

Let me recall briefly the facts which had previously drawn upon Robur
the Conqueror the attention of the entire world. The Weldon Institute
was a club devoted to aeronautics under the presidency of one of the
chief personages of Philadelphia, commonly called Uncle Prudent. Its
secretary was Mr. Phillip Evans. The members of the Institute were
devoted to the theory of the "lighter than air" machine; and under
their two leaders were constructing an enormous dirigible balloon,
the "Go-Ahead."

At a meeting in which they were discussing the details of the
construction of their balloon, this unknown Robur had suddenly
appeared and, ridiculing all their plans, had insisted that the only
true solution of flight lay with the heavier than air machines, and
that he had proven this by constructing one.

He was in this turn doubted and ridiculed by the members of the club,
who called him in mockery Robur the Conqueror. In the tumult that
followed, revolver shots were fired; and the intruder disappeared.

That same night he had by force abducted the president and the
secretary of the club, and had taken them, much against their will
upon a voyage in the wonderful air-ship, the "Albatross," which he
had constructed. He meant thus to prove to them beyond argument the
correctness of his assertions. This ship, a hundred feet long, was
upheld in the air by a large number of horizontal screws and was
driven forward by vertical screws at its bow and stern. It was
managed by a crew of at least half a dozen men, who seemed absolutely
devoted to their leader, Robur.

After a voyage almost completely around the world, Mr. Prudent and
Mr. Evans managed to escape from the "Albatross" after a desperate
struggle. They even managed to cause an explosion on the airship,
destroying it, and involving the inventor and all his crew in a
terrific fall from the sky into the Pacific ocean.

Mr. Prudent and Mr. Evans then returned to Philadelphia. They had
learned that the "Albatross" had been constructed on an unknown isle
of the Pacific called Island X; but since the location of this
hiding-place was wholly unknown, its discovery lay scarcely within
the bounds of possibility. Moreover, the search seemed entirely
unnecessary, as the vengeful prisoners were quite certain that they
had destroyed their jailers.

Hence the two millionaires, restored to their homes, went calmly on
with the construction of their own machine, the "Go-Ahead." They
hoped by means of it to soar once more into the regions they had
traversed with Robur, and to prove to themselves that their lighter
than air machine was at least the equal of the heavy "Albatross." If
they had not persisted, they would not have been true Americans.

On the twentieth of April in the following year the "Go-Ahead" was
finished and the ascent was made, from Fairmount Park in
Philadelphia. I myself was there with thousands of other spectators.
We saw the huge balloon rise gracefully; and, thanks to its powerful
screws, it maneuvered in every direction with surprising ease.
Suddenly a cry was heard, a cry repeated from a thousand throats.
Another airship had appeared in the distant skies and it now
approached with marvelous rapidity. It was another "Albatross,"
perhaps even superior to the first. Robur and his men had escaped
death in the Pacific; and, burning for revenge, they had constructed
a second airship in their secret Island X.

Like a gigantic bird of prey, the "Albatross" hurled itself upon the
"Go-Ahead." Doubtless, Robur, while avenging himself wished also to
prove the immeasurable superiority of the heavier than air machines.

Mr. Prudent and Mr. Evans defended themselves as best they could.
Knowing that their balloon had nothing like the horizontal speed of
the "Albatross," they attempted to take advantage of their superior
lightness and rise above her. The "Go-Ahead," throwing out all her
ballast, soared to a height of over twenty thousand feet. Yet even
there the "Albatross" rose above her, and circled round her with ease.

Suddenly an explosion was heard. The enormous gas-bag of the
"Go-Ahead," expanding under the dilation of its contents at this
great height, had finally burst.

Half-emptied, the balloon fell rapidly.

Then to our universal astonishment, the "Albatross" shot down after
her rival, not to finish the work of destruction but to bring rescue.
Yes! Robur, forgetting his vengeance, rejoined the sinking
"Go-Ahead," and his men lifted Mr. Prudent, Mr. Evans, and the
aeronaut who accompanied them, onto the platform of his craft. Then
the balloon, being at length entirely empty, fell to its destruction
among the trees of Fairmount Park.

The public was overwhelmed with astonishment, with fear! Now that
Robur had recaptured his prisoners, how would he avenge himself?
Would they be carried away, this time, forever?

The "Albatross" continued to descend, as if to land in the clearing
at Fairmount Park. But if it came within reach, would not the
infuriated crowd throw themselves upon the airship, tearing both it
and its inventor to pieces?

The "Albatross" descended within six feet of the ground. I remember
well the general movement forward with which the crowd threatened to
attack it. Then Robur's voice rang out in words which even now I can
repeat almost as he said them:

"Citizens of the United States, the president and the secretary of
the Weldon Institute are again in my power. In holding them prisoners
I would but be exercising my natural right of reprisal for the
injuries they have done me. But the passion and resentment which have
been roused both in them and you by the success of the 'Albatross,'
show that the souls of men are not yet ready for the vast increase of
power which the conquest of the air will bring to them. Uncle
Prudent, Phillip Evans, you are free."

The three men rescued from the balloon leaped to the ground. The
airship rose some thirty feet out of reach, and Robur recommenced:

"Citizens of the United States, the conquest of the air is made; but
it shall not be given into your hands until the proper time. I leave,
and I carry my secret with me. It will not be lost to humanity, but
shall be entrusted to them when they have learned not to abuse it.
Farewell, Citizens of the United States!"

Then the "Albatross" rose under the impulse of its mighty screws, and
sped away amidst the hurrahs of the multitude.

I have ventured to remind my readers of this last scene somewhat in
detail, because it seemed to reveal the state of mind of the
remarkable personage who now stood before me. Apparently he had not
then been animated by sentiments hostile to humanity. He was content
to await the future; though his attitude undeniably revealed the
immeasurable confidence which he had in his own genius. the immense
pride which his almost superhuman powers had aroused within him.

It was not astonishing, moreover, that this haughtiness had little by
little been aggravated to such a degree that he now presumed to
enslave the entire world, as his public letter had suggested by its
significant threats. His vehement mind had with time been roused to
such over-excitement that he might easily be driven into the most
violent excesses.

As to what had happened in the years since the last departure of the
"Albatross," I could only partly reconstruct this even with my
present knowledge. It had not sufficed the prodigious inventor to
create a flying machine, perfect as that was! He had planned to
construct a machine which could conquer all the elements at once.
Probably in the workshops of Island X, a selected body of devoted
workmen had constructed, one by one, the pieces of this marvelous
machine, with its quadruple transformation. Then the second
"Albatross" must have carried these pieces to the Great Eyrie, where
they had been put together, within easier access of the world of men
than the far-off island had permitted. The "Albatross" itself had
apparently been destroyed, whether by accident or design, within the
eyrie. The "Terror" had then made its appearance on the roads of the
United States and in the neighboring waters. And I have told under
what conditions, after having been vainly pursued across Lake Erie,
this remarkable masterpiece had risen through the air carrying me a
prisoner on board.





Chapter 17

IN THE NAME OF THE LAW




What was to be the issue of this remarkable adventure? Could I bring
it to any denouement whatever, either sooner or later? Did not Robur
hold the results wholly in his own hands? Probably I would never have
such an opportunity for escape as had occurred to Mr. Prudent and Mr.
Evans amid the islands of the Pacific. I could only wait. And how
long might the waiting last!

To be sure, my curiosity had been partly satisfied. But even now I
knew only the answer to the problems of the Great Eyrie. Having at
length penetrated its circle, I comprehended all the phenomena
observed by the people of the Blueridge Mountains. I was assured that
neither the country-folk throughout the region, nor the townfolk of
Pleasant Garden and Morganton were in danger of volcanic eruptions or
earthquakes. No subterranean forces whatever were battling within the
bowels of the mountains. No crater had arisen in this corner of the
Alleghanies. The Great Eyrie served merely as the retreat of Robur
the Conqueror. This impenetrable hiding-place where he stored his
materials and provisions, had without doubt been discovered by him
during one of his aerial voyages in the "Albatross." It was a retreat
probably even more secure than that as yet undiscovered Island X in
the Pacific.

This much I knew of him; but of this marvelous machine of his, of the
secrets of its construction and propelling force, what did I really
know? Admitting that this multiple mechanism was driven by
electricity, and that this electricity was, as we knew it had been in
the "Albatross," extracted directly from the surrounding air by some
new process, what were the details of its mechanism? I had not been
permitted to see the engine; doubtless I should never see it.

On the question of my liberty I argued thus: Robur evidently intends
to remain unknown. As to what he intends to do with his machine, I
fear, recalling his letter, that the world must expect from it more
of evil than of good. At any rate, the incognito which he has so
carefully guarded in the past he must mean to preserve in the future.
Now only one man can establish the identity of the Master of the
World with Robur the Conqueror. This man is I his prisoner, I who
have the right to arrest him, I, who ought to put my hand on his
shoulder, saying, "In the Name of the Law --"

On the other hand, could I hope for a rescue from with out? Evidently
not. The police authorities must know everything that had happened at
Black Rock Creek. Mr. Ward, advised of all the incidents, would have
reasoned on the matter as follows: when the "Terror" quitted the
creek dragging me at the end of her hawser, I had either been drowned
or, since my body had not been recovered, I had been taken on board
the "Terror," and was in the hands of its commander.

In the first case, there was nothing more to do than to write
"deceased" after the name of John Strock, chief inspector of the
federal police in Washington.

In the second case, could my confreres hope ever to see me again? The
two destroyers which had pursued the "Terror" into the Niagara River
had stopped, perforce, when the current threatened to drag them over
the falls. At that moment, night was closing in, and what could be
thought on board the destroyers but that the "Terror" had been
engulfed in the abyss of the cataract? It was scarce possible that
our machine had been seen when, amid the shades of night, it rose
above the Horseshoe Falls, or when it winged its way high above the
mountains on its route to the Great Eyrie.

With regard to my own fate, should I resolve to question Robur? Would
he consent even to appear to hear me? Was he not content with having
hurled at me his name? Would not that name seem to him to answer
everything?

That day wore away without bringing the least change to the
situation. Robur and his men continued actively at work upon the
machine, which apparently needed considerable repair. I concluded
that they meant to start forth again very shortly, and to take me
with them. It would, however, have been quite possible to leave me at
the bottom of the Eyrie. There would have been no way by which I
could have escaped, and there were provisions at hand sufficient to
keep me alive for many days.

What I studied particularly during this period was the mental state
of Robur. He seemed to me under the dominance of a continuous
excitement. What was it that his ever-seething brain now meditated?
What projects was he forming for the future? Toward what region would
he now turn? Would he put in execution the menaces expressed in his
letter--the menaces of a madman!

The night of that first day, I slept on a couch of dry grass in one
of the grottoes of the Great Eyrie. Food was set for me in this
grotto each succeeding day. On the second and third of August, the
three men continued at their work scarcely once, however, exchanging
any words, even in the midst of their labors. When the engines were
all repaired to Robur's satisfaction, the men began putting stores
aboard their craft, as if expecting a long absence. Perhaps the
"Terror" was about to traverse immense distances; perhaps even, the
captain intended to regain his Island X, in the midst of the Pacific.

Sometimes I saw him wander about the Eyrie buried in thought, or he
would stop and raise his arm toward heaven as if in defiance of that
God with Whom he assumed to divide the empire of the world. Was not
his overweening pride leading him toward insanity? An insanity which
his two companions, hardly less excited than he, could do nothing to
subdue! Had he not come to regard himself as mightier than the
elements which he had so audaciously defied even when he possessed
only an airship, the "Albatross?" And now, how much more powerful had
he become, when earth, air and water combined to offer him an
infinite field where none might follow him!

Hence I had much to fear from the future, even the most dread
catastrophes. It was impossible for me to escape from the Great
Eyrie, before being dragged into a new voyage. After that, how could
I possibly get away while the "Terror" sped through the air or the
ocean? My only chance must be when she crossed the land, and did so
at some moderate speed. Surely a distant and feeble hope to cling to!

It will be recalled that after our arrival at the Great Eyrie, I had
attempted to obtain some response from Robur, as to his purpose with
me; but I had failed. On this last day I made another attempt.

In the afternoon I walked up and down before the large grotto where
my captors were at work. Robur, standing at the entrance, followed me
steadily with his eyes. Did he mean to address me?

I went up to him. "Captain," said I, "I have already asked you a
question, which you have not answered. I ask it again: What do you
intend to do with me?"

We stood face to face scarce two steps apart. With arms folded, he
glared at me, and I was terrified by his glance. Terrified, that is
the word! The glance was not that of a sane man. Indeed, it seemed to
reflect nothing whatever of humanity within.

I repeated my question in a more challenging tone. For an instant I
thought that Robur would break his silence and burst forth.

"What do you intend to do with me? Will you set me free?"

Evidently my captor's mind was obsessed by some other thought, from
which I had only distracted him for a moment. He made again that
gesture which I had already observed; he raised one defiant arm
toward the zenith. It seemed to me as if some irresistible force drew
him toward those upper zones of the sky, that he belonged no more to
the earth, that he was destined to live in space; a perpetual dweller
in the clouds.

Without answering me, without seeming to have understood me, Robur
reentered the grotto.

How long this sojourn or rather relaxation of the "Terror" in the
Great Eyrie was to last, I did not know. I saw, however, on the
afternoon of this third of August that the repairs and the
embarkation of stores were completed. The hold and lockers of our
craft must have been completely crowded with the provisions taken
from the grottoes of the Eyrie.

Then the chief of the two assistants, a man whom I now recognized as
that John Turner who had been mate of the "Albatross," began another
labor. With the help of his companion, he dragged to the center of
the hollow all that remained of their materials, empty cases,
fragments of carpentry, peculiar pieces of wood which clearly must
have belonged to the "Albatross," which had been sacrificed to this
new and mightier engine of locomotion. Beneath this mass there lay a
great quantity of dried grasses. The thought came to me that Robur
was preparing to leave this retreat forever!

In fact, he could not be ignorant that the attention of the public
was now keenly fixed upon the Great Eyrie; and that some further
attempt was likely to be made to penetrate it. Must he not fear that
some day or other the effort would be successful, and that men would
end by invading his hiding-place? Did he not wish that they should
find there no single evidence of his occupation?

The sun disappeared behind the crests of the Blueridge. His rays now
lighted only the very summit of Black Dome towering in the northwest.
Probably the "Terror" awaited only the night in order to begin her
flight. The world did not yet know that the automobile and boat could
also transform itself into a flying machine. Until now, it had never
been seen in the air. And would not this fourth transformation be
carefully concealed, until the day when the Master of the World chose
to put into execution his insensate menaces?

Toward nine o'clock profound obscurity enwrapped the hollow. Not a
star looked down on us. Heavy clouds driven by a keen eastern wind
covered the entire sky. The passage of the "Terror" would be
invisible, not only in our immediate neighborhood, but probably
across all the American territory and even the adjoining seas.

At this moment Turner, approaching the huge stack in the middle of
the eyrie, set fire to the grass beneath.

The whole mass flared up at once. From the midst of a dense smoke,
the roaring flames rose to a height which towered above the walls of
the Great Eyrie. Once more the good folk of Morganton and Pleasant
Garden would believe that the crater had reopened. These flames would
announce to them another volcanic upheaval.

I watched the conflagration. I heard the roarings and cracklings
which filled the air. From the deck of the "Terror," Robur watched it
also.

Turner and his companion pushed back into the fire the fragments
which the violence of the flames cast forth. Little by little the
huge bonfire grew less. The flames sank down into a mere mass of
burnt-out ashes; and once more all was silence and blackest night.

Suddenly I felt myself seized by the arm. Turner drew me toward the
"Terror." Resistance would have been useless. And moreover what could
be worse than to be abandoned without resources in this prison whose
walls I could not climb!

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