The Lost City by Jr. Joseph E. Badger (me reader .txt) đ
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for the symptoms with unaided eyes, at length ventured to speak.
âWhat is it, uncle Phaeton? Something of interest, or your
looksââ
Professor Featherwit gave a start, then lowered the glasses and
reached them towards his nephew, speaking hurriedly:
âYou try them, Bruno; your eyes are younger, and ought to be
keener than mine. Yonder; towards the lower end of theâthe
lake, please.â
Nothing loath, Gillespie complied, quickly finding the correct
point upon which the professorâs interest had centred, holding
the glasses motionless for a brief space, then giving vent to an
eager ejaculation.
âWhat is it all about, bless you, boy?â demanded Waldo, unable
longer to curb his hot impatience. âAnother drifting tree, eh?â
âNo, but,âdid you see it, uncle?â
âI saw something whichâwhat do YOU see, first?â
âA great big suck,âa monster whirlpool which is hollowed likeââ
âI knew it! I felt that must be the true solution of it all!â
cried uncle Phaeton, squirming about pretty much as one might
into whose veins had been injected quicksilver in place of
ordinary blood. âThe outlet! Where the surplus waters drain off
to the Pacific Ocean!â
âI say, give me a chance, canât you?â interrupted Waldo, grasping
the glasses and shifting his station for one more favourable as a
lookout.
He had seen sufficient to catch the right angle, and then gave a
suppressed snort as he took in the view. Half a minute thus,
then a wild cry escaped his lips, closely followed by the words:
âNow I DO see something! And it isnât a drifting tree, either!
Or, that is, something else whichâshove her closer, uncle
Phaeton! True as you live, thereâs something caught in yonder big
suck which isâcloser, for love of glory!â
âIf this is another joke, Waldoââ
âNo, no, I tell you, Bruno! Shove her over, uncle, for, without
this glass is hoodooed, weâre needed right yonder,âand needed
mighty bad, too!â
Little need of so much urging, by the way, since Professor
Featherwit was but slightly less excited by their double
discovery, and even before the glasses were clapped to Waldoâs
eyes the aerostat swung around to move at full speed towards that
precise quarter of the compass.
âWhat is it you see, then, boy?â demanded Bruno, itching to take
the glasses, yet straining his own vision towards that as yet
far-distant spot.
âSomething likeâoh, see how the water is running out,âjust like
emptying a bathtub through a hole at the bottom! And see whatâa
man caught in the whirl, trueâs youâre a foot high, uncle!â
âA man? Here? Impossible,âincredible, boy!â fairly exploded
the professor, not yet ready to relinquish his cherished belief
in a terra incognita.
The air-voyagers were swiftly nearing that point of interest, and
now keen-eyed Bruno caught a glimpse of a drifting object which
had been drawn within the influence of yonder whirlpool, but
which was just as certainly a derelict from the forest.
âAnother floating tree-trunk for Waldo!â he cried, with a short
laugh, feeling far from unpleased that the intense strain upon
his nerves should be thus lessened. âTry it again, lad, and
perhapsââ
âTry your great-grandmotherâs cotton nightcap! Donât you suppose
I can tell the difference between a tree and aââ
âRanting, prancing, cavorting âsour-usâ right out of Websterâs
Unabridged, eh, laddy-buck?â
âThatâs all right, if you can only keep on thinking that way, old
man; but if yonder isnât a fellow being in a mighty nasty pickle,
then I wouldnât even begin to say so! Andâyou look, uncle
Phaeton, please.â
Nothing loath, the professor took the proffered glasses, and but
an instant later he, too, gave a sharp cry of amazement, for he
saw, clinging to the trunk of a floating tree, swiftly moving
with those circling waters, a living being!
And but a few seconds later, Bruno made the same discovery,
greatly to the delight of his younger brother.
âA man! And living, too!â
âOf course; reckon Iâd make such a howl about a floater?â bluntly
interjected Waldo. âBut Iâll do my crowing later on. For now
weâve got to get the poor fellow out of that,âjust got to yank
him
out!â
Through all this hasty interchange of words, the aeromotor was
swiftly progressing, and now swung almost directly above the
whirlpool, giving all a fair, unobstructed view of everything
below.
The suction was so great that a sloping basin was formed, more
than
one hundred yards in diameter, while the actual centre lay a
number
of feet lower than the surrounding level.
Half-way down that perilous slope a great tree was revolving, and
to this, as his forlorn hope, clung a half-clad man, plainly
alive,
since he was looking upward, andâyes, waving a hand and uttering
a cry for aid and succour.
âHelp! For love of God, save me!â
âWhite,âan American, too!â exploded Waldo, taking action as by
brilliant inspiration. âHang over him, uncle, for Iâm goingâto
go fishingâfor a man!â
Waldo was tugging at the grapnel and long drag-rope. Bruno was
quick to divine his intention, and lent a deft hand, while the
professor manipulated the helm so adroitly as to keep the
flying-machine hovering directly above yonder imperilled
stranger, leaning far over the hand-rail to shout downward:
âHave courage, sir, and stand ready to help yourself! We will
rescue you if it lies within the possibilities ofâwe WILL save
you!â
âYou bet we just will, and rightâlike this,â spluttered Waldo,
as he cast the grapnel over the rail and swiftly lowered it by
the rope. âPlay youâre a fish, stranger, and when you bite, hang
on like grim death to aâsteady, now!â
Fortunately nothing occurred to mar the programme so hastily
arranged, for the drift was drawing nearer the centre of the
whirl, and if once fairly caught by that, nothing human could
preserve the stranger from death.
âMake a jump and grab it, if you canât do better!â cried Waldo,
intensely excited now that the crisis was at hand.
The long rope with its iron weight swayed awkwardly in spite of
all he could do to steady it, and as each one of the three prongs
was meant for catching and holding fast to whatever they touched,
there was no slight risk of impaling the man, thus giving him the
choice of another and still more painful death.
Then, with a desperate grasp, a death-clutch, he caught one arm
of the grapnel, holding fast as the shock came. He was carried
clear of the tree, and partly submerged in the water as his added
weight brought the flying-machine so much lower.
âUp, up, uncle Phaeton!â fairly howled Waldo, at the same time
tugging at the now taut rope, in which he was ably seconded by
his brother. âFor love ofâhigher, uncle!â
Then the noble machine responded to the touch of its builder,
lifting the dripping stranger clear of the whirling currents,
swinging him away towards yonder higher level, where a fall would
not prove so quickly fatal. And then the eager professor gave a
shrill cheer as he saw the man, by a vigorous effort, draw his
body upward sufficiently far to throw one leg over an arm of the
grapnel itself.
Knowing now that the rescued was in no especial peril, uncle
Phaeton left the air-ship to steer itself long enough for his
nimble hands to take several turns of the drag-rope around the
cleat provided for that express purpose, thus relieving both
Bruno and Waldo of the heavy strain, which might soon begin to
tell upon them.
âHurrah for we, us, and company!â cried Waldo, relieving his
lungs of a portion of their pent-up energy, then leaning
perilously far over the edge of the machine to encourage the
queer fish he had hooked.
CHAPTER X.
RESCUED AND RESCUERS.
Despite their very natural excitement, caused by this peril and
its
foiling, Professor Featherwit retained nearly all his customary
coolness and presence of mind.
Readily realising that after such a grim ordeal would almost
certainly come a powerful revulsion, his first aim was to swing
the stranger far enough away from the whirlpool to give him a
fair chance for life, in case he should fall, through dizziness
or physical collapse, from the end of the drag-rope.
This took but a few seconds, comparatively speaking, though,
doubtless, each moment seemed an age to the rescued stranger.
Then the professor slowed his ship, looking around in order to
determine upon the wisest route to take.
For one thing, it would be severe work to draw the stranger
bodily up and into the aerostat. For another, unless he should
grow weak, or suffer from vertigo, both time and labour would be
saved by taking him direct to the shore of this broad lake.
As soon as the rope was made fast, and the strain taken off their
muscles as well as their minds, Bruno flashed a look around,
naturally turning his eyes in the direction of the whirlpool.
Although less than a couple of minutes had elapsed since the man
was lifted off the circling drift, even thus quickly had the end
drawn nigh; for, even as he looked that way, Gillespie saw the
great trunk sucked into the hidden sink, the top rising with a
shiver clear out of the water as the butt lowered, a hollow,
rumbling sound coming to all ears asâ
âGone!â cried Bruno, in awed tones, as the whole drift vanished
from sight for ever.
âSucked in by Jonahâs whale, for ducats!â screamed Waldo,
excitedly. âFetch on your blessed âsour-usâ of both the male and
female sect! Trot âem to the fore, and if my little old suck
donât take the starch out of their backbones,âthey DID have
backbones, didnât they, uncle Phaeton?â
Professor Featherwit frowned, and shook his head in silent
reproof. More nearly, perhaps, than either of the boys, he
realised what an awful peril this stranger had so narrowly
escaped. It was far too early to turn that escape into jest,
even for one naturally light of heart.
He leaned over the hand-rail, peering downward. He could see the
rescued man sitting firmly in the bend of the grapnel, one hand
tightly gripping the rope, its mate shading his eyes, as he
stared fixedly towards the whirling death-pool, from whose jaws
he had so miraculously been plucked.
There was naught of debility, either of body or of mind, to be
read in that figure, and with his fears on that particular point
set at rest, for the time being, Professor Featherwit called out,
distinctly:
âIs it all well with you, my good friend? Can you hold fast
until the shore is reached, think?â
âHeaven bless you,âyes!â came the reply, in half-choked tones.
âIf I fail in giving thanksââ
âNever mention it, friend; it cost us nothing,â cheerily
interrupted the professor, then adding, âHold fast, please, and
weâll put on a wee bit more steam.â
The flying-machine was now fairly headed for a strip of shore
which offered an excellent opportunity for making a safe landing,
and as that accelerated motion did not appear to materially
affect the stranger, it took but a few minutes to clear the lake.
âStand ready to let go when we come low enough, please,â warned
the professor, deftly managing his pet machine for that purpose.
The stranger easily landed, then watched the flying-machine with
painfully eager gaze, hands clasped almost as though in prayer.
A more remarkable sight than this half-naked shape, burned brown
by the sun, poorly protected by light skins, with sinew
fastenings, could scarcely be imagined; and there was something
close akin
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