CHAPTER XXVI.

THROUGH THE EARTH.

The ship again continued her way, traveling toward the Persian Gulf.

If Captain Vindex wanted to visit Europe, it was clear that he would have to go around the Cape of Good Hope, but that did not appear to be his design.

He went direct to the Red Sea, and, as the Isthmus of Suez was not then pierced by a ca.n.a.l, there was no outlet to the Mediterranean.

This puzzled the professor very much.

One morning the captain sought his prisoners, and said to the professor:

"To-morrow we shall be in the Mediterranean."

Mr. Woddle looked at him with astonishment.

"Does that surprise you?" he continued, with a smile.

"Certainly it does, though I thought I had given up being astonished since I have been on board your ship."

"You are a man of science; why should you be astonished?"

"Because you must travel with the speed of lightning almost to East Africa and round the Cape of Good Hope."

"I did not say I was going to do so," replied the captain.

"You can't go overland, since there is no ca.n.a.l through the Isthmus of Suez----"

"But one can go under land," interrupted the captain.

"Under land," answered the professor, holding up his hand.

"Undoubtedly," said Captain Vindex calmly. "For a long while nature has made underneath this tongue of land what men are trying to do now on the surface."

"Does there exist a pa.s.sage?"

"Yes, a pa.s.sage or tunnel, which at fifty feet depth touches a solid rock."

"How did you discover it--by chance?"

"No," said the captain. "I guessed that such a tunnel existed, and I have been through it several times."

"Well," said the professor, "we live to learn. Our fathers never dreamed of gas, of railways, of telegraphs, and I did not suspect the existence of your wonderful ship."

"Shortly, my dear sir," said the captain, "your children--that is to say, the next generation--will travel through the air in flying machines; your railway engines will own electricity as their motive power. There is no end to scientific discovery; the world is in its infancy. We are just emerging from barbarism. Wait and watch, that's my motto. You must not be surprised at anything in these days."

"You are right--we are on the march," said the professor.

The day pa.s.sed, and at half-past nine the _Searcher_ rose to the surface to receive her supply of air.

Nothing disturbed the silence but the cry of the pelican and other birds of the night, with the occasional sound of the escaping steam of a steamer traveling toward the Far East.

Mont could not rest below, and at once ascended to the platform to breath the fresh air. In the darkness he saw a pale light, discolored by the fog, which burned about a mile off.

"A lighthouse," he said.

The captain was by his side, and quietly replied:

"It is the floating lightship of Suez."

"We are near the mouth of the tunnel, I suppose? Is the entrance easy?"

"No," said Captain Vindex, "it is difficult. I always steer the ship myself, and if you like to come into the wheelhouse with me I will show you the way. In a moment the _Searcher_ will sink, and we shall not rise till we are in the Mediterranean."

Mont followed the captain into the pilot's cabin, which was at the bow of the vessel, the wheel working the rudder by long chains carried aft.

The cabin measured six feet square, four round windows of thick plate-gla.s.s enabled the helmsman to see on all sides, and the electric light, thrown well forward, made everything as clear as day.

A strong negro, with an eye like a hawk, was at the wheel, but he gave the spokes to the captain and fell back.

"Now," exclaimed the Wizard of the Sea, "let us search for our pa.s.sage."

Electric wires communicated with the engine room, so it was easy to communicate directly with the engineers by pressing a k.n.o.b of metal.

Touching this k.n.o.b, the speed of the screw lessened considerably.

For about an hour the ship pa.s.sed by a bank of sand, which was varied by rocks, on which Mont saw all kinds of sea weeds, coral formations, and curious fish agitating their fins in alarm at the apparition of the _Searcher_.

At half-past ten a long and large gallery appeared in front, black and apparently deep.

The ship entered this gloomy tunnel boldly, and an unaccustomed rushing sound made itself heard against the sides, which arose from the waters of the Red Sea rushing into the Mediterranean.

Following the current with the speed of an arrow, the ship made its way, though the engines were reversed and the screw went backward to abate the velocity of its progress.

A single false turn of the wheel, and the _Searcher_ would have been dashed to atoms against the ironlike rocks on each side, above, and below.

Mont held his breath.

He could see nothing but the foaming waters, made transparent by the electric light.

Half an hour later the captain gave up the helm to the negro, and, turning to our hero, exclaimed:

"We are in the Mediterranean."

In less than half an hour the ship, carried by the current, had traversed the Isthmus of Suez.