 This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. THE MASTER OF THE WORLD by Jules Verne CHAPTER VIII AT ANY COST The suggestion of the star came like a revelation. It was accepted everywhere. Not only were these three vehicles the work of the same inventor, they were the same machine. It was not easy to see how the remarkable transformation could be practically accomplished from one means of locomotion to the other. How could an automobile become a boat, and yet more, a submarine? All the machines seemed to lack was the power of flying through the air. Nevertheless, everything that was known of the three different machines, as to their size, their shape, their lack of odor or of steam, and above all, their remarkable speed, seemed to imply their identity. The public, grown blasé with so many excitements, found in this new marvel a stimulus to reawaken their curiosity. The newspapers dwelt now chiefly on the importance of the invention. This new engine, whether in one vehicle or three, had given proofs of its power. What amazing proofs? The invention must be bought at any price. The United States government must purchase it at once for the use of the nation. Assuredly, the great European powers would stop at nothing to be, beforehand with America, and gain possession of an engine so invaluable for military and naval use. What incalculable advantages would it give to any nation, both on land and sea? Its destructive powers could not even be estimated until its qualities and limitations were better known. No amount of money would be too great to pay for the secret. America could not put her millions to better use. But to buy the machine it was necessary to find the inventor, and there seemed to be the chief difficulty. In vain was Lake Curdall's search from end to end. Even its depths were explored with a sounding line without result. Must it be concluded that the submarine no longer lurked beneath its waters? But in that case how had the boat gotten away? For that matter how had it come? An insiable problem. The submarine was heard from no more, neither in Lake Curdall nor elsewhere. It had disappeared like the automobile from the roads and like the boat from the shores of America. Several times in my interviews with Mr. Ward we discussed this matter, which still filled his mind. Our men continued everywhere on the lookout but as unsuccessfully as other agents. On the morning of the twenty-seventh of June I was summoned into the presence of Mr. Ward. Well, Strock, said he, here is a splendid chance for you to get your revenge. Revenge for the great eerie disappointment? Of course! What chance? asked I, not knowing if he spoke seriously or ingest. Why here, he answered, would you not like to discover the inventor of this three-fold machine? I certainly should, Mr. Ward. Give me the order to take charge of the matter and I will accomplish the impossible in order to succeed. It is true I believe it will be difficult. Undoubtedly Strock? Perhaps even more difficult than to penetrate into the great eerie. It was evident that Mr. Ward was intent on rallying me about my unsuccess. He would not do that, I felt assured, out of mere unkindness. Perhaps then he meant to rouse my resolution. He knew me well and realized that I would have given anything in the world to recoup my defeat. I waited quietly for new instructions. Mr. Ward dropped his jesting and said to me very generously, I, no Strock, that you accomplished everything that depended on human powers and that no blame attaches to you. But we face now a matter very different from that of the great eerie. The day the government decides to force that secret, everything is ready. We have only to spend some thousands of dollars and the road will be open. That is what I would urge. But at present, said Mr. Ward, shaking his head, it is much more important to place our hands on this fantastic inventor, who so constantly escapes us. That is work for a detective indeed, a master detective. He has not been heard from again? No, and though there is every reason to believe that he has been and still continues beneath the waters of Lake Kerdall, it has been impossible to find any trace of him anywhere around there. One would almost fancy he had the powder of making himself invisible, this proteus of a mechanic. It seems likely, said I, that he will never be seen until he wishes to be. True, Strock, and to my mind there is only one way of dealing with him, and that is to offer him such an enormous price that he cannot refuse to sell his invention. Mr. Ward was right. Indeed the government had already made the effort to secure a speech with this hero of the day, then whom surely no human being has ever better merited the title. The press had widely spread the news, and this extraordinary individual must assuredly know what the government desired of him, and how completely he could name the terms he wished. Surely, added Mr. Ward, this invention can be of no personal use to the man, that he should hide it from the rest of us. There is every reason why he should sell it. Can this unknown be already some dangerous criminal who, thanks to his machine, hopes to defy all pursuit? My chief then went on to explain that it had been decided to employ other means in search of the inventor. It was possible, after all, that he had perished with his machine in some dangerous maneuver. If so, the ruined vehicle might prove itself almost as valuable and instructive to the mechanical world as the man himself. But since the accident to the schooner Markle on Lake Kirtall, no news of him whatever had reached the police. On this point Mr. Ward did not attempt to hide his disappointment and his anxiety. Anxiety, yes, for it was manifestly becoming more and more difficult for him to fulfil his duty of protecting the public. How could we arrest criminals if they could flee from justice at such speed over both land and sea? How could we pursue them under the oceans? And when durageable balloons should also have reached their full perfection, we would even have to chase men through the air. I asked myself if my colleagues and I would not find ourselves some day reduced to utter helplessness. If police officials become a useless encumbrance, would they be definitely discarded by society? Here, there it recurred to me the jesting letter I had received a fortnight before. The letter which threatened my liberty and even my life. I recalled also the singular espionage of which I had been the subject. I asked myself if I had better mention these things to Mr. Ward. But they seemed to have absolutely no relation to the matter now in hand. The Great Area Fair had been definitely put aside by the government since interruption was no longer threatening. And they now wished to employ me upon this newer matter. I waited then to mention this letter to my chief at some future time when it would not be so sore a joke to me. Mr. Ward again took up our conversation. We are resolved by some means to establish communication with this inventor. He has disappeared, it is true, but he may reappear at any moment and in any part of the country. I have chosen you, struck, to follow him the instant he appears. You must hold yourself ready to leave Washington on the moment. Do not quit your house, except to come here to headquarters each day. Notify me each time by telephone when you start from home and report to me personally the moment you arrive here. I will follow orders exactly, Mr. Ward. I answered. But permit me one question. Aught I to act alone, or will it not be better to join with me? That is what I intend, said the chief interrupting me. You are to choose two of our men whom you think the best fitted. I will do so, Mr. Ward. And now if some day or other I stand in the presence of our men, what am I to do with him? Above all things do not lose sight of him. If there is no other way, arrest him. You shall have a warrant. A useful precaution, Mr. Ward, if he started to jump into his automobile and to speed away at the rate we know of, I must stop him at any cost. One cannot argue long with a man making two hundred miles an hour. You must prevent that, Strauch, and the arrest made telegraph me. After that the matter will be in my hands. Count on me, Mr. Ward, at any hour, day or night I shall be ready to start with my men. I thank you for having entrusted this mission to me. If it succeeds it will be a great honour. And of great profit! added my chief dismissing me. Going home I made all preparations for a trip of indefinite duration. Perhaps my good housekeeper imagined that I planned a return to the Great Erie, which she regarded as an antechamber of hell itself. She said nothing, but went about her work with the most despairing face. Nevertheless, sure as I was of her discretion I told her nothing. In this great mission I would confide in no one. My choice of the two men to accompany me was easily made. They both belonged to my own department and had many times under my direct command given proofs of their vicar, courage, and intelligence. One, John Hart of Illinois, was a man of thirty years. The other, aged thirty-two, was Nab Walker of Massachusetts. I could not have had better assistance. Several days passed without news, either of the automobile, the boat, or the submarine. There were rumours in plenty, but the police knew them to be false. As to the reckless stories that appeared in the newspapers, they had most of them no foundation whatever. Even the best journals cannot be trusted to refuse an exciting bit of news on the mere ground of its unreliability. Then, twice in quick succession, there came what seemed trustworthy reports of the man of the hour. The first asserted that he had been seen on the roads of Arkansas, near Little Rock. The second that he was in the very middle of Lake Superior. Unfortunately, these two notices were absolutely unreconcilable. For while the first gave the afternoon of June 26th as the time of appearance, the second set it for the evening of the same day. Now, these two points of the United States territory are not less than eight hundred miles apart. Even granting the automobile this unthinkable speed, greater than any it had yet shown, how could it have crossed all the intervening country unseen? How could it traverse the states of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin, from end to end without any one of our agents giving us warning, without any interested person rushing to a telephone? After these two momentary appearances, if appearances they were, the machine again dropped out of knowledge. Mr. Ward did not think it worthwhile to dispatch me and my men to either point whence it had been reported. Yet, since this marvelous machine seemed still in existence, something must be done. The following official notice was published in every newspaper of the United States under July 3. It was couched in the most formal terms. During the month of April of the present year, an automobile traversed the roads of Pennsylvania, of Kentucky, of Ohio, of Tennessee, of Missouri, of Illinois. And on the 27th of May, during the race held by the American Automobile Club, it covered the course in Wisconsin. Then it disappeared. During the first week of June, a boat maneuvering at great speed appeared off the coast of New England between Cape Cod and Cape Sable, and more particularly, around Boston. Then it disappeared. In the second fortnight of the same month a submarine boat was run beneath the waters of Lake Curtall in Kansas. Then it disappeared. Everything points to the belief that the same inventor must have built these three machines, or perhaps that they are the same machine, constructed so as to travel both on land and water. A proposition is therefore addressed to the said inventor, whoever he be, with the aim of acquiring the said machine. He is requested to make himself known and to name the terms upon which he will treat with the United States government. He is also requested to answer as promptly as possible to the Department of Federal Police, Washington, D.C., United States of America. Such was the notice printed in large type on the front page of every newspaper. Surely it could not fail to reach the eye of him for whom it was intended, wherever he might be. He would read it. He could scarce fail to answer it in some manner. And why should he refuse such an unlimited offer? We had only to await his reply. One can easily imagine how high the public curiosity rose. From morning till night, an eager and noisy crowd pressed about the Bureau of Police, awaiting the arrival of a letter or a telegram. The best reporters were on the spot. What honor, what profit would come to the paper which was first published, the famous news? To know it last the name and place of the undiscoverable, unknown. And to know if he would agree to some bargain with the government. It goes without saying that America does things on a magnificent scale. Millions would not be lacking for the inventor. If necessary all the millionaires in the country would open their inexhaustible purses. The day passed. To how many excited and impatient people it seemed to contain more than twenty-four hours, and each hour held far more than sixty minutes. There came no answer, no letter, no telegram. The night following there was still no news, and it was the same the next day, and the next. There came, however, another result which had been fully foreseen. The cables informed Europe of what the United States government had done. The different powers of the Old World hoped also to obtain possession of the wonderful invention. Why should they not struggle for an advantage so tremendous? Why should they not enter the contest with their millions? In brief every great power took part in the affair. France, England, Russia, Italy, Austria, Germany. Only the states of the Second Order refrained from entering with their smaller resources upon a useless effort. The European press published notices identical with that of the United States. The extraordinary chauffeur had only to speak to become a rival to the Vanderbilts, the Asters, the Goulds, the Morgans, and the Rothschilds of every country of Europe. And when the mysterious inventor made no sign what attractive offers were held forth through Temptum to discard the secrecy in which he was enwrapped, the whole world became a public market, an auction house whence arose the most amazing bids. Twice a day the newspapers would add up the amounts, and these kept rising from millions to millions. The end came when the United States Congress, after a memorable session, voted to offer the sum of twenty million dollars. And there was not a citizen of the states of whatever rank who objected to the amount so much importance was attached to the possession of this prodigious engine of locomotion. As for me, I said emphatically to my old housekeeper, the machine is worth even more than that. Evidently the other nations of the world did not think so, for their bids remained below the final sum. But how useless was this mighty struggle of the great rivals! The inventor did not appear. He did not exist. He had never existed. It was all a monstrous pretense of the American newspapers. That at least became the announced view of the old world. And so the time passed. There was no further news of our men. There was no response from him. He appeared no more. For my part, not knowing what to think, I commenced to lose all hope of reaching any solution to the strange affair. Then, on the morning of the 15th of July, a letter without postmark was found in the mailbox of the police bureau. After the authorities had studied it, it was given out to the Washington journals, which published it in facsimile in special numbers. It was couched as follows. End of chapter This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. The Master of the World By Jules Verne Chapter 9 The Second Letter On board the terror, July 15, to the old and new world. The propositions emanating from the different governments of Europe, as also that which has finally been made by the United States of America, need expect no other answer than this. I refuse absolutely and definitely the sums offered for my invention. My machine will be neither French nor German, nor Austrian nor Russian, nor English nor American. The invention will remain my own, and I shall use it as pleases me. With it I hold control of the entire world, and there lies no force within the reach of humanity which is able to resist me under any circumstances whatsoever. Let no one attempt to seize or stop me. It is, and will be, utterly impossible. Whatever injury any one attempts against me, I will return a hundredfold. As to the money which has offered me, I despise it. I have no need of it. Moreover, on the day when it pleases me to have millions or billions, I have but to reach out my hand and take them. That both the old and the new world realize this, they can accomplish nothing against me. I can accomplish anything against them. I sign this letter, THE MASTER OF THE WORLD, by Jules Verne. CHAPTER X. Such was the letter addressed to the government of the United States. As to the person who had placed it in the mailbox of the police, no one had seen him. The sidewalk in front of our offices had probably not been once vacant during the entire night. From sunset to sunrise there had always been people, busy, anxious, or curious, passing before our door. It is true, however, that even then the bearer of the letter might easily have slipped by unseen and dropped the letter in the box. The night had been so dark you could scarcely see from one side of the street to the other. I have said that this letter appeared in facsimile in all the newspapers to which the government communicated it. Perhaps one would naturally imagine that the first comment of the public would be, This is the work of some practical joker. It was in that way that I had accepted my letter from the Great Erie five weeks before. But this was not the general attitude toward the present letter, neither in Washington nor in the rest of America. To the few who would have maintained that the document should not be taken seriously, an immense majority would have responded, This letter has not the style nor the spirit of a gesture. Only one man could have written it, and that is the inventor of this unapproachable machine. To most people, this conclusion seemed indisputable, owing to a curious state of mind easily explainable. For all the strange facts of which the key had hitherto been lacking, this letter furnished an explanation. The theory now almost universally accepted was as follows. The inventor had hidden himself for a time, only in order to reappear more startlingly in some new light. Instead of having perished in an accident, he had concealed himself in some retreat where the police were unable to discover him. Then, to assert positively his attitude toward all governments, he had written this letter. But instead of dropping it in the post in any one locality, which might have resulted in its being traced to him, he had come to Washington and deposited it himself in the very spot suggested by the government's official notice, the Bureau of Police. Well, if this remarkable personage had reckoned that this new proof of his existence would make some noise in two worlds, he certainly figured rightly. That day the millions of good folk who read and reread their daily paper could, to employ a well-known phrase, scarcely believe their eyes. As for myself, I studied carefully every phrase of the defiant document. The handwriting was black and heavy. An expert at chirrography would doubtless have distinguished in the lines traces of a violent temperament, of a character stern and unsocial. Suddenly a cry escaped me, a cry that fortunately my housekeeper did not hear. Why had I not noticed sooner the resemblance of the handwriting to that of the letter I had received from Morganton? Moreover, a yet more significant coincidence, the initials with which my letter had been signed, did they not stand for the words, Master of the World? And whence came the second letter, on board the Terror? First this name was that of the triple machine commanded by the mysterious Captain. The initials in my letter were his own signature, and it was he who had threatened me, if I dared to renew my attempt on the Great Erie. I rose and took from my desk the letter of June 13. I compared it with the facsimile in the newspapers. There was no doubt about it. They were both in the same peculiar handwriting. My mind worked eagerly. I sought to trace the probable deductions from this striking fact known only to myself. The man who had threatened me was the commander of this Terror and the Great Erie. What connection was there between the phenomena of the Blue Ridge Mountains amid the no less phenomenal performances of the fantastic machine? I knew what my first step should be, and with the letter in my pocket I hastened to police headquarters. Enquiring if Mr. Ward was within and receiving an affirmative reply, I hastened toward his door and wrapped upon it with unusual and, perhaps, unnecessary vigor. Upon his call to enter I stepped eagerly into the room. The chief had spread before him the letter published in the papers, not a facsimile, but the original itself which had been deposited in the letter-box of the department. You come as if you had important news, Struck? Judge for yourself, Mr. Ward, and I drew from my pocket the letter with the initials. Mr. Ward took it, glanced at his face, and asked, What is this? A letter signed only with initials, as you can see. And where was it posted? In Morganton, in North Carolina. When did you receive it? A month ago, the thirteenth of June. What did you think of it then? That it had been written as a joke? And now, Struck? I think what you will think, Mr. Ward, after you have studied it. My chief turned to the letter again and read it carefully. It is signed with three initials, said he. Yes, Mr. Ward, and those initials belong to the words Master of the World in this facsimile. Of which this is the original, responded Mr. Ward, taking it up. It is quite evident, I urged, that the two letters are by the same hand. It seems so. You see what threats are made against me to protect the great Erie? Yes, the threat of death. But, Struck, you have had this letter for a month. Why have you not shown it to me before? Because I attach no importance to it. Today, after the letter from the terror, it must be taken seriously. I agree with you. It appears to be most important. I even hope it may prove the means of tracking this strange personage. That is what I also hope, Mr. Ward. Only what connection can possibly exist between the terror and the great Erie? That I do not know. I cannot even imagine. There can be but one explanation, continued Mr. Ward, though it is almost inadmissible, even impossible. And that is, that the great Erie was the spot selected by the inventor, where he gathered his material. That is impossible, cried I. In what way would he get his material in there? And how get his machine out? After what I have seen, Mr. Ward, your suggestion is impossible. Unless Struck? Unless what? I demanded. Unless the machine of this master of the world has also wings which permit it to take refuge in the great Erie. At the suggestion that the terror, which had searched the deeps of the sea, might be capable also of rivalling the vultures and the eagles, I could not restrain an expressive shrug of incredulity. Neither did Mr. Ward himself dwell upon the extravagant hypothesis. He took the two letters and compared them afresh. He examined them under a microscope, especially the signatures, and established their perfect identity. Not only the same hand, but the same pen had written them. After some moments of further reflection, Mr. Ward said, I will keep your letter, Struck. Decidedly, I think, that you are fated to play an important part in this strange affair, or rather in these two affairs. What thread attaches them I cannot yet see, but I am sure the thread exists. You have been connected with the first, and it will not be surprising if you have a large part in the second. I hope so, Mr. Ward, you know how inquisitive I am. I do, Struck, that is understood. Now I can only repeat my former order, hold yourself in readiness to leave Washington at a moment's warning. All that day the public excitement caused by the defiant letter mounted steadily higher. It was felt both at the White House and at the Capitol the public opinion absolutely demanded some action. Of course it was difficult to do anything. Where could one find this master of the world, and even if he were discovered how could he be captured? He had at his disposal not only the powers he had displayed, but apparently still greater resources, as yet unknown. How had he been able to reach Lake Curdall over the rocks? And how had he escaped from it? Then if he had indeed appeared on Lake Superior, how had he covered all the intervening territory unseen? What a bewildering affair it was altogether! This of course made it all the more important to get to the bottom of it. Since the millions of dollars had been refused, force must be employed. The inventor and his invention were not to be bought. And in what haughty and menacing terms he had couched his refusal. So be it. He must be treated as an enemy of society against whom all means became justified, that he might be deprived of his power to injure others. The idea that he had perished was now entirely discarded. He was alive, very much alive, and his existence constituted a perpetual public danger. Influenced by these ideas, the government issued the following proclamation. Since the commander of the terror has refused to make public his invention at any price whatever, since the use which he makes of his machine constitutes a public menace against which it is impossible to guard, the said commander of the terror is hereby placed beyond the protection of the law. Any measures taken in the effort to capture or destroy either him or his machine will be approved and rewarded. It was a declaration of war. War to the death against this master of the world who thought to threaten and defy an entire nation, the American nation. Before the day was over various rewards of large amounts were promised to anyone who revealed the hiding-place of this dangerous inventor, to anyone who could identify him and to anyone who could rid the country of him. Such was the situation during the last fortnight of July. Always left to the hazard of fortune. The moment the outlaw reappeared he would be seen and signalled, and when the chance came he would be arrested. This could not be accomplished when he was in his automobile on land or in his boat on the water. Though he must be seized suddenly before he had any opportunity to escape by means of that speed which no other machine could equal. I was therefore all alert, awaiting an order from Mr. Ward to start out with my men. But the order did not arrive for the very good reason that the man whom it concerned remained undiscovered. The end of July approached. The newspapers continued the excitement. They published repeated rumors. New clues were constantly being announced. But all this was mere idle talk. Telegrams reached the police bureau from every part of America, each contradicting and nullifying the others. The enormous rewards offered could not help but lead to accusations, errors, and blunders made many of them in good faith. One time it would be a cloud of dust which must have contained the automobile. But another time almost any wave on any of America's thousand lakes represented the submarine. In truth, in the excited state of the public imagination, apparitions assailed us from every side. At last, on the 29th of July, I received a telephone message to come to Mr. Ward on the instant. Twenty minutes later I was in his cabinet. You leave in an hour, Struck, said he. Where for? For Toledo. It has been seen? Yes, at Toledo you will get your final orders. In an hour my men and I will be on the way. Good, and Struck, I now give you a formal order. What is it, Mr. Ward? To succeed, this time to succeed. End of chapter. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. THE MASTER OF THE WORLD by Jules Verne Chapter 11 The Campaign So the undiscoverable commander had reappeared upon the territory of the United States. He had never shown himself in Europe, either on the roads or in the seas. He had not crossed the Atlantic, which apparently he could have traversed in three days. Did he then intend to make only America the scene of his exploits? ought we to conclude from this that he was an American? Let me insist upon this point. It seemed clear that the submarine might easily have crossed the vast sea which separates the new and the old world. Not only would its amazing speed have made its voyage short, in comparison to that of the swiftest steamship, but also it would have escaped all the storms that make the voyage dangerous. Tempest did not exist for it. It had but to abandon the surface of the waves and it could find absolute calm a few scorefeet beneath. But the inventor had not crossed the Atlantic and if he were to be captured now it would probably be in Ohio since Toledo is a city of that state. This time the fact of the machine's appearance had been kept secret between the police and the agent who had warned them and whom I was hurrying to meet. No journal, and many would have paid high for the chance, was printing this news. We had decided that nothing should be revealed until our effort was at an end. No indiscretion would be committed by either my comrades or myself. The man to whom I was sent with an order from Mr. Ward was named Arthur Wells. He awaited us at Toledo. The city of Toledo stands at the western end of Lake Erie. Our train sped during the night across West Virginia and Ohio. There was no delay and before noon the next day the locomotive stopped in the Toledo depot. John Hart, Nab Walker and I stepped out with travelling bags in our hands and revolvers in our pockets. Perhaps we should need weapons for an attack or even to defend ourselves. Scarcely had I stepped from the train when I picked out the man who awaited us. He was scanning the arriving passengers impatiently, evidently as eager and full of haste as I. I approached him. Mr. Wells, said I. Mr. Stroke, asked he. Yes. I am at your command, said Mr. Wells. Are we to stop any time in Toledo? I asked. No, with your permission, Mr. Stroke. A carriage with two good horses is waiting outside the station and we must leave at once to reach our destination as soon as possible. We will go at once, I answered, signing to my two men to follow us. Is it far? Twenty miles. And the place is called Black Rock Creek. Having left our bags at a hotel we started on our drive. To my surprise I found there were provisions sufficient for several days packed beneath the seat of the carriage. Mr. Wells told me that the region around Black Rock Creek was among the wildest in the state. There was nothing there to attract either farmers or fishermen. We would not find an inn for our meals nor a room in which to sleep. Fortunately during the July heat there would be no hardship even if we had to lie one or two nights under the stars. Or probably, however, if we were successful the matter would not occupy us many hours. Either the commander of the terror would be surprised before he had a chance to escape or he would take the flight and we must give up all hope of arresting him. I found Arthur Wells to be a man of about forty, large and powerful. I knew him by reputation to be one of the best of our local police agents. Full in danger and enterprising always he had proven his daring on more than one occasion at the peril of his life. He had been in Toledo on a wholly different mission when chance had thrown him on the track of the terror. We drove rapidly along the shore of Lake Erie toward the south west. This inland sea of water is on the northern boundary of the United States lying between Canada on one side and the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York on the other. If I stop to mention the geographical position of this lake, its depth, its extent, and the waters nearest around, it is because the knowledge is necessary for the understanding of the events which were about to happen. The surface of Lake Erie covers about ten thousand square miles. It is nearly six hundred feet above sea level. It is joined on the north west, by means of the Detroit River, with the still greater lakes to the westward, and receives their waters. It is also rivers of its own, though of less importance, such as the Rocky, the Cuyahoga, and the Black. The lake empties at its northeastern end into Lake Ontario by means of Niagara River and its celebrated falls. The greatest known depth of Lake Erie is over one hundred and thirty feet. Hence it will be seen that the mass of its waters is considerable. In short, this is a region of most magnificent lakes. The land, though not situated far northward, is exposed to the full sweep of the Arctic cold. The region to the northward is low, and the winds of winter rush down with extreme violence. Next Lake Erie is sometimes frozen over from shore to shore. The principal cities on the borders of this great lake are Buffalo at the east, which belongs to New York State, and Toledo in Ohio at the west, with Cleveland and Sandusky both Ohio cities at the south. Smaller towns and villages are numerous along the shore. The traffic is naturally large, its annual value being estimated at considerably over two million dollars. Our carriage followed a rough and little used road along the borders of the lake, and as we toiled along Arthur Wells told me what he had learned. Less than two days before, on the afternoon of July 27th, Wells had been riding on horseback toward the town of Hurley. Five miles outside the town he was riding through a little wood when he saw, far up across the lake, a submarine which rose suddenly above the waves. He stopped, tied his horse, and stole on foot to the edge of the lake. There from behind a tree he had seen with his own eyes, seen this submarine advance toward him, and stop at the mouth of Black Rock Creek. Was it the famous machine for which the whole world was seeking, which thus came directly to his feet? When the submarine was close to the rocks two men climbed out upon its deck and stepped ashore. Was one of them this master of the world who had not been seen since he was reported from Lake Superior? Was this the mysterious terror which had thus risen from the depths of Lake Erie? I was alone, said Wells, alone on the edge of the creek. If you and your assistants, Mr. Strock, had been there, we four against two, we would have been able to reach these men and seize them before they could have regained their boat and fled. Probably, I answered, but were there no others on the boat with them? Still, if we had seized the two we could have at least have learned who they were. And above all, added Wells, if one of them turned out to be the captain of the terror. I have only one fear, Wells, this submarine, whether it is the one we seek or another, may have left the creek since your departure. We shall know that in a few hours now. Pray heaven they are still there. Then when night comes? But I asked, did you remain watching in the wood until night? No. I left after an hour's watching and rode straight for the telegraph station at Toledo. I reached there late at night and sent immediate word to Washington. That was night before last. Did you return yesterday to Black Rock Creek? Yes. The submarine was still there? In the same spot. And the two men? The same two men. I judged that some accident had happened and they came to this lonely spot to repair it. Probably so, said I, some damage which made it impossible for them to regain their usual hiding-place, if only they are still here. I have reason to believe they will be, for quite a lot of stuff was taken out of the boat and laid about upon the shore, and as well as I could discern from a distance they seemed to be working on board. Only the two men? Only the two. But, protested I, can two be sufficient to handle an apparatus of such speed and of such intricacy as to be at once automobile, boat, and submarine? I think not, Mr. Strach, but I only saw the same two. Several times they came to the edge of the little wood where I was hidden and gathered sticks for a fire which they made upon the beach. The region is so uninhabited and the creek so hidden from the lake that they ran little danger of discovery, they seemed to know this. You had recognized them both again? Perfectly. One was of middle size, vigorous, and quick of movement, heavily bearded. The other was smaller, but stocky and strong. Yesterday as before I left the wood about five o'clock and hurried back to Toledo. There I found a telegram for Mr. Ward, notifying me of your coming, and I awaited you at the station. Summed up then the news amounted to this. For forty hours past a submarine, presumably the one we sought, had been hidden in Black Rock Creek, engaged in repairs. Probably these were absolutely necessary, and we should find the boat still there. As to how the terror came to be in Lake Erie, Arthur Wells and I discussed that, and agreed that it was a very probable place for her. The last time she had been seen was on Lake Superior. From there to Lake Erie the machine could have come by the roads of Michigan, but since no one had remarked its passage, and as both the police and the people were specially aroused and active in that portion of the country, it seemed more probable that the terror had come by water. There was a clear route through the chain of the Great Lakes and their rivers. By which in her character of a submarine she could easily proceed undiscovered. And now if the terror had already left the creek, or if she escaped when we attempted to seize her, in what direction would she turn? In any case there was little chance of following her. There were two torpedo destroyers at the port of Buffalo at the other extremity of Lake Erie. By treaty between the United States and Canada there are no vessels of war whatever on the Great Lakes. These might, however, have been little launches belonging to the Customs Service. Before I left Washington Mr. Ward had informed me of their presence, and a telegram to their commander's wood, if there were need, start them in pursuit of the terror. But despite their splendid speed how could they vie with her? And if she plunged beneath the waters they would be helpless. Moreover Arthur Wells averred that in case of a battle the advantage would not be with the destroyers despite their large crews and many guns. Hence, if we did not succeed this night the campaign would end in failure. Arthur Wells knew Black Rock Creek thoroughly, having hunted there more than once. It was bordered in most places with sharp rocks against which the waters of the lake beat heavily. This channel was some thirty feet deep so that the terror could take shelter either upon the surface or under water. In two or three places the steep banks gave way to sand beaches which led to little gorges reaching up toward the woods, two or three hundred feet. It was seven in the evening when our carriage reached these woods. There was still daylight enough for us to see easily, even in the shade of the trees. Who have crossed openly to the edge of the creek would have exposed us to the view of the men of the terror, if she were still there, and thus giving her warning to escape. Had we better stop here, I asked Wells as our rig drew up to the edge of the woods. No, Mr. Strock, said he, we had better leave the carriage deeper in the woods, where there will be no chance whatever of our being seen. Can the carriage drive under these trees? It can, declared Wells. I've already explored these woods thoroughly. Five or six hundred feet from here there is a little clearing where we will be completely hidden, and where our horses may find pasture. Then, as soon as it is dark, we will go down to the beach, at the edge of the rocks which shut in the mouth of the creek. Thus if the terror is still there, we shall stand between her and escape. Here as we all were for action, it was evidently best to do as Wells suggested and wait for night. The intervening time could well be occupied, as he said. Leading the horses by the bridle, while they dragged the empty carriage, we proceeded through the heavy woods. The tall pines, the stalwart oaks, the cypress scattered here and there, made the evening darker overhead. Beneath our feet spread a carpet of scattered herbs, pine needles, and dead leaves. Such was the thickness of the upper foliage that the last rays of the setting sun could no longer penetrate here. We had to feel our way, and it was not without some knocks that the carriage reached the clearing ten minutes later. This clearing, surrounded by great trees, formed a sort of oval, covered with rich grass. Here it was still daylight, and the darkness would scarcely deepen for over an hour. There was thus time to arrange an encampment and to rest a while after our hard trip over the rough and rocky roads. Of course we were intensely eager to approach the creek and see if the terror were still there, but Prudence restrained us, a little patience, and the night would enable us to reach a commanding position unsuspected. Wells urged this strongly, and despite my eagerness I felt that he was right. The horses were unharnessed, and left to browse under the care of the coachmen who had driven us. The provisions were unpacked, and John Hart and Nab Walker spread out a meal on the grass at the foot of a superb cypress, which recalled to me the forest odors of Morganton and Pleasant Garden. We were hungry and thirsty, and food and drink were not lacking. Then our pipes were lighted to calm the anxious moments of waiting that remained. The grass reigned within the wood. The last song of the birds had ceased. With the coming of night the breeze fell, little by little, and the leaves scarcely quivered even at the tops of the highest branches. The sky darkened rapidly after sundown, and twilight deepened into obscurity. I looked at my watch. It was half past eight. It is time, Wells. When you will, Mr. Strock. Then let us start. We cautioned the coachmen not to let the horses stray beyond the clearing. Then we started. Wells went in advance. I followed him, and John Hart and Nab Walker came behind. In the darkness we three would have been helpless without the guidance of Wells. Soon we reached the farther border of the woods, and before us stretched the banks of Black Rock Creek. All was silent. All seemed deserted. We could advance without risk. If the terror was there she had cast anchor behind the rocks. But was she there? That was the momentous question. As we approached the denouement of this exciting affair my heart was in my throat. Wells motioned to us to advance. The sand of the shore crunched beneath our steps. The two hundred feet between us and the mouth of the creek were crossed softly, and a few minutes suffice to bring us to the rocks at the edge of the lake. There was nothing. Nothing. The spot where Wells had left the terror twenty-four hours before was empty. The master of the world was no longer at Black Rock Creek. End of chapter. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. THE MASTER OF THE WORLD By Jules Verne. CHAPTER XII Black Rock Creek Human nature is prone to illusions. Of course there had been all along a probability that the terror had deserted the locality, even admitting that it was she Wells had seen the previous day. If some damage to her triple system of locomotion had prevented her from regaining either by land or by water, her usual hiding place, and obliged her to seek refuge in Black Rock Creek, what ought we to conclude now upon finding her here no longer? Obviously that having finished her repairs she had continued on her way and was already far beyond the waters of Lake Erie. But probable as this result had been from the first, we had more and more ignored it as our trip proceeded. We had come to accept as a fact that we should meet the terror, that we should find her anchored at the base of the rocks where Wells had seen her. And now what disappointment! I might even say what despair! All our efforts gone for nothing! Even if the terror was still upon the lake, to find her, reach her, and capture her was beyond our power, and it might as well be fully recognized beyond all human power. We stood there, Wells and I, completely crushed, while John Hart and Nab Walker, no less chagrined, went trapping along the banks of the creek, seeking any trace that had been left behind. Posted there at the mouth of the creek, Wells and I exchanged scarcely a word. What need was there of words to enable us to understand each other? After our eagerness and our despair, we were now exhausted. In our well-planned attempt, we felt as unwilling to abandon our campaign as we were unable to continue it. Nearly an hour slipped by. We could not resolve to leave the place. Our eyes still sought to pierce the night. Sometimes a glimmer, due to the sparkle of the waters, trembled on the surface of the lake. Then it vanished, and with it the foolish hope that it had roused. Sometimes again we thought we saw a shadow outlined against the dark, the silhouette of an approaching boat. Yet again some eddies would swirl up at our feet as if the creek had been stirred within its depths. These vain imaginings were dissipated one after the other. They were but the illusions raised by our strained fancies. At length our companions rejoined us. My first question was, nothing new? Nothing, said John Hart. You have explored both banks of the creek? Yes, responded Nab Walker, as far as the shallow water above, and we have not seen even a vestige of the things which Mr. Wells saw laid on the shore. Let us wait a while, said I, unable to resolve upon a return to the woods. At that moment our attention was caught by a sudden agitation of the waters which swelled upward at the foot of the rocks. It is like the swell from a vessel, said Wells. Yes, said I, instinctively lowering my voice. What has caused it? The wind has completely died out. Does it come from something on the surface of the lake? Or from something underneath, said Wells, bending forward the better to determine. The commotion certainly seemed as if caused by some boat, whether from beneath the water or approaching the creek from outside upon the lake. Silent, motionless, we strained eyes and ears to pierce the profound obscurity. The faint noise of the waves of the lake lapping on the shore beyond the creek came to us distinctly through the night. John Hart and Nab Walker drew a little aside upon a higher ridge of rocks. As for me, I leaned close to the water to watch the agitation. It did not lessen. On the contrary, it became momentarily more evident, and I began to distinguish a sort of regular throbbing, like that produced by a screw in motion. There is no doubt, declared Wells, leaning close to me, there is a boat coming toward us. There certainly is, responded I, unless they have whales or sharks and Lake Erie. No, it is a boat, repeated Wells. Is she headed toward the mouth of the creek, or is she going further up it? This is just where you saw the boat twice before? Yes, just here. Then if this is the same one, and it can be no other, she will probably return to the same spot. There! whispered Wells, extending his hand toward the entrance of the creek. Our companions rejoined us, and all four crouching low upon the bank, peered in the direction he pointed. We vaguely distinguished a black mass moving through the darkness. It advanced very slowly, and was still outside the creek, upon the lake, perhaps a cable's length to the northeast. We could scarcely hear even now the faint throbbing of its engines. Perhaps they had stopped, and the boat was only gliding forward under their previous impulse. It seemed then that this was indeed the submarine which Wells had watched, and it was returning to pass this night, like the last, within the shelter of the creek. Why had it left the anchorage, if only to return? Had it suffered some new disaster, which again impaired its power? Or had it been before compelled to leave, with its repairs still unfinished? What cause constrained it to return here? Was there some imperious reason why it could no longer be turned into an automobile, and go darting away across the roads of Ohio? To all these questions which came crowding upon me I could give no answer. Furthermore, both Wells and I kept reasoning under the assumption that this was really the terror commanded by the Master of the world, who had dated from it his letter of defiance to the government. Yet this premise was still unproven, no matter how confident we might feel of it. Whatever boat this was, that stole so softly through the night, it continued to approach us. Assuredly its captain must know perfectly the channels and shores of Black Rock Creek, since he ventured here in such darkness. Not a light showed upon the deck. Not a single ray from within the cabin glimmered through any crevice. A moment later we heard some machinery moving very softly. The swell of the eddies grew stronger, and in a few moments the boat touched the key. This word, key, only used in that region, exactly describes the spot. The rocks at our feet formed a level, five or six feet above the water, and descending to it perpendicularly, exactly like a landing wharf. We must not stop here, whispered Wells, seizing me by the arm. No, I answered, they might see us. We must lie crouched upon the beach. Or we might hide in some crevice of the rocks. We will follow you. There was not a moment to lose. The dark mass was now close at hand, and on its deck, but slightly raised above the surface of the water, we could trace the silhouettes of two men. Were there, then, really only two on board? We stole softly back to where the ravines rose toward the woods above. Several niches in the rocks were at hand. Wells and I crouched down in one, my two assistants in another. If the men on the terror landed, they could not see us, but we could see them, and would be able to act as opportunity offered. There were some slight noises from the boat. A few words exchanged in our own language. It was evident that the vessel was preparing to anchor. Then almost instantly a rope was thrown out, exactly on the point of the key where we had stood. Leaning forward, Wells could discern that the rope was seized by one of the mariners who had leaped ashore. Then we heard a grappling-iron scrape along the ground. Some moments later, steps crunched upon the sand. Two men came up the ravine and went onward toward the edge of the woods, guiding their steps by a shipland-turn. Where were they going? Was Black Rock Creek a regular hiding-place of the terror? Had her commander a depot here for stores or provisions? Did they come here to restock their craft when the whim of their wild voyaging brought them to this part of the continent? Did they know this deserted uninhabited spot so well that they had no fear of ever being discovered here? What shall we do? whispered Wells. Wait till they return, and then my words were cut short by a surprise. The men were not thirty feet from us when, one of them chancing to turn suddenly, the light of their lantern fell full upon his face. He was one of the two men who had watched before my house in Long Street. I could not be mistaken. I recognized him as positively as my old servant had done. It was he, it was assuredly one of the spies of whom I had never been able to find any further traces. There was no longer any doubt. My warning letter had come from them. It was therefore from the master of the world it had been written from the terror, and this was the terror. Once more I asked myself what could be the connection between this machine and the Great Erie. In whispered words, I told Wells of my discovery. His only comment was, It is all incomprehensible. Meanwhile, the two men had continued on their way to the woods and were gathering sticks beneath the trees. What if they discover our encampment, murmured Wells? No danger if they do not go beyond the nearest trees. But if they do discover it, they will hurry back to their boat and we shall be able to cut off their retreat. Toward the creek where their craft lay, there was no further sound. I left my hiding-place. I descended the ravine to the key. I stood on the very spot where the grappling-iron was fast among the rocks. The terror lay there, quiet at the end of its cable. Not a light was on board. Not a person visible, either on the deck or on the bank. Was not this my opportunity? Should I leap on board and there await the return of the two men? Mr. Strock, it was Wells who called me softly from close at hand. I drew back in all haste and crouched down beside him. Was it too late to take possession of the boat, or would the attempt perhaps result in disaster from the presence of others watching on board? At any rate the two men with the lantern were close at hand returning down the ravine. Suddenly they suspected nothing. Each carrying a bundle of wood they came forward and stopped upon the key. Then one of them raised his voice, though not loudly, "'Hello, Captain!' "'All right,' answered a voice from the boat. Wells murmured in my ear, "'There are three!' "'Perhaps four,' I answered, "'perhaps five or six.'" The situation grew more complicated. It's to crew so numerous what ought we to do. The least imprudence might cost us dear. Now that the two men had returned would they re-embark with their faggots? Then would the boat leave the creek, or would it remain anchored until day? If it withdrew, would it not be lost to us? It could leave the waters of Lake Erie and cross any of the neighboring states by land, or it could retrace its road by the Detroit River which would lead it to Lake Huron and the Great Lakes above. Would such an opportunity as this in the narrow waters of Black Rock Creek ever occur again? "'At least,' said I to Wells, "'we are four. They do not expect a tact. They will be surprised. The result is in the hands of Providence.' I was about to call our two men when Wells again seized my arm. "'Listen,' said he. One of the men hailed the boat, and it drew close up to the rocks. We heard the captain say to the two men ashore, "'Everything is all right, up there.' "'Everything, Captain. There are still two bundles of wood left there. Two. Then one more trip will bring them all on board the terror.' "'The terror? It was she.' "'Yes, just one more trip,' answered one of the men. "'Good. Then we will start off again at daybreak.' "'Were there then but three of them on board? The captain, this master of the world, and these two men?' "'Evidently they planned to take aboard the last of their wood. Then they would withdraw within their machine and go to sleep. Would not that be the time to surprise them before they could defend themselves? Rather than to attempt to reach and capture the ship in face of this resolute captain who was guarding it, Wells and I agreed that it was better to let his men returned unassailed and wait till they were all asleep. It was now half an hour after ten. Steps were once more heard upon the shore. The man with a lantern and his companion again remounted the ravine toward the woods. When they were safely beyond hearing, Wells went to warn our men while I stole forward again to the very edge of the water. The terror lay at the end of a short cable. As well as I could judge she was long and slim, shaped like a spindle, without chimney, without masts, without rigging, such a shape as had been described when she was seen on the coast of New England. I returned to my place, with my men in the shelter of the ravine, and we looked to our revolvers, which might well prove of service. Five minutes had passed since the men reached the woods, and we expected their return at any moment. After that we must wait at least an hour before we made our attack, so that both the captain and his comrades might be deep in sleep. It was important that they should not have a moment either to send their craft darting out upon the waters of Lake Erie, or to plunge it beneath the waves where we would have been entrapped with it. In all my career I have never felt such impatience. It seemed to me that the two men must have been detained in the woods. Something had barred their return. Suddenly a loud noise was heard. The two mulled of runaway horses galloping furiously along the shore. They were our own, which, frightened, and perhaps neglected by the driver, had broken away from the clearing and now came rushing along the bank. At the same moment the two men reappeared, and this time they were running with all speed. Doubtless they had discovered our encampment, and had at once suspected that there were police hidden in the woods. They realized that they were watched, they were followed, they would be seized, so they dashed recklessly down the ravine, and after loosening the cable they would doubtless endeavor to leap aboard. The terror would disappear with the speed of a meteor, and our attempt would be wholly defeated. Forward, I cried, and we scrambled down the sides of the ravine to cut off the retreat of the two men. They saw us, and on the instant, throwing down their bundles, fired at us with revolvers, hitting John Hart in the leg. We fired in our turn, but less successfully. The men neither fell nor faltered in their course, reaching the edge of the creek, without stopping to unloose the cable, they plunged overboard, and in a moment were clinging to the deck of the terror. Their captain, springing forward, revolver in hand, fired. The ball grazed wells. Nab Walker and I, seizing the cable, pulled the black mass of the boat toward shore. Could they cut the rope in time to escape us? Suddenly the grappling iron was torn violently from the rocks, one of its hooks caught in my belt, while Walker was knocked down by the flying cable. I was entangled by the iron and the rope and dragged forward. The terror, driven by all the power of her engines, made a single bound and darted out across Black Rock Creek. CHAPTER XIII. When I came to my senses it was daylight. A half light pierced the thick glass porthole of the narrow cabin wherein someone had placed me, how many hours ago I could not say, yet it seemed to me by the slanting rays that the sun could not be very far above the horizon. I was resting in a narrow bunk with coverings over me. My clothes hanging in a corner had been dried. My belt, torn in half by the hook of the iron, lay on the floor. I felt no wound nor injury, only a little weakness. If I had lost consciousness I was sure it had not been from a blow. My head must have been drawn beneath the water when I was tangled in the cable. I should have been suffocated if someone had not dragged me from the lake. Now was I on board the terror? And was I alone with the captain and his two men? This seemed probable, almost certain. The whole scene of our encounter rose before my eyes, heart lying wounded upon the bank, wells firing shot after shot, walker hurled down at the instant when the grappling hook caught my belt, and my companions, on their side, must not they think that I had perished in the waters of Lake Erie? Where was the terror now, and how was it navigating? Was it moving as an automobile, speeding across the roads of some neighboring state? If so, and if I had been unconscious for many hours, the machine with its tremendous powers must be already far away. Or on the other hand, were we as a submarine following some course beneath the lake? No, the terror was moving upon some broad liquid surface. The sunlight penetrating my cabin showed that the window was not submerged. On the other hand, I felt none of the jolting that the automobile must have suffered even on the smoothest highway. Hence the terror was not traveling upon land. As to deciding whether she was still traversing Lake Erie, that was another matter. Had not the captain re-ascended the Detroit River and entered Lake Huron, or even Lake Superior, beyond, it was difficult to say. At any rate I decided to go up on deck. From there I might be able to judge. Dragging myself somewhat heavily from the bunk, I reached for my clothes and dressed, though without much energy. Was I not probably locked within this cabin? The only exit seemed by a ladder and hatchway above my head. The hatch rose readily to my hand, and I ascended half way on deck. My first care was to look forward, backward, and on both sides of the speeding terror, everywhere a vast expanse of waves, not a sure insight, nothing but the horizon formed by sea and sky. Whether it was a lake or the ocean I could easily settle, as we shot forward at such speed the water cut by the bow rose furiously upward on either side, and the spray lashed savagely against me. I tasted it. It was fresh water, and very probably that of Lake Erie. The sun was but midway toward the zenith, so it could scarcely be more than seven or eight hours since the moment when the terror had darted from Black Rock Creek. This must therefore be the following morning, that of the 31st of July. Considering that Lake Erie is two hundred and twenty miles long and over fifty wide, there was no reason to be surprised that I could see no land, neither that of the United States, to the southeast, nor of Canada, to the northwest. At this moment there were two men on the deck, one being at the bow on the lookout, the other in the stern keeping the course to the northeast, as I judged by the position of the sun. The one at the bow was the one whom I had recognized as he ascended the ravine at Black Rock. The second was his companion who had carried the lantern. I looked in vain for the one whom they had called Captain. He was not in sight. It will be readily appreciated how eager was my desire to stand in the presence of the creator of this prodigious machine, of this fantastic personage who occupied and preoccupied the attention of all the world, the daring inventor who did not fear to engage in battle against the entire human race, and who proclaimed himself Master of the World. I approached the man on the lookout, and after a minute of silence I asked him, Where is the Captain? He looked at me through half-closed eyes. He seemed not to understand me. Yet I knew, having heard him the night before, that he spoke English. Moreover I noticed that he did not appear surprised to see me out of my cabin. Turning his back upon me he continued to search their horizon. I stepped then toward the stern determined to ask the same question about the Captain, but when I approached the Steersman he waved me away with his hand, and I obtained no other response. It only remained for me to study this craft from which we had been repelled with revolver shots when we had seized upon its anchor-rope. I therefore set leisurely to work to examine the construction of this machine which was carrying me wither. The deck and the upper works were all made of some metal which I did not recognize. In the center of the deck, a scuttle half-raised covered the room where the engines were working regularly and almost silently. As I had seen before, neither mass nor rigging, not even a flag-staff at the stern, toward the bow there arose the top of a periscope by which the terror could be guided when beneath the water. On the sides were folded back two sort of outshoots resembling the gangways on certain Dutch boats, of these I could not understand the use. In the bow there rose a third hatchway which presumably covered the quarters occupied by the two men when the terror was at rest. At the stern a similar hatch gave access probably to the cabin of the Captain who remained unseen. When these different hatches were shut down they had a sort of rubber covering which closed them hermetically tight, so that the water could not reach the interior when the boat plunged beneath the ocean. As to the motor which imparted such prodigious speed to the machine, I could see nothing of it, nor of the propeller. However the fast-speeding boat left behind it only a long, smooth wake. The extreme fineness of the lines of the craft caused it to make scarcely any waves, and enable it to ride lightly over the crest of the billows even in a rough sea. As was already known, the power by which the machine was driven was neither steamed nor gasoline, nor any of those similar liquids so well known by their odor which are usually employed for automobiles and submarines. No doubt the power here used was electricity, generated on board at some high power. Naturally I asked myself whence comes this electricity, from piles or from accumulators. But how were these piles or accumulators charged? Unless indeed the electricity was drawn directly from the surrounding air or from the water by processes hitherto unknown. And I asked myself with intense eagerness if in the present situation I might be able to discover these secrets. Then I thought of my companions left behind on the shore of Black Rock Creek. One of them I knew was wounded. Perhaps the others were also. Having seen me dragged overboard by the hauser, could they possibly suppose that I had been rescued by the terror? Surely not. Doubtless the news of my death had already been telegraphed to Mr. Ward from Toledo. And now who would dare to undertake a new campaign against this master of the world? These thoughts occupied my mind as I awaited the captain's appearance on the deck. He did not appear. I soon began to feel very hungry, for I must have fasted now nearly twenty-four hours. I had eaten nothing since our hasty meal in the woods, even if that had been the night before. And judging by the pangs which now assailed my stomach, I began to wonder if I had not been snatched on board the terror two days before or even more. Surely the question if they meant to feed me and how they meant to feed me was solved at once. The man at the bow left his post, descended and reappeared. Then without saying a word he placed some food before me and returned to his place. Some potted meat, dried fish, sea biscuit, and a pot of ale so strong that I had to mix it with water, such was the meal to which I did full justice. My fellow travellers had doubtless eaten before I came out of the cabin, and they did not join me. There was nothing further to attract my eyes, and I sank again into thought. How would this adventure finish? Would I see this invisible captain at length, and would he restore me to liberty? Could I regain it in spite of him? That would depend on circumstances. But if the terror kept thus far away from the shore, or if she travelled beneath the water, how could I escape from her? Unless we landed, and the machine became an automobile, must I not abandon all hope of escape? Moreover, why should I not admit it? To escape without having learned anything of the terror's secrets would not have contented me at all. Although I could not thus far flatter myself upon the success of my campaign, and though I had come within a hair-breath of losing my life, and though the future promised far more of evil than of good, yet after all a step forward had been attained. To be sure, if I was never to be able to re-enter into communication with the world, if, like this master of the world who had voluntarily placed himself outside the law, I was now placed outside humanity, then the fact that I had reached the terror would have little value. The craft continued headed to the northeast, following the longer axis of Lake Erie. She was advancing at only half-speed, for, had she been doing her best, she must some hours before have reached the northeastern extremity of the lake. At this end Lake Erie has no other outlet than the Niagara River, by which it empties into Lake Ontario. Now this river is barred by the famous cataract some fifteen miles beyond the important city of Buffalo. Since the terror had not retreated by the Detroit River, down which she had descended from the upper lakes, how was she to escape from these waters, unless indeed she crossed by land? The sun passed the Meridian. The day was beautiful, warm, but not unpleasantly so, thanks to the breeze made by our passage. The shores of the lake continued invisible on both the Canadian and the American side. Was the captain determined not to show himself? Had he some reason for remaining unknown? Such a precaution would indicate that he intended to set me at liberty in the evening when the terror could approach the shore unseen. Toward two o'clock, however, I heard a slight noise. The central hatchway was raised. The man I had so impatiently awaited appeared on deck. I must admit he paid no more attention to me than his men had done. Going to the stern he took the helm, the man whom he had relieved after a few words in a low tone left the deck descending by the forward hatchway. The captain, having scanned the horizon, consulted the compass and slightly altered our course. The speed of the terror increased. This man, so interesting both to me and to the world, must have been some years over fifty. He was of middle height, with powerful shoulders still very erect, a strong head, with thick hair rather gray than white, smooth shaven cheeks, and a short crisp beard. His chest was broad, his jaw prominent, and he had that characteristic sign of tremendous energy, bushy eyebrows drawn sharply together. Finally he possessed a constitution of iron, splendid health, and warm red blood beneath his sunburned skin. Like his companions the captain was dressed in sea-clothes covered by an oil-skin coat, and with a woollen cap which could be pulled down to cover his head entirely when he so desired. Need I add that the captain of the terror was the other of the two men, who had watched my house in Longstreet? Moreover, if I recognized him, he also must recognize me, as chief inspector struck, to whom had been assigned the task of penetrating the great eerie. I looked at him curiously. On his part, while he did not seek to avoid my eyes, he showed at least a singular indifference to the fact that he had a stranger on board. As I watched him the idea came to me, a suggestion which I had not connected with the first view of him in Washington, that I had already seen this characteristic figure. Was it in one of the photographs held in the police department, or was it merely a picture in some shop window? But the remembrance was very vague. Perhaps I merely imagined it. Well, though his companion said not had the politeness to answer me, perhaps he would be more courteous. He spoke the same language as I, although I could not feel quite positive that he was of American birth. He might indeed have decided to pretend not to understand me, so as to avoid all discussion while he held me prisoner. In that case, what did he mean to do with me? Did he intend to dispose of me without further ceremony? Was he only waiting for night to throw me overboard? Did even the little which I knew of him make me a danger of which he must rid himself? But in that case he might better have left me at the end of his anchor-line. That would have saved him the necessity of drowning me over again. I turned. I walked to the stern. I stopped full in front of him. Then at length he fixed full upon me a glance that burned like a flame. Are you the captain? I asked. He was silent. This boat, is it really the terror? To this question also there was no response. Then I reached toward him. I would have taken hold of his arm. He repelled me without violence but with a movement that suggested tremendous restrained power. Planning myself again before him I demanded in a louder tone, What do you mean to do with me? Words seemed almost ready to burst from his lips, which he compressed with visible irritation. As though to check his speech he turned his head aside. His hand touched a regulator of some sort, and the machine rapidly increased its speed. Anger almost mastered me. I wanted to cry out, So be it, keep your silence. I know who you are, just as I know your machine, recognized at Madison, at Boston, at Lake Curtall. Yes, it is you, who have rushed so recklessly over our roads, our seas, and our lakes. Your boat is the terror, and you, her commander, wrote that letter to the government. It is you who fancy you can fight the entire world, you who call yourself the master of the world. And how could he have denied it? I saw at that moment the famous initials inscribed upon the helm. Fortunately, I restrained myself, and despairing of getting any response to my questions, I returned to my seat near the hatchway of my cabin. For long hours I patiently watched the horizon and the hope that land would soon appear. Yes, I sat waiting. For I was reduced to that, waiting. No doubt, before the day close, the terror must reach the end of Lake Erie, since she continued her course steadily to the northeast. End of chapter This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. THE MASTER OF THE WORLD by Jules Verne Chapter XIV Niagara The hours passed, and the situation did not change. The steersmen returned on deck, and the captain, descending, watched the movement of the engines. Even when our speed increased, these engines continued working without noise, and with remarkable smoothness. There was never one of those inevitable breaks with which in most motors the pistons sometimes miss a stroke. I concluded that the terror, in each of its transformations, must be worked by rotary engines, but I could not assure myself of this. For the rest our direction did not change. Always we headed toward the northeast end of the lake, and hence toward Buffalo. Why, I wondered, did the captain persist in following this route? He could not intend to stop at Buffalo, in the midst of a crowd of boats and shipping of every kind. If he meant to leave the lake by water there was only the Niagara River to follow, and its falls would be impassable, even to such a machine as this. The only escape was by the Detroit River, and the terror was constantly leaving that farther behind. Then another idea occurred to me. Perhaps the captain was only waiting for night to return to the shore of the lake. There the boat, changed to an automobile, would quickly cross the neighboring states. If I did not succeed in making my escape during this passage across the land, all hope of regaining my liberty would be gone. True, I might learn where this master of the world hit himself. I might learn what no one had yet been able to discover, assuming always that he did not dispose of me at one time or another, and what I expected his disposal would be, is easily comprehended. I knew the northeast end of Lake Erie well, having often visited that section of New York State which extends westward from Albany to Buffalo. Three years before a police mission had led me to explore carefully the shores of the Niagara River, both above and below the cataract and its suspension bridge. I had visited the two principal islands between Buffalo and the little city of Niagara Falls. I had explored Navy Island and also Goat Island, which separates the American Falls from those of the Canadian side. Thus if an opportunity for flight presented itself, I should not find myself in an unknown district. But would this chance offer? And at heart did I desire it? Or would I seize upon it? What secret still remained in this affair, in which good fortune, or was it evil fortune, had so closely entangled me? On the other hand, I saw no real reason to suppose that there was any chance of my reaching the shores of the Niagara River. The terror would surely not venture into this trap which had no exit. Probably she would not even go to the extremity of the lake. Such were the thoughts that spun through my excited brain, while my eyes remained fixed upon the empty horizon. And always one persistent question remained insolvable. Why had the captain written to me, personally, that threatening letter? Why had he spied upon me in Washington? What bond attached him to the Great Erie? There might indeed be subterranean canals which gave him passage to Lake Kerdall, but could he pierce the impenetrable fortress of the Erie? No. That was beyond him. Toward four o'clock in the afternoon, reckoning by the speed of the terror and her direction, I knew we must be approaching Buffalo. And indeed its outlines began to show some fifteen miles ahead. During our passage a few boats had been seen, but we had passed them at a long distance, a distance which our captain could easily keep as great as he pleased. Moreover the terror lay so low upon the water that it even a mile away it would have been difficult to discover her. Now however the hills encircling the end of Lake Erie came with envision beyond Buffalo, forming the sort of funnel by which Lake Erie pours its waters into the channel of the Niagara River. Some dunes rose on the right. Shadows of trees stood out here and there. In the distance several freight steamers and fishing smacks appeared. The sky became spotted with trails of smoke which were swept along by a light eastern breeze. What was our captain thinking of in still heading toward the port of Buffalo? Did not prudence forbid him to venture further? At each moment I expected that he would give a sweep of the helm and turn away toward the western shore of the lake. Or else I thought he would prepare to plunge beneath the surface. But this persistence and holding our bow toward Buffalo was impossible to understand. At length the helmsman, whose eyes were watching the northeastern shore, made a sign to his companion. The latter, leaving the bow, went to the central hatchway and descended into the engine room. Almost immediately the captain came on deck and joining the helmsman spoke with him in a low voice. The latter, extending his hand toward Buffalo, pointed out two black spots which showed five or six miles distant on the starboard side. The captain studied them attentively. Then shrugging his shoulders he seated himself at the stern without altering the course of the terror. A quarter of an hour later I could see plainly that there were two smoke clouds at the point they had studied so carefully. Little by little the black spots beneath these became more defined. They were two long, low steamers, which, coming from the port of Buffalo, were approaching rapidly. Suddenly it struck me that these were the two torpedo destroyers of which Mr. Ward had spoken, and which I had been told to summon in case of need. These destroyers were of the newest type, the swiftest boats yet constructed in the country. Driven by powerful engines of the latest make they had covered almost thirty miles an hour. It is true the terror commanded an even greater speed, and always if she were surrounded so that flight was impossible she could submerge herself out of reach of all pursuit. In truth the destroyers would have had to be submarines to attack the terror with any chance of success, and I know not if even in that case the contests would have been equal. Meanwhile, it seemed to me evident that the commanders of the two ships had been warned, perhaps by Mr. Wells, who, returning swiftly to Toledo, might have telegraphed to them the news of our defeat. It appeared moreover that they had seen the terror, for they were headed at full speed toward her. Yet our captain, seemingly giving them no thought whatever, continued his course toward the Niagara River. What would the torpedo destroyers do? Presumably they would maneuver so as to seek to shut the terror within the narrowing end of the lake where the Niagara offered her no passage. Our captain now took the helm. One of the men was at the bow, the other in the engine room. Would the order be given for me to go down into the cabin? It was not, to my extreme satisfaction. To speak frankly no one paid any attention to me. It was as if I had not been on board. I watched, therefore, not without mixed emotions, the approach of the destroyers. Less than two miles distant now they separated in such a way as to hold the terror between their fires. As to the master of the world, his manner indicated only the most profound disdain. He seemed sure that these destroyers were powerless against him. With a touch to his machinery he could distance them, no matter what their speed. With a few turns of her engine the terror would dart beyond their cannon-shots, or in the depths of the lake what projectiles could find the submarine. Five minutes later Scarcely a mile separated us from the two powerful fighters which pursued us. Our captain permitted them to approach still closer. Then he pressed upon a handle. The terror, doubling the action of her propellers, leaped across the surface of the lake. She played with the destroyers. Instead of turning in flight she continued her forward course. Who knew if she would not even have the audacity to pass between her two enemies, to coax them after her, until the hour when as night closed in they would be forced to abandon the useless pursuit. The city of Buffalo was now in plain view on the border of the lake. I saw its huge buildings, its church towers, its grain elevators. Only four or five miles ahead Niagara River opened to the northward. Under these new conditions which way should I turn? When we passed in front of the destroyers, or perhaps between should I not throw myself into the waters? I was a good swimmer and such a chance might never occur again. The captain could not stop to recapture me. By diving could I not easily escape, even from a bullet? I should surely be seen by one or other of the pursuers. Perhaps even their commanders had been warned of my presence on board the terror. Would not a boat be sent to rescue me? Only my chance of success would be even greater if the terror entered the narrow waters of Niagara River. At Navy Island I would be able to set foot on territory that I knew well. But to suppose that our captain would rush into this river where he might be swept over the great cataract, that seemed impossible. I resolved to await the destroyer's closest approach, and at the last moment I would decide. But my resolution to escape was but half-hearted. I could not resign myself thus to lose all chance of following up this mystery. My instincts as a police official revolted. I had but to reach out my hand in order to seize this man who had been outlawed. Should I let him escape me? No. I would not save myself. Yet on the other hand, what fate awaited me, and where would I be carried by the terror if I remained on board? It was a quarter-past six. The destroyer's quivering and trembling under the strain of their speed gained on us perceptibly. They were now directly a stern, leaving between them a distance of twelve or fifteen cable lengths. The terror, without increasing her speed, saw one of them approach on the port side, the other to starboard. I did not leave my place. The man at the bow was close by me, immovable at the helm, his eyes burning beneath his contracted brows. The captain waited. He meant perhaps to finish the chase by one last maneuver. Suddenly a puff of smoke rose from the destroyer on our left, a projectile brushing the surface of the water, passed in front of the terror, and sped beyond the destroyer on our right. I glanced around anxiously. Looking by my side, the lookout seemed to await a sign from the captain. As for him, he did not even turn his head, and I shall never forget the expression of disdain imprinted on his visage. At this moment I was pushed suddenly toward the hatchway of my cabin, which was fastened above me. At the same instant the other hatchways were closed, the deck became watertight. I heard a single throb of the machinery, and the plunge was made, the submarine disappeared beneath the waters of the lake. Cannon shot, still boomed above us. Their heavy echo reached my ear, then everything was peace, only a faint light penetrated through the porthole into my cabin. The submarine, without the least rolling or pitching, sped silently through the deeps. I had seen with what rapidity and also with what ease the transformation of the terror had been made. No less easy and rapid, perhaps, would be her change to an automobile. And now what would this master of the world do? Presumably he would change his course, unless indeed he preferred to speed to land and there continue his route along the roads. It still seemed more probable, however, that he would turn back toward the west, and after distancing the destroyers regained the Detroit River. Our submersion would probably only last long enough to escape out of cannon range, or until night forbade pursuit. Fate, however, had decreed a different ending to this exciting chase. Scarce ten minutes had passed when there seemed some confusion on board. I heard rapid words exchanged in the engine room. The steadily moving machinery became noisy and irregular. At once I suspected that some accident compelled the submarine to re-ascend. I was not mistaken. In a moment the semi-obscurity of my cabin was pierced by sunshine. The terror had risen above water. I heard steps on the deck, and the hatchways were reopened, including mine. I sprang up the ladder. The captain had resumed his place at the helm, while the two men were busy below. I looked to see if the destroyers were still in view. Yes, only a quarter of a mile away. The terror had already been seen, and the powerful vessels which enforced the mandates of our government were swinging into position to give chase. Once more the terror sped in the direction of Niagara River. I must confess I could make nothing of this maneuver. Plunching into a cul-de-sac, no longer able to seek the depths because of the accident, the terror might indeed temporarily distance her pursuers, but she must find her path barred by them when she attempted to return. Did she intend to land, and if so, could she hope to outrun the telegrams which would warn every police agency of her approach? We were now not half a mile ahead. The destroyers pursued us at top speed, though being now directly behind, they were in poor position for using their guns. Our captains seemed content to keep this distance, though it would have been easy for him to increase it, and then at nightfall to dodge back behind the enemy. Already Buffalo had disappeared on our right, and a little after seven o'clock the opening of the Niagara River appeared ahead. If he entered there, knowing that he could not return, our captain must have lost his mind. And in truth was he not insane this man who proclaimed himself, who believed himself master of the world? I watched him there, calm, impassive, not even turning his head to note the progress of the destroyers, and I wondered at him. This end of the lake was absolutely deserted. Freight steamers bound for the towns and the banks of the upper Niagara were not numerous, as its navigation is dangerous. That one was in sight. Not even a fishing boat crossed the path of the terror. Even the two destroyers would soon be obliged to pause in their pursuit if we continued our mad rush through these dangerous waters. I have said that the Niagara River flows between New York and Canada. Its width of about three-quarters of a mile narrows as it approaches the falls. Its length, from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, is about fifteen leagues. It flows in a northerly direction, until it empties the waters of Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie into Ontario, the last lake of this mighty chain. The celebrated falls, which occur in the midst of this great river, have a height of over a hundred and fifty feet. Niagara called sometimes the Horseshoe Falls because they curve inward like the Iron Shoe. The Indians have given them the name of Thunder of Waters, and in truth a mighty thunder roars from them without cessation, and with a tumult which is heard for several miles away. Between Lake Erie and the little city of Niagara Falls, two islands divide the current of the river—Navy Island, a league above the cataract—and Goat Island, which separates the American and the Canadian falls. Indeed, on the lower point of this latter isle stood once that Terrapin Tower, so daringly built in the midst of the plunging waters on the very edge of the abyss. It has been destroyed, for the constant wearing away of the stone beneath the cataract makes the ledge move with the ages slowly up the river, and the tower has been drawn into the gulf. The town of Fort Erie stands on the Canadian shore at the entrance of the river. Two other towns are set along the banks above the falls, Schlosser on the right bank, and Chippewa on the left, located on either side of Navy Island. It is at this point that the current, bound within a narrower channel, begins to move at tremendous speed to become two miles further on the celebrated cataract. The terror had already passed Fort Erie. The sun in the west touched the edge of the Canadian horizon, and the moon faintly seen, rose above the mists of the south. Darkness would not envelop us for another hour. The destroyers, with huge clouds of smoke streaming from their funnels, followed us a mile behind. They sped between banks green with shade trees and dotted with cottages which lay among lovely gardens. Obviously the terror could no longer turn back. The destroyers shut her in completely. It is true their commanders did not know, as I did, that an accident to her machinery had forced her to the surface, and that it was impossible for her to escape them by another plunge. Nevertheless, they continued to follow and would assuredly maintain their pursuit to the very last. I marveled at the intrepidity of their chase through these dangerous waters. I marveled still more at the conduct of our captain. Within a half hour now his course would be barred by the cataract. No matter how perfect his machine, it could not escape the power of the great falls. If the current once mastered our engines, we should inevitably disappear in the gulf nearly two hundred feet deep, which the waters have dug at the base of the falls. Perhaps, however, our captain had still power to turn to one of the shores and flee by the automobile routes. In the midst of this excitement, what action should I take personally? Should I attempt to gain the shores of Navy Island? If we indeed advance that far? If I did not seize this chance after what I had learned of his secrets, never would the master of the world restore me to liberty. I suspected, however, that my flight was no longer possible. If I was not confined within my cabin, I no longer remained unwatched. While the captain retained his place at the helm, his assistant by my side never removed his eyes from me. At the first movement I should be seized and locked within my room. For the present my fate was evidently bound up with that of the terror. The distance which separated us from the two destroyers was now growing rapidly less. Soon they were, but a few cable lengths away. Could the motor of the terror, since the accident, no longer hold its speeds? Yet the captain showed not the least anxiety and made no effort to reach land. We could hear the hissing of the steam which escaped from the valves of the destroyers, to mingle with the streamers of black smoke. But we heard even more plainly the roar of the cataract, now less than three miles away. The terror took the left branch of the river in passing Navy Island. At this point she was within easy reach of the shore, yet she shot ahead. Five minutes later we could see the first trees of Goat Island. The current became more and more irresistible. If the terror did not stop the destroyers could not much longer follow her. If it pleased our accursed captain to plunge us into the vortex of the falls, surely they did not mean to follow into the abyss. Indeed at this moment they signaled each other and stopped the pursuit. They were scarce more than six hundred feet from the cataract. Then their thunders burst on the air and several cannon shots swept over the terror without hitting its low-lying deck. The sun had set, and through the twilight the moon's rays shone upon us from the south. The speed of our craft, doubled by the speed of the current, was prodigious. In another moment we should plunge into that black hollow which forms the very centre of the Canadian falls. With an eye of horror I saw the shores of Goat Island flashed by, and came the aisles of the three sisters, drowned in the spray from the abyss. I sprang up. I started to throw myself into the water in the desperate hope of gaining this last refuge. One of the men seized me from behind. Suddenly a sharp noise was heard from the mechanism which throbbed within our craft. The long gangways folded back on the sides of the machine, spread out like wings, and at the moment when the terror reached the very edge of the falls.