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Page 50
A moment later he dropped into an animated, almost rhapsodical, running
comment on some of the scenic beauties surrounding Hili-li.
"Imagine," he said, "what the scenic effects must have been, everywhere
within the illumination of that great lake of fire, covering an area of
nearly two hundred square miles--that great lake of white, boiling,
earthy matter, brilliantly lighting the long antarctic night. Think of
those mountains, with the Olympian offshoot six miles in height; and of
the peak called Mount Olympus, looming up ten thousand feet above even
that great mountain-range. Try to picture the valleys, the chasms, the
overhanging cliffs, the many smaller active craters, like mammoth
watch-fires lighted on the mountain-tops in all directions; and the
masses of glistening salt, thrown by upheavals of the earth high upon
the mountain-side. Cannot you almost behold the scene? May we not, with
the brush of fancy, paint for our mental vision many a strange, weird
picture? Here we see, high on the mountain-front, a mass of crystal
salt--many millions of tons--thrown, by a mere fillip of terrestrial
power, thirty thousand feet above the ocean level, to rest and sparkle
like a gem on the bosom of that old mountain-god, Olympus. Then, still
higher, on the very summit--for even here, in the glare of this great
crater, where evaporation rains upward from the sea, all vapor is
quickly condensed and frozen on the higher peaks--we see, like the
tresses of the aged, the pearly snow and ice overhanging the Olympian
brow. Aye, may we not even--"
Well, dear reader, I expect to be censured. As Bainbridge drew toward
what I suppose would, under any circumstances, have been his close, I
was sitting with my face toward Arthur, and the actions of that
unpolished gem told me that the catastrophe was at hand. Those who say
that "the expected never happens" misinform us; for the expected very
frequently does happen. The wretched boy did not--would not--look at me,
and I could not, of course, interrupt the flow of eloquence that poured
from the lips of Bainbridge. What could I have done? Even at this late
day, I cannot see what I could have done, though I did know the nature
of what was coming. It was the words "snow and ice" that added the last
straw which broke the camel's back, and let fall the load of annoyance;
and as Bainbridge uttered the words, "Aye, may we not even----," Arthur,
that miserable factotum, whom I had so rashly trusted, shot from his
chair into the air; and, with arms waving, and eyes glistening with
excitement, he fairly yelled:
"Great geewhilikin! Think of that ice, and that salt, and that climate!
Now if a fellow only had a drove of Giganticus cows, with old Olympus
for 'em to run over free, where would the other ice-cream fellows be?
Free ice, free salt, free cream, free fodder, and no end of 'em all,
too! Why, in that hot hole a man 'ud be a ice-cream king in no time.
Well, now! doesn't that make your windows bulge? You're a shoutin', Doc.
Please don't speak again in the same language till I rest my mind, if
you love me!"
I could not stop him. Frowning had no effect, and toward the end of his
outburst I even protested in words. But it was no use. He spoke quickly,
and he spoke very loudly, and not a word was lost on Bainbridge.
Bainbridge had a fine sense of humor; but like many other humorists, he
did not relish jocosities of which he was the subject. Any levity in any
manner connected with Hili-li, I knew would be to him unendurable. He
had from the beginning taken the Peters disclosures, and even the old
sailor himself, very seriously. Little happenings during our stay at the
old sailor's home, which had brought a smile to my own face, had never
for a moment altered the countenance of Bainbridge from the stern
seriousness becoming that of one who is gathering facts of the most
solemn import. I am positive that he would have taken with a poor grace
the slightest levity from even myself on the subject of Hili-li. But
from the bell-boy of a hotel! Olympus to become a pasture field for
mastodon cows! Its ice and its saline wonders to be employed in the
making of ice-cream!
Well, I just sat, and said nothing, and blamed myself. The thing was
done, as it is said, and could not be undone. Doctor Bainbridge looked
at me, with an injured but resigned expression, which seemed to say.
"Well, you see you've done it; you _would_ allow the creature to drink
in the nectar of refined literary production, and one of the natural
results has followed." He took up his hat, and more in grief than in
anger, he made his adieux, and quietly walked out of the doorway,
through the hallway, down the stairs, and out of the house. And a moment
later I said:
"Now, young man, you probably see what you have done! We may, or we may
not hear more of Lilama, of Pym, of Ahpilus, and the others. I am
anxious to know what became of the poor fellow, Ahpilus; and I intend to
find out, if I have to go to Peters for the information." Then, as I saw
the boy was really repentant; and when I began to consider the fact that
he could not comprehend why Bainbridge should be offended, when no
offence had been intended, I mentally threw all the blame upon myself,
and added:
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