Chapter 40 Chapter 40 Obstacles

I had been surprised so many times since our trip that I now thought I shouldn't be surprised anymore.But this time, when I saw the two letters engraved there three hundred years ago, I was so surprised that I was almost in a daze.Not only is the signature of this learned alchemist clearly engraved on the rock, but I still have the pen that I used to sign this name in my hand.Unless my paranoia was beyond reason, I could no longer doubt the existence of this traveler and the authenticity of his expedition. While these thoughts were running through my mind, Professor Liedenbroek was indulging in his admiration for Arne Sacronusan.

"Great genius!" he shouted, "you have opened up several paths through the earth's crust for others without negligence, and your comrades can still find your footprints after these three hundred years! You are engraved everywhere! Your name can make travelers brave enough to follow you, right in the center of our earth, we can still see your hand-carved words! Well, I will also carve my name on this granite page Above. But in any case, this cape you have encountered in the sea you discovered will always be known to posterity as Cape Saconusan!" This was all I heard, or something like it, and I felt that his zeal made me the more ardent, and I forgot the dangers of the present journey and return.What others have done, I will do too. "Go on, go on!" I yelled.

When I was already running towards the dark tunnel, the professor stopped me; he, who is usually impulsive, maintained patience and calm this time, and said: "Let's go back to Hanns first, and bring the raft here. Come." I did not hesitate to obey his wishes, and soon ran among the rocks on the shore. "You know, Uncle," I said as we left, "we've been blessed!" "Oh, you think so, Aksai?" "Yes, even the storm showed us the right way. Thank you God! God brought us back here, and if the weather is clear, we must still be behind. If our boat (referring to the raft) has ever touched Leden What will become of us on the south shore of the Brock Sea? Then we will never see the name of Saknushan, and now we must be wandering desperately on the shore, unable to find an exit!"

"Yes, Aksai, we were sailing south, but the fact that we turned around and headed north to Cape Saconusan was fate. But in my opinion, this is no longer a surprise or a surprise. problem—I can't explain it." "Well, that's all right. It's more important to make use of the facts; not to explain them." "No doubt, my boy, but—" "But now we're going north, and I dare say we're going under Sweden, Russia, Siberia! That's better than the deserts of Africa or the waves of the ocean!" "Yes, anywhere is better than sailing on this flat sea that has taken us somewhere. Now we're going down, down, down! You know we're no more than four thousand miles away from the center of the earth now." How many miles?"

"What's that?" I cried. "It's not worth talking about! Come on! Come on!" This frenzied session continued, and by this time we were already with the guide again.Everything was arranged before departure - not a single piece of luggage was improperly stowed.We boarded the raft, hoisted the sails, and with Hans at the helm, we sailed along the coast toward Cape Sackhamin. The wind was not very favorable, and the rocks often made us make some detours, but with the help of our iron-clad side-planks we were able to reach where we could go ashore in less than three hours, that is, about six o'clock in the afternoon.

I jumped ashore, still in a hurry, so much so that, in order to eliminate all possibility of backing off, I suggested "breaking the boat."But my uncle disapproved, and gave me a light slap. "At least," I said, "we're going to set off right away, without wasting a minute." "Yes, my boy, but let's check this new tunnel first, to see if our ladder is of use." Uncle got Lumkoff's tools ready.The raft lay beside the shore, and nobody cared about it, since the opening of the tunnel was only twenty yards away, so our lad, with me leading the way, ran toward it.

The opening of the tunnel was almost round, and its diameter was about five feet; the dark tunnel was dug out of the natural rock, and the holes were punched by the explosives which had formerly blown through it; The part just hits the ground, so it's easy to get in. We proceeded along the flat road, and after about six steps, our steps were blocked by a huge stone. "This wretched rock, damn it!" I exclaimed angrily, seeing myself held back by an impenetrable obstacle. We searched for the aisles from up, down, left, and right, but to no avail.I was so disappointed that I almost wanted to deny the existence of this obstacle.I bent down and looked under the stone, and there was no crack.Looking at the top of the stone, it is also a big stone.Hannes lit a lamp and illuminated all over the rock wall, but he still couldn't find a way out.

There is no hope of walking past. I sat down on the ground; my uncle strode in the cave. "No, no," I exclaimed, "it must have been after some great tremor, or an earthquake caused by the action of a magnet, that the road was suddenly blocked. Ever since Saconusan came here until this road The road was blocked, and many years must have passed in the middle. There must have been a road where volcanic lava passed. You can see some cracks on the top of the stone, which seem to have been drawn by a giant's hand. This is was knocked out by a large rock. The rock must have fallen and blocked the road due to the force of the vibration. So this unexpected obstacle was not encountered by Saconusan. If we cannot get this Remove the stone and we will not reach the center of the earth!"

I too have spoken such wild words!I became like the professor.The gods of adventure are inspiring me.I have forgotten all about the past and have no fear of the future.Everything on the surface, city or country, Hamburg or Koenigstreet, even my Grauban, has ceased to exist for me, poor Grauban, she must have thought that I would never be there even in the center of the earth. Will forget her! "Well," said the uncle, "then we'll make our way with picks and picks, and we'll tear this wall down!" "The rock is too big and hard to use a hoe," I said. "Then use a pickaxe!"

"But the rock walls are too thick!" "then what should we do?……" "Ah! I remembered, use dynamite! Use mines! Blow up the stone blocking the way!" "Dynamite!" "By the way, just blow up part of the stone!" "Hans, come on, do it!" shouted the uncle. The Icelander ran to the raft, and soon came back with a pick, which he used to dig a small hole for the explosives.It was no easy task—he had to cut a hole big enough to hold fifty pounds of guncotton, four times more explosive than gunpowder. I feel extremely nervous.While Hannes worked, I hastened to help my uncle fashion a long fuse out of wet powder in a linen tube.

"We can go through this time," I said. "We can go through this time," repeated the uncle. In the middle of the night, our landmines were made, and all the cotton was placed inside the mouth of the cave, and one end of the fuse passed through the tunnel and hung outside the mouth of the tunnel.A single spark can unleash this dormant power. "Tomorrow," said the professor. I had to wait another six hours!