登陆注册
5302100000074

第74章 BOOK III.(14)

"Before you leave me,"cried Ayrault,"tell me how and when I may see or hear you again.""While you remain on this planet,I shall be near;but beyond Saturn I cannot go.""Yet tell me,Violet,how I may see you?My love unattained,you perceive,makes me wretched,while you always gave me calm and peace.If I may not kiss the hand I almost asked might be mine,let me have but a glance from your sweet eyes,which will comfort me so much now.""If you break the ice in the pool behind you,you shall see me till the frame melts."After this the silence was broken only by the sighing of the wind in the trees.The pool had suddenly become covered with ice several inches thick.Taking an axe,Ayrault hewed out a parallelogram about three feet by four and set it on end against the bank.The cold grey of morning was already colouring the east,and in the growing light Ayrault beheld a vision of Violet within the ice.The face was at about three fourths,and had a contemplative air.The hair was arranged as he had formerly seen it,and the thoughtful look was strongest in the beautiful grey eyes,which were more serious than of yore.Ayrault stood riveted to the spot and gazed."I could have been happy with her,"he mused,and to think she is no more!"As drops fell from the ice,tears rose to his eyes.

.......

"What a pretty girl!"said Bearwarden to Cortlandt,as they came upon it later in the day."The face seems etched or imprinted by some peculiar form of freezing far within the ice."The next morning they again set out,and so tramped,hunted,and investigated with varying success for ten Saturnian days.They found that in the animal and plant forms of life Nature had often,by some seeming accident,struck out in a course very different from any on the earth.Many of the animals were bipeds and tripeds,the latter arranged in tandem,the last leg being evidently an enormously developed tail,by which the creature propelled itself as with a spring.The quadrupeds had also sometimes wings,and their bones were hollow,like those of birds.Whether this great motive and lifting power was the result of the planet's size and the power of gravitation,or whether some creatures had in addition the power of developing a degree of apergetic repulsion to offset it,as they suspected in the case of the boa-constrictor that fell upon Cortlandt on Jupiter,they could not absolutely ascertain.Life was far less prolific on Saturn than on Jupiter,doubtless as a result of its greater distance from the sun,and of its extremes of climate,almost all organic life being driven to the latitudes near the equator.There were,as on Jupiter,many variations from the forms of life to which they were accustomed,and adaptations to the conditions in which they found themselves;but,with the exception of the strange manifestations of spirit life,they found the workings of the fundamental laws the same.Often when they woke at night the air was luminous,and they were convinced that if they remained there long enough it would be easy to devise some telegraphic code of light-flashes by which they could communicate with the spirit world,and so get ideas from the host of spirits that had already solved the problem of life and death,but who were not as yet sufficiently developed to be able to return to the earth.One day they stopped to investigate what they had supposed to be an optical illusion.They observed that leaves and other light substances floated several inches above the surface of the water in the pools.On coming to the edge and making tests,they found a light liquid,as invisible as air,superimposed upon the water,with sufficient buoyancy to sustain dry wood and also some forms of life.They also observed that insects coming close to the surface and apparently inhaling it,rapidly increased in size and weight,from which they concluded it must throw off nitrogen,carbon,or some other nourishment in the form of gas.The depth upon the water was unaffected by rain,which passed through it,but depended rather on the condition of the atmosphere,from which it was evidently condensed.There seemed also to be a relation between the amount of this liquid and the activity of the spirits.Finally,when their ammunition showed signs of running low,they decided to return to the Callisto,go in it to the other side of the planet,and resume their investigations there.Accordingly,they set out to retrace their steps,returning by a course a few miles to one side of the way they had come,and making the cave their objective point.Arriving there one evening about sunset,they pitched their camp.The cave was sheltered and comfortable,and they made preparation for passing the night.

"I shall be sorry,"said Ayrault,as they sat near their fire,"to leave this place without again seeing the bishop.He said we could impress him anywhere,but it may be more difficult to do that at the antipodes than here.""It does seem,"said Bearwarden,"as though we should be missing it in not seeing him again,if that is possible.Nothing but a poison-storm brought him the first time,and it is not certain that even in such an emergency would he come again uncalled.""I think,"said Ayrault,"as none of the spirits here are malevolent,they would warn us of danger if they could.The bishop's spirit seems to have been the only one with sufficiently developed power to reappear as a man.I therefore suggest that to-morrow we try to make him feel our thought and bring him to us."

同类推荐
  • 至公

    至公

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 道德真经疏义·赵志坚

    道德真经疏义·赵志坚

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 言毒篇

    言毒篇

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 茶具图赞

    茶具图赞

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 摩登女解形中六事经

    摩登女解形中六事经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 饥荒进行曲

    饥荒进行曲

    甄梓,女,原本是xx大学准备毕业的学生一枚。没有男朋友,喜欢玩游戏。可是,就在一个阳光明媚的早上,她穿越了!像很多小说情节里的那样,她穿越到了一个完全架空的时代。没有什么主角玛丽苏光环,她只有她穿越时玩的一个游戏系统……
  • 旷世毒妃:妖邪鬼帝妻

    旷世毒妃:妖邪鬼帝妻

    野心重重叱诧鬼界的鬼王,非凡天赋却拥有异于常人之功力!六界之中最没用的废材,人见人唾卑微至极!华丽穿越,给你两耳光,让你陷害我!一路复仇,扭转乾坤,有你好看。即便妖邪缠身,鬼魅相伴,我命由我不由天!待他日凤翔九天,人人唾骂?你24K铝合金狗眼瞎了吗?她嘴角勾起冷笑:“是妖怎样?老天不容?那就毁天!大地不容?那就灭地!鬼王莞尔一笑,将她禁锢怀中:“吾妻深得夫心。”
  • 漫威世界混日子

    漫威世界混日子

    新书《重生豪宅男》已上传! 李怀猝不及防被踢回2002年高中时代,胸无大志的他觉得自己依然是个废柴,于是决定继续当个宅男,不过更进一步做个豪宅男,为了这个目标,开始慢慢改变人生轨迹…简介无力,内容… 这是一本正经书!
  • 卑鄙的圣人:曹操5

    卑鄙的圣人:曹操5

    历史上的大奸大忠都差不多,只有曹操大不同!曹操的计谋,奸诈程度往往将对手整得头昏脑涨、找不着北,卑鄙程度也屡屡突破道德底线,但他却是一个心怀天下、体恤众生的圣人;而且他还是一个柔情万丈、天才横溢的诗人;最后他还是一个敏感、自卑、内心孤独的普通男人。
  • 洞真太上太素玉箓

    洞真太上太素玉箓

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 唤醒大脑的巨人

    唤醒大脑的巨人

    人的八种智能的潜力十分巨大,也不是一成不变的。目前在学校里常用语言智能和数学、逻辑智能考核学生。学者们对事业成功者的研究发现:事业成功者大多是右脑功能较强者,右半脑起着控制行为、产生情感、艺术欣赏的作用。是发明创造的源泉。甚至有人提出:“人脑有80%的潜能为开发.而开发的重点是右脑。”只有左右脑平衡、沟通和互补,才能最大限度地利用人脑的潜能,左右脑功能开发得都比较好的人是最聪明的人。
  • 列王纷争之权利的游戏

    列王纷争之权利的游戏

    他是一个商人,冷血无情,唯利是图。他是一个领主,铁腕统治,君临天下。力量?财富?权力?这些不过是为之所用的工具。买下整个世界,仅仅只需要一枚金币就足够了。(猥琐发育向)(大家可以粗浅的理解为,在底魔中世纪的革命)(或者是冰火同人小指头主角(~ ̄▽ ̄)~)
  • 快穿:拯救炮灰女主计划

    快穿:拯救炮灰女主计划

    1V1,深情√高冷√温柔√呆萌√禁欲√邪痞√小正太√霸系√邪魅√阳光√……说好的美男哥哥,花式男神呢?为毛全是一人?摔!她能不能好好谈恋爱了?行啊,快来吧,每世都是新鲜的花样男神等你来验收~
  • 三皇内文遗秘

    三皇内文遗秘

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 聊斋五十狐

    聊斋五十狐

    该书所解读的五十个聊斋女性,不仅仅是女狐,还有花妖女鬼,但是她们身上都有一种用一个“狐性”可以概括的特质。所以“聊斋五十狐”中的“狐”是一个泛指,即那些带有“狐性”的妖娆媚惑、独立自主、来去自由并敢爱敢恨的女子。