put into the Index Expurgatorius, and compelled to hide the discoveries made by his genius, was obliged to bury in an incomprehensible cryptogram the secret -“
“What secret?” asked M. Fridrikssen, starting.
“Oh, just a secret which -” my uncle stammered.
“Have you some private document in your possession?” asked our host.
“No; I was only supposing a case.”
“Oh, very well,” answered M. Fridrikssen, who was kind enough not to pursue the subject when he had noticed the embarrassment of his friend. “I hope you will not leave our island until you have seen some of its mineralogical wealth.”
“Certainly,” replied my uncle; “but I am rather late; or have not others been here before me?”
“Yes, Herr Liedenbrock; the labours of MM. Olafsen and Povelsen, pursued by order of the king, the researches of Troïl the scientific mission of MM. Gaimard and Robert on the French corvette La Recherche,6 and lately the observations of scientific men who came in the Reine Hortense, have added materially to our knowledge of Iceland. But I assure you there is plenty left.”
“Do you think so?” said my uncle, pretending to look very modest, and trying to hide the curiosity was flashing out of his eyes.
“Oh, yes; how many mountains, glaciers, and volcanoes there are to study, which are as yet but imperfectly known! Then, without going any further, that mountain in the horizon. That is Snæfell.”
“Ah!” said my uncle, as coolly as he was able, “is that Snæfell?”
“Yes; one of the most curious volcanoes, and the crater of which has scarcely ever been visited.”
“Is it extinct?”
“Oh, yes; more than five hundred years.”
“Well,” replied my uncle, who was frantically locking his legs together to keep himself from jumping up in the air, “that is where I mean to begin my geological studies, there on that Seffel - Fessel - what do you call it?”
“Snæfell,” replied the excellent M. Fridrikssen.
This part of the conversation was in Latin; I had understood every word of it, and I could hardly conceal my amusement at seeing my uncle trying to keep down the excitement and satisfaction which were brimming over in every limb and every feature. He tried hard to put on an innocent little expression of simplicity; but it looked like a diabolical grin.
“Yes,” said he, “your words decide me. We will try to scale that Snæfell; perhaps even we may pursue our studies in its crater!”
“I am very sorry,” said M. Fridrikssen, “that my engagements will not allow me to absent myself, or I would have accompanied you myself with both pleasure and profit.”
“Oh, no, no!” replied my uncle with great animation, “we would not disturb any one for the world, M. Fridrikssen. Still, I thank you with all my heart: the company of such a talented man would have been very serviceable, but the duties of your profession -“
I am glad to think that our host, in the innocence of his Icelandic soul, was blind to the transparent artifices of my uncle.
“I very much approve of your beginning with that volcano, M. Liedenbrock. You will gather a harvest of interesting observations. But, tell me, how do you expect to get to the peninsula of Snæfell?”
“By sea, crossing the bay. That’s the most direct way.”
“No doubt; but it is impossible.”
“Why? “
“Because we don’t possess a single boat at Rejkiavik.”
“You don’t mean to say so?”
“You will have to go by land, following the shore. It will be longer, but more interesting.”
“Very well, then; and now I shall have to see about a guide.”
“I have one to offer you.”
“A safe, intelligent man.”
“Yes; an inhabitant of that peninsula He is an eiderdown hunter, and very clever. He speaks Danish perfectly.”
“When can I see him?”
“Tomorrow, if you like.”
“Why not to-day?”
“Because he won’t be here till tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow, then,” added my uncle with a sigh.
This momentous conversation ended in a few minutes with warm acknowledgments paid by the German to the Icelandic Professor. At this dinner my uncle had just elicited important facts, amongst others, the history of Saknussemm, the reason of the mysterious document, that his host would not accompany him in his expedition, and that the very next day a guide would be waiting upon him.
6 Recherche was sent out in 1835 by Admiral Duperré to learn the fate of the lost expedition of M. de Blosseville in the Lilloise which has never been heard of.
CHAPTER XI.
A Guide Found To The Centre Of The Earth
In the evening I took a short walk on the beach and returned at night to my plank-bed, where I slept soundly all night.
When I awoke I heard my uncle talking at a great rate in the next room. I immediately dressed and joined him.
He was conversing in the Danish language with a tall man, of robust build. This fine fellow must have been possessed of great strength. His eyes, set in a large and ingenuous face, seemed to me very intelligent; they were of a dreamy sea-blue. Long hair, which would have been called red even in England, fell in long meshes upon his broad shoulders. The movements of this native were lithe and supple; but he made little use of his arms in speaking, like a man who knew nothing or cared nothing about the language of gestures. His whole appearance bespoke perfect calmness and self-possession, not indolence but tranquillity. It was felt at once that he would be beholden to nobody, that he worked for his own convenience, and that nothing in this world could astonish or disturb his philosophic calmness.
I caught the shades of this Icelander’s character by the way in which he listened to the impassioned flow of words which fell from the Professor. He stood with arms crossed, perfectly unmoved by my uncle’s incessant gesticulations. A negative was expressed by a slow movement of the head from left to right, an affirmative by a slight bend, so slight that
