Two Thousand Miles Below

by Charles W Diffin

Rawson sprang as the big rock let go. It, too, crashed deafeningly upon the floor and rolled sluggishly downward beside the high hummock of glass that the first rock had become. They bulked hugely in the passage. They were eight or ten feet high, reaching across from one wall to the other.

  Above them was still a space of four feet; Rawson estimated it carefully while he looked at the ceiling above. Then he shook off Smithy's hand that was dragging at him and returned to the attack; for now, above the top of the barricade he had built, white ribbons of vapor were streaming. He had to shout to his utmost to make Smith hear above the shrill shriek of the blast.

  "Steam!" he screamed into Smithy's ear. "Live steam! We could never make it—before we got to the top we'd be cooked to a pulp. I've got to block it, got to seal it off." A whole section of the ceiling tore loose as he spoke, and the wind raised its voice like the scream of a wounded animal—or the cry of an overwhelmed and stricken people—as it tore through the space that remained.

  * * *

  t whipped the molten drops as they fell and made of them a deadly rain. Rawson, staring through the clouds of hot steam that now wrapped him about, called to Smithy to take Loah to safety, and kept the flame where it should be—until at length the last aperture was closed, the last gap in the wall filled in. And even after that Rawson kept the flame still playing above that wall till he had melted rock and more rock that flowed down to make the barrier a single heavy, solid mass.

  Steam was coming now from the narrow cleft where the green light had flashed out to bar their way. But that was simple, and he sealed the gap shut with his flame.

  He was gasping. The radiant heat from that molten mass had been torture that his naked body could never have borne but for the desperate necessity that drove him.

  Smithy and Loah were again beside him. "Now," he choked, "we can go, but if there are any cross passages I'll have to block them too."

  "There aren't," said Smithy, and added: "I thought you were crazy. You've saved us all, Dean; we never could have made it to the top. That steam was getting hot—hot as if it had come right out of hell."

  "It did," said Rawson. Then the flame-thrower fell from his nerveless hand. He was swaying; his knees were trembling with weakness when Smithy and Loah, on either side, took his burned arms tenderly and helped him on where the others had gone.

  Colonel Culver and a rescue party met them halfway. The Colonel had seen his men safely to the bottom of the volcanic pit. Others had run from their station beside a field gun to meet them; then Culver had called for volunteers and had gone back. And now there were plenty of willing arms to help.

  * * *

  he big lift, with its platforms of metal plates, awaited them at the tunnel's end. There was room on it now for all who were left; there was no crowding of men's bodies as there had been on the downward passage. Rawson was stretched on the floor-plates, whose touch was cool to his tortured body. Loah was seated that his head might rest in her lap on that absurd little fragment of skirt. She bent above him, whispering brokenly: "Dean-San—my dear—my own Dean-San! We live, Dean-San. I can scarcely believe it, but I know that we live, for I still have you."

  But Dean was able to stand when that journey was done. First, though, there were men who placed him carefully on a stretcher and carried him, when he commanded, to the crater's outer rim. On the ashy floor of the crater a big transport was waiting with idling motors, but Dean would not let them put him inside. He wanted to look out across the world, to see it in reality as he had seen it in his own mind when all hope was gone. He wanted to look out once more across Tonah Basin and let his eyes rest upon country he had known.

  Loah and Smithy walked beside him, as the first-aid men carried him toward that distant rim. The rocks there were cleft—it was the place where he first had seen the inside of the crater's cup. There he had them put him down; and, with the help of Loah and Smithy, he got slowly to his feet. While they lifted him, he wondered at the sound in this desert world where no sound should be. A terrific rushing, an endless roar—and then his eyes found the clouds of steam.

  * * *

  elow him was the Basin, the tangled wreckage of his camp. And there, where the derrick had stood, was a tall plume of white. It did not begin close to the ground—superheated steam, until it cools and condenses to water vapor, is invisible—but a hundred feet above the sand. And, from there on up, two thousand feet sheer into the air, was a straight shaft of vapor, rolling up for another thousand feet into billowing clouds that the afternoon sun turned to glorious white.

  "Power!" gasped Rawson. "Power—and it will be like that indefinitely!" Then he laughed weakly. "I had to go down there to do it, to make Erickson richer, but it was worth it. In there the ocean will slowly subside. Gor and his people will find their lost lands; the column of water in the shaft will hold the back-pressure of steam. And here, I have Loah, and that's all—but that's enough!"

  He put one arm, still with the bandages of the first-aid men, about the girl. "I hope you'll be happy, dear," he said softly, and turned back. But Smithy barred the way.

  "That isn't all," said Smithy jubilantly. "You see, Dean, Erickson fired you—Erickson thought you had run out on him. Instead of backing you up, he quit. So I bought them all out. Whatever is there, Dean—and it's worth more millions than I dare to think about—you own half of! Now get back on that stretcher. Just because you've saved all our necks up here on top of the earth, you mustn't think you can keep an Army ship waiting all day!"

  (The End.)

  * * *

  End of Project Gutenberg's Two Thousand Miles Below, by Charles Willard Diffin

  *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO THOUSAND MILES BELOW ***

  ***** This file should be named 29965-h.htm or 29965-h.zip *****

  This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:

  http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/9/6/29965/

  Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online

  Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

  Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions

  will be renamed.

  Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no

  one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation

  (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without

  permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,

  set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to

  copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to

  protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project

  Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you

  charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you

  do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the

  rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose

  such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and

  research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do

  practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is

  subject to the trademark license, especially commercial

  redistribution.

  *** START: FULL LICENSE ***

  THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

  PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

  To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free

  distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work

  (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project

  Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project

  Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at

  http://gutenberg.org/license).

  Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm

 
electronic works

  1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm

  electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to

  and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property

  (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all

  the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy

  all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.

  If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project

  Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the

  terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or

  entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

  1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be

  used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who

  agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few

  things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works

  even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See

  paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project

  Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement

  and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic

  works. See paragraph 1.E below.

  1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"

  or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project

  Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the

  collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an

  individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are

  located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from

  copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative

  works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg

  are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project

  Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by

  freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of

  this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with

  the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by

  keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project

  Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.

  1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern

  what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in

  a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check

  the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement

  before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or

  creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project

  Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning

  the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United

  States.

  1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

  1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate

  access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently

  whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the

  phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project

  Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,

  copied or distributed:

  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

  almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

  re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

  with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

  1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived

  from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is

  posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied

  and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees

  or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work

  with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the

  work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1

  through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the

  Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or

  1.E.9.

  1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted

  with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution

  must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional

  terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked

  to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the

  permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

  1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm

  License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this

  work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.

  1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this

  electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without

  prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with

  active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project

  Gutenberg-tm License.

  1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,

  compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any

  word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or

  distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than

  "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version

  posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),

  you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a

  copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon

  request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other

  form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm

  License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

  1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,

  performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works

  unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

  1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing

  access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided

  that

  - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from

  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method

  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is

  owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he

  has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the

  Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments

  must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you

  prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax

  returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and

  sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the

  address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to

  the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
/>
  - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies

  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he

  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm

  License. You must require such a user to return or

  destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium

  and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of

  Project Gutenberg-tm works.

  - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any

  money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the

  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days

  of receipt of the work.

  - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free

  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.

  1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm

  electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set

  forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from

  both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael

  Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the

  Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

  1.F.

  1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable

  effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread

  public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm

  collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic

  works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain

  "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or