The young volcano explorers

For four days the boys traveled around Ponce with the professor, taking in all the sights. They also took a trip on the railroad to Guayanilla and Yauco, and likewise down to several small villages along the seacoast. They were particularly interested in the American government of the island, and spent several hours at the various departments. Here the professor met two officials whom he knew, and all were made to feel thoroughly at home.

In those trips Hockley had little to say, and the other boys noticed the change in his manner.

“Something went wrong, that’s certain,” observed Darry. But what it had been they could not imagine, for neither Hockley nor the professor said anything, and they did not dare to make inquiries.

At the close of the fourth day a French steamer came into the Port of Ponce, bound from Hayti to St. Pierre, Martinique. The steamer was one upon which Amos Strong had sailed once before and he knew Captain Danvier fairly well. He at once communicated this fact to the boys.

“If we are to go down to Martinique we cannot do better than sail with Captain Danvier,” he said. “His steamer, the Vendee, is a comfortable craft, and we shall be certain of good food and pleasant company.”

“Then let us sail by all means,” said Mark, who was anxious to get to St. Pierre and see his father, and Frank said the same. Sam and Darry were likewise willing, and so, for a wonder was Hockley. As a matter of fact the tall youth had wished to get away from Ponce long before, being fearful that the other boys might learn something about J. Rutherford Brown, alias Henry Umbler, and of the loss of money by gambling.

The matter of accommodations on board of the Vendee was easily arranged with Captain Danvier, who was delighted to meet Professor Strong again, and twenty-four hours later the party bid farewell to the Port of Ponce and sailed for the island which was destined so soon to become the center of one of the largest catastrophes known to history.

“I guess we have quite a sail before us,” said Sam, after land had become hidden in the distance.

“We have, Samuel,” answered the professor. “Roughly speaking, the distance from Ponce to St. Pierre is a little over four hundred miles. We shall sail directly to the south-east, and make no stops on the way. The Vendee is not a fast steamer, but Captain Danvier calculates to cover the distance in five days.”

“I have been looking up a map of the Leeward Islands,” put in Mark. “What a lot of them there are and all in a row, like the tops of a mountain range.”

“And that is just what they are, Mark, and the tops of a very high range of mountains at that, only the water covers the larger part of the range. Between some of these islands and to the east and west the water is five and six thousand feet deep. If the sea was swept away some of these peaks would be two miles high.”

“They must have had some terrible earthquakes and volcanic eruptions to produce such mountains,” said Darry, who had joined the group.

“They have had, Dartworth, and these eruptions have extended not alone through the Leeward Islands, but through the whole of the West Indies and also through Central and South America and parts of Mexico.”

“Do you know, I have never read much about earthquakes and volcanoes,” observed Mark. “But it seems to me it ought to prove interesting reading.”

“It is interesting—more so than any novel you ever read. Earthquakes alone have enlisted the attention of scientists for years, and they have to-day the record of over seven thousand which proved more or less disastrous.”

“Seven thousand!” cried Darry. “Then old Mother Earth isn’t as fixed as I thought her!”

“No, Mother Earth is not fixed, but continually changing, both inside and out. There are tremendous fires on the interior and these often crack open the dirt and rock, letting in large quantities of sea-water. Then comes an explosion, just as you may have at home if you throw cold water into a red-hot kitchen range. The steam and gases don’t know where to go, and consequently there is a volcanic eruption, or else something breaks loose underground and an earthquake follows. If this happens close to the sea, or under the sea, there is a tidal wave, the water going down and up with the movements of the ocean bed.”

“Do all earthquakes come from volcanic fires?” asked Sam.

“We cannot answer that, Samuel. Some earthquakes seem not to have any connection with volcanoes, as for instance the earthquake at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1886. There was no fire there, and but little gas, and what caused the quaking, with its tremendous damage to property and human life, is a mystery.”

“What was the very worst earthquake known?” came from Frank.

“That at Lisbon, Portugal, in 1755. It happened late in the year, and before it occurred there were numerous small earthquakes and volcanic outbursts throughout Europe. When the big earthquake came there were three shocks in quick succession and the very bottom of the harbor dropped out. After many ships were engulfed, the bottom of the harbor came up again and there was a fierce onrush of water. What was left standing of the city took fire, and fully fifty thousand people lost their lives.”

“Isn’t Vesuvius the largest of all known volcanoes?” asked Darry.

“It is certainly the most destructive of volcanoes, having destroyed Pompeii by covering it with a fine dust, until it was completely buried from sight, and having covered Herculaneum with a shower of mud, so that hardly a soul escaped from a territory miles in extent. But the largest volcano in the world is probably Krakatua, situated between the islands of Sumatra and Java, in the East Indies. This volcano was first heard of in 1860, but its greatest outbreak occurred in 1883. At first there was a tremendous column of vapor over the island, which, fortunately, was uninhabited. This increased, and explosion after explosion was heard, each growing louder than the others. These explosions finally got so terrific that they were heard thousands of miles away, and the inhabitants of Java, Sumatra, and other islands in that vicinity were filled with terror. At last, late in August, came one grand explosion in the morning, and about eight square miles of dirt and rock were hurled into the air, to fall into the hissing and boiling sea. The gas, dust, and noxious vapors traveled for miles and obscured the sun like an eclipse, and the tidal waves rose to a height of sixty to ninety feet, causing the loss of much shipping and probably forty thousand lives. Had Krakatua been on the mainland instead of on an island there would probably have been such a catastrophe as is unknown to modern history.”

“I’m glad I wasn’t there,” put in Hockley, who had lounged up during the talk, and felt that he must say something. “I’m willing enough to stay where there are no earthquakes and volcanoes.”

“What about the volcanoes down here?” asked Mark. “You said something about Mont Pelee, on the island of Martinique.”

“That is now supposed to be an extinct volcano. It was in eruption in 1813, 1817, 1823, 1839 and 1851. The eruption of 1839 was the worst and this nearly destroyed Fort de France, the capital of the island. The volcano is forty-two hundred feet in height and several miles in circumference. The last time I stopped at St. Pierre there was an excursion formed to visit the crater of the mountain, which now forms a beautiful lake of unknown depth. We spent a day in looking around and took dinner at a fine hotel at the foot of Pelee.”

“Are there any other volcanoes on the island?”

“There is Mount Carbet, near the center of the island, and Mount Vauclin near the south-east extremity, but they are of small importance.”

“We must visit all the volcanoes!” cried Frank. “I want to see what they look like on the inside.”

“I thought there was a big volcano on the Hawaiian Islands,” put in Hockley.

“There is, Jacob, Kilauea, which is nine miles in circumference, and one of the largest in the world. But this has never shown the activity of Vesuvius or of some others. There is also a volcano on the island of St. Vincent, due south of Martinique, which is well worth visiting.”

“Oh, I don’t care to see them—at least, not if there is any danger of their shooting off,” added the tall youth, hastily, and in such a manner that the others could scarcely keep from laughing.

“We will try to avoid all eruptions,” replied the professor, smiling, for even he did not dream of what was so close at hand.

The boys found Captain Danvier just as sociable as Amos Strong had pictured him, and the worthy commander of the Vendee gave them permission to roam over the steamer at will. He could speak English fairly well and took a delight in explaining his nautical instruments and other things to them.

“’Tis verra nice for you to do ze traveling around,” he said. “And wid such a learned gentlemans as ze professair it is von double pleasure. He is ze fine gentlemans, I know heem well.”

“And so do we know him,” answered Darry. “He’s O. K.”

“O. K. Vot you means by zat?”

“Oh, I mean he is just the cheese,” said Darry, bound to have his fun.

The French captain looked more bewildered than ever. “De cheese? Ha, you mean de cheese to eat—de caise. But you no mean to eat him, no.”

“No, I mean he is just the ticket.”

“De ticket, vot is dat? De carte, eh? How is de professair de carte?”

“I didn’t say the professor was a card—or a bill of fare either. I mean he is just all right.”

“All right? Ha, I see—oui, oui! Surely he is all right, de professair is nevair wrong. But while he is right how can he be de ticket and de cheese, and de O. K.? Dat Englis as she is spoke by de American is von verra funny language, yes!” And the French captain shrugged his shoulders, while Darry and the other boys had to turn away to keep from laughing in the good-hearted man’s face. But when Darry and Mark tried to air the little French they knew before Captain Danvier he laughed as heartily as they did.