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The hero of this hazardous exploration through Hell is Hiprah Hunt, a lecturer, reformer, ex-preacher, poet and president of a Dante Club.
Hiprah Hunt has no tolerance for the modern philosophy that denies the existence of Hell. As a preacher he was what men of the present day call a “back number.”
Despite “higher criticism” he continually and earnestly advocates the justice of future punishment, and for this reason is known in the town where he lives as “Hell-fire Hunt.”
Not unlikely his belief in a Demon-haunted Hell ruled over by a personal Devil is in part due to atavism, for Mr. Hunt is a descendant of the illustrious Hunts who lent their aid to the extermination of witches in that part of New England where witchcraft once flourished.
As President of a Dante Club he collected many books on the subject of future retribution. Among them (some 80 volumes) he chiefly prizes Dante’s Inferno. Whenever he is given an opportunity he will deliver a lecture on Dante and his work. In short, Hell books have so thoroughly absorbed his mind that he becomes convinced that the under-world is as much a reality as the upper one.
As a result of continual thinking on one subject, and that subject a hot one, it was frequently hinted that Mr. Hunt’s brains were shrivelling up. Whether that is true or not, he became imbued with the idea that he must find the Infernal Regions and prove to the world that the place is not a myth.
In the Fall of 1900 Mr. Hunt mysteriously disappeared from home. For six weeks nothing was seen or heard of him. When he returned he set to work immediately and wrote a poem consisting of sixty-eight cantos of blank verse, curiously mixed with prose, quotations and numerous foot-notes. This poem, he declares, is the account of a six weeks’ journey through Hell.
Mr. Hunt’s original manuscript which is in possession of the writer, together with odd charts, maps, diagrams and thermometric records, all of them bearing marks of having come from a very hot region, are strong proofs of the authenticity of his exploration.
Perhaps it is unnecessary to add that the author has taken many liberties with Mr. Hunt’s text. The condition of the documents necessitated certain guess-work, and he has freely added a number of Inferno pictures that were drawn long before Hiprah Hunt’s valuable papers came to his notice.
If he has illuminated the dark and serious subject with a suspicion of fun—it is meant to convey the hope he feels for all sinners like himself, that some relief of a slightly humorous nature may be found even in Hell.
There are many portraits of Dante giving a more soulfully poetic cast to his countenance and which are much more pleasing for admirers of the great Florentine, to look upon, than the one reproduced here; but this is the first portrait ever published which is intended to portray the way the poet must really have felt at the termination of his trip through the Infernal Regions.
A portrait of Hiprah Hunt in his library which contains the following well-thumbed books: John Bunyan’s “Sighs from Hell,” Jonathan Edwards’s pamphlet on “The Justice of Endless Punishment,” Christopher Love’s “Hell’s Terror,” William Cooper’s “Three Discourses Concerning the Reality, the Extremity, and the Absolute Eternity of Hell Punishments,” Jeremy Taylor on “Pains of Hell,” and Alexander Jephson’s “The Certainty and Importance of a Future Judgment and Everlasting Retribution.”
Besides these he possesses several histories of the Devil and many old prints pertaining to the same subject.
Yours Infernally
Hiprah Hunt.
CANTO I.
In the beginning Mr. Hunt tells how he passed the day in a large city where he delivered his unique lecture on Dante, and spent the rest of his time sight-seeing and searching for literature on his favorite subject.
Tired and confused with the busy scenes and active incidents of the day, he is returning by night train to his home. As usual, when traveling, he reads his Divine Comedy. He has not read far when he is overcome by a sense of drowsiness. Sleepily, he reviews the events of the day in the bustling city while musing over the grewsome scenes in his book. What with the thoughts of high buildings, cable cars, of arch-heretics in their fiery tombs, slot machines, automobiles and gibbering ghosts, of swift-running elevators and headless spirits, of well-dressed gamblers and “Adam’s evil brood” at large, his mind is truly in a chaotic state.
DISORDERED MUSINGS.
CANTO II.
An irresistible impulse prompts him to walk to the rear platform of the car. A sudden lurch of the train as it turns round a curve in the track and he finds himself lying prone by the road side.
On either hand there stretches a boundless forest of the wildest desolation. Overhead a ghostly night wind ploughs through the tree tops and wails and sobs like a lost spirit. Amidst a whizzing of invisible bats and the hoots of melancholy owls, he struggles to his feet. Combing the gravel out of his long locks he sets forth in a southeasterly direction.
SOMETHING HAPPENED.
CANTO III.
Through briars and bushes, over prickly plants and vines that are laced together like a tangled mass of serpents in the innermost recesses of deep chasms and black ravines, he stumbles toward the Unseen. When his emotions have abated he finds himself alone in the heart of a forest, where trees are so thickly crowded that the air is dense and hard to breathe.
Finally, he comes to a projecting precipice from which he peers and discerns a dim light through the sluggishly rising smoke. As he crawls lower he hears voices, and a great commotion. An odor of burning brimstone fills the air. He swings out from an over-hanging rock and allows himself to drop.
ON THE WAY DOWN.
CANTO IV.
Hiprah Hunt is at the American entrance to Hell. He stands amidst a throng of Demons, sinners and employees of the realm. Crowds of men are getting overcoats checked and buying fans. He buys one himself, and also secures a guide book, locating the different sections and departments. He sees over the portal’s lofty arch the words “Leave all hope on the outside.” This demand he will not entirely accede to. He retains a little, thinking he may need it later on.
Because Mr. Hunt shows no evidence of having died, the goblin custodian who watches the entrance will not allow him to pass. Mr. Hunt does not deny that he is alive, but explains that he is about the only prominent champion of future punishment living and deserves special consideration.
He further argues that inasmuch as Dante was admitted without question through the Italian entrance, he ought to be granted an equal privilege on the American side.
The goblin, after a lengthy telephone consultation, withdraws his objection, and Mr. Hunt proceeds.
THE AMERICAN ENTRANCE.
CANTO V.
On passing through the long entrance corridor Mr. Hunt hears a low mutter as of thunder, which grows louder as he advances.
A train load of souls comes screaming through the gloom. In the distance he sees the train cross a bridge and eventually come to a stop. The passengers step out and are driven to a place of registration. Here they write their names and addresses in a large book.
COMPELLED TO REGISTER.
CANTO VI.
Coming out of the cavern, spoken of in the preceding Canto, the explorer crosses the distant bridge and enters another densely wooded region. Here he finds the souls of those who are not quite bad enough to be punished severely, but are allowed to exist “desiring without hope.” He is approached by shrouded spirits who describe themselves as a school of poets, and instantly recalling how Dante in his peregrinations ran across Homer, he enquires for that worthy.
He learns that this is quite another group to that in which the ancient bard moves. These are the unworthies who spent their time on earth writing bad poetry when they would have been better engaged sawing wood or washing dishes.
CONFIRMED WRITERS OF BAD POETRY.
CANTO VII.
In the same vicinity Mr. Hunt finds a soul chained to a rock, wearing a heavy sheet-iron dunce cap.
This is the man who was fond of playing jokes on others, but who was wont to become furious when the joke was on himself. The explorer asks him a few questions and passes on, leaving the captive strangely perplexed.
A JOKE ON A JOKER.
CANTO VIII.
Mr. Hunt reaches the boundary of the forest and finds himself overlooking a vast arena in which as far down as he can see there reigns a scene of wild activity.
The picture on the opposite page was drawn from a crude and indistinct diagram made by Mr. Hunt. The artist does not vouch for the correctness of every detail in the drawing, having restored many signs and placards which in Mr. Hunt’s original were almost obliterated.
A THICKLY POPULATED CORNER.
CANTO IX.
The explorer now determines to find Satan. To avoid the difficulties that Dante met with, it is Mr. Hunt’s purpose to get a permit to pass through the Empire from the Devil himself. Though Demons pursue him with persistency he succeeds in reaching a huge arched entrance in an immense purple rock. Over it is a blazing inscription reading: “Satan’s office.” Here Mr. Hunt pauses. For a moment he is afraid. He regains his courage, and, mounting an elaborate fire-escape, enters. “As a night-hawk cleaves a side flight in the sky,” says the poet-explorer, “so the great arch-enemy of mankind wheeled round in his chair as I entered.”
Hiprah Hunt finds himself in great danger of being cast into Hell-fire before he can make known the object of his presence. When he explains that he has been a lifelong expounder of the future punishment theory, that his purpose is to explore the region and go back to earth with the proof of his belief, Satan shows great courtesy. He immediately telephones to the heads of the departments in his realm to assemble at Plutoblitzz, the Central Station of the region, and to receive Mr. Hunt with a great ovation.
HIPRAH HUNT IN THE PRESENCE OF THE DEVIL.
CANTO X.
In this Canto the explorer describes his arrival at the Central Station, accompanied by Satan.
He is met by a vast crowd of the Demon population and a reception committee of distinguished citizens.
After the formality of the reception he is beseiged by delegations from labor unions, secret societies, members of the Fire Department and Golf clubs, autograph fiends, insurance agents, and representatives of the three official newspapers “The Daily Groan,” “Hot Times” and “The Yelp.”
After the bands have ceased playing and the tumult subsides Satan announces that Mr. Hunt will make a speech.