‘While I was still lost in astonishment at what had occurred, there suddenly appeared on the exact spot of ground where I had, a few minutes before, awakened into new life, another man extended on the grass. An instant before not a trace of him was visible. For a moment I imagined he must be my recent antagonist, and I instinctively prepared to renew the battle. But he turned out to be a man I had never seen before; his speech was unintelligible to me, as was mine to him. We separated; he walked off to seek his fortune elsewhere, while I remained in the neighbourhood of the strangely-haunted spot which is now known as the South Pole.
‘Before long more arrivals took place in the same mysterious manner. I must necessarily omit details: it will suffice to say that before many years had expired a population amounting to several thousands surrounded the pole. As most of these men, and women also, arrived in consequence of mortal lesions received in fights, it turned out that they were, as a general rule, of rowdy and quarrelsome dispositions, and thus for many centuries the lovely country was little better than a pandemonium.
‘But by degrees things began to improve. Among the importations there was always a respectable minority of orderly persons, whose evanescence had been brought about either by accident, or when honestly fighting in self-defence. Order has always a tendency to prevail over disorderly violence. The orderly party combined and formed a compact body on the side of regular government. A sort of vigilance committee was established to keep guard over the pole itself. The special function of this committee was to take charge of all fresh arrivals, to explain to them the actual state of affairs in the south, and to enlist them on the right side.
‘Thus, at last, the anarchical period came to an end. After the establishment of the universal empire in the north, and the consequent cessation of international war, immigration to the South Pole diminished enormously. Such things as batches of several hundreds arriving in the course of a few minutes from a field of battle were no more heard of. The rowdies themselves showed signs of reformation; they were never intrinsically bad, and they are now as well conducted as any in the south.
‘The comparatively few who still continued to drop in from the north proved of inestimable service. As you are aware, they taught us the universal language, and they have always kept us well informed in the history and discoveries of the larger world. Owing to the great congestion of population at the metropolis which naturally resulted from the conditions of immigration, it was found necessary, about two thousand years ago, to adopt very stringent measures for its abatement, and great numbers of the inhabitants were removed to other parts of the country. Since that time the northern limit of one hundred thousand has been rigidly observed.’
Such was the main part of the information given to the crew of engineers as they pursued their northern course through the smooth waters of the southern sea. When the equatorial zone was reached they descended once more beneath the waves, and by the same process and with no more difficulty than before effected its passage. On the twenty-second day, after a total absence of fifty-three days, they arrived in safety at the port of Lasondre.
By this time their return was expected in the northern metropolis, and the anxiety of the people had risen to very great intensity. As the ship was entering the harbour the whole population swarmed on the quays. The city was decked with every sign of rejoicing, and the sweet-toned peal of the great bells which hung in the towers of the vast world-cathedral, erected in honour of the Unknown, filled the air with their music. But when the engineers landed with their company who had returned from the dead, and when the knowledge of what had been found spread into the city, all was hushed in silence. Joy at the safety of the crew, and at the unexpected sight of their departed friends, was none the less; but awe was the predominant feeling. The certainty of everlasting life, and of the shutting for ever of the only door of exit, were not to be lightly received. The tremendous intelligence was immediately communicated to the world, and the Modern History of Hesperos began.
CHAPTER XI.
HERE BEGINS THE MODERN HISTORY OF HESPEROS.
How the two hemispheres were amalgamated—Concerning the Sympathetic Telegraph; and how the great astonishment of the Hesperians at the first sight of the Doctor was fully explained.
On the morning after the return of the ship the parliament met, and immediately passed a vote for the construction of a large fleet of submarine vessels, to be built on the pattern of the original whose voyage had proved so successful. It was evident that intercourse on a very large scale would take place between the two hemispheres. The southerly journey, as was now well known, might be effected in quite a different way; for an energetic blow on the head provided the intending traveller with a swift and gratuitous passage to the South Pole. But there were many objections to this mode of transit; and, at all events, the return journey was strictly confined to the submarine route.