Underground Rivers - University of New Mexico

Chapter 19 -- The Stratemeyer Boys Club Serials
From Rockwood's Five Thousand Miles Underground, or The
Mystery of the Centre of the Earth (1908)
With a tremor the Mermaid left the surface of the inner earth and
went sailing upward toward the-- well it wasn't exactly the sky,
but it was what corresponded to it in the new world, though there
were no clouds and no blue depths such as the boys were used
to. At all events the Mermaid was flying again, and, as the
adventurers felt themselves being lifted up they gave a
spontaneous cheer at the success which had crowned their
efforts.
The ship went up several hundred feet, and then, the professor,
having brought her to a stop, sent her ahead at a slow pace. He
wanted to be sure all the apparatus was in good working order
before he tried any speed.
The Mermaid responded readily. Straight as an arrow through
the air she flew...
"Well, this is almost as good as being on the regular earth!" exclaimed Jack.
"It's better," put in Mark. "We haven't seen half the wonders yet. Let's open the floor shutter,
and see how it looks down below."
He and Jack went to the room where there was an opening in the floor of the ship, covered by
heavy glass. They slid back the steel shutter and there, down below them, was the strange
new, world they had come to, stretched out like some big map
They could see mountains, forests, plains, and rivers, the water sparkling in the colored light.
Over green fields they flew, then across some stretches where only sand and rocks were to be
seen. Faster and faster the ship went, as the professor found the machinery was once more in
perfect order...
From the centre of an immense mound of rock and earth there spouted up a great column of
water, three hundred feet or more, as straight as a flag staff. It was about ten feet in diameter,
and at the top it broke into a rosette of sparkling liquid, which as the varicolored lights played on
it, resembled some wonderful flower.
"It's a great geyser!" the professor exclaimed. "We have come to a place like Yellowstone
Park. We must be very careful. The crust may be very thin here, and let us down into some
boiling spring."...
All that afternoon they sailed, the country below them unfolding like a panorama. They passed
over big lakes, sailing on the surface of some, and over rivers, and vast stretches of forest and
dreary plains...
After the requisite adventures, the underworld is exited under the instruction of the professor -- a
character often present in Boys Club literature. At the end,
Their cylinder, which might now be termed a boat, was floating on the great Atlantic. The blue
sky was overhead and the air of the sea fanned their cheeks.
Victor Appleton
Victor Appleton is the collective pseudonym for the author of more than 100 Tom Swift books, the
adventures of the likable and formidable teenage inventor. Tom’s challenges are resolved with
hard work, original thought, respect for others and of course, good manners.
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