The Mysterious Island Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Captain Grant's Children

Chapter 62 Captain Grant's Children (62)
Sir Glenarvan and his party ventured forward for a moment, and after a while there was a gunshot; the attacking bullets rained down.The gunpowder paper wrapped in the bullet also fell to the ground along with the gunfire; some words were written on the paper.Out of curiosity, Paganel picked up a piece of paper at random, and suddenly shouted:

"My God! These bastards are wrapping bullets in holy paper!"

"What sacred paper?" asked Sir Glenarvan.

"This is the content of the "Bible", it should be a torn paper from the "Bible"! The missionaries will be heartbroken when they see it! Alas! The devout missionaries want to build a book in the place where the Maori live What about the museum!"

After that, they carefully surveyed the location and structure of the cemetery.At this time, the mountain standing under the feet suddenly trembled, which scared the travelers enough!You know, this is a volcanic area, and there is a wealth of heat in the ground; maybe these mountains are the drains of underground energy, like the boiling springs on the Kukato River.

Paganel saw this from the start.So, he explained to his friends, the inner shell of the mountain should be composed of white mineral tuff; the heat contained in the ground is too rich, and the magma will rush out; the mountain will become an active volcano.

"You may be right. Although it resembles the boilers of the 'Duncan', it is not dangerous. The crust here is like a layer of hard steel!" said Sir Glenarvan.

"I very much support this point of view! But no matter how strong a boiler is, it will burn out after a long time." The major interrupted.

"Major, don't worry! We won't stay on the top of this mountain forever. When the time is right, we will slip away." Paganel said.

"Oh! What a pity! It would be great if this mountain could carry us to sail like the 'Duncan'!" Menger continued, "It has so much energy in its belly, but it's a pity that it's useless. land!"

As soon as this incident was mentioned, Jazz thought of the sad past.He recalled the "Duncan" and missed his crew.When he returned to the cemetery with everyone, Sir's expression was so preoccupied!

As soon as Lady Helen saw the Sir, she went up to him and said:

"My dear Sir Edward, see it all now! Is there any hope of our escape?"

"My dear Helen, there is definitely hope! Don't worry! The Maori dare not step into this sacred 'forbidden place'; in fact, we have enough time to think about how to escape from here."

"But for now, let's go back to the cemetery 'Udouba'!" Paganel said with a smile, "Now, the cemetery of that damned chief has become our battle fortress, our superior mansion, our comfortable restaurant, Our excellent laboratory, no one will come here to interfere with us! Now, please allow me to entertain everyone here!"

The companions followed Paganel into the tomb.The Maori who were waiting at the foot of the mountain screamed wildly and fired their guns when they saw that these aliens dared to desecrate the holy land. Fortunately, the bullets flew not as loud as the roar, and all fell on the mountainside.

Mrs. Helen, Miss Grant and other friends watched this scene and knew that these Maori could do nothing but get angry, so they naturally felt much more at ease.

Around the burial chamber are fences made of red-painted wooden stakes; on the wooden stakes there are some carved patterns and tattooed patterns, which represent the prominent status of the deceased.In addition, there are a series of stones and shells hanging between the stakes, which represent evil spirits.On the top of the tomb, there is a layer of green leaves as thick as a carpet.The raised part in the center is the newly covered soil, under which the dead body is buried.

There, there are some funeral weapons.These weapons were loaded guns, spears, and emerald axes of fine appearance, and a good quantity of ammunition, for the dead to hunt in hell.

"It seems that this is the armory!" Paganel said. "Actually, we can use them. It seems that God has prepared things for us here."

"Ah! Look, this gun is definitely made in England!" said the major, holding up a gun.

"Yes, it was given to the Maori by the English as a gift! How stupid!" said Sir Glenarvan. "They used the gun they sent to shoot the intruders; yes, I will use it to fight the intruders too. Fight these enemies!"

"However, the most convenient thing is the food here! Take a look, there are food and water for the dead." Paganel said hastily.

Sure enough!There are so many things to save!Enough food for these ten people for half a month.There are ferns, sweet potatoes, potatoes, etc., and several large tanks of clean water have been prepared.In addition, there are more than a dozen exquisite baskets, and there are many long squares made of green gum inside. I don't know what they are used for.

In this way, Jazz and his party will have enough food for a few days.

Sir Glenarvan brought out a lot of ingredients for cooking, and asked Aubine to cook, so that everyone could have a good meal.Aubine is serious about everything he does and does everything perfectly.But now there is a lack of fire to roast these ferns.When he was worried about this matter, fortunately, Paganel gave him an idea, put the ferns and sweet potatoes in the soil!
The temperature underground on this mountain can reach more than 60 degrees.When Aubine went to dig the pit to bury the grass roots and sweet potatoes, a gust of hot air shot out from the ground with a "spout", reaching a height of two meters, which shocked him and almost burned his hands .

"Block it! Stop it!" The major shouted hastily.Two sailors rushed over and filled the big hole with gravel.While watching, Paganel muttered to himself:

"How strange! Oh! Why can't it be done!"

"Aren't you burned?" the major asked Aubine with concern.

"Mr. McNabbs, no, but I didn't expect..." Aubine said awkwardly.

"I never imagined that God's gift is so good to us," interjected Paganel. "Here we have food, drink, and fire. It's as comfortable as heaven! Let's establish a colony here." We can cultivate the fields by ourselves, and we can live comfortably for a lifetime without worrying about food and clothing. Now, we are on Mount Mengganamu, let’s be like Robinson Robinson! I see that there is really nothing Lack!"

"There is nothing missing! It's a pity that the crust doesn't seem to be very strong." Meng Ge said.

"You don't have to worry about this! This crust was not formed yesterday! It has been so long now, and it has enough capacity to withstand the heat of the ground. At least until we leave, there will be no problems here." Paganel said .

"Breakfast is ready!" Aubine said with a serious expression as if he was in Malcolm's house.

Jazz and his party sat down by the fence and had breakfast.

There are only two types of food, and there is no way to fault it.Everyone's taste of Pteris vulgaris can be said to be different from the benevolent; some think it's not delicious, and some praise it endlessly.But everyone unanimously praised the delicious taste of baked sweet potatoes!After eating and drinking, Sir Glenarvan asked everyone to discuss how to escape next.

"Why the haste?" said Paganel. "It's a nice place, why don't we stay a little longer?"

"This place is very good, but it's not a place for a long time! Dear Mr. Paganel." Madam Helen said, "We can't learn from the serious mistakes Hannibal made when he was infatuated with Cabo!"

"My dear lady, you are right, and I was wrong; now let us discuss the matter of escape!"

"In my opinion, we have to go now, and we really can't stay here for long," said Sir Glenarvan. "Now that everyone is fed and nourished, and the spirits are very high, let's escape tonight! We will try our best Slip across the valley to the east, and sneak out of the Maori siege."

"That's a good idea! But it requires the Maori to close their eyes and let us go." Paganel said.

"But now their eyes are wide open, watching us!" Meng Ge said anxiously.

"I have a magic trick now." Paganel began to play tricks.

"You've got a plan for this plan!" The major asked back.

"Of course!" Paganel said here, without going on.

Everyone didn't continue to ask questions, they just hoped that it would get dark sooner.

The Maori still did not retreat, but gathered in place, and it seemed that their numbers were increasing.At the foot of the mountain, piles of raging bonfires lit up...

Night fell at last.The top of the mountain was shrouded in heavy night.The bonfire at the foot of the mountain was still burning bright red in the dark, surrounding the Mengganamu Mountain.What echoed in the mountains were the angry shouts of Maori.

At nine o'clock it was pitch black on the mountain.Sir Glenarvan and Mengel decided to observe first.The two of them slipped silently onto the ridge.This ridge leads straight into the Maori encirclement.Fifty feet above the two, the Maori could be seen lying on one side of the fire, seemingly making no sound.All of a sudden, there was loud gunshots on both sides of the ridge, which made the two of them break out in a cold sweat.

"Hurry up!" said the knight hastily. "The eyes of these villains are as keen as cats; and they are very accurate with marksmanship."

The two hurriedly climbed to the top of the mountain again.Seeing that the two of them were able to return safely, the companions finally let go of their hearts.Everyone checked carefully and found that there were two bullet holes in Jazz's hat, and he almost lost his life.But this reconnaissance was very rewarding, because they knew that the vigilance of the Maori was very high; there were mobile sentries encamped by the Maori on both sides of the ridge, so they must not let their guard down.

"Let's talk about it tomorrow!" Paganel said. "Since they are so closely watched, tomorrow you will see how I deal with them!"

It was freezing cold at night.Fortunately, the tomb also contained Karatet's best pajamas, thick weed grass and bedding.Everyone used it without hesitation, wrapped it around their bodies, and fell asleep not long after.

Now, their bodies are warm, the ground is warm, and there are fences blocking it. This is another sacred "Forbidden" mountain, and there is really no danger at all!
Paganel's trick

On the second day, on February 2th, the rising sun rose in the east, and Mount Mengganamu also woke up in the rising sun.A thick morning mist hung deep in the surrounding valleys.The early morning morning breeze caused ripples in Daobo Lake.

When Sir Glenarvan and his party woke up, they walked out of the cemetery, triggering a wild roar of madness from the Maori down the mountain.Everyone quickly asked Paganel, what tricks did he have?
"My friends," said Paganel, "the advantage of my plan is that, if it does not succeed, we shall not be worse off if it fails; and my plan will certainly succeed!"

"What is the specific content of your plan?" the major asked anxiously.

"Well, I think so. Because of the Maori's 'God Forbidden', we are safe in this mountain. Now, we have to convince them that because we desecrated this sacred mountain, we were condemned by God and died in a single day. In a catastrophe. In this way, the 'bone gnawer' will lead the retreat of the Horde."

"Well, that's a good idea!" Jazz praised.

"Then why did you allow us to be condemned by God?" Mrs. Helen asked hastily.

"Just like people who violated God's will in ancient times were burned to death by the sky fire, we also have to perform the scene of the sky fire appearing! Now, the sky fire is under our feet! We just need to release them!"

"Ah! You actually want the volcano to erupt!" Meng Geer said in amazement.

"Yes, we will use the ground fire to perform a game of sky fire! Moreover, we can control the fire at will. We can spray the fire if we want it, and we can't if we don't want it to erupt."

"Paganel, this is really a brilliant move!" The major praised.

"All we need to do is to pretend to be burned to death! In fact, we hid in the tomb of Kalatte... just stayed in the tomb for three or four days; in this way, the ignorant Maori They must have thought we were dead. After they evacuate, we will go out of the tomb again, and everything will be safe and sound!"

"What if they come up and do the autopsy themselves?" Miss Grant asked suspiciously.

"Dear Miss Mary, this is impossible. You must know that this mountain is a sacred mountain, so it has been 'forbidden by the gods'; the heavenly fire has executed those who violated the power of the gods, who would dare to come up now!"

"That's a good idea!" said Sir Glenarvan. "I'm afraid they'll stay at the bottom of the hill and won't go away. What should I do? The food in the tomb is relatively limited; but I've thought too much about it." ; but I don't think they'll think we've been burned to death."

"This is a hopeless solution! When will we start?" Mrs. Helen said.

"Start tonight!" said Paganel, "while the night is quiet."

"You are amazing, Paganel. I have never been blindly optimistic, but I believe that this time I will succeed!" The major agreed, "Let's play a farce and let those gangsters be superstitious! They don't believe in the Christianity of mercy! God forgive us, they are forced to do so!"

Paganel's plan was unanimously approved.Now it's a question of how.Although this plan is good, it is somewhat difficult to implement.Everyone is thinking, will there be a dangerous situation?Can the mountain's geology withstand the forces of magma and fire?Once the fire erupts, will the whole mountain burn up?In the face of the power of nature, can man resist it?All these facts caused everyone to have doubts; in fact, Paganel had thought about these problems and he hesitated; but in the end he still firmly believed that as long as he was careful and did not overdo it, he would be able to fool the Maori. Enough; to this extent, there are still ways to control it.

As a result, everyone was anxiously waiting for the night to fall. Everyone was really "waiting to see through", and everyone was anxiously counting the arrival of time.Everyone also made preparations to flee, divided the food into three portions, and wrapped them in burdens.Weapons and ammunition are ready.At this time, it was six o'clock in the evening.Aubine made dinner for everyone.Yes, eat and drink enough to do things!Everyone still doesn't know where you can have a meal of "buried pot cooking" in this deep mountain and wild forest!At dinner time, we also prepared a famous New Zealand special dish called "steamed voles"; it was voles cooked by Obine, caught by Wilson; it was delicious!
At this time, it was dusk and night, and the sun gradually faded away.The sky is billowing with dark clouds, and a storm can be seen approaching.In the sky, a flash of lightning flashed in the clouds, accompanied by the roar of thunder.

Paganel was ecstatic, knowing that God helped me!In the eyes of the Maori, the roar of thunder is the angry roar of the great god; the appearance of lightning is the wide open eyes of the great god;

It's eight o'clock in the evening.Eerie darkness has slowly engulfed the summit of Montganamu.This is a good time to do it, but the Maori can't see the fugitive.

Just do it!Sir Glenarvan and his fellow gentlemen set to work.

They decided to choose the fire-breathing place thirty steps away from the tomb; this was done with consideration, because the distance from the tomb should not be too close, once the tomb burns, the "divine prohibition" of this mountain will be lifted .

Then, everyone pulled out a few large wooden stakes outside the tomb as levers for prying open the large stones.After that, everyone came to the selected place and pried the rock with wooden stakes, and the rock was easily pried like this; after a while, a shallow ditch was dug beside the big rock, allowing the magma to roll down the ditch to the mountain. underfoot.These tasks made the ground tremble slightly, and the trembling became more violent, and the sound of gushing heat could be heard.Slowly, the sound of the fire on the ground and the chirping of the heat could be clearly heard.The jazz and his companions were still digging the ground at a leisurely pace.Suddenly, several gusts of hot air shot out from the ground, and the sound became louder and louder.At the last critical moment, everyone mustered up their energy and pried the big rock suddenly, and the rock rolled down along the bottom of the shallow ditch, making a huge roar all the way.

In an instant, the underground magma burst through the thin crust, and a fiery column of gas burst out.Next, the gushing spring water and red magma flowed down the mountain and rushed towards the Maori camp.

The mountain trembled violently, sliding down quickly as if attracted by the bottomless abyss.Jazz and his companions quickly hid in the tomb.Just a few drops of hot water fell on their bodies, and they felt that their skin was scalded, and the temperature seemed to be over ninety degrees.After a while, the boiling water was filled with a strong and pungent sulfur smell.

On the hillside, mud, lava, and gravel mixed into a hot rock flow, rolling down the hillside like a fire dragon galloping down the mountain.In the depressions and valleys, everywhere is red.

Jazz and his party heard the screams of ghosts and wolves in the Maori camp, and there was a mess everywhere; every Maori witnessed all this with fear, and ran and fled in all directions.Some daring Maori people turned their heads and looked back while running, witnessing this terrifying scene of "nature".They saw the volcano with its mouth wide open. It was the Maori they worshiped who were showing off their power and frantically "swallowed" these jazz people who blasphemed the mountain.

When the chug sound from the flame jets was slightly weaker, Sir Glenarvan and his party hidden in the tomb clearly heard the spell chanted by the Maori when they fled - "God forbid! God forbid..."

At this time, magma, rocks, and hot air continued to spew out, as if all the heat energy in the ground had gathered at this gap.

The heat is grilling everything on the mountain.The mice couldn't bear it, and they came out of their holes and ran around.

At this time, it began to rain.The wind is howling, the rain is pouring down, and the mountains are erupting fire. The scenery is very spectacular.

(End of this chapter)