CHAPTER SIX

I was quite worried after hearing such words, but my hunger was, at that moment, more important. We went to the dining room to wait for Martha to make lunch. During the meal, my uncle was quite content and talkative. After finishing, my uncle asked me to follow him into his study.

"Axel," he said gently, "you're a clever boy. You helped me a great deal. I'll never forget what you did. You'll share in this fame when we return from the center of the Earth."

I then decided that since my uncle was in a good mood, I must talk to him about his crazy plans for us.

"Uncle, how do you know this document is, indeed, real? Isn't it possible that this writing is a fake? Do you even know where Sneffels is? I've never heard of it."

"That's easy to explain. Sneffels is a volcano in Iceland, although the volcano has been dead for several hundred years. Its last volcanic explosion was in 1219; we'll go into the center of the Earth through the hole in the volcano."

Seeing how confident my uncle was about his decision to go to the center of the Earth, I realized that there was no way I could persuade him not to go; and I would be forced to go along, as well.

"Yes, I believe this document could be real," I said, "and perhaps Saknussemm did go to the center of the Earth, but I do not believe he could have gone and come back from the center of the Earth alone."

"And why do you have such an opinion?" my uncle asked with a smile.

"Most scientists say it cannot be done; they believe the Earth is quite hot at the center of the earth, which would not allow us to reach the center alive. It is well-known that heat rises about one degree for every forty feet below the surface of the Earth. From the surface of the Earth to the center, there is a distance of nearly thirty-eight hundred miles, so the temperature at the center of the Earth should be about half a million degrees."

"So, it's the heat that bothers you, Axel?" my uncle responded, ready to laugh at my fears. "No one has ever explored the inside of the Earth, and we know that such beliefs about the inside of the Earth may be wrong, so I believe that we should examine it for ourselves. Perhaps Saknussemm did, indeed, travel to the center of the Earth, now we must try for ourselves, as no one else knows what is really inside the Earth. We know that the number of volcanoes has greatly declined since the beginning of the world. This means that the heat at the center of the Earth, which causes volcanoes to explode, has greatly declined, as well."

"Yes, yes, it is possible!" I said, persuaded by my uncle's strong arguments.

"It's certain," my uncle said, looking quite delighted. "But, keep quiet about all this, you understand? We mustn't let anyone else know about our idea to explore the center of the Earth."

(end of section)