CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

First he was angry, then could not believe it, and finally he was angry. I have never seen a man so confused at first and then so angry. After our long journey over the sea, we had to do it all over again! We had gone backwards!

"This sea has tricked me! Air, fire, and water have combined to stop me. Well, we'll see how my determination will help me against them. I won't give up. We'll see who wins, man or nature!"

"Listen to me," I said, "There's a limit to all the determination in the world. We must not fight against the impossible. We lost many of our supplies during the storm, and we are not ready for another sea adventure. We cannot travel another thousand miles in a storm again."

I was able to argue my opinion for the next ten minutes, but that was only because the professor was not listening to me.

"To the raft!" he cried. That was his answer.

Hans had just finished repairing the raft. It was as if that strange man already knew of my uncle's plans. What was I to do? I could not disagree with both of them. If Hans would support my opinion, then my uncle would listen. But the strange Icelander would not.

"We're not leaving till tomorrow," my uncle said to me. "I must explore this place, since I have twice been taken here."

"Yes," I said, "let's go exploring." We had come to the northern beach. Port Grauben was probably west of us.

We walked along the beach, and saw many bones from animals that had died many years ago. I saw the bones of some snakes and turtles that were nearly fifteen feet long. I also noticed that the rocks on the beach were smooth; the movement of the sea had shaped them after many years. I believed that this underground sea had come from cracks in the surface of the Earth. Water had escaped from the surface and into this hole, producing this incredible sea. However, the cracks were no longer, or the sea would have filled the hole in the Earth. The rocks that I saw were once underwater, but after a great deal of time, part of the water had evaporated. I was having these thoughts when my uncle called to me.

"Axel! Axel, come here! I've found human bones!"

(end of section)