CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

When I opened my eyes again, Hans' strong arm was holding on to me. With his other arm, he was supporting my uncle. I wasn't badly hurt, but tired and hungry. I was lying on the side of a mountain. Hans had rescued me from death after I had come out of the mountain.

"Where are we?" my uncle asked, looking annoyed.

"In Iceland," I answered.

"Nej," Hans said.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" the professor asked.

"Hans is mistaken," I said.

I was shocked to feel the strong heat and see olive trees, only grown in warm climates, not Iceland. After walking for two hours, we saw a young child walking. He looked frightened to see us, and started to run away. Hans ran after him and brought him back. My uncle tried speaking to him in German, but the boy said nothing. Then he tried English, French, and finally Italian. The boy then responded that we were in Stromboli in Italy.

We were astonished. Ah, what a journey! What a wonderful journey! Having gone through one volcano, we have come out through another, more than three thousand miles from Sneffels!

After a delicious meal of fruit and cool water, we went to the harbor of Stromboli. We decided not to tell the villagers where we had come from, as we did not want to upset them. Instead, we told them we had lost our ship in a storm.

"But the instrument! I don't understand, it pointed north! How can we explain that?"

"We don't have to explain that," I said.

"You can't be serious! That would be a horrible thing for a professor and a scientist to do! I must find the reason!"

Soon after, we reached the harbor, where Hans asked for his thirteenth week's wages. My uncle gave it to him, then he and I shook his hand, smiling. Hans, showing more emotion than I had ever seen, shook our hands warmly and smiled.

(end of section)