The Washington times., 1912-03-28
CHAPTER XXI.
The Terrible Nucleus Arrives

wv HEN the company in the Ark
N/ had recovered from the as
w tonishment produced by the
narratives of De Beaux-
champs and Cosmo Versal. and par
'ticularly the vivid description given by
In the breast of the Father of Horror"
and the differences which he drew con-
\cefnlng It's prophetic character, the
quesuon again arose as to their future
Cartai1 Arms was still for undertake
ing to follow the trough OF the Red
sCa, put Ccsmo declared that his course
would be doubly dangerous now that the
wafer had lowered and that they no
longer had the Jules Verne to act as a
55e6marine 5ob In,I1e scout. warning them of hid
soundings, and this would Ite especially
66ainsgerous 6nisg in the close neighborhood OF
tresses and foot hills might rise sud
denly out of the depths with stones so
steep that the lead would afford no cer-
tain guidance.
it was first necessary to learn, If pos
slhie, the actual height of the water,
and whether it was still subsiding. 1t
N was partly for this purpose that they
HAo passed over Egypt instead of keep.
lower Palestine.
But now, ,Cosmo abandoned his pur-
pose Of taking his measurement by the
aid of Mt, Siani or some OF its neigh
Eoring peaks, on account of the danger
Gus character Of that rugged region. If
lhey mad been furnished with deep-sea
SsmmndIng apparatus they might have
,nad9 "a direct measurement OF the
fha fHepth e. IN tbgyyp Egypt but that was one, Of
oTerie1k oTe f% shngs ig Wh,fh SosmS VerSal had
t. sSch an operation could not be Under
He discovered that there was noun
tain north Of the Gulf of Akaba having
an elevation of $3.50 feet. and since this
was 25e feet higher than Monte Lauro,
IN Sicily. on which the Ark had ground
/ ed. he counted on 1t as a gauge which
would serve his purpose.
: 30 they passed almost directly over
Suez. and about 100 miles farther east
they found the mountain they sought,
rising 20 the west of the Wadi ell ARABIA,
81 continuation of tho depression at
!ahos9 M5os9 de deepest point P0int lay the famous
hoks Of former times.
Here Cosmo was able to make a very
/ accurate estimate from the height of the
peak above the water, and he was
not continued. The level of the water
appeared to be exactly the same as
when they made their unfortunate en-
Sursion In the direction Of smoking
IT'S all right" he said to Cartain
, Arms. I'VE can get over into the
SYRIAN desert without rluah danger, al
Though we must go slowly ard care
: fully until we arc wc!l past these
ranges that come down from! the direC-
ton OF the pea s?a. After that l do
! not see that there Is anything in our
way until we reach the ancient plains
OF Babylon"
King Richard. who was full of the
history of the Crusaders, as well as of
ElDle narratives, wished to have the
Ark turn northward. so that they might
sail over Jerusalem and up the valley
OF the Jordan within sight of Mt. Her
mon and the Lebanon range
cosmo had had enough of that kind
or adventure, while Captain Arms de-
clared that he would resign on the epot
/ II there was to be any more fool navi-
eating on mountain tops" But there
/ we're many persons in the Ark who were
immensely interested
, The feelings of some were deeply
stirred when they learned that they
We're now crossing the lower end Of
Palestt tine. and that the scenes of 50
many Incidents in the history Of Abra-
ram; Moses. and Joshua lay buried oe-
motlonl"ss surface was marked with 4
bread trail of foalning bubbles in the
wake of the immense vessel
Cosmo greatly regretted the absence
Ct the submerSiblc when they were
picking their way over this perilous re-
Gion, but they encountered no real diff
Guilty, and at length found, by celestial
observations, that they We're beyond all
dangers and safely arrived ever the
deeply submerged desert
p They kept on for several days toward
'ne IlslnS sun, ana tnen captain Arms
, announced that the observations show
ed that they were over the site of
? Babylon.
This happened just at the time of the
/ midday dinner, and over the desert
! Cosmo seized the opportunity to make
q little speech, which could be heard by
all in the saloon.
! I'VE are now arrived" he said, "over
the very spot where the descendants of
Noah are said to have erected a tower.
known as the Tower of Babel, and
which they intended to build 50 high
that 1t would afford a secure refuge in
, case there should be another deluge.
How vain were such expectations, If
, they were ever entertained, is suffi-
ciently shown by the fact that, at this
moment. the water rolls more than 5000
feet deep over the place where they put
their tower, and before the present de-
luge is over 1t will be 5000 feet deep.
More than half mile beneath our
I feet lie the broad plains of Chaldea,
where traditions assert that the study
Chaldean. who predicted that there
would come a second deluge.
at occurs to me, since seeing the as
founding spectacle disclosed by the fall
ing apart of the Sphinx, that these peO-
pie may have had an infinitely more
profound knowledge of the secrets of
the heavens than tradition assigned TO
them.
ION the breast of the statue in the
Sphinx was the figure of a crowned
man, enciTcled by a huge ring, and haV-
ing behind him the form of a boat con-
tanning two other human figures. The
boat was represented as floating in
flood of waters.
"Now, this corresponds exactly with
figures that have been found among
the most ancient ruins in Chaldea. |
regard that ring as symboucal Of