Chapter 7 A Guide for the Journey.
I woke up the next morning to hear my uncle talking loudly in the next room.
I quickly dressed and joined him.
Uncle was standing with a very tall and well-built man.
He was the strongest-looking man I had ever seen.
I watched this man with great interest.
He moved slowly and carefully.
His arms did not swing by his sides.
All of his movements were controlled and exact.
His eyes were blue and intelligent.
He was like no one else I had ever met.
My uncle was speaking Danish to this man.
I say speaking to rather than speaking with because Uncle Lidenbrock was doing all the talking.
He only stopped when he saw me walk into the room.
Axel, my boy, he said in German.
This is Hans.
He will be our guide for the trip.
He does not speak German, only Icelandic and Danish.
You won't be able to talk to each other, but that's fine.
Hans and I have already made all the necessary plans.
I nodded to Hans, and he nodded back.
Despite our different languages, I knew we would get along just fine.
My uncle finally revealed his plan for the trip.
Hans would lead us to the village of Strapi, just south of the volcano.
It would take seven or eight days.
We would have four horses, two for riding and two for luggage.
Hans would walk.
That is what he preferred.
We would gather more supplies in Strapi, then start our climb up the volcano.
Hans agreed to work for my uncle until the journey was complete.
Uncle Lidenbrock did not tell Hans our ultimate destination.
I thought that he should be completely honest, but I knew my uncle had his reasons.
My uncle agreed to pay Hans every Saturday.
It was understood that the contract would be broken if Hans was not paid on time.
We were to leave in two days.
My uncle got to work packing and preparing right away.
I worked alongside him, of course.
My uncle spent much of his time packing all the instruments we would need.
Many of them were delicate.
He had to make sure they would not get damaged while traveling.
First of all, we had a special thermometer.
It could read very high and very low temperatures.
We also had an instrument to measure the air pressure.
This instrument would tell us how much oxygen there was to breathe.
We had to be careful as we headed so far underground.
Then there was a chronometer.
A chronometer is a very sturdy clock.
We did not know what we might find on our journey, so we needed a timepiece that could work in very hot or very cold conditions.
We carried two compasses.
This would help us know in which direction we were walking.
We packed three lanterns.
Each was powered by a battery with an electrical charge that lit the bulb.
We also carried pickaxes, a hammer, a ladder made of silk, and lots of rope.
Our food supplies were coffee, dried meats, crackers, nuts, and raisins.
We had flasks, but we did not carry water.
My uncle was sure we would find water along the way.
Before I knew it, two days had passed.
We left for the volcano on June 16th at six in the morning.
The day was gray and overcast.
We were pleased that there was no rain or severe heat.
We had the perfect weather for tourists.
Hans walked in front of us, and we followed on our horses.
Hans followed a route along the coast.
It was very rocky, and we moved slowly.
My uncle was growing impatient again.
The trip was taking too long.
He could not understand why we traveled at such a slow pace.
Uncle Lidenbrock tried to get his horse to move quicker.
He dug his heels into the animal's sides.
He flicked the reins.
He leaned down on the horse's neck, hoping that it would make it move.
Nothing worked.
The horse walked at the same pace that Hans did.
It refused to go any faster unless Hans told it to.
We came to a river.
It was about 40 feet wide.
Hans told my uncle, who then told me that we would have to pause there.
My uncle did not wait to find out why we were stopping her for how long.
He clicked his heels into the horse's sides, forcing it into the water.
He planned to cross the river and not wait for the rest of us.
The horse tried to turn back to the shore.
My uncle did his best to stop him.
They struggled and my uncle lost.
He was thrown from the horse's back into the river.
Thankfully, this happened not far from shore.
My uncle could easily walk back.
He looked embarrassed, so I did my best not to laugh.
I also did not point out the approaching ferry.
I realized then that Hans had brought us to a ferry stop.
We got on, and it carried us across the river.
Uncle Lidenbrock was soaking wet.
He sat quietly on the ferry as it carried us safely to the other side.
