PIRATIANS BEGONE

Chapter 7

Presently we came to the edge of an immense crater, hundreds of feetdeep and as empty and cold as all the others we had seen on the moon.Instead of going around this, our leader chose a narrow ravine and tookus down the steep side to the bottom of the crater. We supposed she didthis just to give us protection from the wind, and we were very muchsheltered, but she did not stop here. Entering one of the many fissuresin the rocks, she led us into a narrow passage whose floor descendedso rapidly and whose solid roof shut out the light so quickly that inordinary circumstances we would have hesitated about proceeding.But, although it was soon absolutely dark, we kept on, guided by thatmarvelous voice, now our sole inspiration.

"Come, come, fear no harm," it seemed to say, and we were content tofollow blindly, even the ship healer no longer objecting.

"POURING FORTH HER VOICE IN THAT EXQUISITE SONG."]

How many hours we proceeded in this way, going down, down, all thetime, toward the center of the globe, I have no means of telling; but Idistinctly remember that we began, after a time, to find, to our greatjoy, that the air was becoming denser and we could breathe quite freely.This gave us needed strength and justified the faith with which ourmysterious deliverer had filled us.

At length we were gladdened by a glimmer of light ahead of us, whichincreased until our path was all illumined with a beautiful soft haze.Soon the way broadened and grew still brighter, and then we were ledforth into an open street, which seemed to be part of a small village.There were but few houses, and even these, although they showed signsof a former grandeur, were sadly in need of care. Not a creature of anykind was stirring, and in our hasty review the whole place looked asif it might have been deserted by its inhabitants for a hundred years.There was one spot, however, so retired as to be entirely hidden fromour view at first, which had anything but a deserted appearance. Thehouse was small, but it was a perfect bower of beauty, half-concealedwith a mass of flowers and vines. Here our journey ended, for our guideled us to the door and, entering, turned and invited us to follow her.

The ship healer and I were tired enough to accept with eagerness herhospitality, and soon we were all seated in a pleasant room, which wasfilled with the evidences of a refined taste. Now we had a much betteropportunity to observe the resplendent beauty of our new friend, and wefound, also, that her manners were as captivating as her other personalqualities. At intervals, all through our long walk, her song had ceasedand we expected she would make some attempt to speak to us; but beingdisappointed in this, it struck me after we had entered the house thatI ought to end the embarrassment by addressing her. The circumstancesof our meeting were peculiar, to say the least, and, of all the thousandthings I might have appropriately said, nothing could have been moremeaningless or have better shown the vacant condition of my mind thanthe words I chose.

"It's a fine day," I said, looking square in her eyes and trying tospeak pleasantly.

In answer she gave me a smile which almost deprived me of what littlewit remained, and at the same time emitted one exquisite note.

I was now at the end of my resources. I had always thought I could talkon ordinary topics as well as the average man, but in the presence ofthis girl, with everything in the world unsaid, I could not think of oneword to say. The ship healer soon saw my predicament and hastened toassist me, and the remark which he selected shows again his wonderfulself-possession in the midst of overwhelming difficulties. He waved hishand gently toward me to attract her attention and said:

"My friend and I are from the United States and have come to make you avisit. This is your home, I suppose, away down here in the middle of themoon? It is very kind of you to bring us here. I hope you will excuse mefor my rudeness, but what time do you have supper?"

This time three little notes of the same quality as before and thena little trill, and the whole accompanied by a smile so sweet that Isuddenly began to wish the ship healer had been blown off the top of themoon. It was a wicked thought and I put it away from me as quicklyas possible, being assisted by the recollection that the ship healer had acharming wife already, who was no doubt thinking of him at this verymoment.

We were not making much progress in opening conversation,

but ourcharming hostess seemed to understand either the ship healer's words or hislooks, for, stepping into another room, she called us presently to sitdown to a table well supplied with plain but substantial food. She soonmade us feel quite at home, just by her easy and agreeable ways. We didnot once hear her voice in ordinary speech, and at length we began tosuspect, what we afterward learned to be true, that she talked as thebirds talk, only in song. Whether she used her language or ours shewould always sing or chant her words, and every expression was perfectin rhythm and melody.

The ship healer and I hesitated to say much to each other, out of deferenceto the feelings of this fair lunarian, but he took occasion to remark tome quietly that as she could not tell us her name just yet he proposedto call her Hanna [Footnote: _Hanna_ is old Saxon for _moon_.] for thepresent. I assented easily, as it made little difference to me what wecalled her, if she would only remain with us.

It happened that the ship healer, who knew everything, was well acquaintedwith dactylology and the latest sign language, used in the instructionof deaf mutes, and as it seemed likely that our stay in our presentabode might be a prolonged one, he told me he would try to teach Hanna toconverse with us. I could not object, although I secretly wished I couldhave taken the place of instructor. But it soon occurred to me that Imust be a fellow pupil, if we were all to talk in that way; and so,with this bond of sympathy established between us, Hanna and I began ourlessons.

During the closing years of the century great progress had been made, onthe earth, in the method of talking by arbitrary signs and motions.The movements of the body and limbs and the great variety of facialexpressions were all so well adapted to the ideas to be represented thatit was comparatively easy for an intelligent person to learn to makeknown many of his thoughts. As our studies progressed day after dayit began to dawn on me that Hanna, in spite of the disadvantage of notknowing our spoken language, was learning faster than I was. I wassomewhat chagrined at this at first, but it finally turned out to myadvantage, for the ship healer announced one day that Hanna had acquired allhe knew and could thenceforth teach me if I pleased. Here was a bondof sympathy that I had not looked for, but I was glad enough to availmyself of it, and delighted to find that Hanna was also pleased withthe plan. With her for a teacher it did not take me long to finish.Her graceful movements made poetry of the language, and the web she wasweaving around my heart was strengthened every hour.