



Produced by Jim Weiler and Roger Frank




[Illustration: THE FLYING MERMAID SANK LOWER AND LOWER TOWARD THE
MYSTERIOUS HOLE.]

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                    Five Thousand Miles Underground

                                   Or

                 The Mystery of the Centre of the Earth

                                   BY

                              ROY ROCKWOOD

         Author of "Through the Air to the North Pole," "Under
                the Ocean to the South Pole," "The Rival
                          Ocean Divers," Etc.

                              ILLUSTRATED

                                NEW YORK
                         CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY

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                          GOOD BOOKS FOR BOYS

                            By Roy Rockwood

                        THE GREAT MARVEL SERIES

            THROUGH THE AIR TO THE NORTH POLE
            Or The Wonderful Cruise of the Electric Monarch

            UNDER THE OCEAN TO THE SOUTH POLE
            Or The Strange Cruise of the Submarine Wonder

            FIVE THOUSAND MILES UNDERGROUND
            Or The Mystery of the Centre of the Earth

                           Cloth. Illustrated
                       Price per volume, 60 cents

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                          Copyright, 1908, by
                         Cupples & Leon Company

                    Five Thousand Miles Underground

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                                CONTENTS

                         I WASHINGTON BACKS OUT
                        II THE FLYING MERMAID
                       III WASHINGTON DECIDES
                        IV WHAT DID MARK SEE?
                         V ATTACKED BY A WHALE
                        VI THE CYCLONE
                       VII A QUEER SAIL
                      VIII THE FLYING MERMAID DISABLED
                        IX THE MUTINY
                         X FOOLING THEIR ENEMIES
                        XI MYSTERIOUS HAPPENINGS
                       XII THE BIG HOLE
                      XIII DOWN INTO THE EARTH
                       XIV MANY MILES BELOW
                        XV IN THE STRANGE DRAUGHT
                       XVI THE NEW LAND
                      XVII A STRANGE COUNTRY
                     XVIII CAUGHT BY A STRANGE PLANT
                       XIX THE BIG PEACH
                        XX OVERHAULING THE SHIP
                       XXI THE FISH THAT WALKED
                      XXII THE SNAKE-TREE
                     XXIII THE DESERTED VILLAGE
                      XXIV THE GIANTS
                       XXV HELD BY THE ENEMY
                     XXVII A FRIEND INDEED
                     XXVII A GREAT JOURNEY
                    XXVIII THE TEMPLE OF TREASURE
                      XXIX BACK HOME--CONCLUSION

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                    FIVE THOUSAND MILES UNDERGROUND


                               CHAPTER I

                          WASHINGTON BACKS OUT

"Washington! I say Washington!"

Throughout a big shed, filled for the most part with huge pieces of
machinery, echoed the voice of Professor Amos Henderson. He did not look
up from a small engine over which he was bending.

"Washington! Where are you? Why don't you answer me?"

From somewhere underneath an immense pile of iron, steel and aluminum
came the voice of a <DW52> man.

"Yas sir, Perfesser, I'se goin' t' saggasiate my bodily presence in yo'
contiguous proximity an' attend t' yo' immediate conglomerated
prescriptions at th' predistined period. Yas, sir!"

"Well, Washington, if you had started when you began that long speech
you would have been at least half way here by this time. Hurry up! Never
mind tightning those bolts now. Find the boys. I need them to help me
with this engine. They must be around somewhere."

"I seen 'em goin' fishin' down by th' brook a little while ago,"
answered the <DW64>, crawling out from under what seemed to be a combined
airship and watercraft. "Jack says as how yo' gived him permission t'
occupy his indisputatious period of levity in endeavorin' t' extract
from th' liquid element some specimens of swimmin' creatures."

"If you mean I said he and Mark could go fishing in the brook, you're
right, Washington," replied the professor with a smile. "But you waste a
lot