
The Poison Belt
'The Poison Belt ' Summary
Challenger sends telegrams asking his three companions from The Lost World Edward Malone, Lord John Roxton, and Professor Summerlee to join him at his home outside London, and instructs each of them to 'bring oxygen'. During their journey there, they see people's behaviour become excitable and erratic. On arrival, they are ushered into a sealed room, along with Challenger and his wife. In the course of his researches into various phenomena, Challenger has predicted that the Earth is moving into a belt of poisonous ether which, based on its effect on the people of Sumatra earlier in the day, he expects to stifle humanity. Challenger seals them in the room with cylinders of oxygen, which he believes will counter the effect of the ether.
The five wait out the Earth's passage through the poison belt as they watch the world outside, human and animal, die and machines run amok. Finally, the last of the oxygen cylinders are emptied, and they open a window, ready to face death. To their surprise, they do not die and conclude the Earth has now passed through the poison belt. They journey through the dead countryside in Challenger's car, finally arriving in London. They encounter only one survivor, an elderly, bed-ridden woman prescribed oxygen for her health.
After returning to Challenger's house, they discover that the effect of the ether is temporary, and the world reawakens with no knowledge that they have lost any time at all. Eventually, Challenger and his companions manage to convince the world what happened a task made easier by the tremendous amount of death and destruction caused by runaway machines and fires that took place while the world was asleep and humanity is shocked into placing a higher value on life.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1913Genre/Category
Tags/Keywords
Authors

Arthur Conan Doyle
United Kingdom
Arthur Conan Doyle was a British author and physician, born on May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. He is widely known for his fictional detective stories featuring the iconic character of Sher...
Books by Arthur Conan DoyleDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
Related books

Dan, the Newsboy by Horatio Alger
In this gripping tale, Alger introduces us to Dan Mordaunt, a street-smart newsboy fighting against the odds to improve his life. From the very first...

Viimeinen ottelu (The Game) by Jack London
”Viimeinen ottelu” seuraa ammattilaisnyrkkeilijä Jack Robertsonia, joka kamppailee alkoholismin ja peliriippuvuuden kanssa. Hänen uransa on laskussa,...

Lock and Key Library by Various
A collection of classic mystery and detective stories, collected and edited by Julian Hawthorne.Note: the second chapter of Dickens’ The Haunted House...

Helping Himself, or Grant Thornton's Ambition by Horatio Alger, Jr.
Grant Thornton is a fifteen-year-old farm boy whose father has recently passed away, leaving his family in abject poverty. Grant is determined to help...

Fritz to the Front by Edward L. Wheeler
A Dutch tramp who aspires to be a detective and possesses exceptional ventriloquist skills finds himself entangled in a baffling case involving an elo...

Casebook of Sherlock Holmes Part 1 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
This collection of Sherlock Holmes stories is regarded as the darkest of the Holmes canon, with some unusual villains. The stories are not all narrate...

Circular Study by Anna Katharine Green
In this classic detective novel, Detective Gryce is summoned to a seemingly ordinary brownstone where he finds a man brutally murdered, yet carefully...

From the Earth to the Moon, Version 2 by Jules Verne
In Jules Verne's satirical tale, a group of Americans embark on a grand and audacious plan to launch a cannonball to the moon. They construct a coloss...

Islands of Space by John Wood Campbell, Jr.
In 'Islands of Space,' a group of Earth scientists embark on a daring interstellar voyage aboard a vessel capable of exceeding the speed of light. The...

Lady from Nowhere by Fergus Hume
Lady from Nowhere is a classic mystery novel set in Victorian London. A mysterious woman is found dead in a yellow boudoir, leaving behind no clues as...
Reviews for The Poison Belt
No reviews posted or approved, yet...