Verne_Twenty_Thousand_Leagues_Under_the_Sea.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
day nor an hour.
went down to the saloon both fearing and wishing to
meet , both wanting and not wanting to see
him. could say to him ? hide from him
the involuntary horror he inspired me with ? 1 was
better not to find myself face to face with him to
forget him ! yet
a long day was the last had to pass on board the
\ remained alone. and
avoided me, so as not to betray us by talking.
6 p.m. dined, but without appetite. forced
myself to eat notwithstanding my lost appetite, wishing to
keep up my strength.
half-past six entered my room. said
to me
" shall not see each other again before our departure.
ten o'clock the moon will not yet be up. shall take
advantage of the darkness. to the boat.
and will be waiting for you there."
the went out without giving me time to
answer.
wished to verify the direction of the . went
to the saloon. were going ... with frightful speed
at a depth of twenty-five fathoms.
looked for the last time at all the natural marvels and
riches of art collected in this museum, in this unrivalled
collection destined one day to perish in the depths of the sea
with the man who had made it. wished to take a lasting
impression of it in my mind. remained thus for an hour,
bathed in the light of the luminous ceiling, and passing in
review the shining treasures in their glass cases.
went back to my room.
put on my solid sea-garments. collected my
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notes together and placed them carefully about me.
heart beat loudly. could not check its pulsations.
my agitation would have betrayed me to
.
was he doing at that moment ? listened at the
door of his room. heard the sound of footsteps :
was there. had not gone to bed. every
movement that he made thought he was going to appear
and ask me why wanted to escape ! was constantly
on the alert. imagination exaggerated everything.
impression became so poignant that asked myself if
had not better enter the captain's room, see him face to
face, dare him with look and gesture !
was a madman's inspiration. fortunately restrained
myself, and lay down on my bed to stay the agitation of my
body and mind. nerves gradually grew calmer, but
in my excited brain passed in review my whole existence
on board the , all the happy or unfortunate incidents
that had occurred since my disappearance from iheAbraham
, the submarine hunts, , the
savages, the stranding, the coral cemetery, the tunnel,
, the plunger, , ,
the ice-bank, the , the imprisonment in ice, the
fight with the poulps, the tempest of the ,
the , and that horrible scene of the sunken ship and
her crew ! these events passed through my mind like
the background to a scene at the theatre.
grew out of all proportion as the central figure.
was no longer a man like me, but the genius of the sea.
w'as then half-past nine. held my head in my hands
to prevent it bursting. closed my eyes, and was deter-
mined to think jno more. half-hour to wait.
half-hour's nightmare would drive me mad !
that moment heard the vague chords of the organ, a
sad harmony under an indefinable melody, veritable wails
of a soul that wished to break all terrestrial ties. listened
with all my senses, hardly breathing, plunged, like
, in one of those musical ecstasies which took him
beyond the limits of this world.
a sudden thought terrified me. had
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left his room. was in the saloon that was obliged to
cross in my flight. should meet him for the last
time. would see me, perhaps speak to me. gesture
from him could paralyse me, a single word could chain me
to his vessel.
o'clock was on the point of striking. moment
had come to leave my room and rejoin my companions.
could not hesitate should stand before
me. opened my door with precaution, and yet it seemed
to make a fearful noise. that noise only existed in
my imagination.
felt my way along the dark waist of the ,
stopping at every step to suppress the beatings of my heart.
reached the corner door of the saloon and opened it
softly. saloon was quite dark. tones of the
organ were feebly sounding. was there.
did not see me. think that in a full light he would
not have perceived me, he was so absorbed.
dragged myself over the carpet, avoiding the least con-
tact, lest the noise should betray my presence. took
me five minutes to reach the door into the library.
was going to open it when a sigh from
nailed me to the place. thought that he had moved from
his seat. even saw him, for some rays from the lighted
library reached the saloon. came towards me with
folded arms, silent, gliding rather than walking, like a
ghost. oppressed chest heaved with sobs, and heard
him murmur these words the last heard :
" ! ! ! "
it remorse that was escaping thus from the con-
science of that man ?
, rushed into the library, went up the central
staircase, and, following the upper waist, reached the
boat through the opening that had already given passage to
my two companions.
" us go ! us go ! " cried.
" once," answered the .
orifice in the plates of the was first shut and
bolted by means of a wrench that had provided
himself with. opening in the boat was also closed, and
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the began to take out the screws that still fastened
us to the submarine vessel.
a noise was heard in the interior.
answered one another quickly. was the matter ?
they discovered our flight ? felt glide
a dagger into my hand.
" ! " murmured, " we shall know how to die ! "
had stopped in his work. one word,
twenty times repeated, a terrible word, revealed to me the
cause of the agitation on board the . crew
were not anxious about us.
" ! the 1 " they were crying.
! a more frightful word in a
more frightful situation have sounded in our ears ?
we then on the most dangerous part of the
shore ? the being dragged into a gulf at the
very moment our boat was preparing to leave its side ?
is well known that at the tide the pent-up waters be-
tween the and rush out with
irresistible violence. form a whirlpool from which
no ship could ever escape. every point of the
horizon rush monstrous and irresistible waves.
form the gulf justly called " of the ," of which
the power of attraction extends for a distance of ten miles.
not only vessels but whales are sucked up.
was there that the had been purposely, or by
mistake run by its captain. was describing a spiral, the
circumference of which was lessening by degrees.
it, the boat fastened to it was whirled round with giddy
speed. felt it. felt the sick sensation that succeeds a
long-continued movement of gyration. were horror-
stricken with suspended circulation, annihilated nervous
influence, covered with cold sweat like that of death !
noise surrounded our fragile boat 1 roaring,
which echo repeated at a distance of several miles ! an
uproar was that of the water breaking on the sharp rocks at
the bottom, where the hardest bodies are broken, where the
trunks of trees are worn away, and are " made into fur,"
according to a saying
a situation ! were frightfully tossed about.
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defended itself like a human being. steel
muscles cracked. it stood upright, and we with
it!
" must hold on and screw down the bolts again," said
. " may still be saved by keeping to the
"
had not finished speaking when a crash took place.
screws were torn out, and the boat, torn from its
groove, sprang like a stone from a sling into the midst of the
whirlpool.
head struck on its iron framework, and with the
violent shock lost all consciousness.
ended this voyage under the sea. happened
during that night, how the boat escaped the formidable
eddies of the , how , , and got
out of the gulf, have no idea. when came to myself
was lying in the hut of a fisherman of the .
two companions, safe and sound, were by my side press-
ing my hands. shook hands heartily.
this moment we cannot think of going back to .
of communication between the north of and
the south are rare. am, therefore, obliged to wait for the
steamer that runs twice a month to .
is here, therefore, amidst the honest folk who have
taken us in, that revise the account of these adventures.
is exact. a fact has been omitted, not a detail
exaggerated. is a faithful narrative of an incredible
expedition in an element inaccessible to man, and to which
progress will one day open up a road.
be believed ? do not know. all, it
matters little. can now affirm is my right to speak
of the sea under which, in less than ten months, journeyed
twenty thousand leagues during that submarine tour of
the world that has revealed so many marvels of the ,
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the , , , , and
the austral and boreal seas !
what has become of the ? it resisted
the pressure of the ? still
alive ? he still pursuing his frightful vengeance under the
ocean, or did he stop before that last hecatomb ? the
waves one day bring the manuscript that contains the whole
history of his life ? know at last the name of the
man ? the ship that has disappeared tell us by its
nationality, the nationality of ?
hope so. also hope that his powerful machine has
conquered the sea in its most terrible gulf, and that the
has survived where so many other ships have
perished ! it is so, if still inhabits the
ocean, his adopted country, may hatred be appeased in his
savage heart ! the contemplation of so many marvels
extinguish in him the desire of vengeance ! the
judge disappear, and the scientist continue his peaceful
exploration of the sea ! his destiny is strange, it is
sublime also. not experienced it myself ?
not lived ten months of this unnatural life ? men
only have a right to answer the question asked in the
6,000 years ago. " which is far off and
exceeding deep, who can find it out ? " two men
are and .