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days I think you can act with security."
Ned Land still looked at me fixedly; at length his fixed lips parted, and he said, "It is for to-night."
I drew myself up suddenly. I was, I admit, little prepared for this communication. I wanted to answer the
Canadian, but words would not come.
"We agreed to wait for an opportunity," continued Ned Land, "and the opportunity has arrived. This night we
shall be but a few miles from the Spanish coast. It is cloudy. The wind blows freely. I have your word, M.
CHAPTER VIII 116
Aronnax, and I rely upon you."
As I was silent, the Canadian approached me.
"To-night, at nine o'clock," said he. "I have warned Conseil. At that moment Captain Nemo will be shut up in
his room, probably in bed. Neither the engineers nor the ship's crew can see us. Conseil and I will gain the
central staircase, and you, M. Aronnax, will remain in the library, two steps from us, waiting my signal. The
oars, the mast, and the sail are in the canoe. I have even succeeded in getting some provisions. I have procured
an English wrench, to unfasten the bolts which attach it to the shell of the Nautilus. So all is ready, till
to-night."
"The sea is bad."
"That I allow," replied the Canadian; "but we must risk that. Liberty is worth paying for; besides, the boat is
strong, and a few miles with a fair wind to carry us is no great thing. Who knows but by to-morrow we may
be a hundred leagues away? Let circumstances only favour us, and by ten or eleven o'clock we shall have
landed on some spot of terra firma, alive or dead. But adieu now till to-night."
With these words the Canadian withdrew, leaving me almost dumb. I had imagined that, the chance gone, I
should have time to reflect and discuss the matter. My obstinate companion had given me no time; and, after
all, what could I have said to him? Ned Land was perfectly right. There was almost the opportunity to profit
by. Could I retract my word, and take upon myself the responsibility of compromising the future of my
companions? To-morrow Captain Nemo might take us far from all land.
At that moment a rather loud hissing noise told me that the reservoirs were filling, and that the Nautilus was
sinking under the waves of the Atlantic.
A sad day I passed, between the desire of regaining my liberty of action and of abandoning the wonderful
Nautilus, and leaving my submarine studies incomplete.
What dreadful hours I passed thus! Sometimes seeing myself and companions safely landed, sometimes
wishing, in spite of my reason, that some unforeseen circumstance, would prevent the realisation of Ned
Land's project.
Twice I went to the saloon. I wished to consult the compass. I wished to see if the direction the Nautilus was
taking was bringing us nearer or taking us farther from the coast. But no; the Nautilus kept in Portuguese
waters.
I must therefore take my part and prepare for flight. My luggage was not heavy; my notes, nothing more.
As to Captain Nemo, I asked myself what he would think of our escape; what trouble, what wrong it might
cause him and what he might do in case of its discovery or failure. Certainly I had no cause to complain of
him; on the contrary, never was hospitality freer than his. In leaving him I could not be taxed with ingratitude.
No oath bound us to him. It was on the strength of circumstances he relied, and not upon our word, to fix us
for ever.
I had not seen the Captain since our visit to the Island of Santorin. Would chance bring me to his presence
before our departure? I wished it, and I feared it at the same time. I listened if I could hear him walking the
room contiguous to mine. No sound reached my ear. I felt an unbearable uneasiness. This day of waiting
seemed eternal. Hours struck too slowly to keep pace with my impatience.
My dinner was served in my room as usual. I ate but little; I was too preoccupied. I left the table at seven
CHAPTER VIII 117
o'clock. A hundred and twenty minutes (I counted them) still separated me from the moment in which I was to
join Ned Land. My agitation redoubled. My pulse beat violently. I could not remain quiet. I went and came,
hoping to calm my troubled spirit by constant movement. The idea of failure in our bold enterprise was the
least painful of my anxieties; but the thought of seeing our project discovered before leaving the Nautilus, of
being brought before Captain Nemo, irritated, or (what was worse) saddened, at my desertion, made my heart
beat.
I wanted to see the saloon for the last time. I descended the stairs and arrived in the museum, where I had
passed so many useful and agreeable hours. I looked at all its riches, all its treasures, like a man on the eve of
an eternal exile, who was leaving never to return.
These wonders of Nature, these masterpieces of art, amongst which for so many days my life had been
concentrated, I was going to abandon them for ever! I should like to have taken a last look through the
windows of the saloon into the waters of the Atlantic: but the panels were hermetically closed, and a cloak of
steel separated me from that ocean which I had not yet explored.
In passing through the saloon, I came near the door let into the angle which opened into the Captain's room.
To my great surprise, this door was ajar. I drew back involuntarily. If Captain Nemo should be in his room, he
could see me. But, hearing no sound, I drew nearer. The room was deserted. I pushed open the door and took
some steps forward. Still the same monklike severity of aspect.
Suddenly the clock struck eight. The first beat of the hammer on the bell awoke me from my dreams. I
trembled as if an invisible eye had plunged into my most secret thoughts, and I hurried from the room.
There my eye fell upon the compass. Our course was still north. The log indicated moderate speed, the
manometer a depth of about sixty feet. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]