第41章 WANT OF AIR(1)

Thus around the Nautilus,above and below,was an impenetrable wall of ice.We were prisoners to the iceberg.Iwatched the Captain.

His countenance had resumed its habitual imperturbability.

"Gentlemen,"he said calmly,"there are two ways of dying in the circumstances in which we are placed."(This puzzling person had the air of a mathematical professor lecturing to his pupils.)"The first is to be crushed;the second is to die of suffocation.

Ido not speak of the possibility of dying of hunger,for the supply of provisions in the Nautilus will certainly last longer than we shall.

Let us,then,calculate our chances."

"As to suffocation,Captain,"Ireplied,"that is not to be feared,because our reservoirs are full.""Just so;but they will only yield two days'supply of air.

Now,for thirty-six hours we have been hidden under the water,and already the heavy atmosphere of the Nautilus requires renewal.

In forty-eight hours our reserve will be exhausted.""Well,Captain,can we be delivered before forty-eight hours?""We will attempt it,at least,by piercing the wall that surrounds us.""On which side?"

"Sound will tell us.Iam going to run the Nautilus aground on the lower bank,and my men will attack the iceberg on the side that is least thick."Captain Nemo went out.Soon Idiscovered by a hissing noise that the water was entering the reservoirs.The Nautilus sank slowly,and rested on the ice at a depth of 350yards,the depth at which the lower bank was immersed.

"My friends,"Isaid,"our situation is serious,but Irely on your courage and energy.""Sir,"replied the Canadian,"Iam ready to do anything for the general safety.""Good!Ned,"and Iheld out my hand to the Canadian.

"Iwill add,"he continued,"that,being as handy with the pickaxe as with the harpoon,if Ican be useful to the Captain,he can command my services.""He will not refuse your help.Come,Ned!"Iled him to the room where the crew of the Nautilus were putting on their cork-jackets.Itold the Captain of Ned's proposal,which he accepted.The Canadian put on his sea-costume,and was ready as soon as his companions.

When Ned was dressed,Ire-entered the drawing-room,where the panes of glass were open,and,posted near Conseil,Iexamined the ambient beds that supported the Nautilus.

Some instants after,we saw a dozen of the crew set foot on the bank of ice,and among them Ned Land,easily known by his stature.

Captain Nemo was with them.Before proceeding to dig the walls,he took the soundings,to be sure of working in the right direction.

Long sounding lines were sunk in the side walls,but after fifteen yards they were again stopped by the thick wall.

It was useless to attack it on the ceiling-like surface,since the iceberg itself measured more than 400yards in height.

Captain Nemo then sounded the lower surface.There ten yards of wall separated us from the water,so great was the thickness of the ice-field.It was necessary,therefore,to cut from it a piece equal in extent to the waterline of the Nautilus.

There were about 6,000cubic yards to detach,so as to dig a hole by which we could descend to the ice-field.The work had begun immediately and carried on with indefatigable energy.

Instead of digging round the Nautilus which would have involved greater difficulty,Captain Nemo had an immense trench made at eight yards from the port-quarter.Then the men set to work simultaneously with their screws on several points of its circumference.

Presently the pickaxe attacked this compact matter vigorously,and large blocks were detached from the mass.By a curious effect of specific gravity,these blocks,lighter than water,fled,so to speak,to the vault of the tunnel,that increased in thickness at the top in proportion as it diminished at the base.

But that mattered little,so long as the lower part grew thinner.

After two hours'hard work,Ned Land came in exhausted.He and his comrades were replaced by new workers,whom Conseil and Ijoined.

The second lieutenant of the Nautilus superintended us.

The water seemed singularly cold,but Isoon got warm handling the pickaxe.My movements were free enough,although they were made under a pressure of thirty atmospheres.

When Ire-entered,after working two hours,to take some food and rest,Ifound a perceptible difference between the pure fluid with which the Rouquayrol engine supplied me and the atmosphere of the Nautilus,already charged with carbonic acid.

The air had not been renewed for forty-eight hours,and its vivifying qualities were considerably enfeebled.However,after a lapse of twelve hours,we had only raised a block of ice one yard thick,on the marked surface,which was about 600cubic yards!

Reckoning that it took twelve hours to accomplish this much it would take five nights and four days to bring this enterprise to a satisfactory conclusion.Five nights and four days!

And we have only air enough for two days in the reservoirs!

"Without taking into account,"said Ned,"that,even if we get out of this infernal prison,we shall also be imprisoned under the iceberg,shut out from all possible communication with the atmosphere."True enough!Who could then foresee the minimum of time necessary for our deliverance?We might be suffocated before the Nautilus could regain the surface of the waves?Was it destined to perish in this ice-tomb,with all those it enclosed?

The situation was terrible.But everyone had looked the danger in the face,and each was determined to do his duty to the last.

As Iexpected,during the night a new block a yard square was carried away,and still further sank the immense hollow.

But in the morning when,dressed in my cork-jacket,Itraversed the slushy mass at a temperature of six or seven degrees below zero,Iremarked that the side walls were gradually closing in.