18 Stranded

CHAPTER 18 Stranded At six o'clock the next morning, the 22nd of March, we began to get ready to leave. The last bits of light were melting into night. The cold was great and the stars hung low above us. Our trip began. We went down a thousand feet and went north at a speed of fifteen miles an hour. Toward night we began our way under the iceberg. At three in the morning I was woken up by a violent shock. I sat up in my bed and

listened in the darkness. Suddenly I was thrown into the middle of the room. The Nautilus, having been hit, jerked strongly. I felt my way along the wall and followed the staircase to the saloon. The furniture was turned over. The pictures on the walls were crooked. The Nautilus was lying on its side, perfectly still. I heard footsteps and voices but Captain Nemo didn't appear. As I was leaving the saloon, Ned and Conseil entered. "What is the matter?" I asked at once. "I came to ask you, sir," replied Conseil. "I know," Ned said. "The Nautilus has hit something. And by the way she is lying, I don't think she is going to right herself this time!" "Are we at the surface?" I asked. "We don't know," said Conseil. "It's easy to find out," I said. I went over to the manometer. This tool showed us how deep we were. To my great surprise, it showed that we were more than a hundred and eighty fathoms

down. "What does that mean?" I exclaimed. "We must ask Captain Nemo," said Conseil. "But where is he?" said Ned. "Follow me," I said to my companions. We left the saloon. There was no one in the library, the staircase, or the pilot's cage. We returned to the saloon. For twenty minutes we waited, listening for the smallest noise. Finally, Captain Nemo entered. He acted as if he didn't even see us. His face, usually so proud, showed signs of worry. He watched the compass, then the manometer, then the other instruments he used to guide the ship. I didn't interrupt him, but was glad when he finally turned toward me. "Something's happened, Captain?" I asked. "Yes, an accident." "Serious?" I asked. "Maybe," the captain answered. "Are we in danger right at this moment?" "No," he answered. "Are we stuck here?" I asked, hoping for the

right answer. "Yes, we are stranded." "But how?" I asked. "How did this happen?" "It wasn't anyone's fault," the captain answered. It happened because of science—the way the ocean is working." The captain went on to explain the details. A mountain of ice had turned over. When it fell, it hit the Nautilus, causing it to turn on its side. The Nautilus was slowly rising, but the mountain of ice was rising with the ship. The ship could continue to rise until it hit the surface and fixed itself, or… the ship could be crushed between two mountains of ice. Captain Nemo never took his eyes off the manometer. The Nautilus had risen about a hundred and fifty feet since he had first looked at it. Suddenly we felt a slight movement. Pictures hanging in the saloon were returning to their normal position. No one spoke. With beating hearts we watched and felt the Nautilus

straighten. A slow ten minutes passed. "At last we have righted!" I exclaimed. "But are we floating?" "Certainly," Captain Nemo replied. We went down the hall and climbed the steps leading to the gate. We stepped out onto the platform to see an amazing sight. We were in open sea, but with a dazzling wall of ice around us. In fact, we were in a perfect tunnel of ice. It was easy to get out of it by going either forward or backward, and then going under the iceberg a hundred yards or so. The next few moments were dazzling. The shine made by the ice actually hurt our eyes. It took some time at last to calm down. It was then five in the morning. At that moment we felt a shock. I knew right away that we had hit a block of ice. I also knew that Captain Nemo would simply find another turn in the tunnel. Instead, I felt the Nautilus start backward. "That's no problem," I thought out loud. "We

will just go back out and go to the southern opening. "But hours passed. I stayed with my friends to make the waiting seem better. I kept looking at the long instruments hanging in the saloon. We were still more than three hundred feet down. We were still moving south and we were traveling at a speed of twenty miles an hour. But Captain Nemo knew what he was doing. I tried not to worry. At twenty-five minutes past eight, a second shock took place. This time it came from behind. I turned pale. My friends were close by my side. I took Conseil's hand and squeezed it. The looks on our faces told more than words. At this moment, the captain entered the saloon. I walked up to him. "Our path is now blocked in the south?" I asked. "Yes. The iceberg has moved and every open spot is now blocked."