The beds of water farthest from the trench,that were not warmed by the men's work,showed a tendency to solidification.In presence of this new and imminent danger,what would become of our chances of safety,and how hinder the solidification of this liquid medium,that would burst the partitions of the Nautilus like glass?
Idid not tell my companions of this new danger.
What was the good of damping the energy they displayed in the painful work of escape?But when Iwent on board again,Itold Captain Nemo of this grave complication.
"Iknow it,"he said,in that calm tone which could counteract the most terrible apprehensions."It is one danger more;but Isee no way of escaping it;the only chance of safety is to go quicker than solidification.We must be beforehand with it,that is all."On this day for several hours Iused my pickaxe vigorously.
The work kept me up.Besides,to work was to quit the Nautilus,and breathe directly the pure air drawn from the reservoirs,and supplied by our apparatus,and to quit the impoverished and vitiated atmosphere.Towards evening the trench was dug one yard deeper.
When Ireturned on board,Iwas nearly suffocated by the carbonic acid with which the air was filled--ah!if we had only the chemical means to drive away this deleterious gas.We had plenty of oxygen;all this water contained a considerable quantity,and by dissolving it with our powerful piles,it would restore the vivifying fluid.
Ihad thought well over it;but of what good was that,since the carbonic acid produced by our respiration had invaded every part of the vessel?To absorb it,it was necessary to fill some jars with caustic potash,and to shake them incessantly.
Now this substance was wanting on board,and nothing could replace it.
On that evening,Captain Nemo ought to open the taps of his reservoirs,and let some pure air into the interior of the Nautilus;without this precaution we could not get rid of the sense of suffocation.The next day,March 26th,Iresumed my miner's work in beginning the fifth yard.
The side walls and the lower surface of the iceberg thickened visibly.
It was evident that they would meet before the Nautilus was able to disengage itself.Despair seized me for an instant;my pickaxe nearly fell from my hands.What was the good of digging if Imust be suffocated,crushed by the water that was turning into stone?--a punishment that the ferocity of the savages even would not have invented!Just then Captain Nemo passed near me.
Itouched his hand and showed him the walls of our prison.
The wall to port had advanced to at least four yards from the hull of the Nautilus.The Captain understood me,and signed me to follow him.
We went on board.Itook off my cork-jacket and accompanied him into the drawing-room.
"M.Aronnax,we must attempt some desperate means,or we shall be sealed up in this solidified water as in cement.""Yes;but what is to be done?"
"Ah!if my Nautilus were strong enough to bear this pressure without being crushed!""Well?"Iasked,not catching the Captain's idea.
"Do you not understand,"he replied,"that this congelation of water will help us?Do you not see that by its solidification,it would burst through this field of ice that imprisons us,as,when it freezes,it bursts the hardest stones?Do you not perceive that it would be an agent of safety instead of destruction?""Yes,Captain,perhaps.But,whatever resistance to crushing the Nautilus possesses,it could not support this terrible pressure,and would be flattened like an iron plate.""Iknow it,sir.Therefore we must not reckon on the aid of nature,but on our own exertions.We must stop this solidification.
Not only will the side walls be pressed together;but there is not ten feet of water before or behind the Nautilus.
The congelation gains on us on all sides.""How long will the air in the reservoirs last for us to breathe on board?"The Captain looked in my face."After to-morrow they will be empty!"Acold sweat came over me.However,ought Ito have been astonished at the answer?On March 22,the Nautilus was in the open polar seas.
We were at 26@.For five days we had lived on the reserve on board.
And what was left of the respirable air must be kept for the workers.
Even now,as Iwrite,my recollection is still so vivid that an involuntary terror seizes me and my lungs seem to be without air.
Meanwhile,Captain Nemo reflected silently,and evidently an idea had struck him;but he seemed to reject it.At last,these words escaped his lips:
"Boiling water!"he muttered.
"Boiling water?"Icried.
"Yes,sir.We are enclosed in a space that is relatively confined.
Would not jets of boiling water,constantly injected by the pumps,raise the temperature in this part and stay the congelation?""Let us try it,"Isaid resolutely.
"Let us try it,Professor."
The thermometer then stood at 7@outside.Captain Nemo took me to the galleys,where the vast distillatory machines stood that furnished the drinkable water by evaporation.
They filled these with water,and all the electric heat from the piles was thrown through the worms bathed in the liquid.
In a few minutes this water reached 100@.It was directed towards the pumps,while fresh water replaced it in proportion.
The heat developed by the troughs was such that cold water,drawn up from the sea after only having gone through the machines,came boiling into the body of the pump.The injection was begun,and three hours after the thermometer marked 6@below zero outside.
One degree was gained.Two hours later the thermometer only marked 4@.
"We shall succeed,"Isaid to the Captain,after having anxiously watched the result of the operation.
"Ithink,"he answered,"that we shall not be crushed.
We have no more suffocation to fear."
During the night the temperature of the water rose to 1@below zero.