How Igot on to the platform,Ihave no idea;perhaps the Canadian had carried me there.But Ibreathed,Iinhaled the vivifying sea-air.
My two companions were getting drunk with the fresh particles.
The other unhappy men had been so long without food,that they could not with impunity indulge in the simplest aliments that were given them.We,on the contrary,had no end to restrain ourselves;we could draw this air freely into our lungs,and it was the breeze,the breeze alone,that filled us with this keen enjoyment.
"Ah!"said Conseil,"how delightful this oxygen is!
Master need not fear to breathe it.There is enough for everybody."Ned Land did not speak,but he opened his jaws wide enough to frighten a shark.Our strength soon returned,and,when Ilooked round me,Isaw we were alone on the platform.
The foreign seamen in the Nautilus were contented with the air that circulated in the interior;none of them had come to drink in the open air.
The first words Ispoke were words of gratitude and thankfulness to my two companions.Ned and Conseil had prolonged my life during the last hours of this long agony.
All my gratitude could not repay such devotion.
"My friends,"said I,"we are bound one to the other for ever,and Iam under infinite obligations to you.""Which Ishall take advantage of,"exclaimed the Canadian.
"What do you mean?"said Conseil.
"Imean that Ishall take you with me when Ileave this infernal Nautilus.""Well,"said Conseil,"after all this,are we going right?""Yes,"Ireplied,"for we are going the way of the sun,and here the sun is in the north.""No doubt,"said Ned Land;"but it remains to be seen whether he will bring the ship into the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean,that is,into frequented or deserted seas."Icould not answer that question,and Ifeared that Captain Nemo would rather take us to the vast ocean that touches the coasts of Asia and America at the same time.He would thus complete the tour round the submarine world,and return to those waters in which the Nautilus could sail freely.We ought,before long,to settle this important point.The Nautilus went at a rapid pace.
The polar circle was soon passed,and the course shaped for Cape Horn.
We were off the American point,March 31st,at seven o'clock in the evening.Then all our past sufferings were forgotten.
The remembrance of that imprisonment in the ice was effaced from our minds.We only thought of the future.Captain Nemo did not appear again either in the drawing-room or on the platform.
The point shown each day on the planisphere,and,marked by the lieutenant,showed me the exact direction of the Nautilus.
Now,on that evening,it was evident,to,my great satisfaction,that we were going back to the North by the Atlantic.
The next day,April 1st,when the Nautilus ascended to the surface some minutes before noon,we sighted land to the west.
It was Terra del Fuego,which the first navigators named thus from seeing the quantity of smoke that rose from the natives'huts.
The coast seemed low to me,but in the distance rose high mountains.
Ieven thought Ihad a glimpse of Mount Sarmiento,that rises 2,070yards above the level of the sea,with a very pointed summit,which,according as it is misty or clear,is a sign of fine or of wet weather.
At this moment the peak was clearly defined against the sky.