Page:Twenty Thousand Verne Frith 1876.pdf/170

 escaped as by a miracle from this encounter, even more dangerous than an encounter with a tiger in a jungle.

Half-an-hour later, guided by the electric light, we reached the Nautilus. The outside door was still open, Captain Nemo closed it when we had entered. He then pressed a spring. I heard the pumps working, and felt the water subsiding around me. In a few moments the cell was quite emptied. Then the inner door was opened and we stepped into the “vestry.”

There our divers’ dresses were doffed, but not without difficulty; and worn out, giddy from the want of food and rest, I regained my chamber, quite knocked up by this most extraordinary excursion to the bottom of the sea.