Page:Twenty Thousand Verne Frith 1876.pdf/234

 uttering terrified yells, and executing most extraordinary antics.

Ten of his companions succeeded him, but all met the same fate.

Conseil was delighted. Ned Land, carried away by his impetuosity, advanced to the staircase; but so soon as he had touched the balustrade, he was upset bodily in his turn.

“A thousand devils!” he cried; “I am struck by lightning.”

That one word explained everything. It was not a balustrade, but a metal cable charged with electricity, and whoever touched it immediately received a fearful shock, which would have been fatal if Captain Nemo had permitted the full power to be used. One could truly say that between himself and his assailants he had drawn an electric chain which none could pass. Meanwhile the astonished Papuans had beaten a retreat, quite overcome with terror. We, half laughing, consoled and rubbed the unfortunate Ned Land, who kept swearing like a trooper.

But now the Nautilus, raised by the last waves of the high tide, left her bed of coral, and at the exact moment predicted by Captain Nemo. The screw slowly beat the ebbing waters. Her speed increased by degrees, and sailing upon the surface of the sea, she quitted the dangerous Torres Straits safe and sound.