Page:Twenty Thousand Verne Frith 1876.pdf/50



CHAPTER VI.

FULL SPEED.

At this announcement the whole crew ran towards the harpooner—commodore, officers, mates, sailors, and boys; even the engineers left the engine-room, and the stokers the furnaces. The order to “stop her” was given, and the frigate now only glided through the water by her own momentum.

The darkness was profound: and the Canadian must have had very good eyes. And I wondered what he had seen, and how he had been able to see it. My heart was beating fast.

But Ned Land had not been mistaken, and we all perceived the object he indicated with his outstretched hand.

Two cables’ lengths from the Abraham Lincoln, and on the starboard quarter, the sea appeared to be illuminated from below. It was not a common phosphorescence, and could not be mistaken for it. The monster, some fathoms beneath the surface, gave forth this intense light, which had been referred to in the reports of many captains. This wonderful irradiation must