lf the responsibility of compromising the
future of my companions? To-morrow Captain Nemo might take us far from
all land.

At that moment a rather loud hissing noise told me that the reservoirs
were filling, and that the Nautilus was sinking under the waves of the
Atlantic.

A sad day I passed, between the desire of regaining my liberty of
action and of abandoning the wonderful Nautilus, and leaving my
submarine studies incomplete.

What dreadful hours I passed thus! Sometimes seeing myself and
companions safely landed, sometimes wishing, in spite of my reason,
that some unforeseen circumstance, would prevent the realisation of Ned
Land's project.

Twice I went to the saloon. I wished to consult the compass. I wished
to see if the direction the Nautilus was taking was bringing us nearer
or taking us farther from the coast. But no; the Nautilus kept in
Portuguese waters.

I must therefore take my part and prepare for flight. My luggage was
not heavy; my notes, nothing more.

As to Captain Nemo, I asked myself what he would think of our escape;
what trouble, what wrong it might cause him and what he might do in
case of its discovery or failure. Certainly I had no cause to complain
of him; on the contrary, never was hospitality freer than his. In
leaving him I could not be taxed with ingratitude. No oath bound us to
him. It was on the strength of circumstances he relied, and not upon
our word, to fix us for ever.

I had not seen the Captain since our visit to the Island of Santorin.
Would chance bring me to his presence before our departure? I wished
it, and I feared it at the same time. I listened if I could hear him
walking the room contiguous to mine. No sound reached my ear. I felt
an unbearable uneasiness. This day of waiting seemed eternal. Hours
struck too slowly to keep pace with my impatience.

My dinner was served in my room as usual. I ate but little; I was too
preoccupied. I left the table at seven o'clock. A hundred and twenty
minutes (I counted them) still separated me from the moment in which I
was to join Ned Land. My agitation redoubled. My pulse beat
violently. I could not remain quiet. I went and came, hoping to calm
my troubled spirit by constant movement. The idea of failure in our
bold enterprise was the least painful of my anxieties; but the thought
of seeing our project discovered before leaving the Nautilus, of being
brought before Captain Nemo, irritated, or (wha