Chapter XXXIX

At these words the man arose, and the light shone full upon his face: a magnificent head, with abundance of hair thrown back from a high forehead, a white beard, and an expression of haughtiness.

This man stood, resting one hand upon the divan, from which he had risen. He said in English:

“I have no name, sir!”

“I know you!” answered Smith.

Captain Nemo looked at the engineer. Then, falling back upon the cushions, he murmured:

“After all, what does it matter; I am dying!”

Smith approached Captain Nemo, and Spilett took his hand, which was hot with fever. The others stood respectfully in a corner of the superb salon, which was flooded with light.

Captain Nemo withdrew his hand, and signed to Smith and the reporter to be seated.

All looked at him. Here was the man whom they had called the ruler of the island, the benefactor to whom they owed so much. Pencroff and Neb had expected to find some godlike creature, but this was only a man – a dying man!

But how did Smith know Captain Nemo? The Captain had taken his seat upon the divan and regarded the engineer.

“You know my name?” he asked.

“I know it as well as I know the name of this admirable submarine apparatus.”

“The Nautilus,” said the Captain, with a half smile.

“The Nautilus.”

“For thirty years I have had no communication with the inhabited world, for thirty years I have lived in the depths of the sea, the only place where I have found freedom! Who, now, has betrayed my secret? The Frenchman?”

“Yes. There has appeared a book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, a work which contains your history.”

“I am a great criminal,” said Captain Nemo, smiling. “Yes, a revolutionist, a scourge to humanity.”

“I am unable to judge Captain Nemo,” said Smith, at least in what concerns his past life. “I am ignorant of the motives for this strange existence, and I am unable to judge of the effects without knowing the causes, but what I do know is that a beneficent hand has been constantly extended to us since our arrival here, and this hand is yours, Captain Nemo!”

“Listen, my hours are numbered,” said Nemo. And then, in a few short, clear sentences, he told them the history of his life.

He was an Indian prince, the Prince Dakkar, the son of the rajah. His father sent him, when ten years old, to Europe, where he received a complete education. From ten years of age until he was thirty, the Prince Dakkar instructed himself in everything; pushing his investigations in science, literature, and art to the uttermost limits.

He travelled over all Europe. Young and handsome, he remained serious, gloomy, with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. He hated the only country – England – more and more as he admired it. England, the land to which India owed its subjection.

The Prince Dakkar became an artist, a savant familiar with the sciences; a statesman educated in European courts. But then Dakkar lost his family and his kingdom, and he devoted himself to scientific research. An extraordinary engineer, Nemo has designed and built the Nautilus, wherein he and a crew of followers cruise the seas. They gather gold from various shipwrecks in the oceans. He had no interest in the affairs of the world above. This artist, this savant, this man was Indian to the heart, Indian in his desire for independence.

During many years, the Captain visited all the oceans, from one pole to the other. Finally, he decided to take his Nautilus to one of the submarine ports. One of these ports was under Lincoln Island, and was the present asylum of the Nautilus. For six years the Captain had remained there. One day, clothed in his impermeable jacket, he was walking under the water, when the engineer was thrown into the sea. Captain Nemo saved Cyrus Smith.

Captain Nemo watched these men, thrown without resources upon a desert island, but he did not wish to be seen. Little by little, as he saw their honest, energetic lives, he interested himself in their efforts. Clothed in his impermeable jacket, he could easily reach the bottom of the well in Granite House, and he heard the colonists talk of their past and discuss their present and future.

Captain Nemo saved Top, stranded the box of useful articles, threw the cord from Granite House, when it was attacked by the monkeys, wrote about the presence of Ayrton on Tabor Island, blew up the brig by means of a torpedo, saved Herbert from certain death by bringing the quinine, finally, killed the convicts by the electric balls.

When the Captain finished the recital of his life, Smith spoke. He thanked this generous man for all that he had done.

Captain Nemo asked:

“What do you think of me?”

Smith took the hand of the Captain, and answered him in a grave voice:

“Captain, all great actions return to God, from whom they came! We will always weep for you!”

Herbert approached him. He knelt down and took the hand of the captain, and kissed it. A tear glistened in the eye of the dying man.

“My child,” he said, “bless you!”

Chapter XL

It was morning. Captain Nemo, overcome by an extreme fatigue, fell back upon the divan. He wished to remain among the priceless treasures of the Nautilus.

The engineer and the reporter consulted together in low tones. Could they do anything for the dying man? He himself had said that there was no remedy, and he awaited death calmly and without fear.

“We can do nothing,” said Spilett.

“What is he dying of?” asked Pencroff.

“Of exhaustion,” answered the reporter.

“But if we take him out into the open air, into the sunlight, perhaps he will revive?”

“No, Pencroff,” responded the engineer, “there is nothing to do. Moreover, Captain Nemo wants to stay here. He has lived on the Nautilus for thirty years, and on the Nautilus he wishes to die.”

Doubtless Captain Nemo heard Smith’s words, and he said:

“You are right. I wish to die here. Tomorrow I will be dead, and I wish for no other tomb than the Nautilus. It is my coffin! All my friends rest at the bottom of the sea, and I wish to rest there also. The Nautilus is imprisoned in this grotto. But if it cannot leave this prison, it can at least sink itself in the abyss. All these riches will disappear with me. One single remembrance of Prince Dakkar, whose history you know, will remain to you. Take this coffer, it encloses diamonds worth many millions, a collection of pearls gathered by my friends and myself from the bottom of the sea. With this treasure, you will be able, in some time, to accomplish good. In your hands and those of your companions, Mr. Smith, wealth will not be dangerous. Tomorrow, you will take this coffer, you will leave this salon, and close the door; then you will ascend to the platform of the Nautilus and you will bolt down the hatchway.

“We will do it, sir,” replied Smith.

“Very well. You will then embark in the boat which brought you here. But, before abandoning the Nautilus, go to the stern, and there, open two large cocks which you will find at the waterline. The water will penetrate and the Nautilus will sink beneath the waves and rest upon the bottom of the abyss.”

“We will do it, sir,” said Smith.

The Captain made a sign thanking them. All left the salon, passing through the library, the dining-room, and reached the forward part of the vessel, where the electric apparatus, furnishing heat, light, and motive power to the Nautilus was placed. The submarine was a real masterpiece, which filled the engineer with amazement.

“What a man!” said Pencroff. “Is it credible that he has lived so at the bottom of the ocean!”

“The Nautilus,” observed Ayrton, “could be very useful for us; we could leave Lincoln Island and return home.”

“My friends,” said the engineer, “The Nautilus is not ours, and we have no right to dispose of it. Captain Nemo’s wish is law, and we will obey it.”

Smith and his companions left the submarine, taking with them the sole souvenir of their benefactor, the coffer containing great treasures. The marvellous salon was carefully closed. The cover to the hatchway was bolted down. Then the colonists entered the boat, which was moored beside the submarine ship.

The boat was taken to the stern. There, at the water-line, they opened the two large cocks which communicated with the reservoirs designed to immerse the apparatus.

And with the cocks opened, and reservoirs filled, the Nautilus, sinking slowly, disappeared beneath the sea.

Chapter XLI

In the early morning the colonists reached the entrance of the cavern, which they called Crypt Dakkar, in remembrance of Captain Nemo. The tide was low, and they easily passed under the archway. By 9 o’clock the colonists were in Granite House again.

Smith gave the construction of the ship more of his time and care than ever before. If, when it was finished, the colonists decided not to leave the island they could at least make the voyage to Tabor Island and leave a notice there.

By the 23d of January the ship was half planked. But during the night of the 23d the upper cone, which formed the cap of the volcano, was lifted off by the pressure of the lava, which had reached the level of the lower cone. A terrible noise was heard. The colonists, believing that the island was going to pieces, rushed out of Granite House.

It was 2 o’clock in the morning. The heavens were on fire. The upper mass a thousand feet high, and weighing thousands of millions of pounds had been thrown upon the island, making the earth tremble.

“The corral! The corral!” cried Ayrton.

It was, indeed, towards the corral that the lava took their way. The colonists had rushed towards the stables. Before 3 o’clock they were there. Frightful cries indicated the terror of the moufflons and goats. The gate was hastily opened by Ayrton, and the animals, wild with terror, escaped in every direction.

An hour later the boiling lava filled the corral. Nothing was left of it. The colonists wanted to struggle against this invasion; they had tried it, but foolishly and uselessly. Man is helpless before these grand cataclysms.

The morning of the 24th arrived.

“The lake will protect us,” said Spilett.

“I hope so,” answered Smith. But that was all he said.

By 7 o’clock the colonists were no longer able to keep their position. The principal current of lava became more and more threatening. All the forest was surrounded, and enormous clouds of smoke rolled above the trees, whose roots were already in the lava.

“The current will invade the forests, and not a tree, not a plant will be left upon the face of the ground,” said the reporter. “We will die upon these rocks!”

Unfortunately, the lake had been overcome by the fire. During the next six days, the colonists worked on the ship with all their might. The eruption continued without cessation. The colonists abandoned Granite House, and camped in a tent near the mouth of the Mercy.

“The ship,” said the engineer, “is now our sole refuge!”

“Does it not seem to you, Cyrus, that the volcano is subsiding? It still vomits lava, but less freely!”

“It matters little,” answered Smith. “The fire is still fierce in the bowels of the mountain, and the sea may rush in there at any moment. We are like persons on a ship devoured by a fire which they cannot control. Come, Spilett, come, we have not an hour to lose!”

For eight days longer, until the 8th of February, the lava continued to flow. The colonists felt vibrations in the ground which gave them the greatest uneasiness.

On the 3rd of March they were able to calculate that the ship could be launched in twelve days.

“We will finish the ship!” said Pencroff to the engineer. “Well, if it is necessary, we will winter at Tabor Island!”

“Let us make haste!” was the invariable answer of the engineer.

And every one worked unceasingly.

Bur on the morning of the 9th of March, an enormous column of steam escaped from the crater, rising in the midst of terrific detonations to a height of more than 3,000 feet. An explosion shook the very heavens! Fragments of the mountain fell into the Pacific, and, in a few minutes, the ocean covered the place where Lincoln Island had been!