"We promise," said Cyrus Harding.
And by this promise he bound both himself and his companions.
"Gentlemen," resumed the captain, "to-morrow I shall be dead."
Herbert was about to utter an exclamation, but a sign from the captain arrested him.
"To-morrow I shall die, and I desire no other tomb than the _Nautilus_.
It is my grave! All my friends repose in the depths of the ocean; their resting-place shall be mine."
These words were received with profound silence.
"Pay attention to my wishes," he continued. "The _Nautilus_ is imprisoned in this grotto, the entrance of which is blocked up; but, although egress is impossible, the vessel may at least sink in the abyss, and there bury my remains."
The colonists listened reverently to the words of the dying man.
"To-morrow, after my death, Mr Harding," continued the captain, "yourself and companions will leave the _Nautilus_, for all the treasures it contains must perish with me. One token alone will remain with you of Prince Dakkar, with whose history you are now acquainted.
That coffer yonder contains diamonds of the value of many millions, most of them mementoes of the time when, husband and father, I thought happiness possible for me, and a collection of pearls gathered by my friends and myself in the depths of the ocean. Of this treasure, at a future day, you may make good use. In the hands of such men as yourself and your comrades, Captain Harding, money will never be a source of danger. From on high I shall still partic.i.p.ate in your enterprises, and I fear not but that they will prosper."
After a few moments" repose, necessitated by his extreme weakness, Captain Nemo continued--
"To-morrow you will take the coffer, you will leave the saloon, of which you will close the door; then you will ascend onto the deck of the _Nautilus_, and you will lower the main-hatch so as entirely to close the vessel."
"It shall be done, captain," answered Cyrus Harding.
"Good. You will then embark in the canoe which brought you hither; but, before leaving the _Nautilus_, go to the stern and there open two large stop-c.o.c.ks which you will find upon the water-line. The water will penetrate into the reservoirs, and the _Nautilus_ will gradually sink beneath the water to repose at the bottom of the abyss."
And, comprehending a gesture of Cyrus Harding, the captain added--
"Fear nothing! You will but bury a corpse!"
Neither Cyrus Harding nor his companions ventured to offer any observation to Captain Nemo. He had expressed his last wishes, and they had nothing to do but to conform to them.
"I have your promise, gentlemen?" added Captain Nemo.
"You have, captain," replied the engineer.
The captain thanked the colonists by a sign, and requested them to leave him for some hours. Gideon Spilett wished to remain near him, in the event of a crisis coming on, but the dying man refused, saying, "I shall live until to-morrow, sir."
All left the saloon, pa.s.sed through the library and the dining-room, and arrived forward, in the machine-room, where the electrical apparatus was established, which supplied not only heat and light but the mechanical power of the _Nautilus_.
The _Nautilus_ was a masterpiece, containing masterpieces within itself, and the engineer was struck with astonishment.
The colonists mounted the platform, which rose seven or eight feet above the water. There they beheld a thick gla.s.s lenticular covering, which protected a kind of large eye, from which flashed forth light. Behind this eye was apparently a cabin containing the wheels of the rudder, and in which was stationed the helmsman, when he navigated the _Nautilus_ over the bed of the ocean, which the electric rays would evidently light up to a considerable distance.
Cyrus Harding and his companions remained for a time silent, for they were vividly impressed by what they had just seen and heard, and their hearts were deeply touched by the thought that he whose arm had so often aided them, the protector whom they had known but a few hours, was at the point of death.
Whatever might be the judgment p.r.o.nounced by posterity upon the events of this, so to speak, extra-human existence, the character of Prince Dakkar would ever remain as one of those whose memory time can never efface.
"What a man!" said Pencroft. "Is it possible that he can have lived at the bottom of the sea? And it seems to me that perhaps he has not found peace there any more than elsewhere."
"The _Nautilus_," observed Ayrton, "might have enabled us to leave Lincoln Island and reach some inhabited country."
"Good Heavens!" exclaimed Pencroft, "I for one would never risk myself in such a craft. To sail on the seas, good; but under the seas, never!"
"I believe, Pencroft," answered the reporter, "that the navigation of a submarine vessel such as the _Nautilus_ ought to be very easy, and that we should soon become accustomed to it. There would be no storms, no lee-sh.o.r.e to fear. At some feet beneath the surface the waters of the ocean are as calm as those of a lake."
"That may be," replied the sailor, "but I prefer a gale of wind on board a well-found craft. A vessel is built to sail on the sea, and not beneath it."
"My friends," said the engineer, "it is useless, at any rate as regards the _Nautilus_, to discuss the question of submarine vessels. The _Nautilus_ is not ours, and we have not the right to dispose of it.
Moreover, we could in no case avail ourselves of it. Independently of the fact that it would be impossible to get it out of this cavern, whose entrance is now closed by the uprising of the basaltic rocks, Captain Nemo"s wish is that it shall be buried with him. His wish is our law, and we will fulfil it."
After a somewhat prolonged conversation, Cyrus Harding and his companions again descended to the interior of the _Nautilus_. There they took some refreshment and returned to the saloon.
Captain Nemo had somewhat rallied from the prostration which had overcome him, and his eyes shone with their wonted fire. A faint smile even curled his lips.
The colonists drew around him.
"Gentlemen," said the captain, "you are brave and honest men. You have devoted yourselves to the common weal. Often have I observed your conduct. I have esteemed you--I esteem you still! Your hand, Mr Harding!"
Cyrus Harding gave his hand to the captain, who clasped it affectionately.
"It is well!" he murmured.
He resumed--
"But enough of myself. I have to speak concerning yourselves, and this Lincoln Island, upon which you have taken refuge. You desire to leave it?"
"To return, captain!" answered Pencroft quickly.
"To return, Pencroft?" said the captain, with a smile. "I know, it is true, your love for this island. You have helped to make it what it now is, and it seems to you a paradise!"
"Our project, captain," interposed Cyrus Harding, "is to annex it to the United States, and to establish for our shipping a port so fortunately situated in this part of the Pacific."
"Your thoughts are with your country, gentlemen," continued the captain; "your toils are for her prosperity and glory. You are right. One"s native land!--there should one live! there die! And I! I die far from all I loved!"
"You have some last wish to transmit," said the engineer with emotion, "some souvenir to send to those friends you have left in the mountains of India?"
"No, Captain Harding; no friends remain to me! I am the last of my race, and to all whom I have known I have long been as are the dead.-- But to return to yourselves. Solitude, isolation, are painful things, and beyond human endurance. I die of having thought it possible to live alone! You should, therefore, dare all in the attempt to leave Lincoln Island, and see once more the land of your birth. I am aware that those wretches have destroyed the vessel you had built."
"We propose to construct a vessel," said Gideon Spilett, "sufficiently large to convey us to the nearest land; but if we should succeed, sooner or later we shall return to Lincoln Island. We are attached to it by too many recollections ever to forget it."
"It is here that we have known Captain Nemo," said Cyrus Harding.
"It is here only that we can make our home!" added Herbert.
"And here shall I sleep the sleep of eternity, if--" replied the captain.
He paused for a moment, and, instead of completing the sentence, said simply--