Chapter 15 The Coal Mine The next day, the 20th of February, I woke up very late.
It was eleven o'clock before I got dressed and headed for the saloon to check the compass for our direction.
It said we were heading south at a speed of twenty miles an hour and at a depth of fifty fathoms.
I noticed the species of fish out the windows.
I had seen even the rare ones so much that I hardly thought about them anymore.
And yet they were of incredible color and spirit.
By four o'clock I began to grow tired.
I was worn out from the long night before.
I went back to my cabin and spent the evening quietly before going to bed.
It was eight o'clock the next day when I entered the saloon.
I looked at the instruments.
They said the Nautilus was floating on the surface of the ocean.
I heard footsteps above me.
I went to the platform, but instead of broad daylight, I was surrounded by blackness.
Was it still night?
No, not a star was shining.
I didn't know what to think when a voice near me said, Is that you, Professor?
Ha, Captain, I answered.
Where are we?
Underground, sir.
Underground, I exclaimed, and the Nautilus is still floating.
It always floats.
But I don't understand.
Wait a few minutes, our lanterns will be lit, and you will see.
I stood on the platform and waited.
It was so dark that I couldn't even see Captain Nemo.
The lantern was lit.
I closed my eyes for a second and then looked again.
The Nautilus was stopped, floating near a mountain.
We were in a lake with high walls all around us.
Where are we?
I asked.
In an old volcano that stopped working years ago, Captain Nemo replied.
How did we get in here?
I asked.
The ocean water formed a canal like a ditch to lead us in here.
We are safe.
We use this volcano quite often.
We get our energy here.
What do you mean, I asked, trying to figure out how that could work.
We mined a coal out of the rock, Captain Nemo said.
That is how we get our power.
It was funny, I had never really thought of that before.
Now that I knew about this place and about how the beast kept going, it was a wonderful addition to the story of the submarines.
We will be working here today, the captain said.
If you and your friends would like to look around the cavern, you may go ahead.
I thanked the captain and went to look for Ned and Conceal.
As I did, I wondered if Captain Nemo had any idea how much Ned wanted to leave.
Did he know we were planning an escape?
Was he going to have his own plan for keeping us away from land to make our try impossible?
I invited my two friends to follow me without telling them where we were going.
It was hard to surprise Conceal with anything, for he was always one step ahead of me.
That's the way it was today.
And Ned, rather than enjoying the day, thought of nothing other than finding out if we could get off the mountain through the cavern.
Despite the fact that they didn't share my feelings of excitement.
We spent the rest of the day exploring.
As we climbed on board the Nautilus, at the end of the day we saw that the crew had just finished loading the coal.
The ship could have left right then, but Captain Nemo gave no order.
Did he want to wait until tonight and leave secretly in the dark?
Was this just in case we did try to sneak away?
Perhaps so.
Whatever it was, the next day the Nautilus steered clear of all land.
It made me wonder about the captain even more.
For nineteen days, the Nautilus stayed in the middle of the Atlantic, carrying us at a speed of one hundred leagues a day.
Nothing of any importance happened during this long time.
However, Ned seemed to grow angrier by the day.
It was as if the captain was purposely trying to keep the ship in the middle of the waters.
By March 13th, we had traveled about 13,000 leagues since our departure in the Pacific.
My companions came to me in my room.
I have a simple question to ask you, Ned said.
Speak, Ned.
How many men do you think there are on board the Nautilus?
I can't tell, my friend, I said.
I would say that the jobs here do not need a large crew.
I agree, I said.
I would say ten men at the most.
I let Ned talk on for a bit about how much air each man used up on the Nautilus each day and how many men could survive for certain amounts of time.
I did feel sorry for the man.
He must be so unhappy here on the ship.
I still wasn't sorry enough to make my feelings match his.
I was quite happy on the Nautilus and looked forward to tomorrow already.
