Chapter 19 Air Supply Around the Nautilus, above and below was a thick wall of ice.
We were prisoners to the iceberg.
I watched the captain.
His face showed some concern.
"'Gentlemen,' he said calmly, "'I fear you are worrying about things that need not be.'
The confused looks we gave him told him to continue.
"'First, we would never starve to death on this ship.
There are enough food supplies on this vessel to outlast any disaster.'
I had not thought about this, so it didn't make me feel any better to hear it.
"'Second, I know you have all thought about the possibility of running out of air.'
This should not be feared.
We have a supply of air on board for forty-eight hours.
But, Captain, what happens after that time?
I asked.
I think, sir, we shall be through that wall of ice by then.
On which side, I asked.
I will use my tools to find the thinnest side.
My men will attack the iceberg there.
I knew the third option that we should fear being crushed under a mound of ice was always on my mind.
I didn't need him to remind me.
Captain Nemo went out.
I felt the ship sink slowly and rest on the ice at a depth of 350 yards.
"'My friends,' I said, "'our situation is serious, but I know you will show me courage.'
Every person on board was ready to show that courage.
We prepared ourselves in cork jackets.
A dozen of the crew at a time stepped out on the bank of ice with their pickaxes.
After two hours' hard work, Ned and the others came in exhausted.
He and that crew were replaced with new workers whom Consail and I joined.
The water seemed very cold, but I soon got warm from swinging the axe.
When I went back into the Nautilus to get some food and rest, I found a big difference in the air.
It was harder to breathe in the ship.
The air had not been refreshed in two days.
Already I could feel the difference.
I shivered, thinking about the hours to come.
After twelve hours of work, we had only broken through one yard of ice.
At this pace it would take five nights and four days to break through completely, but we only had air enough for two days on the ship.
We were run out of air long before the Nautilus could ever get to the surface.
We all kept up our work without complaining or thinking of the awful things that could lie ahead.
At least when you're swinging the pickaxe, you felt as if you were helping.
You also felt as if you were alive.
This was where the breathable air was.
These were the men who needed the pure air most.
When one went for a break inside the vessel, it was hard to believe the difference in the air.
I could hardly catch my breath.
The chemicals we breathed out had no place to go within the ship.
We were simply breathing our own air back in.
There should have been some pure air pumped into the Nautilus, but this was not possible.
For days, we lived with the fact that the air was slowly being taken away from us.
The men continued to dig in shifts to break through the ice wall.
Of course, we had slowed down.
Our bodies were weak and our only thoughts were of air.
Captain Nemo was forced to think beyond his original plan.
Even in his sorry condition, the man thought quickly and came up with bright ideas.
One of his tricks was to use jets of boiling water to raise the temperature in this part of the sea.
Another action, which probably saved our lives in the end, was to lighten the ship.
He then filled its storage area with water.
The weight of the Nautilus was now eighteen hundred tons.
The ice beneath us cracked and the ship sank.
The pumps soon began to let the water out of the ship.
As it got lighter, the Nautilus began to move at a very fast pace.
It tore through the water, shooting forward like a bullet onto the icy field.
We blasted through to the surface and tasted the salty sea air that we had been dreaming about for days.
That was the closest I ever came to dying.
