By that time Captain Nemo will be locked in his room and probably in bed.
Neither the mechanics or the crewmen will be able to see us.
Conseil and I will go to the central companionway.
As for you, Professor Aronnax, you'll stay in the library two steps away and wait for my signal.
The oars, mast, and sail are in the skiff.
I've even managed to stow some provisions inside.
I've gotten hold of a monkey wrench to unscrew the nuts bolting the skiff to the Nautilus's hull.
So everything's ready.
I'll see you this evening."
"The sea is rough," I said.
"Admitted," the Canadian replied, "but we've got to risk it.
Freedom is worth paying for.
Besides, the longboat's solidly built, and a few miles with the wind behind us is no big deal.
By tomorrow, who knows if this ship won't be 100 leagues out to sea?
If circumstances are in our favor, between ten and eleven this evening we'll be landing on some piece of solid ground, or we'll be dead.
So we're in God's hands, and I'll see you this evening!"
This said, the Canadian withdrew, leaving me close to dumbfounded.
I had imagined that if it came to this, I would have time to think about it, to talk it over.
My stubborn companion hadn't granted me this courtesy.
But after all, what would I have said to him?
Ned Land was right a hundred times over.
These were near–ideal circumstances, and he was taking full advantage of them.
In my selfish personal interests, could I go back on my word and be responsible for ruining the future lives of my companions?
Tomorrow, might not Captain Nemo take us far away from any shore?
Just then a fairly loud hissing told me that the ballast tanks were filling, and the Nautilus sank beneath the waves of the Atlantic.
I stayed in my stateroom.
I wanted to avoid the captain, to hide from his eyes the agitation overwhelming me.
What an agonizing day I spent, torn between my desire to regain my free will and my regret at abandoning this marvelous Nautilus, leaving my underwater research incomplete!
How could I relinquish this ocean—"my own Atlantic," as I liked to call it—without observing its lower strata, without wresting from it the kinds of secrets that had been revealed to me by the seas of the East Indies and the Pacific!
I was putting down my novel half read, I was waking up as my dream neared its climax!
How painfully the hours passed, as I sometimes envisioned myself safe on shore with my companions, or, despite my better judgment, as I sometimes wished that some unforeseen circumstances would prevent Ned Land from carrying out his plans.
Twice I went to the lounge.
I wanted to consult the compass.
I wanted to see if the Nautilus's heading was actually taking us closer to the coast or spiriting us farther away.
But no.
The Nautilus was still in Portuguese waters.
Heading north, it was cruising along the ocean's beaches.
So I had to resign myself to my fate and get ready to escape.
My baggage wasn't heavy.
My notes, nothing more.
As for Captain Nemo, I wondered what he would make of our escaping, what concern or perhaps what distress it might cause him, and what he would do in the twofold event of our attempt either failing or being found out!
Certainly I had no complaints to register with him, on the contrary.
Never was hospitality more wholehearted than his.
Yet in leaving him I couldn't be accused of ingratitude.
No solemn promises bound us to him.
In order to keep us captive, he had counted only on the force of circumstances and not on our word of honor.
But his avowed intention to imprison us forever on his ship justified our every effort.
I hadn't seen the captain since our visit to the island of Santorini.
Would fate bring me into his presence before our departure?
I both desired and dreaded it.