They passed without seeing us, brushing us with their brownish fins, and we escaped by a miracle from a danger certainly greater than meeting a tiger full-face in the forest.

Half an hour after, guided by the electric light we reached the Nautilus.

The outside door had been left open, and Captain Nemo closed it as soon as we had entered the first cell.

He then pressed a knob.

I heard the pumps working in the midst of the vessel, I felt the water sinking from around me, and in a few moments the cell was entirely empty.