I have not fallen into the hands of malefactors whose only intention is robbery.

They would not have acted in this way.

After rendering it impossible for me to cry out, after having thrown me into a clump of bushes in the corner of the garden, after having kidnapped Thomas Roch they would not have shut me up--where I now am.
Where?
This is the question which I have been asking myself for hours without being able to answer it.
However, one thing is certain, and that is that I have embarked upon an extraordinary adventure, that will end ?--In what manner I know not--I dare not even imagine what the upshot of it will be.

Anyhow, it is my intention to commit to memory, minute by minute, the least circumstance, and then, if it be possible, to jot down my daily impressions.

Who knows what the future has in store for me?
And who knows but what, in my new position, I may finally discover the secret of Roth's fulgurator?
If I am to be delivered one day, this secret must be made known, as well as who is the author, or who are the authors, of this criminal outrage, which may be attended with such serious consequences.
I continually revert to this question, hoping that some incident will occur to enlighten me: Where am I?
Let me begin from the beginning.
After having been carried by the head and feet from Healthful House, I felt that I was laid, without any brutality, I must admit, upon the stretchers of a row-boat of small dimensions.
The rocking caused by the weight of my body was succeeded shortly afterwards by a further rocking--which I attribute to the embarking of a second person.