Chapter 23 Chapter 23 "Hans, Yes!"

For an hour or so I had been delusional in imagining every possible motive of the taciturn guide.All the most absurd ideas came into my head at the same time.I think I'm probably crazy. At last the sound of footsteps was heard from below; Hanns came up again.His flickering light first shone on the rock face, and then shot out from the exit of the corridor.Hanns appeared, walked up to his uncle, put his hand on his shoulder, and gently woke him up.Uncle sat up. "What's wrong?" he asked. "." The wizard replied. I guessed what he meant, so I shouted "Water! Water!" clapping my hands and gesticulating like a madman.

"Water!" repeated the uncle. "Where?" he asked the Icelander. "Below." Hannes replied. where?right below!I see.I squeezed the guide's hand tightly, and he also watched me quietly. I hurried to get ready, and was soon descending one of the corridor's three ramps.An hour later we had traversed six thousand feet and descended two thousand feet. At this time, we clearly heard a new sound, like the rumble of thunder in the distance.I walked for half an hour, but did not see the spring that had heard the sound.I started to feel pessimistic and disappointed again.But at this moment, my uncle explained to me the source of the sound.

"Hans was right," said the uncle, "you heard the sound of the torrent." "Torrent?" I called. "No doubt. There are subterranean rivers near us." We hurried on, overwhelmed with hope.I no longer feel tired—the sound of the water has woken us up.The torrent that was still above our heads just now is now roaring and galloping behind the rock wall on the left.I kept touching the rock with my hand, hoping to touch some water vapor, but I couldn't. Another half hour passed, and a mile and a half was gone. Evidently, when the hunters went out in search of water just now, they had gone as far as this at most.With the intuition of a mountain man, a spring-hungry man, he "feels" a spring flowing in the rocks, but surely he does not see the precious liquid, and his purpose is not achieved.

After a while, we found that the further we walked, the sound of running water became less and less clear. So we turned around again.Hannes stayed where the torrent seemed to be the closest.Sitting against a rock wall, I heard a spring rushing about two feet away, but separated by a wall of granite!I could only be disappointed, and when Hannes looked at me, I seemed to see a smile on his lips. He got up and lit the lamp; I followed.He walked up to the rock wall above, put his ear to it and listened, moving slowly and carefully from one place to another.I knew he was looking for the loudest place.He found the spring just three feet above the path.

How excited I am!I dared not guess what the guide was about to do; but when I saw him lift the pick to dig the rock, I fully understood and applauded. "Saved!" I yelled, "Saved!" "Yes," repeated the uncle in a frenzied tone, "Hans, yes! My boy! We can't think of such an idea!" He speaks frankly; the simple solution does not get into our heads.It's just too dangerous to use a pickaxe to cut down the world's guillotine.It could cause a horrific rockslide that would wipe us out completely!Or the torrent rushes out of the rock and sweeps us away!These apprehensions were not unfounded; but in our present situation, no fear of rockslides or floods could stop us, and we were so thirsty that we preferred to dig to the bottom of the ocean to quench our thirst.

Hannes started the job that neither my uncle nor I could take on—we were in such a hurry that we would have split the rock wall in one fell swoop.But the guide, calmly and slowly, continued to chip away at the rock with his pick, making a small crevice about six inches wide.I heard the sound of the torrent growing louder, and imagined that I had tasted the nourishing spring water on my lips. Presently the pick had driven two feet into the granite wall; the work took more than an hour, and I was anxiously tossing about it.Uncle wanted to do it himself; I could hardly stop him—he did take up his pick, when suddenly there was a hissing sound.A stream of water spewed out of the crack and shot onto the opposite rock wall.

Hanns was almost knocked down by the sudden impact, and couldn't help crying out in pain.When I put my hand into the water spout, I realized why I also yelled - the water was boiling hot! "One hundred degrees of water!" I shouted. "Well, it will cool down," replied the uncle.The tunnel is full of steam, and a stream of water is forming, winding its way down the subterranean path; it won't be long before we get our first taste. what!How happy!What an incomparable joy!What kind of water is this?Where does this water come from?Whatever it is—it's water, hot though it is, that has brought back our dying lives.I kept drinking it, not knowing what it tasted like.

After enjoying it for about a minute, I exclaimed, "There's iron in it!" "It is to our advantage," said the uncle, "that the journey is a coming and going." "Oh, how wonderful!" "I thought so too; it's water from six miles under the ground. It smells somewhat of ink which is not objectionable. As this was found for us by Hannes, I propose a name for this wholesome spring. " "Good!" I shouted.The name of the spring—"Hans Creek"—was adopted at once. Hannes didn't refuse. After properly waking himself up, he sat down in a corner calmly as usual.

"Now," I said, "we can't lose the water here." "Why?" asked the uncle, "I hope this spring is inexhaustible." "Never mind, let's fill the jug and all the water bottles and plug the breach." My suggestion was accepted.Hannes tried to plug the hole he had opened with granite stones and old untwisted twine.But he only burned his hand, the pressure was too much.All our efforts were in vain. "From the impact of the water, it can be concluded that the source of the spring must be at a very high place." I said. "It must be," went on the uncle. "I'm afraid there is a thousand atmospheres, so the spring is about thirty-two thousand miles high. But I have an idea."

"what idea?" "Why are we in such a hurry to plug this breach?" "Why? Because—" I couldn't think of any good reason anyway. "When our jugs are empty, surely we can refill them?" Of course we can't. "Well, let the water flow, then; it will flow down naturally, and will guide us as well as quench our thirst." "That is a good idea," I cried, "and we have the aid of this spring, and there is no reason why our plan should not succeed." "Ah, you see, my boy," said the professor with a smile. "Actually, I've figured it out a long time ago!"

"But wait. Let's rest for a few hours before we start." I really forgot that it was nighttime.The time-table told me this fact, and soon each of us regained our strength and was fed, and fell into a deep sleep.

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