Chapter 26 Chapter 26 I'm the only one left

It should be admitted that everything is going well, and I really shouldn't complain anymore. If we don't encounter more difficulties, then we will achieve our goal.What an honor it will be then!I'm starting to agree with Professor Liedenbroek, really.Could this change have something to do with the strange environment I'm in?Maybe. For several days the steep inclines, sometimes of unbelievable straightness, carried us to great depths; and on some we advanced four or six miles straight to the center of the earth. We were greatly assisted in these terrible descents by the skill of Hannes and the ingenious method which he had been devising—indeed, we would never have been able to traverse these slopes without him.

Yet every day he became more silent.I even think we are infected too.External things play a big role in our minds.If there is a wall that separates us from the outside world, people will gradually become thoughtless and unable to speak.There are many prisoners who have become fools, if not lunatics, from prolonged inactivity of their minds. During the other fortnight, nothing worth recording happened, but then something happened that I will never forget, and I have every reason not to. On August 7th, after descending steadily, we finally came to a place ninety miles below ground, that is to say, ninety miles above us, with rocks, seas, continents, and cities.We are six hundred miles from Iceland.

On this day, the slope below is rather gentle. I went ahead, my uncle was carrying a Lumkoff lamp, and I was also carrying one, and I examined the properties of the granite.When I was about to turn around, I suddenly realized that I was the only one left. "Well," I thought, "I must be going too fast, or Uncle and Hans stopped somewhere. I must go back and find them. It's a good thing it's not steep here." I started to walk back and walked for a quarter of an hour to see that there was no one there. I yelled loudly but no one answered, and my voice was lost in the echo of the cave.

I began to feel anxious and shuddered all over my body. "I must be calm," I said aloud to myself, "I must find them—there is only one way, and I am ahead. So I must go back." I walked like this for half an hour.Listen to whether there is anyone calling, but in such a dense atmosphere, the sound is very strange.In this huge corridor, it seemed particularly quiet. I stopped.I believe it's impossible to be here alone.I hope that I just lost my way for a while, not a fixed one, because I can find the right way again when I get lost for a while. "Come on," I said to myself, "since there's only one way, and they're walking that way, I'm sure I'll find them. Just turn back. When they don't see me, they Maybe I didn't expect that I was fixed in front, so I turned back. As long as I run quickly, I can catch up with them. Sure!"

I repeated the last few words to strengthen my confidence.Then I got suspicious again.Am I sure I'm in front?Yes.Next is Hanns, and after that is Uncle.I even recall Hans stopping to adjust the weight on his shoulders.When he did, I started moving again. "Besides," I thought, "in this labyrinth I have a sure guide who is an unbroken thread—the faithful spring. I must follow the spring back, and so be sure to Find my partner." This thought pleased me, and I resolved not to waste any more time, but to return at once. I thank my uncle for the foresight that prevented Hans from plugging up the breach in the spring.This life-saving spring, it not only quenches our thirst, but also guides me through this winding tunnel.Before going back, I thought it would do me good to have a bath in this spring, so I crouched down and put my head into Hanns' Creek.

You can imagine my horror when I found out there was only dry sand!There is no spring under my feet!