Chapter 41 Chapter 41 Going down!

The next day, Thursday, August 27th, was a great day for this subterranean journey.When I think of it now, my heart cannot but beat with fear.Since then, our sanity, judgment, and cunning have been rendered useless, and we have become mere playthings of the Earth's forces. We got up at six o'clock.The time has come for us to force our way through this granite crust.I claim the honor of lighting the mines.After the mine was lit, I had to jump on the raft with our luggage again, with my mates, and we steered the raft away from the coast to avoid the danger of an explosion, which might not be confined to the rocks. internal.

We figured the fuse would burn for ten minutes before the sparks got to the cotton, so I had plenty of time to jump on the raft.I hope to complete my task, but not without emotional fluctuations. After a hasty meal, my uncle and guide boarded the raft first, while I remained on the shore.I held a lamp in my hand for the kindling of the fire. "Go, my boy," said the uncle, "and come back to us in a moment." "You can rest assured that I won't play there, Uncle." I ran to the opening of the tunnel, lit the lamp, and took hold of the fuse.The professor is standing with a timetable in his hand. "Are you ready?" he called.

"I'm ready." "Then light the fire, my boy!" I quickly put the fuse in the light, saw it start to crackle, and ran back to the shore. "Get on the raft," said the uncle, "we're going to get the raft out." Hannes gave a good push and we were out, and we found ourselves about fifty feet from the beach. This is a thrilling time.The professor watched the hands of the time clock. "Five minutes," he said, "four points, three points." My pulse beats every half second. "Two points. One point. Now Granite Mountain has opened the way!"

What happened?I don't think I heard the explosion.But suddenly the shape of the rocks changed before my eyes; they opened like a curtain.I saw an unfathomable bottomless pit running down across the coast.Due to a shock in the ocean, huge waves were generated on the sea surface, and the raft stood vertically on the waves. We're all overwhelmed.In less than a second, darkness replaced light.Then I felt that there was nothing to support us, not to our feet, but to our raft.I wanted to speak to my uncle, but the roar of the sea made it impossible for me to speak. Yet, despite the darkness, despite the roar of the sea, despite the surprise and uneasiness, I knew what had happened.

On the other side of the rock we blasted, there is a bottomless pit.This explosion caused an earthquake in the rock with many fissures, and the road to the bottomless pit was opened, and the sea poured down like a torrent, and carried us away.I feel we are lost! An hour, maybe two hours passed like that.Our arms were joined, and we held each other's hands so as not to be thrown out of the raft; and every time the raft hit the rock wall, we were shaken violently.This rarely happens, however, so I'm sure the aisle has widened. This is obviously the path taken by Saconus, but we did not just walk here, but because of our recklessness, we took the sea water with us.

Of course these thoughts crept into my mind vaguely and vaguely.I managed to connect with them as we almost plummeted.Judging by the impact of the atmosphere hitting me in the face, we were moving faster than the train.So it was impossible to light a torch, and our last remaining lamp made of a Lumkoff coil was destroyed by an explosion. I was surprised when I suddenly saw a light near me illuminating Hanns' calm face.The capable Hans lit the lamp, and though the flame quivered almost to be extinguished, it still gave off a gleam of light in the terrible darkness. The tunnel must be wide, and the weak light cannot immediately illuminate the two sides of the tunnel for us.The water flows downhill bigger than America's most famous rapids; the surface of the water is like a row of arrows thrown with force.Sometimes the eddy made our raft go round in circles; and when the raft was close to the wall, I let the light shine on the wall, and as the raft moved forward, the protruding rocks on the wall seemed to be elongated and joined together in a single line. We seem to be surrounded by these lines, so I have a rough idea of ​​our speed.I estimate we travel ninety miles an hour.

My uncle and I leaned on the broken mast, looking around in panic.We turned our backs to the wind so as not to be breathless in the superhuman speed. Hours passed.The situation has not changed.But another unexpected event occurred to complicate the situation. I wanted to arrange my luggage, but found that most of them were lost, probably from an explosion when the sea was crashing down on us.To find out how much we still had, I took my lamp and started looking.Of our instruments, only the compass and the chronometer remain.As for the rest of the ladder and ropes, it is represented only by some of the ropes wound around the remaining masts.Not a single pick was left, and worst of all, not even a day's food was left.

I started looking around the boat.Every seam and corner has been searched.No!All we had was a piece of dried meat and a few biscuits! I stood there blankly!Don't want to figure out what this thing means!I don't know which danger I'm worried about.We have been brought into the bottomless pit by this irresistible torrent, even if we have enough food for several months or even years, how will we get out of this bottomless pit?There are so many possibilities of death, why worry about starvation?Perhaps we are dead before we have time to starve! Strangely enough, however, the threat of hunger made me forget the danger at hand.Besides, we might be able to dislodge this rapid and return to the surface.As for how to escape, I don't know.Where will we be taken?Leave it alone!Even if there is only a one-in-a-thousand chance, it is still a chance, but starving to death is an irreversible and doomed fact!

I wanted to tell my uncle all this, to make him understand the impasse we were in, and how much longer we had to live.But I refrained from speaking out, I didn't want to alarm him. At this moment the light flickered and then went out.The burning torches have burned out, so we are in a blackness that cannot be dispelled.There was one torch left, but it could not be lit; like a child, I closed my eyes against the darkness. After quite some time, I sensed from the wind in my face that our speed doubled again.Now it's almost like falling vertically.Uncle and Hans both held me tightly by the hand.After a while I felt a sudden jolt; the raft hit nothing hard, but the descent stopped.A flood of water rose up and encroached on the surface of the raft, and I felt like I was drowning—I couldn't breathe.

But this sudden flood did not continue.Seconds later, my lungs were breathing fresh air again.Uncle and Hans clung to my hip, and my arm was torn by them, and the raft still carried the three of us.