SECOND PART
CHAPTER 21: A Mass Execution
(continued)
Just then a shell hit the Nautilus's hull obliquely, failed to breach it,
ricocheted near the captain, and vanished into the sea.
Captain Nemo shrugged his shoulders. Then, addressing me:
"Go below!" he told me in a curt tone. "You and your companions,
go below!"
"Sir," I exclaimed, "are you going to attack this ship?"
"Sir, I'm going to sink it."
"You wouldn't!"
"I will," Captain Nemo replied icily. "You're ill-advised to pass
judgment on me, sir. Fate has shown you what you weren't meant
to see. The attack has come. Our reply will be dreadful.
Get back inside!"
"From what country is that ship?"
"You don't know? Fine, so much the better! At least its nationality
will remain a secret to you. Go below!"
The Canadian, Conseil, and I could only obey. Some fifteen
of the Nautilus's seamen surrounded their captain and stared with
a feeling of implacable hate at the ship bearing down on them.
You could feel the same spirit of vengeance enkindling their every soul.
I went below just as another projectile scraped the Nautilus's hull,
and I heard the captain exclaim:
"Shoot, you demented vessel! Shower your futile shells! You won't escape
the Nautilus's spur! But this isn't the place where you'll perish!
I don't want your wreckage mingling with that of the Avenger!"
I repaired to my stateroom. The captain and his chief officer
stayed on the platform. The propeller was set in motion.
The Nautilus swiftly retreated, putting us outside the range
of the vessel's shells. But the chase continued, and Captain Nemo
was content to keep his distance.
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