"
"But," I exclaimed, "surely they can see that there are men in the case?"
"It is, perhaps, because of that," replied Ned Land, looking at me.
A whole flood of light burst upon my mind. Doubtless they knew
now how to believe the stories of the pretended monster. No doubt,
on board the Abraham Lincoln, when the Canadian struck it with the harpoon,
Commander Farragut had recognised in the supposed narwhal a submarine vessel,
more dangerous than a supernatural cetacean. Yes, it must have been so;
and on every sea they were now seeking this engine of destruction.
Terrible indeed! if, as we supposed, Captain Nemo employed the Nautilus
in works of vengeance. On the night when we were imprisoned in that cell,
in the midst of the Indian Ocean, had he not attacked some vessel?
The man buried in the coral cemetery, had he not been a victim to
the shock caused by the Nautilus? Yes, I repeat it, it must be so.
One part of the mysterious existence of Captain Nemo had been unveiled;
and, if his identity had not been recognised, at least, the nations
united against him were no longer hunting a chimerical creature,
but a man who had vowed a deadly hatred against them.
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