Jules Verne For Children: 16 Incredible Tales of Mystery, Courage & Adventure (Illustrated Edition). Jules Verne

      “I think, Tom, that the water, rising inside the ant-hill, has compressed the air in the upper part, and that this air now makes an obstacle to prevent the water from rising higher. But if we pierce a hole in the wall by which the air would escape, either the water would still rise till it reached the outside level, or if it passed the hole, it would rise to that point where the compressed air would again keep it back. We must be here like workmen in a diving-bell.”

      “What must be done?” asked Tom.

      “Reflect well before acting,” replied Dick Sand. “An imprudence might cost us our lives!”

      The young novice’s observation was very true.

      In comparing the cone to a submerged bell, he was right. Only in that apparatus the air is constantly renewed by means of pumps. The divers breathe comfortably, and they suffer no other inconveniences than those resulting from a prolonged sojourn in a compressed atmosphere, no longer at a normal pressure.

      But here, beside those inconveniences, space was already reduced a third by the invasion of the water. As to the air, it would only be renewed if they put it in communication with the outer atmosphere by means of a hole.

      Could they, without running the danger spoken of by Dick Sand, pierce that hole? Would not the situation be aggravated by it?

      What was certain was, that the water now rested at a level which only two causes could make it exceed, namely: if they pierced a hole, and the level of the rising waters was higher outside, or if the height of this rising water should still increase. In either of these cases, only a narrow space would remain inside the cone, where the air, not renewed, would be still more compressed.

      But might not the ant-hill be torn from the ground and overthrown by the inundation, to the extreme danger of those within it? No, no more than a beaver’s hut, so firmly did it adhere by its base.

      Then, the event most to be feared was the persistence of the storm, and, consequently, the increase of the inundation. Thirty feet of water on the plain would cover the cone with eighteen feet of water, and bear on the air within with the pressure of an atmosphere.

      Now, after reflecting well upon it, Dick Sand was led to fear that this inundation might increase considerably.

      In fact, it could not be due solely to that deluge poured out by the clouds. It seemed more probable that a neighboring watercourse, swelled by the storm, had burst its banks, and was spreading over this plain lying below it. What proof had they that the ant-hill was not then entirely submerged, and that it was full time to leave it by the top part, which would not be difficult to demolish?

      Dick Sand, now extremely anxious, asked himself what he ought to do. Must he wait or suddenly announce the probable result of the situation, after ascertaining the condition of things?

      It was then three o’clock in the morning. All, motionless, silent, listened. The noise from outside came very feebly through the obstructed orifice. All the time a dull sound, strong and continued, well indicated that the contest of the elements had not ceased.

      At that moment old Tom observed that the water level was gradually rising.

      “Yes,” replied Dick Sand, “and if it rises, as the air cannot escape from within, it is because the rising of the waters increases and presses it more and more.”

      “It is but slight so far,” said Tom.

      “Without doubt,” replied Dick Sand; “but where will this level stop?”

      “Mr. Dick,” asked Bat, “would you like me to go out of the ant-hill? By diving, I should try to slip out by the hole.”

      “It will be better for me to try it,” replied Dick Sand.

      “No, Mr. Dick, no,” replied old Tom, quickly; “let my son do it, and trust to his skill. In case he could not return, your presence is necessary here.”

      Then, lower:

      “Do not forget Mrs. Weldon and little Jack.”

      “Be it so,” replied Dick Sand. “Go, then, Bat. If the ant-hill is submerged, do not seek to enter it again. We shall try to come out as you will have done. But if the cone still emerges, strike on its top with the ax that you will take with you. We will hear you, and it will be the signal for us to demolish the top from our side. You understand?”

      “Yes, Mr. Dick,” replied Bat.

      “Go, then, boy,” added old Tom, pressing his son’s hand.

      Bat, after laying in a good provision of air by a long aspiration, plunged under the liquid mass, whose depth then exceeded five feet. It was a rather difficult task, because he would have to seek the lower orifice, slip through it, and then rise to the outside surface of the waters.

      That must be done quickly.

      Nearly half a minute passed away. Dick Sand then thought that Bat had succeeded in passing outside when the black emerged.

      “Well!” exclaimed Dick Sand.

      “The hole is stopped up by rubbish!” replied Bat, as soon as he could take breath.

      “Stopped up!” repeated Tom.

      “Yes,” replied Bat. “The water has probably diluted the clay. I have felt around the walls with my hand. There is no longer any hole.”

      Dick Sand shook his head. His companions and he were hermetically sequestered in this cone, perhaps submerged by the water.

      “If there is no longer any hole,” then said Hercules, “we must make one.”

      “Wait,” replied the young novice, stopping Hercules, who, hatchet in hand, was preparing to dive.

      Dick Sand reflected for a few moments, and then he said:

      “We are going to proceed in another manner. The whole question is to know whether the water covers the ant-hill or not. If we make a small opening at the summit of the cone, we shall find out which it is. But in case the ant-hill should be submerged now, the water would fill it entirely, and we would be lost. Let us feel our way.”

      “But quickly,” replied Tom.

      In fact, the level continued to rise gradually. There were then six feet of water inside the cone. With the exception of Mrs. Weldon, her son, Cousin Benedict, and Nan, who had taken refuge in the upper cavities, all were immersed to the waist.

      Then there was a necessity for quick action, as Dick Sand proposed.

      It was one foot above the interior level, consequently seven feet from the ground, that Dick Sand resolved to pierce a hole in the clay wall.

      If, by this hole, they were in communication with the outer air, the cone emerges. If, on the contrary, this hole was pierced below the water level outside, the air would be driven inward, and in that case they must stop it up at once, or the water would rise to its orifice. Then they would commence again a foot higher, and so on. If, at last, at the top, they did not yet find