many circumstances, had been so efficacious, the benefactor to whom they owed such a debt of gratitude! Their eyes beheld a man only, and a man at the point of death, where Pencroft and Neb had expected to find an almost supernatural being!
But how happened it that Cyrus Harding had recognized Captain Nemo? Why had the latter so suddenly risen on hearing this name uttered, a name which he had believed known to none?
The captain had resumed his position on the divan, and leaning on his arm, he regarded the engineer, seated near him. "You know the name I formerly bore, sir?" he asked.
"I do," answered Cyrus Harding, "and also that of this wonderful submarine vessel———"
"The Nautilus?" said the captain, with a faint smile.
"The Nautilus!"
"But do you—do you know who I am?"
"I do."
"It is nevertheless many years since I have held any communication with the inhabited world; thirteen long years have I passed in the depths of the sea, the only place where I have found liberty! Who then can have betrayed my secret?"
"A man who was bound to you by no tie, Captain Nemo, and who, consequently, cannot be accused of treachery."
"The Frenchman who was cast on board my vessel by chance ten years ago?"
"The same."
"He and his two companions did not then perish in the Maelstrom, with which the Nautilus was struggling."
"They escaped, and a book has appeared under the title of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, which contains your history."
"The history of a few months only of my life!" interrupted the captain impetuously.
"It is true," answered Cyrus Harding, "but a few months of that strange life have made you known———"
"As a great criminal, doubtless!" said Captain Nemo, a haughty smile curling his lips. "Yes, a rebel, perhaps an outlaw against humanity!"
