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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Chapter 3. I FORM MY RESOLUTION
Three seconds before J. B. Hobson's letter arrived, I thought only of rest and home.
Hobson's letter arrived, I no more thought of chasing the unicorn than of trying to cross the North Sea.
I read the letter from the honorable Secretary of the Navy.
Three seconds later, I knew my true calling.
My only purpose was to hunt this disturbing monster and remove it from the world.
But I had just returned from a tiring journey, weary and longing for rest.
I wanted nothing more than to see my country, my friends, my little apartment near the Jardin des Plantes, and my dear, precious collections.
But nothing could hold me back! I forgot everything, fatigue, friends, and collections, and accepted the American government's offer without hesitation.
"Besides," I thought, "all roads lead back to Europe, and this worthy animal might let itself be caught in European seas."
"I won't bring back less than half a yard of its ivory horn to the Museum of Natural History."
"But for now I had to look for this narwhal in the North Pacific Ocean, returning to France meant sailing to the opposite side of the world."
"Conseil," I called in an impatient voice.
Conseil was my servant, a true, devoted Flemish boy who had accompanied me on all my travels.
I liked him, and he liked me in return.
He was calm by nature and regular on principle, eager from habit and little upset by life's surprises.
He was very quick with his hands and good at any service I asked of him.
And despite his name, he never gave advice, even when I asked for it.
Conseil had followed me for the last ten years wherever science led.
He never complained about long, tiring journeys or about packing for any country, however far, whether China or Congo.
Besides all this, he had good health that resisted all sickness, strong muscles, and no nerves, he had good morals, of course.
This boy was thirty years old, and his age compared to his master's was like fifteen to twenty.
May I be excused for saying that I was forty years old?
But Conseil had one fault, he was extremely formal.
And he never spoke to me except in the third person, which was sometimes annoying.
"Conseil," I said again, starting with feverish hands to prepare for my departure.
Certainly I was sure of this devoted boy.
As a rule, I never asked him if it was convenient for him to follow me on my travels.
But this expedition might be long and dangerous, pursuing an animal that could sink a warship as easily as a nutshell.
Here was something to think about, even for the most unemotional man in the world, What would Conseil say?
"Conseil," I called a third time.
Conseil appeared, calm and composed, bowing slightly as he entered the room.
"Did you call, sir?" he said, entering.
"Yes, my boy. Make preparations for me and yourself too. We leave in two hours."
"As you wish, sir," replied Conseil quietly.
"Not a moment to lose. Lock all travel tools, coats, shirts, and stockings in my trunk, without counting, as many as you can, and hurry."
"And your collections, sir?" observed Conseil.
"We'll think about them later."
"What! The archiotherium, the hyracotherium, the oreodons, the cheropotamus, and the other skins?"
"They'll keep them at the hotel."
"And your live Babiroussa, sir?"
"They'll feed it while we're gone. Besides, I'll give orders to send our menagerie to France."
"We aren't returning to Paris, then?" said Conseil.
"Oh, certainly," I answered, evasively, "by making a curve."
"Will the curve please you, sir?"
"Oh, it'll be nothing. Not quite so direct a road, that's all. We're taking passage on the Abraham Lincoln."
"As you think best, sir," coolly replied Conseil.
"You see, my friend, it has to do with the monster, the famous narwhal."
"We're going to remove it from the seas."
"The author of a two-volume work on the 'Mysteries of the Great Submarine Grounds' can't help joining Commander Farragut."
"A glorious mission, but a dangerous one!"
"We can't tell where we might go."
"These animals can be very unpredictable."
"But we'll go whether or not."
"We have a captain who's pretty sharp."
I opened a credit account for Babiroussa, and with Conseil following, I jumped into a cab.
Our luggage was taken to the frigate's deck immediately.
I hurried on board and asked for Commander Farragut.
One of the sailors led me to the poop, where I found myself in front of a good-looking officer who held out his hand to me.
"Monsieur Pierre Aronnax?" he said.
"Myself," I replied.
"Commander Farragut?"
"You're welcome, Professor. Your cabin is ready for you."
I bowed and asked to be taken to the cabin meant for me.
The Abraham Lincoln had been well chosen and equipped for its new purpose.
It was a very fast frigate, fitted with high-pressure engines that allowed a pressure of seven atmospheres.
Under this, the Abraham Lincoln reached nearly eighteen and a third knots, considerable but still not enough to fight this giant whale.
The frigate's interior arrangements matched its nautical qualities.
I was well satisfied with my cabin, which was in the rear part, opening onto the gunroom.
"We'll be comfortable here," I said to Conseil.
"As comfortable, by your honor's leave, as a hermit crab in a whelk's shell," said Conseil.
I left Conseil to store our trunks properly and went back up to the poop to watch the preparations for departure.
At that moment, Commander Farragut was ordering the last ropes to be loosened that held the Abraham Lincoln to the pier in Brooklyn.
So in a quarter of an hour, maybe less, the frigate would have sailed without me.
I'd have missed this extraordinary, supernatural, and unbelievable expedition, whose story might well meet with some doubt.
But Commander Farragut wouldn't lose a day or an hour in searching the seas where the animal had been seen.
He immediately sent for the chief engineer to check the engines on deck.
"Is the steam full on?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," replied the engineer.
"Go ahead," cried Commander Farragut.
The pier in Brooklyn, and all that part of New York along the East River, was crowded with spectators.
Three cheers burst out from five hundred thousand throats.
Thousands of handkerchiefs waved above the heads of the dense crowd.
They saluted the Abraham Lincoln until it reached the waters of the Hudson.
This was at the point of that long peninsula that forms the town of New York.
Then the frigate followed the coast of New Jersey along the right bank of the beautiful river, covered with villas.
It passed between the forts, which saluted it with their heaviest guns.
The Abraham Lincoln answered by raising the American flag three times, whose thirty-nine stars shone brightly from the mizzen-peak.
The ship slowed to take the narrow channel marked by buoys.
The channel was in the inner bay formed by Sandy Hook Point.
It passed along the long sandy beach.
Thousands of spectators gave it one final cheer.
The escort of tenders followed the frigate, not leaving until they reached the lightship, whose two lights marked New York Channel's entrance.
Six bells struck, the pilot got into his boat and rejoined the little schooner waiting under our lee.
The fires were built up, the screw beat the waves more quickly, the frigate passed along the low yellow coast of Long Island.
At eight bells, having lost sight of Fire Island's lights, it ran at full steam onto the dark Atlantic waters.