hour. At this rate we shall get on.”
“Yes, if nothing stops us; if this well has an aperture. But suppose it to be stopped. If the air is condensed by the pressure of this column of water we shall be crushed.”
“Axel,” replied the Professor with perfect coolness, “our situation is almost desperate; but there are some chances of deliverance, and it is these that I am considering. If at every instant we may perish, so at every instant we may be saved. Let us then be prepared to seize upon the smallest advantage.”
“But what shall we do now?”
“Recruit our strength by eating.”
At these words I fixed a haggard eye upon my uncle. That which I had been so unwilling to confess at last had to be told.
“Eat, did you say?”
“Yes, at once.”
The Professor added a few words in Danish, but Hans shook his head mournfully.
“What!” cried my uncle. “Have we lost our provisions?”
“Yes; here is all we have left; one bit of salt meat for the three.”
My uncle stared at me as if he could not understand.
“Well,” said I, “do you think we have any chance of being saved?”
My question was unanswered.