Our arms became entangled in the effort of swimming; we choked; we fought in the dark water; already we could hardly breathe the dark air above the dark water, the air which escaped, which we could hear escaping through some vent-hole or other.
“Oh, let us turn and turn and turn until we find the air hole and then glue our mouths to it!”
But I lost my strength; I tried to lay hold of the walls! Oh, how those glass walls slipped from under my groping fingers! … We whirled round again! … We began to sink! … One last effort! … A last cry:
“Erik! … Christine! …”
“Guggle, guggle, guggle!” in our ears. “Guggle! Guggle!” At the bottom of the dark water, our ears went, “Guggle! Guggle!”
And, before losing consciousness entirely, I seemed to hear, between two guggles:
“Barrels! Barrels! Any barrels to sell?”