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CHAPTER XVI THE NEW LAND
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 “What is it? Tell us!” exclaimed Jack1, almost in his last breath, for, a few seconds later he too toppled over senseless. Then Washington went down, while Andy, Bill and Tom succumbed2 to the terrible heat.
 
Mark felt his head swimming. His eyes were almost bulging3 from their sockets4. He dimly remembered trying to force himself to go to the storeroom and see what was there. He started toward it with that intention, but fell half way to it.
 
As he did so he saw something which impressed itself on his mind, half unconscious as he was.
 
The door of the storeroom suddenly opened, and from it came a giant shape, that seemed to expand until it filled the whole of the apartment where the stricken ones lay. It was like the form of some monster, half human, half beast. Mark shuddered5, and then, closing his eyes, he felt himself sinking down into some terrible deep and black pit. A second later the whole ship was jarred as though it had hit something.
 
How long he and the others remained unconscious Mark did not know. He was the first to revive, and his first sensation was one as though he had slept hard and long, and did not want to get up. He felt very comfortable, although he was lying flat on the floor, with his head jammed against the side of a locker6. It was so dark that he could not distinguish his hand held close to his face.
 
“I wonder if I’m dead, and if all the others are dead too,” he thought to himself. “What has happened? Let’s see, the last I remember was some horrible shape rushing from the storeroom. I wonder what it could have been? Surely that was not the secret the professor referred to.”
 
Mark shuddered as he recalled the monster that seemed to have grown more terrible as each second passed. Then the boy raised himself up from his prostrate7 position.
 
“Well, at any rate, some one has turned off the heat,” he murmured. “It’s very comfortable in here now. I wish I could strike a light.”
 
He listened intently, to learn if any of the others were moving about. He could hear them breathing, but so faintly as to indicate they were insensible. Mark stretched out his hand and felt that some one was lying close to him, but who of the adventurers it was he could not determine.
 
“If only the dynamo was working we could have light,” he said. “But it seems to have stopped,” and, indeed there was a lacking of the familiar purr and hum of the electrical machine. In fact none of the apparatus8 in the ship was working.
 
“The storage battery!” exclaimed Mark. “That would give light for a while, if I can only find the switch in the dark.”
 
He began crawling about on his hands and knees. It was so intensely black that he ran into many things and received severe bruises9. At last he came to a doorway10, and as he did so his hand came in contact with an easy chair. It was the only one aboard, and by that he knew he had passed into the sitting room. He had his general direction now, and knew if he kept straight on he would come to the engine room. There he was familiar enough with the apparatus and levers to be able to turn the electric switch.
 
Crawling slowly and cautiously, he reached the room where all the engines were. Then he had to feel around the sides to locate the switch. At length he found it. There was a click, a little flash of greenish fire, and the copper11 conductors came together, and the ship was flooded with the glow from the incandescents.
 
Mark hurried back to where the others were lying. They were still unconscious, but an uneasy movement on the part of Jack told that he was coming out of the stupor12. Mark got some ammonia and held it beneath his comrade’s nose. The strong fumes13 completed the work that nature had started and Jack opened his eyes.
 
“Where am I? What has happened? Are any of them dead?” he asked quickly.
 
“I hope no one is dead,” Mark replied. “As to the other question, I can’t answer. I don’t know whether we are a thousand miles underground, or floating on the ocean, though I’m more inclined to the former theory. But never mind that now. Help me to bring the others back to their senses. I’ll work on the professor and you can begin on Bill or Tom. Washington seems to be all right,” for at that moment the colored man opened his eyes, stared about him and then got up.
 
“I thought I was dead for suah!” he exclaimed.
 
“Some of the others may be if we don’t hurry,” said Mark. “Get to work, Wash!”
 
With the colored man to help them the two boys, by the use of the ammonia, succeeded in reviving Bill, Tom and old Andy. But the professor, probably on account of his advanced age, did not respond so readily to the treatment. The boys were getting quite alarmed, as even some of the diluted14 ammonia, forced between his lips, did not cause him to open his eyes, or increase his heart action.
 
“If he should die, and leave us all alone with the ship in this terrible place, what would we do?” asked Jack.
 
“He’s not going to die!” exclaimed Mark. “Here I have another plan. Washington bring that medical electrical battery from the engine room.” This was a small machine the professor had brought along for experimental purposes.
 
Quickly adjusting it, Mark placed the handles in the nerveless fingers of Mr. Henderson. Then he started the current. In about a minute the eyelids15 of the aged16 inventor began to quiver, and, in less than five minutes he had been revived sufficiently17 to enable him to sit up. He passed his hand across his forehead.
 
“What has happened?” he asked in a faint voice.
 
“I don’t know; none of us knows,” Mark answered. “We all lost our senses when it got so hot, and there seemed to be some peculiar18 vapor19 in the air. The last I remember was seeing some horrible shape rush from the storeroom, soon after the ship struck. Then I fainted away. When I woke up I managed to turn the lights on, and then I came back here.”
 
“I wonder where we are,” the old man murmured. “I must find out. We must take every precaution. Washington, go and look at the gage20 indicating our depth.”
 
The colored man was gone but a few seconds. When he returned his eyes were bulging in terror.
 
“What is it?” asked Mr. Henderson, who, thanks to the battery, had almost completely recovered.
 
“It ain’t possible!” gasped21 Washington. “I’ll never believe it!”
 
“What is it?” asked Mr. Henderson, while the others waited in anxiety for the answer.
 
“We’re five hundred miles down!” declared Washington.
 
“Five hundred miles!” muttered the inventor. “It does not seem possible, but it must be so. We fell very rapidly and the terrible draught22 sucked us down with incredible rapidity. But come, we must see what our situation is, and where we are. We are stationary23, and are evidently on some solid substance.”
 
They all felt much recovered now, and, as the terrible fright of being consumed in a fiery24 furnace had passed, they all were in better spirits.
 
At the suggestion of the professor, the boys and Washington made a tour of the ship. They found, for some unaccountable reason, that nearly all the engines and apparatuses25 were out of gear. In some the parts had broken, and others were merely stopped, from the failure of some other machine, on which they were dependent.
 
“I’m afraid this is the end of the Mermaid27,” said Mark, in a sorrowful tone.
 
“Nonsense!” replied Jack, who was of a more cheerful nature. “Things are not so bad as they look. The professor can fix everything.”
 
“I’m sure I hope so,” Mark went on, not much encouraged, however, by Jack’s philosophy. “It would be no joke to have to stay five hundred miles underground the rest of our lives.”
 
“You don’t know,” retorted Jack. “Don’t judge of a country you’ve never seen. This may be as fine a place as it is on the surface of the earth. I want a chance to see it,” and Jack began to whistle a cheerful tune28.
 
They completed the tour of the ship, and found, that, aside from the damage to the machinery29, the Mermaid had not sustained any harm. The hull30 was in good order, though of course they could not tell about the gas holder31. It was not possible to see this except by going into the conning32 tower or out on the small deck, and this they did not venture to do. The connections between the holder and the main ship seemed to be all right, and there was still a small quantity of gas in the big tank, as Mark found on opening a stop-cock.
 
They went back to the professor and told him what they had observed. He seemed somewhat alarmed, the more so as the experience he had just passed through had weakened him considerably33.
 
“I hope I shall be able to make the repairs,” he said. “It is our only hope.”
 
As he spoke34 he looked up at the electric lights that shone overhead from wall brackets.
 
“Who is shutting down the power?” he asked.
 
“There is no power on, Professor,” replied Mark. “I am running the lights from the storage battery. But something is the matter, for they are growing dim.”
 
The filaments35 were now mere26 dull red wires, and the ship was being shrouded36 in gloom again.
 
“The battery is failing!” exclaimed Mr. Henderson. “We shall be left in darkness, and there is no other way to produce light. I ought to have brought some lamps or candles along in case of emergency.”
 
The next instant the Mermaid became as black as Egypt is popularly supposed to be, and something like an exclamation37 of terror came from the professor.
 
For several minutes they all sat there in the blackness and gloom, waiting for they knew not what. Then, suddenly, there sounded throughout the ship, a creaking as of metal sliding along metal. Some big lever creaked, and, a second later the whole place was flooded with light.
 
“What has happened?” cried the professor, starting to his feet in alarm.
 
“We are going to be burned up!” exclaimed old Andy.
 
“It’s all right! It’s all right!” yelled Washington from the engine room where the boys had left him. “Don’t git skeered! I done it! I opened the port holes, by yanking on the lever. Golly, but we’s arrived at the new land! Look out, everybody!”
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 jack 53Hxp     
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克
参考例句:
  • I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
  • He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。
2 succumbed 625a9b57aef7b895b965fdca2019ba63     
不再抵抗(诱惑、疾病、攻击等)( succumb的过去式和过去分词 ); 屈从; 被压垮; 死
参考例句:
  • The town succumbed after a short siege. 该城被围困不久即告失守。
  • After an artillery bombardment lasting several days the town finally succumbed. 在持续炮轰数日后,该城终于屈服了。
3 bulging daa6dc27701a595ab18024cbb7b30c25     
膨胀; 凸出(部); 打气; 折皱
参考例句:
  • Her pockets were bulging with presents. 她的口袋里装满了礼物。
  • Conscious of the bulging red folder, Nim told her,"Ask if it's important." 尼姆想到那个鼓鼓囊囊的红色文件夹便告诉她:“问问是不是重要的事。”
4 sockets ffe33a3f6e35505faba01d17fd07d641     
n.套接字,使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 );孔( socket的名词复数 );(电器上的)插口;托座;凹穴
参考例句:
  • All new PCs now have USB sockets. 新的个人计算机现在都有通用串行总线插孔。
  • Make sure the sockets in your house are fingerproof. 确保你房中的插座是防触电的。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
5 shuddered 70137c95ff493fbfede89987ee46ab86     
v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动
参考例句:
  • He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车,车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 locker 8pzzYm     
n.更衣箱,储物柜,冷藏室,上锁的人
参考例句:
  • At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
  • He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。
7 prostrate 7iSyH     
v.拜倒,平卧,衰竭;adj.拜倒的,平卧的,衰竭的
参考例句:
  • She was prostrate on the floor.她俯卧在地板上。
  • The Yankees had the South prostrate and they intended to keep It'so.北方佬已经使南方屈服了,他们还打算继续下去。
8 apparatus ivTzx     
n.装置,器械;器具,设备
参考例句:
  • The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
  • They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。
9 bruises bruises     
n.瘀伤,伤痕,擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来,摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 doorway 2s0xK     
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径
参考例句:
  • They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
  • Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。
11 copper HZXyU     
n.铜;铜币;铜器;adj.铜(制)的;(紫)铜色的
参考例句:
  • The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
  • Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。
12 stupor Kqqyx     
v.昏迷;不省人事
参考例句:
  • As the whisky took effect, he gradually fell into a drunken stupor.随着威士忌酒力发作,他逐渐醉得不省人事。
  • The noise of someone banging at the door roused her from her stupor.梆梆的敲门声把她从昏迷中唤醒了。
13 fumes lsYz3Q     
n.(强烈而刺激的)气味,气体
参考例句:
  • The health of our children is being endangered by exhaust fumes. 我们孩子们的健康正受到排放出的废气的损害。
  • Exhaust fumes are bad for your health. 废气对健康有害。
14 diluted 016e8d268a5a89762de116a404413fef     
无力的,冲淡的
参考例句:
  • The paint can be diluted with water to make a lighter shade. 这颜料可用水稀释以使色度淡一些。
  • This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields. 这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。
15 eyelids 86ece0ca18a95664f58bda5de252f4e7     
n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 );眼睛也不眨一下;不露声色;面不改色
参考例句:
  • She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了,眼睑开始往下垂。
  • Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 aged 6zWzdI     
adj.年老的,陈年的
参考例句:
  • He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了,也老点了。
  • He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老,然而记忆力还好。
17 sufficiently 0htzMB     
adv.足够地,充分地
参考例句:
  • It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
  • The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。
18 peculiar cinyo     
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
参考例句:
  • He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
  • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
19 vapor DHJy2     
n.蒸汽,雾气
参考例句:
  • The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。
  • This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。
20 gage YsAz0j     
n.标准尺寸,规格;量规,量表 [=gauge]
参考例句:
  • Can you gage what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗?
  • It's difficult to gage one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。
21 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
22 draught 7uyzIH     
n.拉,牵引,拖;一网(饮,吸,阵);顿服药量,通风;v.起草,设计
参考例句:
  • He emptied his glass at one draught.他将杯中物一饮而尽。
  • It's a pity the room has no north window and you don't get a draught.可惜这房间没北窗,没有过堂风。
23 stationary CuAwc     
adj.固定的,静止不动的
参考例句:
  • A stationary object is easy to be aimed at.一个静止不动的物体是容易瞄准的。
  • Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.你要等公共汽车停稳了再下车。
24 fiery ElEye     
adj.燃烧着的,火红的;暴躁的;激烈的
参考例句:
  • She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
  • His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。
25 apparatuses 73644d5e4385221f8ef33521056728cc     
n.器械; 装置; 设备; 仪器
参考例句:
  • That magazine covers all kinds of heating apparatuses. 那本杂志论及所有暖气装置。 来自辞典例句
  • Apparatuses and methods for preparing sol-gel solutions are provided. 提供制备溶胶-凝胶溶液的装置和方法。 来自互联网
26 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
27 mermaid pCbxH     
n.美人鱼
参考例句:
  • How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起,那个女孩会有多受欢迎!
  • The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴,因为她等不及了。
28 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
29 machinery CAdxb     
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构
参考例句:
  • Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗?
  • Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。
30 hull 8c8xO     
n.船身;(果、实等的)外壳;vt.去(谷物等)壳
参考例句:
  • The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
  • The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。
31 holder wc4xq     
n.持有者,占有者;(台,架等)支持物
参考例句:
  • The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
  • That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。
32 conning b97e62086a8bfeb6de9139effa481f58     
v.诈骗,哄骗( con的现在分词 );指挥操舵( conn的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • He climbed into the conning tower, his eyes haunted and sickly bright. 他爬上司令塔,两眼象见鬼似的亮得近乎病态。 来自辞典例句
  • As for Mady, she enriched her record by conning you. 对马德琳来说,这次骗了你,又可在她的光荣历史上多了一笔。 来自辞典例句
33 considerably 0YWyQ     
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上
参考例句:
  • The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
  • The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。
34 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
35 filaments 82be78199276cbe86e0e8b6c084015b6     
n.(电灯泡的)灯丝( filament的名词复数 );丝极;细丝;丝状物
参考例句:
  • Instead, sarcomere shortening occurs when the thin filaments'slide\" by the thick filaments. 此外,肌节的缩短发生于细肌丝沿粗肌丝“滑行”之际。 来自辞典例句
  • Wetting-force data on filaments of any diameter and shape can easily obtained. 各种直径和形状的长丝的润湿力数据是易于测量的。 来自辞典例句
36 shrouded 6b3958ee6e7b263c722c8b117143345f     
v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 );保密
参考例句:
  • The hills were shrouded in mist . 这些小山被笼罩在薄雾之中。
  • The towers were shrouded in mist. 城楼被蒙上薄雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
37 exclamation onBxZ     
n.感叹号,惊呼,惊叹词
参考例句:
  • He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
  • The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号,以引起读者的注意。


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