The Mysterious Island

1   
This strange story of men
and the creatures of the 
deep has its beginning in the
kingdom of Hetvia - stormy
as the surf which pounds
against its rocky coast.

2
At the time the story
opens, oppression had
roused disorder in the
       kingdom.

3
Off the coast lies Count
Andre Dakkar's island
stronghold - lonely - 
mysterious - - strictly
guarded by day and by 
       night.

4
With brawn of arm
and cunning of brain,
Count Dakkar's great 
work went forward.

5
"Some fool aboard the
diving-ship dropped the
compressed air manifold.
  It may be cracked."

6
"That bit of steel is the
very heart of the
ship. Without it, she
could never rise from 
    the bottom."

7
"I'll have to test every 
inch of it under maximum
     pressure - -"

8
"Please - is the diving-ship
   ready for launching?"

9
"Almost ready, Countess
         Sonia."

10
"Believe me, Mikhail -
it is not work alone
that brings Countess 
Sonia here so often!"

11
"But I needn't explain 
to you, Countess Sonia.
You know every bit of 
machinery on the ship 
  as well as I do."

12
"My brother - and I - owe
a lot to you, Nikolai! If
the new ship succeeds, it
will be your triumph as
     much as ours."

13
"Hold the launching until
Baron Falon arrives, 
Dmitry. I have sent a
carriage to the landing
  to meet his sloop."

14
"In behalf of my friend
- your brother - I
feel I should protect 
you against the ad-
  vances of - -"

15
"- - a servant!"

16
"The fault was wholly 
mine, Countess Sonia.
I can only offer you
my humblest apologies."

17
"You upstart! I'll see
that you are beaten
 with horsewhips -"

18
"But here - on this
island - all men are 
   equal, Falon."

19
"I know - of course -
    but - but -"

20
"- a sister of Count
Dakkar - and - and a
  common workman!"

21
"No doubt Nikolai has
carried things too far,
Baron Falon. I'll speak
 to him - severely."

22
"We'll talk it over later
- after the launching,
        Nikolai."

23
"The ship is ready,
   Excellency!"

24
"But are you sure every-
thing is in order?
Hadn't you better test
all the controls once
        more?"

25
"Count Dakkar, I have
 a request to make."

26
"Don't take the ship 
down yourself - - let
me go in your place."

27
"Why, this is just a trial 
trip! We'll only go down
a hundred feet or so to
 test the controls -"

28
"Remain ashore, I beg 
you, Count Dakkar.
Then if anything
should go wrong with
the ship, you will be
able to correct it in
  another attempt."

29
"I'll let you go, Nikolai
- to show that I trust 
you and that we are 
to remain friends."

30
"I'm to command the
ship on her trial trip!
Won't you - wish me
   luck, Sonia?"

31
"Falon, we've planned for 
everything! I think you'll
be surprised at what I 
    tell you now!"

32
"What would you say if
I should tell you I am
able to talk to the ship
while it is on the bottom 
     of the ocean?"

33
"I would say, my good
friend, that you had
taken leave of your
      senses!"

34
"Our second ship is ready 
to start as soon as the 
first is proven successful."

35
"The Hussars - at
   the gate -"

36
"Someone has betrayed us -
or how could troops have
been ferried from the
      mainland?"

37
"You!"

38
"Sonia Dakkar, you are
   under arrest!"

39
"One of their craft is 
cruising at the bottom 
    of the sea -"

40
"I mean it, fool! They have
a ship that travels beneath 
the water - - it is down
now - - it will come up!
Seize it when it does!"

41
"Andre Dakkar - - I
command you to give 
up your secret papers
- your plans - your
     formulae."

42
"They are not in my 
      keeping."

43
"Safely in, men! The
dock is just above 
   our heads -"

44
"I give you another 
chance to speak!"

45
"I told you about this 
man's courage. You
had better try my 
     idea."

46
"Somehow - some day
- - we'll settle this,
      Falon!"

47
"I told you how to 
make him talk -
  now do it!"

48
"I won't tell you!
I won't - I won't!"

49
"Tell them, Sonia - -
please, please tell them!"

50
"She can stand no more.
Her heart has almost 
  stopped beating."

51
"Sonia - Sonia -"

52
"Try to learn where they 
have taken her - I will
        return!"

53
"Nikolai, from now on
I live for one thing 
 - to kill Falon!"

54
"But Sonia - Falon has
   taken her away!"

55
"Someone is trying to get 
   a message through!"

56
"But how do you know
the ship will come up -
just at midnight - - in
 this precise spot?"

57
"This is Sonia - - 
   escaped - -"

58
"At midnight - on the
rocks beyond the dock
  - come for me -"

59
"Pass out hand bombs!
Form a landing party -"

60
"Stay back, Nikolai!
Don't land - - oh,
    stay back!"

61
"Sonia, listen carefully:
the crew of No. 2 are
still on board - under
        guard -"

62
"If we could seize No. 2,
we might follow the 
other ship to the 
bottom - then use the 
  diving-suits -"

63
"Quick! Close the conning 
tower! Turn the control
    to Number Four!"

64
"My life is worth as little
- - now - - as yours is.
You've taken everything
I love - this is the end -
     for all of us!"

65
"The bomb shattered the
air-compressor. There is
no way to force the
water from the ballast
tanks. We can never 
   rise again!"

66
Meanwhile, as No. 1 sank
steadily through unfathom-
able depths, its crew waged
an unequal struggle against
the crushing weight of the
           sea.

67
"The auxiliary will provide
light for twelve hours,
maximum. Long before 
then our air will be 
     exhausted."

68
"Gone - all gone -
except us! And their 
death was more merci-
ful than ours will be."

69
"Look! The indicator
has wrapped around
and around! No
telling how deep we 
       are!"

70
"It's only a question of 
    hours, Nikolai -"

71
"- but those hours we
shall spend in a world
no human being has
ever seen before!"

72
"A world that has never 
known the sun - - or
warmth - or light. We
may even reach the 
lower world - and see
the people of the abyss!"

73
"Nature prepared those 
creatures to stand terrific 
pressure. If they started 
upward, they would burst 
open long before they 
reached the surface."

74
"They do seem almost -
  almost like men!"

75
"They're all around us -
   thousands of them!"

76
"A war galley of 
 ancient Rome!"

77
"It probably sank in a 
storm - or perhaps in
battle - with the slaves
still chained to the oars!"

78
"Doesn't it seem to you,
sir, that they intend 
to attack us in force?"

79
"Shall I fire the 
  torpedo, sir?"

80
"It would do no good.
The ship is tilted - it
would go over their 
      heads!"

81
Up from the deepest slimy
crevice, drawn by the 
clamor, comes an ancient
gluttonous enemy of the
   undersea "people".

82
"Now - if at all - is our
   chance to get out."

83
"Here - in a few hours -
we'll stifle in agony -"

84
"Out there - - who
knows? At least we'll 
play the game out to 
      the end!"

85
"Not those light suits!
We'd be crushed before
we got out of the 
  sally-port!"

86
"Shift the air-webbing 
 to the metal suits."

87
"Nikolai, watch the water 
as I open the sally-port.
The air pressure inside
must equal the weight of 
       the water."

88
Into a new world, amid
green shining caverns ...

89
While No. 2 - helpless -
  powerless to rise -

90
"The other ship!"

91
"Baron Falon, I'll make
 a bargain with you."

92
"In that ship are Andre
and Nikolai - dead or
       alive -"

93
"I want to go to 
      them."

94
"The two ships are exactly 
alike. Let me go - and
I promise to return with 
the air-compressor from 
    the other ship."

95
"I'll go with you -
and take men that 
    I trust."

96
Hatred - vengeance!

97
  Blood! Warm blood!
The cold depths of the
sea - - the bloodless
creatures in it - had
never known the like 
       before.

98
Blood! Bewildering -
    maddening -

99
To capture all the humans,
the undersea "men" release
their deadliest ally, a slug-
gish monster of terrific 
       strength.

100
Away from the mad 
delirium, two faltering
figures make their way
toward where No. 1 lies
abandoned and almost
    empty of air.

101
"But we can't stay 
      here -"

102
"If we can move the
air-compressor from
this ship to the
     other -"

103
Inch by inch a handful 
of survivors have fought 
their way back to the
sally-port of No. 2.

104
Falon's forces, meanwhile, 
have seized Mysterious
Island, its shipyards and
    its workshops.

105
While the warships lie
at anchor, the officers
  amuse themselves
       ashore.

106
"The guard - call 
    the guard!"

107
"Someone has armed the 
workmen! The place is
full of strange creatures 
 rising from the sea!"

108
"The island is in our 
hands! You are our 
    prisoners!"

109
When victory was won,
a strange order passed
from mouth to mouth -

110
"Count Dakkar's orders
- everyone out of the 
shipyard before sunset,
under penalty of death."

111
"Death is close upon me. In
the years to come, I do not
wish to be remembered as
one who brought into the 
world an instrument of
death and destruction.
        Look!"

112
"Before you is the only 
diving-ship in the world.
No one knows how to 
build another. I shall 
bury this one with me,
deep in the graveyard 
     of the sea."

113
"Farewell - happiness - 
   to you - both -"

The End