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20 - Water, Where is it? A Bitter Disappointment - Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne · Classic Science Fiction Books

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty Water, Where is it? A bitter disappointment? During
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  Speaker 1: a long, long, weary hour, there crossed my wildly delirious brain.
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  Speaker 1: All sorts of reasons as to what could have aroused
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  Speaker 1: our quiet and faithful guide. The most absurd and ridiculous
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  Speaker 1: ideas passed through my head, each more impossible than the other.
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  Speaker 1: I believe I was either half or wholly mad. Suddenly, however,
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  Speaker 1: there arose, as it were, from the depths of the earth,
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  Speaker 1: a voice of comfort. It was the sound of footsteps.
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  Speaker 1: Hans was returning. Presently, the uncertain light began to shine
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  Speaker 1: upon the walls of the passage, and then it came
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  Speaker 1: in view far down the sloping tunnel. At length Hans
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  Speaker 1: himself appeared. He approached my uncle, placed his hand upon
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  Speaker 1: his shoulder, and gently awakened him. My uncle, as soon
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  Speaker 1: as he saw who it was, instantly arose well, exclaimed
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  Speaker 1: the professor. Vatten said the hunter. I did not know
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  Speaker 1: a single word of the Danish language, and yet by
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  Speaker 1: a sort of mysterious instinct, I understood what the guide
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  Speaker 1: had said. Water Water, I cried in a wild and
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  Speaker 1: frantic tone, clapping my hands and gesticulating like a madman.
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  Speaker 1: Water murmured my uncle, in a voice of deep emotion
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  Speaker 1: and gratitude, clar where neddet below, where below? I understood
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  Speaker 1: every word. I had caught the hunter by the hands,
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  Speaker 1: and I shook them heartily, while he looked on with
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  Speaker 1: perfect calm. The preparations for our departure did not take long,
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  Speaker 1: and we were soon making a rapid descent into the tunnel.
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  Speaker 1: An hour later, we had advanced a thousand yards and
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  Speaker 1: descended two thousand feet. At this moment I heard an
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  Speaker 1: accustomed and well known sound running along the floors of
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  Speaker 1: the granite rock, a kind of dull and sullen roar
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  Speaker 1: like that of a distant waterfall. During the first half
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  Speaker 1: hour of our advance, not finding the discovered spring, my
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  Speaker 1: feelings of intense suffering appeared to return once more. I
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  Speaker 1: began to lose all hope. My uncle, however, observing how
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  Speaker 1: downhearted I was again becoming, took up the conversation. Hans
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  Speaker 1: was right, he exclaimed enthusiastically. That is the dull roaring
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  Speaker 1: of a torrent. A torrent I cried, delighted at even
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  Speaker 1: here the welcome words. There is not the slightest doubt
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  Speaker 1: about it, he replied, a subterranean river is flowing beside us.
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  Speaker 1: I made no reply, but hastened on. Once more, animated
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  Speaker 1: by hope, I began not even to feel the deep
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  Speaker 1: fatigue which hitherto had overpowered me. The very sound of
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  Speaker 1: this glorious murmuring water already refreshed me. We could hear
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  Speaker 1: it increasing in volume every moment. The torrent, which for
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  Speaker 1: a long time could be heard flowing over our heads,
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  Speaker 1: now ran distinctly along the left wall, roaring, rushing, spluttering,
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  Speaker 1: and still falling. Several times I passed my hand across
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  Speaker 1: the rock, hoping to find some trace of humidity of
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  Speaker 1: the slightest percolation, alas in Vain. Again, a half hour
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  Speaker 1: passed in the same weary toil. Again we advanced. It
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  Speaker 1: now became evident that the hunter, during his absence had
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  Speaker 1: not been able to carry his researches any farther. Guided
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  Speaker 1: by an instinct peculiar to the dwellers in mountain regions
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  Speaker 1: and water finders, he smelt the living spring through the rock.
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  Speaker 1: Still he had not seen the precious liquid. He had
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  Speaker 1: neither quenched his own thirst nor brought us one drop
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  Speaker 1: in his gourd. Moreover, we soon made the disastrous discovery that,
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  Speaker 1: if our progress continued, we should soon be moving away
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  Speaker 1: from the Torrent, the sound of which gradually diminished. We
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  Speaker 1: turned back. Hans halted at the precise spot where the
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  Speaker 1: sound of the Torrent appeared nearest I could bear the
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  Speaker 1: suspense and suffering no longer, and I seated myself against
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  Speaker 1: the wall, behind which I could hear hear the water
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  Speaker 1: seething and effervescing, not two feet away, but a solid
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  Speaker 1: wall of granite still separated us from it. Hans looked
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  Speaker 1: keenly at me, and strange enough for once I thought
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  Speaker 1: I saw a smile on his imperturbable face. He rose
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  Speaker 1: from a stone on which he had been seated and
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  Speaker 1: took up the lamp. I could not help rising and following.
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  Speaker 1: He moved slowly along the firm and solid granite wall.
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  Speaker 1: I watched him with mingled curiosity and eagerness. Presently he
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  Speaker 1: halted and placed his ear against the dry stone, moving
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  Speaker 1: slowly along and listening with the most extreme care and attention.
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  Speaker 1: I understood at once that he was searching for the
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  Speaker 1: exact spot where the Torrent's roar was most plainly heard.
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  Speaker 1: This point, he said, found in the lateral wall on
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  Speaker 1: the left side, about three feet above the level of
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  Speaker 1: the tunnel floor. I was in a state of intense excitement.
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  Speaker 1: I scarcely dared believe what the eider duck hunter was
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  Speaker 1: about to do. It was, however, impossible, in a moment
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  Speaker 1: more not to both understand and applaud and even smother
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  Speaker 1: him in my embraces. When I saw him raise the
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  Speaker 1: heavy crowbar and commence an attack upon the rock itself saved,
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  Speaker 1: I cried, yes, cried my uncle, even more excited and
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  Speaker 1: delighted than myself. Hans is quite right, oh, the worthy,
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  Speaker 1: excellent man. We should never have thought of such an idea,
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  Speaker 1: and nobody else, I think, would have done so. Such
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  Speaker 1: a process, simple as it seemed, would most certainly not
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  Speaker 1: have entered our heads. Nothing could be more dangerous than
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  Speaker 1: to begin to work with pickaxes in that particular part
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  Speaker 1: of the globe. Supposing while he was at work, a
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  Speaker 1: break up were to take place, and supposing the torrent,
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  Speaker 1: once having gained an inch, were to take an l
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  Speaker 1: and come pouring bodily through the broken rock. Not one
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  Speaker 1: of these dangers was chimerical. They were only too real,
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  Speaker 1: But at that moment, no fear of falling in of
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  Speaker 1: the roof, or even of inundation, was capable of stopping us.
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  Speaker 1: Our thirst was so intense that to quench it we
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  Speaker 1: would have dug below the bed of the old ocean itself.
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  Speaker 1: Hans went quietly to work, a work which neither my
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  Speaker 1: uncle nor I would have undertaken at any price. Our
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  Speaker 1: impatience was so great that if we had once begun
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  Speaker 1: with pickaxe and crowbar, the rock would have soon split
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  Speaker 1: into a hundred fragments. The guide, on the contrary, calm
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  Speaker 1: ready moderate, wore away at the hard rock by little,
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  Speaker 1: steady blows of his instrument, making no attempt at a
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  Speaker 1: larger hole than about six inches. As I stood, I heard,
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  Speaker 1: or I thought I heard, the roar of the torrent,
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  Speaker 1: momentarily increasing in loudness, and at times I almost felt
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  Speaker 1: the pleasant sensation of water upon my parched lips. At
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  Speaker 1: the end of what appeared an age, Hans had made
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  Speaker 1: a hole which enabled his crowbar to enter two feet
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  Speaker 1: into the solid rock. He had been at work exactly
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  Speaker 1: an hour, it appeared a dozen. I was getting wild
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  Speaker 1: with impatience. My uncle began to think of using more
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  Speaker 1: violent measures. I had the greatest difficulty in checking him.
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  Speaker 1: He had indeed just got hold of his crow when
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  Speaker 1: a loud and welcome hiss was heard. Then a stream,
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  Speaker 1: or rather jet of water burst through the wall and
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  Speaker 1: came out with such force as to hit the opposite side.
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  Speaker 1: Hans the guide, who was half upset by the shock,
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  Speaker 1: was scarcely able to keep down a cry of pain
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  Speaker 1: and grief. I understood his meaning. When plunging my hands
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  Speaker 1: into the sparkling jet, I myself gave a wild and
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  Speaker 1: frantic cry. The water was scalding, hot, boiling, I cried
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  Speaker 1: in bitter disappointment. Well, never mind, said my uncle, It
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  Speaker 1: will soon get cool. The tunnel began to be filled
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  Speaker 1: by clouds of vapor, while a small stream ran away
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  Speaker 1: into the interior of the earth. In a short time
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  Speaker 1: we had some sufficiently cool to drink. We swallowed it
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  Speaker 1: in huge mouthfuls. Oh, what exalted delight, What rich and
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  Speaker 1: incomparable luxury? What was this water? Whence did it come
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  Speaker 1: to us? What was that? The simple fact was it
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  Speaker 1: was water, And though still with a tingle of warmth
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  Speaker 1: about it, it brought back to the heart that life,
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  Speaker 1: which but for it, must surely have faded away. I
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  Speaker 1: drank greedily, almost without tasting it. When, however, I had
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  Speaker 1: almost quenched my ravenous thirst, I made a discovery. Why
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  Speaker 1: it is chalybeate water a most excellent stomachic, replied my uncle,
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  Speaker 1: and highly mineralized. Here is a journey worth twenty to spa.
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  Speaker 1: It's very good, I replied, I should think so. Water
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  Speaker 1: found six miles underground. There is a peculiarly inky flavor
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  Speaker 1: about it, which is by no means disagreeable. Hans may
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  Speaker 1: congratulate himself on having made a rare discovery. What do
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  Speaker 1: you say, nephew, According to the usual custom of travelers
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  Speaker 1: to name the stream after him, good, said I, And
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  Speaker 1: the name of hans Bach, that is Hans Brook, was
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  Speaker 1: at once agreed upon. Hans was not a bit more
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  Speaker 1: proud after hearing our determination than he was before. After
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  Speaker 1: having taken a very small modicum of the welcome refreshment,
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  Speaker 1: he had seated himself in a corner with his usual
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  Speaker 1: imperturbable gravity. Now said I, it is not worth while
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  Speaker 1: letting this water run to waste. What is the use,
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  Speaker 1: replied my uncle. The source from which this river rises
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  Speaker 1: is inexhaustible. Never mind, I continued, let us fill our
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  Speaker 1: goat skin and gourds, and then try to stop the
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  Speaker 1: opening up my advice. After some hesitation was followed, or
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  Speaker 1: attempted to be followed, Hans picked up all the broken
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  Speaker 1: pieces of granite he had knocked out, and, using some
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  Speaker 1: tow he happened to have about him, tried to shut
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  Speaker 1: up the fissure he had made in the wall. All
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  Speaker 1: he did was to scald his hands. The pressure was
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  Speaker 1: too great, and all our attempts were utter failures. It
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  Speaker 1: is evident, I remarked that the upper surface of these
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  Speaker 1: springs is situated at a very great height above as
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  Speaker 1: we may fairly infer from the great pressure of the jet.
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  Speaker 1: That is, by no means doubtful, replied my uncle. If
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  Speaker 1: this column of water is about thirty two thousand feet high,
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  Speaker 1: the atmospheric pressure must be something enormous. But a new
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  Speaker 1: idea has just struck me. And what is that? Why
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  Speaker 1: be it so much trouble to close this aperture? Because
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  Speaker 1: I hesitated and stammered, having no real reason. When our
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  Speaker 1: water bottles are empty, we are not at all sure
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  Speaker 1: that we shall be able to fill them, observed my uncle.
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  Speaker 1: I think that is very probable. Well, then, let this
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  Speaker 1: water run. It will of course naturally follow in our track,
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  Speaker 1: and will serve to guide and refresh us. I think
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  Speaker 1: the idea a good one, I cried in reply. And
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  Speaker 1: with this rivulet as a companion, there is no further
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  Speaker 1: reason why we should not succeed in our marvelous project. Ah,
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  Speaker 1: my boy, said the professor, laughing, After all, you are
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  Speaker 1: coming around more than that. I am now confident of
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  Speaker 1: ultimate success. One moment, nephew mine, let us begin by
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  Speaker 1: taking some hours of repose. I had utterly forgotten that
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  Speaker 1: it was night. The chronometer, however, informed me of the fact.
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  Speaker 1: Soon we were sufficiently restored and refreshed, and had all
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  Speaker 1: fallen into a profound sleep. End of Chapter twenty