They had no doubt that the front of the Sphinx, saturated by the water after the thousands of years that it had stood there, exposed to the desiccating influences of the sun and the desert sands, had suddenly disintegrated, and fallen upon them, pinning their vessel fast under the fragments of the huge head. De Beauxchamps tried the engines and found that they had no effect in moving the _Jules Verne_. He tried again and again by reversing to disengage the vessel, but it would not stir. Then they debated the only other means of escape. "Although I have levium life-suits," said the Frenchman, "and although the top of the _Jules Verne_ can probably be opened, for the door seems not to have been touched, yet the instant it is removed the water will rush in, and it will be impossible to pump out the vessel." "Are your life-suits so arranged that they will permit of moving the limbs?" demanded Cosmo. "Certainly they are." "And can they be weighted so as to remain at the bottom?" "They are arranged for that," responded De Beauxchamps. "And can the weights be detached by the inmates without permitting the entrance of water?" "It can be done, although a very little water might enter during the operation." "Then," said Cosmo, "let us put on the suits, open the door, take out the ballast so that, if released, the submersible will rise to the surface through its own buoyancy, and then see if we cannot loosen the vessel from outside." It was a suggestion whose boldness made even the owner and constructor of the _Jules Verne_ stare for a moment, but evidently it was the only possible way in which the vessel might be saved; and knowing that, in case of failure, they could themselves float to the surface after removing the weights from the bottom of the suits, they unanimously decided to try Cosmo Versál's plan. It was terribly hard work getting the ballast out of the submersible, working as they had to do under water, which rushed in as soon as the door was opened, and in their awkward suits, which were provided with apparatus for renewing the supply of oxygen; but at last they succeeded. Then they clambered outside, and labored desperately to release the vessel from the huge fragments of stone that pinned it down. Finally, exhausted by their efforts, and unable to make any impression, they gave up. De Beauxchamps approached Cosmo and motioned to him that it was time to ascend to the surface and leave the _Jules Verne_ to her fate. But Cosmo signaled back that he wished first to examine more closely the strange statue that was gazing upon them in the still unextinguished beam of the searchlight with what they might now have regarded as a look of mockery. The others, accordingly, waited while Cosmo Versál, greatly impeded by his extraordinary garment, clambered up to the front of the figure. There he saw something which redoubled his amazement.