“Yes, Professor; and I love it as if it were part of myself. If danger threatens one of your vessels on the ocean, the first impression is the feeling of an abyss above and below. On the _Nautilus_ men’s hearts never fail them. No defects to be afraid of, for the double shell is as firm as iron; no rigging to attend to; no sails for the wind to carry away; no boilers to burst; no fire to fear, for the vessel is made of iron, not of wood; no coal to run short, for electricity is the only mechanical agent; no collision to fear, for it alone swims in deep water; no tempest to brave, for when it dives below the water, it reaches absolute tranquillity. There, sir! that is the perfection of vessels! And if it is true that the engineer has more confidence in the vessel than the builder, and the builder than the captain himself, you understand the trust I repose in my _Nautilus;_ for I am at once captain, builder, and engineer.” “But how could you construct this wonderful _Nautilus_ in secret?” “Each separate portion, M. Aronnax, was brought from different parts of the globe. The keel was forged at Creusot, the shaft of the screw at Penn & Co.’s, London, the iron plates of the hull at Laird’s of Liverpool, the screw itself at Scott’s at Glasgow. The reservoirs were made by Cail & Co. at Paris, the engine by Krupp in Prussia, its beak in Motala’s workshop in Sweden, its mathematical instruments by Hart Brothers, of New York, etc.; and each of these people had my orders under different names.” “But these parts had to be put together and arranged?” “Professor, I had set up my workshops upon a desert island in the ocean. There my workmen, that is to say, the brave men that I instructed and educated, and myself have put together our _Nautilus_. Then when the work was finished, fire destroyed all trace of our proceedings on this island, that I could have jumped over if I had liked.” “Then the cost of this vessel is great?” “M. Aronnax, an iron vessel costs £45 per ton. Now the _Nautilus_ weighed 1500. It came therefore to £67,500, and £80,000 more for fitting it up, and about £200,000 with the works of art and the collections it contains.” “One last question, Captain Nemo.” “Ask it, Professor.” “You are rich?” “Immensely rich, sir; and I could, without missing it, pay the national debt of France.” I stared at the singular person who spoke thus. Was he playing upon my credulity? The future would decide that. CHAPTER XIII THE BLACK RIVER