There was no doubt, at all events, of the authenticity of Kermadec’s story. A few months ago, when he found René on his hospital bed, his professional examination of him forbade his admitting for a moment the hypothesis of insanity; and now, Kermadec’s loyalty could not be questioned. Besides, this second aspect of the surprising drama was much more easy to believe in, once the first was accepted; indeed, the worthy Kermadec appeared to be very much at his ease among the marvels he spoke of,—these frantic divings to the bottom of the sea, excursions in the gardens of the enchanted palace, and, above all, the privilege of seeing these quasi-divine personages, of speaking to them, of being admitted to a sort of intimacy with them. All this tended to pique the doctor’s curiosity, and rouse within him the spirit of adventure.“And why,” ruminated he, “when an opportunity like this offers itself to enlarge the field of my experience, should I let it slip through my fingers? I, who am pledged by my profession to augment to the utmost of my power the knowledge of human nature; to struggle against the darkness which surrounds us on all sides, which hides from us so much of the cause and the effect of things; and, what touches us still more closely, the darkness which obscures the facts which are at our very feet, the history, the condition of a race, related to our own.
What do You think about The Crystal City Under The Sea?
