“Before all masters, necessity is the one most listened to, and who teaches the best.”

“Ah, monsieur, to live in the bosom of the sea! Only there can independence be found! There I recognize no master! There I am free!”

“It is certain," exclaimed my uncle in a tone of triumph. "But silence, do you hear me? silence upon the whole subject; and let no one get before us in this design of discovering the centre of the earth.”

“Is the Master out of his mind?' she asked me.I nodded.'And he's taking you with him?'I nodded again.'Where?' she asked.I pointed towards the centre of the earth.'Into the cellar?' exclaimed the old servant.'No,' I said, 'farther down than that.”

“Was he being devoured by one of those secret rages, all the more terrible because contained, and which only burst forth, with irresistible force, at the last moment?”

“The colonists had no library at their disposal; but the engineer was a book which was always at hand, always open at the page which one wanted, a book which answered all their questions, and which they often consulted.”

“We now know most things that can be measured in this world, except the bounds of human ambition!”