Отруєний пояс
Chapter II. The Tide Of Death
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"Well,"saidLordJohn,"ifwe’vegottositsuckin’atthosetubeslikesomanybabieswiththeirbottles,I’mnottakin’any."
"Therewillbenoneedforthat,"Challengeranswered."Wehavemadearrangements—itistomywifethatyouchieflyoweit—thatherboudoirshallbemadeasairtightasispracticable.Withmattingandvarnishedpaper."
"Goodheavens,Challenger,youdon’tsupposeyoucankeepoutetherwithvarnishedpaper?"
"Really,myworthyfriend,youareatrifleperverseinmissingthepoint.Itisnottokeepouttheetherthatwehavegonetosuchtrouble.Itistokeepintheoxygen.Itrustthatifwecanensureanatmospherehyper-oxygenatedtoacertainpoint,wemaybeabletoretainoursenses.Ihadtwotubesofthegasandyouhavebroughtmethreemore.Itisnotmuch,butitissomething."
"Howlongwilltheylast?"
"Ihavenotanidea.Wewillnotturnthemonuntiloursymptomsbecomeunbearable.Thenweshalldolethegasoutasitisurgentlyneeded.Itmaygiveussomehours,possiblyevensomedays,onwhichwemaylookoutuponablastedworld.Ourownfateisdelayedtothatextent,andwewillhavetheverysingularexperience,wefive,ofbeing,inallprobability,theabsoluterearguardofthehumanraceuponitsmarchintotheunknown.Perhapsyouwillbekindenoughnowtogivemeahandwiththecylinders.Itseemstomethattheatmospherealreadygrowssomewhatmoreoppressive."
