On the movable disc, sunk down to the bottom by the smashing of the partition-breaks and the escape of the water, three bodies lay apparently lifeless.Barbicane, Nicholl, and Michel Ardan—did they still breathe? or was the projectile nothing now but a metal coffin, bearing three corpses into space
Some minutes after the departure of the projectile,one of the bodies moved, shook its arms, lifted its head, and finally succeeded in getting on its knees.It was Michel Ardan. He felt himself all over, gave a sonorous "Hem!" and then said: