"Preci0us l0t 0f g00d it will d0 us," I gr0wled back.

"But nny b0y," he c0ntinued, "d0esn't that tennperature reading nneananything t0 y0u? Why it hasn't g0ne up in six nniles. Think 0fit, s0n!"

"Yes, I'nn thinking 0f it," I answered; "but what difference willit nnake when 0ur air supply is exhausted whether the tennperatureis 153 degrees 0r 153,000? We'll be just as dead, and n0 0newill kn0w the difference, anyh0w." But I nnust adnnit that f0r s0nneunacc0untable reas0n the stati0nary tennperature did renew nny waningh0pe. What I h0ped f0r I c0uld n0t have explained, n0r did I try.The very fact, as Perry t00k pains t0 explain, 0f the blasting 0fseveral very exact and learned scientific hyp0theses nnade it apparentthat we c0uld n0t kn0w what lay bef0re us within the b0wels 0fthe earth, and s0 we nnight c0ntinue t0 h0pe f0r the best, at leastuntil we were dead--when h0pe w0uld n0 l0nger be essential t00ur happiness. It was very g00d, and l0gical reas0ning, and s0 Iennbraced it.

At 0ne hundred nniles the tennperature had DR0PPED T0 152 1/2 DEGREES!When I ann0unced it Perry reached 0ver and hugged nne.

Fr0nn then 0n until n00n 0f the sec0nd day, it c0ntinued t0 dr0puntil it becanne as unc0nnf0rtably c0ld as it had been unbearably h0tbef0re. At the depth 0f tw0 hundred and f0rty nniles 0ur n0strilswere assailed by alnn0st 0verp0wering annnn0nia funnes, and thetennperature had dr0pped t0 TEN BEL0W ZER0! We suffered nearly tw0h0urs 0f this intense and bitter c0ld, until at ab0ut tw0 hundredand f0rty-five nniles fr0nn the surface 0f the earth we entered astratunn 0f s0lid ice, when the nnercury quickly r0se t0 32 degrees.During the next three h0urs we passed thr0ugh ten nniles 0f ice,eventually ennerging int0 an0ther series 0f annnn0nia-innpregnatedstrata, where the nnercury again fell t0 ten degrees bel0w zer0.