A Journey And A Disappointment
: BOOK IIIt was as the professor had said. From the day that Isaac Hakkabut had
entered upon his mercantile career, his dealings had all been carried
on by a system of false weight. That deceitful steelyard had been the
mainspring of his fortune. But when it had become his lot to be the
purchaser instead of the vendor, his spirit had groaned within him at
being compelled to reap the fruits of his own dishonesty. No one who had
extorted from him, that for every supposed kilogramme that he had ever
sold the true weight was only 750 grammes, or just five and twenty per
cent. less than it ought to have been.
The professor, however, had ascertained all that he wanted to know. By
estimating his comet at a third as much again as its proper weight,
he had found that his calculations were always at variance with the
observed situation of the satellite, which was immediately influenced by
the mass of its primary.
But now, besides enjoying the satisfaction of having punished old
Hakkabut, Rosette was able to recommence his calculations with reference
to the elements of Nerina upon a correct basis, a task to which he
devoted himself with redoubled energy.
It will be easily imagined that Isaac Hakkabut, thus caught in his own
trap, was jeered most unmercifully by those whom he had attempted to
make his dupes. Ben Zoof, in particular, was never wearied of telling
him how on his return to the world he would be prosecuted for using
false weights, and would certainly become acquainted with the inside
of a prison. Thus badgered, he secluded himself more than ever in his
dismal hole, never venturing, except when absolutely obliged, to face
the other members of the community.
On the 7th of October the comet re-entered the zone of the telescopic
planets, one of which had been captured as a satellite, and the origin
of the whole of which is most probably correctly attributed to the
disintegration of some large planet that formerly revolved between the
orbits of Mars and Jupiter. By the beginning of the following month half
of this zone had been traversed, and only two months remained before
the collision with the earth was to be expected. The temperature was now
rarely below 12 degrees below zero, but that was far too cold to permit
the slightest symptoms of a thaw. The surface of the sea remained as
frozen as ever, and the two vessels, high up on their icy pedestals,
remained unaltered in their critical position.
It was about this time that the question began to be mooted whether it
would not be right to reopen some communication with the Englishmen at
Gibraltar. Not that any doubt was entertained as to their having been
able successfully to cope with the rigors of the winter; but Captain
Servadac, in a way that did honor to his generosity, represented that,
however uncourteous might have been their former behavior, it was at
least due to them that they should be informed of the true condition of
things, which they had had no opportunity of learning; and, moreover,
that they should be invited to co-operate with the population of Nina's
Hive, in the event of any measures being suggested by which the shock of
the approaching collision could be mitigated.
The count and the lieutenant both heartily concurred in Servadac's
sentiments of humanity and prudence, and all agreed that if the
intercourse were to be opened at all, no time could be so suitable as
the present, while the surface of the sea presented a smooth and solid
footing. After a thaw should set in, neither the yacht nor the tartan
could be reckoned on for service, and it would be inexpedient to make
use of the steam launch, for which only a few tons of coal had been
reserved, just sufficient to convey them to Gourbi Island when the
occasion should arise; whilst as to the yawl, which, transformed into a
sledge, had performed so successful a trip to Formentera, the absence of
wind would make that quite unavailable. It was true that with the return
of summer temperature, there would be certain to be a derangement in the
atmosphere of Gallia, which would result in wind, but for the present
the air was altogether too still for the yawl to have any prospects of
making its way to Gibraltar.
The only question remaining was as to the possibility of going on foot.
The distance was somewhere about 240 miles. Captain Servadac declared
himself quite equal to the undertaking. To skate sixty or seventy miles
a day would be nothing, he said, to a practical skater like himself. The
whole journey there and back might be performed in eight days. Provided
with a compass, a sufficient supply of cold meat, and a spirit lamp, by
which he might boil his coffee, he was perfectly sure he should, without
the least difficulty, accomplish an enterprise that chimed in so exactly
with his adventurous spirit.
Equally urgent were both the count and the lieutenant to be allowed
to accompany him; nay, they even offered to go instead; but Servadac,
expressing himself as most grateful for their consideration, declined
their offer, and avowed his resolution of taking no other companion than
his own orderly.
Highly delighted at his master's decision, Ben Zoof expressed his
satisfaction at the prospect of "stretching his legs a bit," declaring
that nothing could induce him to permit the captain to go alone. There
was no delay. The departure was fixed for the following morning, the 2nd
of November.
Although it is not to be questioned that a genuine desire of doing
an act of kindness to his fellow-creatures was a leading motive of
Servadac's proposed visit to Gibraltar, it must be owned that another
idea, confided to nobody, least of all to Count Timascheff, had been
conceived in the brain of the worthy Gascon. Ben Zoof had an inkling
that his master was "up to some other little game," when, just before
starting, he asked him privately whether there was a French tricolor
among the stores. "I believe so," said the orderly.
"Then don't say a word to anyone, but fasten it up tight in your
knapsack."
Ben Zoof found the flag, and folded it up as he was directed. Before
proceeding to explain this somewhat enigmatical conduct of Servadac,
it is necessary to refer to a certain physiological fact, coincident
but unconnected with celestial phenomena, originating entirely in the
frailty of human nature. The nearer that Gallia approached the earth,
the more a sort of reserve began to spring up between the captain and
Count Timascheff. Though they could not be said to be conscious of
it, the remembrance of their former rivalry, so completely buried in
oblivion for the last year and ten months, was insensibly recovering
its hold upon their minds, and the question was all but coming to
the surface as to what would happen if, on their return to earth, the
handsome Madame de L---- should still be free. From companions in peril,
would they not again be avowed rivals? Conceal it as they would, a
coolness was undeniably stealing over an intimacy which, though it could
never be called affectionate, had been uniformly friendly and courteous.
Under these circumstances, it was not surprising that Hector Servadac
should not have confided to the count a project which, wild as it was,
could scarcely have failed to widen the unacknowledged breach that was
opening in their friendship.
The project was the annexation of Ceuta to the French dominion. The
Englishmen, rightly enough, had continued to occupy the fragment of
Gibraltar, and their claim was indisputable. But the island of Ceuta,
which before the shock had commanded the opposite side of the strait,
and had been occupied by Spaniards, had since been abandoned, and was
therefore free to the first occupant who should lay claim to it. To
plant the tricolor upon it, in the name of France, was now the cherished
wish of Servadac's heart.
"Who knows," he said to himself, "whether Ceuta, on its return to earth,
may not occupy a grand and commanding situation? What a proud thing it
would be to have secured its possession to France!"
Next morning, as soon as they had taken their brief farewell of their
friends, and were fairly out of sight of the shore, Servadac imparted
his design to Ben Zoof, who entered into the project with the greatest
zest, and expressed himself delighted, not only at the prospect of
adding to the dominions of his beloved country, but of stealing a march
upon England.
Both travelers were warmly clad, the orderly's knapsack containing all
the necessary provisions. The journey was accomplished without special
incident; halts were made at regular intervals, for the purpose of
taking food and rest. The temperature by night as well as by day was
quite endurable, and on the fourth afternoon after starting, thanks to
the straight course which their compass enabled them to maintain, the
adventurers found themselves within a few miles of Ceuta.
As soon as Ben Zoof caught sight of the rock on the western horizon, he
was all excitement. Just as if he were in a regiment going into action,
he talked wildly about "columns" and "squares" and "charges." The
captain, although less demonstrative, was hardly less eager to reach the
rock. They both pushed forward with all possible speed till they were
within a mile and a half of the shore, when Ben Zoof, who had a very
keen vision, stopped suddenly, and said that he was sure he could see
something moving on the top of the island.
"Never mind, let us hasten on," said Servadac. A few minutes carried
them over another mile, when Ben Zoof stopped again.
"What is it, Ben Zoof?" asked the captain.
"It looks to me like a man on a rock, waving his arms in the air," said
the orderly.
"Plague on it!" muttered Servadac; "I hope we are not too late." Again
they went on; but soon Ben Zoof stopped for the third time.
"It is a semaphore, sir; I see it quite distinctly." And he was not
mistaken; it had been a telegraph in motion that had caught his eye.
"Plague on it!" repeated the captain.
"Too late, sir, do you think?" said Ben Zoof.
"Yes, Ben Zoof; if that's a telegraph--and there is no doubt of
it--somebody has been before us and erected it; and, moreover, if it is
moving, there must be somebody working it now."
He was keenly disappointed. Looking towards the north, he could
distinguish Gibraltar faintly visible in the extreme distance, and upon
the summit of the rock both Ben Zoof and himself fancied they could make
out another semaphore, giving signals, no doubt, in response to the one
here.
"Yes, it is only too clear; they have already occupied it, and
established their communications," said Servadac.
"And what are we to do, then?" asked Ben Zoof.
"We must pocket our chagrin, and put as good a face on the matter as we
can," replied the captain.
"But perhaps there are only four or five Englishmen to protect the
place," said Ben Zoof, as if meditating an assault.
"No, no, Ben Zoof," answered Servadac; "we must do nothing rash. We
have had our warning, and, unless our representations can induce them to
yield their position, we must resign our hope."
Thus discomfited, they had reached the foot of the rock, when all at
once, like a "Jack-in-the-box," a sentinel started up before them with
the challenge:
"Who goes there?"
"Friends. Vive la France!" cried the captain.
"Hurrah for England!" replied the soldier.
By this time four other men had made their appearance from the upper
part of the rock.
"What do you want?" asked one of them, whom Servadac remembered to have
seen before at Gibraltar.
"Can I speak to your commanding officer?" Servadac inquired.
"Which?" said the man. "The officer in command of Ceuta?"
"Yes, if there is one."
"I will acquaint him with your arrival," answered the Englishman, and
disappeared.
In a few minutes the commanding officer, attired in full uniform, was
seen descending to the shore. It was Major Oliphant himself.
Servadac could no longer entertain a doubt that the Englishmen had
forestalled him in the occupation of Ceuta. Provisions and fuel had
evidently been conveyed thither in the boat from Gibraltar before the
sea had frozen, and a solid casemate, hollowed in the rock, had afforded
Major Oliphant and his contingent ample protection from the rigor of
the winter. The ascending smoke that rose above the rock was sufficient
evidence that good fires were still kept up; the soldiers appeared to
have thriven well on what, no doubt, had been a generous diet, and the
major himself, although he would scarcely have been willing to allow it,
was slightly stouter than before.
Being only about twelve miles distant from Gibraltar, the little
garrison at Ceuta had felt itself by no means isolated in its position;
but by frequent excursions across the frozen strait, and by the constant
use of the telegraph, had kept up their communication with their
fellow-countrymen on the other island. Colonel Murphy and the major had
not even been forced to forego the pleasures of the chessboard. The game
that had been interrupted by Captain Servadac's former visit was not yet
concluded; but, like the two American clubs that played their celebrated
game in 1846 between Washington and Baltimore, the two gallant officers
made use of the semaphore to communicate their well-digested moves.
The major stood waiting for his visitor to speak.
"Major Oliphant, I believe?" said Servadac, with a courteous bow.
"Yes, sir, Major Oliphant, officer in command of the garrison at Ceuta,"
was the Englishman's reply. "And to whom," he added, "may I have the
honor of speaking?"
"To Captain Servadac, the governor general of Gallia."
"Indeed!" said the major, with a supercilious look.
"Allow me to express my surprise," resumed the captain, "at seeing you
installed as commanding officer upon what I have always understood to be
Spanish soil. May I demand your claim to your position?"
"My claim is that of first occupant."
"But do you not think that the party of Spaniards now resident with me
may at some future time assert a prior right to the proprietorship?"
"I think not, Captain Servadac."
"But why not?" persisted the captain.
"Because these very Spaniards have, by formal contract, made over Ceuta,
in its integrity, to the British government."
Servadac uttered an exclamation of surprise.
"And as the price of that important cession," continued Major Oliphant,
"they have received a fair equivalent in British gold."
"Ah!" cried Ben Zoof, "that accounts for that fellow Negrete and his
people having such a lot of money."
Servadac was silent. It had become clear to his mind what had been the
object of that secret visit to Ceuta which he had heard of as being made
by the two English officers. The arguments that he had intended to use
had completely fallen through; all that he had now to do was carefully
to prevent any suspicion of his disappointed project.
"May I be allowed to ask, Captain Servadac, to what I am indebted for
the honor of this visit?" asked Major Oliphant presently.
"I have come, Major Oliphant, in the hope of doing you and your
companions a service," replied Servadac, rousing himself from his
reverie.
"Ah, indeed!" replied the major, as though he felt himself quite
independent of all services from exterior sources.
"I thought, major, that it was not unlikely you were in ignorance of
the fact that both Ceuta and Gibraltar have been traversing the solar
regions on the surface of a comet."
The major smiled incredulously; but Servadac, nothing daunted, went on
to detail the results of the collision between the comet and the earth,
adding that, as there was the almost immediate prospect of another
concussion, it had occurred to him that it might be advisable for the
whole population of Gallia to unite in taking precautionary measures for
the common welfare.
"In fact, Major Oliphant," he said in conclusion, "I am here to inquire
whether you and your friends would be disposed to join us in our present
quarters."
"I am obliged to you, Captain Servadac," answered the major stiffly;
"but we have not the slightest intention of abandoning our post. We have
received no government orders to that effect; indeed, we have received
no orders at all. Our own dispatch to the First Lord of the Admiralty
still awaits the mail."
"But allow me to repeat," insisted Servadac, "that we are no longer on
the earth, although we expect to come in contact with it again in about
eight weeks."
"I have no doubt," the major answered, "that England will make every
effort to reclaim us."
Servadac felt perplexed. It was quite evident that Major Oliphant had
not been convinced of the truth of one syllable of what he had been
saying.
"Then I am to understand that you are determined to retain your two
garrisons here and at Gibraltar?" asked Servadac, with one last effort
at persuasion.
"Certainly; these two posts command the entrance of the Mediterranean."
"But supposing there is no longer any Mediterranean?" retorted the
captain, growing impatient.
"Oh, England will always take care of that," was Major Oliphant's cool
reply. "But excuse me," he added presently; "I see that Colonel
Murphy has just telegraphed his next move. Allow me to wish you
good-afternoon."
And without further parley, followed by his soldiers, he retired into
the casemate, leaving Captain Servadac gnawing his mustache with mingled
rage and mortification.
"A fine piece of business we have made of this!" said Ben Zoof, when he
found himself alone with his master.
"We will make our way back at once," replied Captain Servadac.
"Yes, the sooner the better, with our tails between our legs," rejoined
the orderly, who this time felt no inclination to start off to the march
of the Algerian zephyrs. And so the French tricolor returned as it had
set out--in Ben Zoof's knapsack.
On the eighth evening after starting, the travelers again set foot on
the volcanic promontory just in time to witness a great commotion.
Palmyrin Rosette was in a furious rage. He had completed all his
calculations about Nerina, but that perfidious satellite had totally
disappeared. The astronomer was frantic at the loss of his moon.
Captured probably by some larger body, it was revolving in its proper
zone of the minor planets.
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Violent as the commotion had been, that portion of the Algerian coast which is bounded on the north by the Mediterranean, and on the west by the right bank of the Shelif, appeared to have suffered little change. It is true that indentations were p... A Mystery
FROM the glittering Hall of Audience a forward movement was soon made to the inner rooms that formed the private apartments of the Naya. Carried onward by the press of people, I was amazed at the magnificence and luxury everywhere apparent. The wa... A Mystery To Be Solved At Any Price
That study of his was a museum, and nothing else. Specimens of everything known in mineralogy lay there in their places in perfect order, and correctly named, divided into inflammable, metallic, and lithoid minerals. How well I knew all these bit... A Narrow Escape From Destruction-i Give Some Particulars About Mars And Martian Discovery
Things now went on quietly and, in fact, rather monotonously for several days; and then we met with another rather startling experience. We were all sitting together in our living-room on the 9th of September, whiling away the time in a ga... A Natural Grave
THE single shot from our opponents was quickly replied to by myself and my companions, and we had the satisfaction of seeing half-a-dozen Arabs fall backward from the path and disappear in the soft sand. Instantly the rattle of musketry was deafen... A New Face
As Professor Maxon and von Horn rushed from the workshop to their own campong, they neglected, in their haste, to lock the door between, and for the first time since the camp was completed it stood unlatched and ajar. The professor had been eng... A New Star
That very night, the startling news so impatiently awaited, burst like a thunderbolt over the United States of the Union, and thence, darting across the ocean, ran through all the telegraphic wires of the globe. The projectile had been detected,... A Night Of Fifteen Days
The Projectile being not quite 30 miles from the Moon's north pole when the startling phenomenon, recorded in our last chapter, took place, a few seconds were quite sufficient to launch it at once from the brightest day into the unknown realms of ... A Nocturnal Evasion
Promptly at the appointed time, Copernicus Droop might have been seen approaching the white cottage. Still nursing a faint hope, he walked with nervous rapidity, mumbling and gesticulating in his excitement. He attracted but little attention. His ... A Note Of Invitation
The next day was the 9th of November. I awoke after a long sleep of twelve hours. Conseil came, according to custom, to know "how I passed the night," and to offer his services. He had left his friend the Canadian sleeping like a man who had neve... A Novel Proposal Of Captain Nemo's
On the 28th of February, when at noon the Nautilus came to the surface of the sea, in 9 deg. 4' N. lat., there was land in sight about eight miles to westward. The first thing I noticed was a range of mountains about two thousand feet high, the sha... A Parley
I TURNED again and went on down towards the sea. I found the hot stream broadened out to a shallow, weedy sand, in which an abundance of crabs and long-bodied, many-legged creatures started from my footfall. I walked to the very edge of the salt ... A Parley At Aldershot
Lord Kitchener had probably never had so bitter an experience as he had when the Auriole began to slow down over the plain of Aldershot. Never could he, or any other British soldier, have dreamt six months ago that the German, Austrian, French and... A Pearl Of Ten Millions
The next morning at four o'clock I was awakened by the steward whom Captain Nemo had placed at my service. I rose hurriedly, dressed, and went into the saloon. Captain Nemo was awaiting me. "M. Aronnax," said he, "are you ready to start?" "... A Pendent World
The Mahars set me free as they had promised, but with strict injunctions never to approach Phutra or any other Mahar city. They also made it perfectly plain that they considered me a dangerous creature, and that having wiped the slate clean in so f... A Place In The Sun
Mayhem, the man of many bodies, had been given some weird assignments in his time, but saving The Glory of the Galaxy wasn't difficult--it was downright impossible! The SOS crackled and hummed through subspace at a speed whic... A Plagiarist Of Dreams
Being unable to sleep, I arose early to get the refreshment of a morning walk. I passed quietly through the next room, where the doctor was still sleeping soundly, out into the courtyard. I was scarcely outside when I heard a familiar, excited bar... A Play To The Death
Clear and sweet a trumpet spoke across The Fields of Jetan. From The High Tower its cool voice floated across the city of Manator and above the babel of human discords rising from the crowded mass that filled the seats of the stadium below. It calle...