Dreary Months
:
BOOK II
Henceforth, then, with a velocity ever increasing, Gallia would
re-approach the sun.
Except the thirteen Englishmen who had been left at Gibraltar, every
living creature had taken refuge in the dark abyss of the volcano's
crater.
And with those Englishmen, how had it fared?
"Far better than with ourselves," was the sentiment that would have
been universally accepte
in Nina's Hive. And there was every reason
to conjecture that so it was. The party at Gibraltar, they all agreed,
would not, like themselves, have been compelled to have recourse to
a stream of lava for their supply of heat; they, no doubt, had had
abundance of fuel as well as food; and in their solid casemate, with its
substantial walls, they would find ample shelter from the rigor of the
cold. The time would have been passed at least in comfort, and perhaps
in contentment; and Colonel Murphy and Major Oliphant would have had
leisure more than sufficient for solving the most abstruse problems of
the chess-board. All of them, too, would be happy in the confidence that
when the time should come, England would have full meed of praise to
award to the gallant soldiers who had adhered so well and so manfully to
their post.
It did, indeed, more than once occur to the minds both of Servadac
and his friends that, if their condition should become one of extreme
emergency, they might, as a last resource, betake themselves to
Gibraltar, and there seek a refuge; but their former reception had
not been of the kindest, and they were little disposed to renew an
acquaintanceship that was marked by so little cordiality. Not in the
least that they would expect to meet with any inhospitable rebuff. Far
from that; they knew well enough that Englishmen, whatever their faults,
would be the last to abandon their fellow-creatures in the hour of
distress. Nevertheless, except the necessity became far more urgent than
it had hitherto proved, they resolved to endeavor to remain in their
present quarters. Up till this time no casualties had diminished
their original number, but to undertake so long a journey across that
unsheltered expanse of ice could scarcely fail to result in the loss of
some of their party.
However great was the desire to find a retreat for every living thing
in the deep hollow of the crater, it was found necessary to slaughter
almost all the domestic animals before the removal of the community from
Nina's Hive. To have stabled them all in the cavern below would have
been quite impossible, whilst to have left them in the upper galleries
would only have been to abandon them to a cruel death; and since meat
could be preserved for an indefinite time in the original store-places,
now colder than ever, the expedient of killing the animals seemed to
recommend itself as equally prudent and humane.
Naturally the captain and Ben Zoof were most anxious that their favorite
horses should be saved, and accordingly, by dint of the greatest care,
all difficulties in the way were overcome, and Zephyr and Galette were
conducted down the crater, where they were installed in a large hole and
provided with forage, which was still abundant.
Birds, subsisting only on scraps thrown out to them did not cease to
follow the population in its migration, and so numerous did they become
that multitudes of them had repeatedly to be destroyed.
The general re-arrangement of the new residence was no easy business,
and occupied so much time that the end of January arrived before they
could be said to be fairly settled. And then began a life of dreary
monotony. Then seemed to creep over everyone a kind of moral torpor
as well as physical lassitude, which Servadac, the count, and the
lieutenant did their best not only to combat in themselves, but
to counteract in the general community. They provided a variety of
intellectual pursuits; they instituted debates in which everybody was
encouraged to take part; they read aloud, and explained extracts from
the elementary manuals of science, or from the books of adventurous
travel which their library supplied; and Russians and Spaniards, day
after day, might be seen gathered round the large table, giving their
best attention to instruction which should send them back to Mother
Earth less ignorant than they had left her.
Selfish and morose, Hakkabut could never be induced to be present
at these social gatherings. He was far too much occupied in his own
appropriated corner, either in conning his accounts, or in counting his
money. Altogether, with what he had before, he now possessed the round
sum of 150,000 francs, half of which was in sterling gold; but nothing
could give him any satisfaction while he knew that the days were
passing, and that he was denied the opportunity of putting out his
capital in advantageous investments, or securing a proper interest.
Neither did Palmyrin Rosette find leisure to take any share in the
mutual intercourse. His occupation was far too absorbing for him to
suffer it to be interrupted, and to him, living as he did perpetually in
a world of figures, the winter days seemed neither long nor wearisome.
Having ascertained every possible particular about his comet, he was now
devoting himself with equal ardor to the analysis of all the properties
of the satellite Nerina, to which he appeared to assert the same claim
of proprietorship.
In order to investigate Nerina it was indispensable that he should make
several actual observations at various points of the orbit; and for this
purpose he repeatedly made his way up to the grotto above, where, in
spite of the extreme severity of the cold, he would persevere in the use
of his telescope till he was all but paralyzed. But what he felt more
than anything was the want of some retired apartment, where he could
pursue his studies without hindrance or intrusion.
It was about the beginning of February, when the professor brought his
complaint to Captain Servadac, and begged him to assign him a chamber,
no matter how small, in which he should be free to carry on his task in
silence and without molestation. So readily did Servadac promise to do
everything in his power to provide him with the accommodation for which
he asked, that the professor was put into such a manifest good temper
that the captain ventured to speak upon the matter that was ever
uppermost in his mind.
"I do not mean," he began timidly, "to cast the least imputation of
inaccuracy upon any of your calculations, but would you allow me, my
dear professor, to suggest that you should revise your estimate of the
duration of Gallia's period of revolution. It is so important, you know,
so all important; the difference of one half minute, you know, would so
certainly mar the expectation of reunion with the earth--"
And seeing a cloud gathering on Rosette's face, he added:
"I am sure Lieutenant Procope would be only too happy to render you any
assistance in the revision."
"Sir," said the professor, bridling up, "I want no assistant; my
calculations want no revision. I never make an error. I have made my
reckoning as far as Gallia is concerned. I am now making a like estimate
of the elements of Nerina."
Conscious how impolitic it would be to press this matter further, the
captain casually remarked that he should have supposed that all the
elements of Nerina had been calculated long since by astronomers on the
earth. It was about as unlucky a speech as he could possibly have made.
The professor glared at him fiercely.
"Astounding, sir!" he exclaimed. "Yes! Nerina was a planet then;
everything that appertained to the planet was determined; but Nerina is
a moon now. And do you not think, sir, that we have a right to know as
much about our moon as those terrestrials"--and he curled his lip as
he spoke with a contemptuous emphasis--"know of theirs?"
"I beg pardon," said the corrected captain.
"Well then, never mind," replied the professor, quickly appeased; "only
will you have the goodness to get me a proper place for study?"
"I will, as I promised, do all I can," answered Servadac.
"Very good," said the professor. "No immediate hurry; an hour hence will
do."
But in spite of this condescension on the part of the man of science,
some hours had to elapse before any place of retreat could be discovered
likely to suit his requirements; but at length a little nook was found
in the side of the cavern just large enough to hold an armchair and
a table, and in this the astronomer was soon ensconced to his entire
satisfaction.
Buried thus, nearly 900 feet below ground, the Gallians ought to have
had unbounded mental energy to furnish an adequate reaction to the
depressing monotony of their existence; but many days would often elapse
without any one of them ascending to the surface of the soil, and had
it not been for the necessity of obtaining fresh water, it seemed almost
probable that there would never have been an effort made to leave the
cavern at all.
A few excursions, it is true, were made in the downward direction. The
three leaders, with Ben Zoof, made their way to the lower depths of the
crater, not with the design of making any further examination as to
the nature of the rock--for although it might be true enough that it
contained thirty per cent. of gold, it was as valueless to them as
granite--but with the intention of ascertaining whether the subterranean
fire still retained its activity. Satisfied upon this point, they came
to the conclusion that the eruption which had so suddenly ceased in one
spot had certainly broken out in another.
February, March, April, May, passed wearily by; but day succeeded to day
with such gloomy sameness that it was little wonder that no notice was
taken of the lapse of time. The people seemed rather to vegetate than
to live, and their want of vigor became at times almost alarming. The
readings around the long table ceased to be attractive, and the debates,
sustained by few, became utterly wanting in animation. The Spaniards
could hardly be roused to quit their beds, and seemed to have scarcely
energy enough to eat. The Russians, constitutionally of more enduring
temperament, did not give way to the same extent, but the long and drear
confinement was beginning to tell upon them all. Servadac, the count,
and the lieutenant all knew well enough that it was the want of air and
exercise that was the cause of much of this mental depression; but
what could they do? The most serious remonstrances on their part were
entirely in vain. In fact, they themselves occasionally fell a prey
to the same lassitude both of body and mind. Long fits of drowsiness,
combined with an utter aversion to food, would come over them. It almost
seemed as if their entire nature had become degenerate, and that, like
tortoises, they could sleep and fast till the return of summer.
Strange to say, little Nina bore her hardships more bravely than any
of them. Flitting about, coaxing one to eat, another to drink, rousing
Pablo as often as he seemed yielding to the common languor, the child
became the life of the party. Her merry prattle enlivened the gloom of
the grim cavern like the sweet notes of a bird; her gay Italian songs
broke the monotony of the depressing silence; and almost unconscious as
the half-dormant population of Gallia were of her influence, they still
would have missed her bright presence sorely. The months still glided
on; how, it seemed impossible for the inhabitants of the living tomb to
say. There was a dead level of dullness.
At the beginning of June the general torpor appeared slightly to relax
its hold upon its victims. This partial revival was probably due to the
somewhat increased influence of the sun, still far, far away. During
the first half of the Gallian year, Lieutenant Procope had taken careful
note of Rosette's monthly announcements of the comet's progress, and he
was able now, without reference to the professor, to calculate the rate
of advance on its way back towards the sun. He found that Gallia had
re-crossed the orbit of Jupiter, but was still at the enormous distance
of 197,000,000 leagues from the sun, and he reckoned that in about four
months it would have entered the zone of the telescopic planets.
Gradually, but uninterruptedly, life and spirits continued to revive,
and by the end of the month Servadac and his little colony had regained
most of their ordinary physical and mental energies. Ben Zoof, in
particular, roused himself with redoubled vigor, like a giant refreshed
from his slumbers. The visits, consequently, to the long-neglected
galleries of Nina's Hive became more and more frequent.
One day an excursion was made to the shore. It was still bitterly cold,
but the atmosphere had lost nothing of its former stillness, and not a
cloud was visible from horizon to zenith. The old footmarks were all as
distinct as on the day in which they had been imprinted, and the only
portion of the shore where any change was apparent was in the little
creek. Here the elevation of the ice had gone on increasing, until the
schooner and the tartan had been uplifted to a height of 150 feet, not
only rendering them quite inaccessible, but exposing them to all but
certain destruction in the event of a thaw.
Isaac Hakkabut, immovable from the personal oversight of his property
in the cavern, had not accompanied the party, and consequently was in
blissful ignorance of the fate that threatened his vessel. "A good thing
the old fellow wasn't there to see," observed Ben Zoof; "he would have
screamed like a peacock. What a misfortune it is," he added, speaking to
himself, "to have a peacock's voice, without its plumage!"
During the months of July and August, Gallia advanced 164,000,000
leagues along her orbit. At night the cold was still intense, but in
the daytime the sun, here full upon the equator, caused an appreciable
difference of 20 degrees in the temperature. Like birds, the population
spent whole days exposed to its grateful warmth, rarely returning till
nightfall to the shade of their gloomy home.
This spring-time, if such it may be called, had a most enlivening
influence upon all. Hope and courage revived as day by day the sun's
disc expanded in the heavens, and every evening the earth assumed a
greater magnitude amongst the fixed stars. It was distant yet, but the
goal was cheeringly in view.
"I can't believe that yonder little speck of light contains my mountain
of Montmartre," said Ben Zoof, one night, after he had been gazing long
and steadily at the far-off world.
"You will, I hope, some day find out that it does," answered his master.
"I hope so," said the orderly, without moving his eye from the distant
sphere. After meditating a while, he spoke again. "I suppose Professor
Rosette couldn't make his comet go straight back, could he?"
"Hush!" cried Servadac.
Ben Zoof understood the correction.
"No," continued the captain; "it is not for man to disturb the order of
the universe. That belongs to a Higher Power than ours!"