34
HECTOR SEEYADAC.
¦without distrust. When alone, they would frequently
ask each other what would become of them all, if the
«lcanic heat should really be subsiding, or if some un-
expected perturbation should retard the course of the
comet, and compel them to an indeflnately prolonged
residence in their grim abode. It was scarcely likely
that the comet could supply the fuel of which ere long
they would be in urgent need. Who could expect" to
.find coal in the bowels of Gallia—coal, which is the
residuum of ancient forests mineralized by the lapse
¦of ages? Would not the lava-cinders exhumed from
the extinct volcano be their last poor resource?
"Keep up your spirits, my friends," said Servadac.
11 We have plenty of time before us at present. Let us
hope that as fresh difficulties arise, fresh ways of es-
cape will open.   Never despair!"
True," said the count; "it is an old saying that
''Necessity is the mother of invention.' Besides, I
should think it very unlikely that the internal heat will
Xail us now before the summer."
The lieutenant declared that he entertained the same
hope. As the reason of his opinion he alleged that the
combustion of the eruptive matter was most probably
•of quite recent origin, because the comet, before its
collision with the earth, had possessed no atmosphere,
and that consequently no oxygen could have pene-
trated to its interior.
" Most likely you are right," replied the count; " and
430 far from dreading a failure of the internal heat, I
*m not quite sure that we may not be exposed to a
more terrible calamity still."
"What?" asked Servadac.
"The calamity of the eruption breaking out sud-
denly again, and taking us by surprise."
" Heavens I" cried the captain. " we will not think of
that."
" The outbreak may happen again," said the lieuten-
ant, calmly; "hut it will be our fault, our own lack of
-.vigilance, if we are taken by surprise."
And so the conversation dropped.
The 15th of January dawned; and the comet was
230,000,000 leagues from the sun.
Gallia had reached its aphelion.
CHAPTER XIV.
DREARY   MONTHS.
Henceforth, then, with a velocity ever increasing,
Gallia would reapproach 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 accepted in Nina-
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 re-
course 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
Eroblems of the chess-board. All of them, tb"o, would
e happy in the confidence that when the time should
¦conie, 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,
aa 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 til tie disposed
to renew an acquaintanceship that was marked by so
little cordiality.   Not in the least that they would ex-
Ïiect to meet with any inhospitable rebuff. Far from
hat, they knew well enough that Englishmen, what-
ever 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 re-
main in their present quarters. Up to 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-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 origi-
nal store-places, now colder than ever, the expedient
of killing off the animals seemed io recommend itself
as being equally prudent and humane.
Naturally the captain and Ben-Zoof were most anx-
ious that their favorite horses should be saved, and ac-
cordingly, by dint of the greatest care, all dime- lties in
the way were overcome, and Zephyr and Gallete were
conducted down the crater, where they were installed
in a large hole and provided with forage, which was
«till 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 every one 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 counter-
act in the general community. They provided a va-
riety of intellectual pursuits; they instituted debates
in which everybody wa. encouraged to take part; they
read aloud, and explained extracts from the element-
ary manuals of science or from the books of adventur-
ous 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 in
stnrction which should send them back to Mother
Earth less ignorant than they had left her.
Selfish and morose, Hakhabut could never be induced
4o 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 satisfac-
tion while he knew that the days were passing, and that
he was denied the opportunity of putting out his capi-
tal in advantageous investments, or securing a proper
interest.
Neither did Palmyrin Rosette And 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 par-
ticular 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 the new elements which be-
longed to Nerina, in consequence of its removal from
the zone of the telescopic planets, it was indispensable
that he should make several actual observations at va-
rious points of the orbit ; and for this purpose he re-
peatedly 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 pro-
fessor 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 manifest
good temper that the captain ventured to speak upon
the matter that was ever uppermost in his mind.
"I do not mean," he bejmi, timidly, "to cast the
least imputation of inaccura^ upon any of your calcu-
lations, 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 im-
portant, you know—so all important; the difference of
one half minute, you know, would 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 tne 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 I" he exclaimed. "Yes! Nerina
was a planet then; everything that appertained tothe
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, nevermind," 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 Serva-
dac.
"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
arm-chair and a table, and in this the astronomer was
soon ensconced to his entire satisfaction.
Buried thus, nearly 900 feet below ground, the Gal-
lians ought to have had unbounded mental energy to
furnish an adequate reaction to the depressing monot-
ony of their existence; but many days would often
elapse without any one of them ascending to the sur-
face 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 down-
ward direction. The three leaders, with Ben-Zouf,
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 in-
tention 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 li ttle 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 itwas the want of air and exercise
that was the cause of much of this mental depression;
but what could they do? The most serious remon-
strances 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 drowsi-
ness, 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 be-
came the life of the party. Her merry prattle enliv-
ened 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 influ-
ence, they still would have missed her bright presence
sorely.
The months still glided on; how, it seemed impossi-
ble to 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 GalUan 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 calcu-
late the rate of advance on its way back toward the
sun. He found that Gallia had recrossed 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 con-
tinued to revive, and by the end of the month Servadac
and his little colony had regained most of their ordi-
nary physical and mental energies. Ben-Zouf, in par-
ticular, roused himself with redoubled vigor, like-a
giant refreshed from his slumbers. The visits, conse-
quently, 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 dis-
tinct 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 eleva-
tion of the ice had gone on increasing until the schoon-
er 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 Hakhabut, immovable from the personal over-
sight of his property in the cavern, had not accompa-
nied the party, and consequently was in blissful igno-
rance of the fate that threatened his vessel.
" A good thing the old fellow wasn't there to see,"
observed Ben-Zouf ; "he would have screamed like a
peacock. What a misfortune it is," he added, speak-
ing to himself, " to have a peacock's voice without its
plumage!"
During the months of July and August, Gallia ad-
vanced 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 differ-
ence of 80° in the temperature. Like birds, the popula-
tion 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 ail. Hope and courage
revived as day by day the sun's disk expanded in the
heavens, and every evening the earth assumed a
greater magnitude among the fixed stars. It was
distant yet, but the goal was cheeringly in view.
" I can't believe that yonder little speck of light con-
tains my mountain of Montmartre," said Ben-Zouf, 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-Zouf 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 !"
CHAPTER XV.
THE  PROFESSOR PERPLEXED.
Another month passed away, and it was now Sep-
tember, but it was still impossible to leave the warmth
of the subterranean retreat for the more airy and
commodious quarters of the Hive, where " the bees "
would certainly have been frozen to death in their cells.
It was altogether quite as much a matter of congratu-
lation as of regret that the volcano showed no symp-
toms of resuming its activity; for although a return of
the eruption might have rendered their former resort
again habitable, any sudden outbreak would have been
disastrous to them where they were, the crater being
the sole outlet by which the burning lava could escape.
"A wretched time we have had for the last seven
months," said the orderly one day to his master; " but
what a comfort little Nina has been to us all!"
"Yes, indeed," replied Servadac; "she isacharming
little creature. I hardly know how we should have got
on without her."
" What is to become of her when we arrive back at
the earth?"
" Not much fear, Ben-Zouf, but that she will be well
taken care of. Perhaps you and I had better adopt
her."
"Ay, yes," assented the orderly. "You can be her
father, and I can be her mother. "
Servadac laughed.
" Then you and I shall be man and wife."
"We have been as good as that for a long time," ob-
served Ben-Zouf, gravely.
By the beginning of October, the temperature had
so far moderated that it could scarcely be said to be
intolerable. The comet's distance was scarcely
three times as great from the sun as the earth from
the sun, so that the thermometer rarely sunk beyond
35° below zero. The whole party began to make
almost daily visits to the Hive, and frequently pro-
ceeded to the shore, where they resumed their skating
exercise, rejoicing in their recovered freedom like
prisoners liberated from a dungeon. Whilst the rest
were enjoying their recreation, Servadac and the
count would hold long conversations with Lieutenant
Procope about their present position and future pros-
pects, discussing all manner of speculat'ons as to the
results of the anticipated collision with the earth, and
wondering whether any measures could be devised for
...