18 HECTOR SERVADAC. Here wasîtrue? Howl He would be no longer on the Mediterranean, but on the Gallian Sea. He would never see again his good, German country ! He would trade no more with his easy dupes in Tripoli and Tunis! But it was his ruin ! Then, he was seen to leave his tartan oftener and mingle with the different groups of Russians and Span- lards, who did not annoy him with jests. He then tried to coax Ben-Zouf by offering him some pinches of ¦miff, which the orderly refused " by orders." " No, old Zabulon!" he said to him. " Not a single pinch! Those are my orders! You shall eat your cargo, you shall drink it, you shall snuff it all, and all alone, Sardanapalus!" Isaac Hakhabut, seeing that he could obtain nothing from the "Saints," "threw himself upon God," and one d*y he decided to ask Captain Servadac if all that was indeed true, believing that a French officer would not wish to deceive a poor man like him. "Ah! yes, zounds! yes! all that is true," replied Hec- tor Servadac, mad» impatient by so much obstinacy, " and you have only time to take refuge in ' Nina's Hive!'" "May the Eternal and Mahomet help mel" mur- mured the Jew, making this double invocation like a true renegade, as he was. " Do you want three or four men to bring the ' Han- sa ' to the new anchorage of Hot-Land?" asked Captain Servadac. " I want to go to Algiers," replied Isaac Hakhabut. " I repeat to you that Alçiers'exists no longer!" " God of Israel, is it possible I" " S"or the last time, will you follow us with yon tar- tan to Hot-Land,- where we are going to winter?" " Mercy ! I am undone !" "You will not? Well, we shall bring the'Hansa* In spite of you, and without you, to a safe place." "In spite of me, governor?" " Yes, for I do not wish that, by your stupid obsti- nacy, all this precious store should be destroyed with- out profit to any one. " But it is my ruin I" "It would be much more surely your ruin If we let you alone," replied Hector Servadac, shrugging his shoulders. "And now go to the devil!" Isaac Hackhabut turned toward his tartan, raising his arms to heaven, and protesting against the incredi- ble rapacity of the men " of the bad race." On the twentieth of March, the work on Gourbi Island was finished. It only remained to depart. The ther- mometer had" fallen, on an average, to eight degrees below zero. The water of the well no longer offered a single liquid drop. It was then agreed that on the morrow all should embark on the " Dobryna," and leave the island to take refuge in "Nina's Hive." They were equally resolved to bring the tartan there in spite of all the protestations of her proprietor. Lieutenant Procope had declared that if the " Hansa " had remained anchored at the Port of Chéliff, she could not resist the pressure of the ice, and would be inevit- ably broken up. In the creek of Hot-Land better pro- tected, she would be more secure, and in any case, if she were lost there, her cargo, at least, could be saved. That is the reason that some moments after the schooner had weighed anchor, the " Hansa " set sail also, in spite of the cries and objurgations of Isaac Hak- habeL Four Russian sailors went on board of her by order of the lieutenant, and her great lateen-yard un- furled, the floating shop, as Ben-Zouf said, left Gourbi Island and sailed toward the south. The invectives of the Jew during the passage, and with what persistance he repeated that they were act- ing against him, that he had need of no one, that he had not asked for aid, cannot be told. He wept, he lamented, he groaned—at least with his lips—for he would not prevent his small gray eyes from sending certain lightning glances through his fatal tears. Then, three hours after, when he was well moored in the creek of Hot-Land, when he saw his goods and himself in safety, any one who approached him would have been struck with the perfect satisfaction of his expression, and listening, would have heard him mur- mur these words: "For nothing this time 1 God of Israeli The idiots! They have brought me for nothing!" The whole man was in these words. " For nothing 1" They had rendered him this service " for nothing!" Gourbi Island was now and definitely abandoned by men. There remained no longer on this last shred of a French colony but the feathered and haired animals which had escaped the huntsmen, and whom the cold would soon destroy. The birds, after trying to find, farther off, some more propitious continent, had re- turned to the island, incontestable proof that there existed elsewhere no iand which could feed them. That day 'Captain Servadac and his companions solemnly took possession of their new dwelling. The Interior arrangement of "Nina's Hive " pleased all, and each congratulated himself on being so comfortably, «nd above all, so warmly lodged. Isaac Hakhabut alone did not partake of the common satisfaction. He would not even enter the galleries of the rock, and remained on board his tartan. " Doubtless, he fears," said Ben-Zouf, " that we will make him pay for his lodging 1 But, bahl before long, he will be so hunted down in his house, that an old fox and the cold will chase him out of his hole. In the evening, they gave a house-warming, and a good repast, of which the viands were cooked by the volcanic fire, gathered all this little world into the large room. Several toasts, of which the cellar of the M Dobryna" furnished the elements in French wines, were drunk to the governor-general, and to his " Coun- cil of Administration." Ben-Zouf naturally took a food part in it. It was very lively. The Spaniards istinguished themselves by their animation. One took his guitar, and the other his castanets, and all sang In chorus. In his turn, Ben-Zouf gave the cele- brated "Zouave's Refrain," so well known in the French army, but whose charm can only be appre- ciated by those who have heard it executed by an old soldier, such as Captain Servadac's orderly. " Misti goth dar dar tire lyre ! Flic! floe! flael lirette, lirai /Far la rira, Tour tala rire, Tour la Riband, Ricardeau, ' Bans repos, répit, répit, repos, ris pot ripettol Si vous attrapez mon refrain. Fameux vous êtes." Then a ball was Improvised—the first, no doubt, that had been given on Gallia. The Russian sailors at- tempted several dances of their country, which the audience much enjoyed, even after the marvelous fan- dangos of the Spanish. A step well known at the Elysée-Montmartre, was then executed by Ben-Zouf with as much elegance as vigor, and obtained for the amiable chorographer the sincere compliments of Negrete. It was nine o'clock when the inauguration festival ended. They felt then I he need of taking the air, for, the dancing and the temperature assisting, it was really warm in the great room. Ben-Zouf, preceding his friends, entered the princi- pal gallery which ended at the coast of Hot-Land. Cap- tain Servadac, Count Timascheff, and Lieutenant Pro- cope followed them at a more moderate pace, when cries echoing without made them quicken their steps. Meanwhile, they were not exclamations caused by ter- ror, but were "bravos!" " hurrahs I" that thundered like musket shots in this dry and pure atmosphere. Captain Servadac and his companions, arrived at the opening of the gallery, saw all their world grouped on the rocks. Ben-Zouf, his head stretched toward the sky, was in an attitude of ecstasy. "Oh! governor-general! Ah! my LordI" cried the orderly, with an accent of joy which cannot be de- scribed. 'Well? what is the matter?" demanded Captain Servadac. "The moon!" replied Ben-Zouf And,,in fact, the moon came forth from the fogs of the night, and ap- peared for the first time on the horizon of Gallia. CHAPTER XXII. WHICH ENDS WITH A RATHER CURIOUS LITTLE EXPERIENCE I» ENTERTAINING NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. The moon ! If it were the moon, why had she dis- appeared? And if she re-appeared, whence did she come? Until then, no satellite had accompanied Gal- lia in her motion of translation around the sun. Had the faithful Diana just abandoned the earth to pass into the service of the new star? "Noi It is impossible," said Lieutenant Procope. " The earth is several millions of leagues from us, and the moon has not ceased to gravitate around it!" " Eh I we knew nothing about it," observed Hector Servadac. " Why may not the moon have recently fallen into Gallia's center of attraction and become its satellite?" " She would have already shown herself on our hori- zon," said Count Timascheff, " and we would not have waited three months for her re-appearance." " Faith I" replied Captain Servadac, " everything that happens to us is so strange-----" "Mr. Servadac," replied Lieutenant Procope, "the hypothesis that the attraction of Gallia has been strong enough to carry oft from the earth her satellite is absolutely inadmissible !" "Good, lieutenant!" replied Captain Servadac, "and who says that the same phenomenon which has snatched us from the terrestrial globe has not, with the same blow, misled the moon? Wandering, then, in the solar system, she would come to attach herself to us-----" " No, captain, no," replied Lieutenant Procope, " and for an unanswerable reason?" " And what is the reason." " It is, that the mass of Gallia being evidently infe- rior to that of the terrestrial satellite, Gallia would become its moon, instead of it becoming hers." "I grant you that, lieutenant," replied Hector Ser- vadac. " But who can prove that we are not the moon of a moon, and that, the terrestrial satellite having been launched on a new orbit, we do not accompany it in the interplanetary world?" " Are you very anxious to have me refute this new hypothesis?" asked Lieutenant Procope. ''No," replied Captain Servadac, smiling; "for, In truth, if our asteroid were only a sub-satellite, it would not employ three months in going half-way around the moon, and the latter would have already appeared to us several times since the catastrophe." During this discussion the satellite of Gallia, what- ever it was, rose rapidly on the horizon—thus justify- ing Captain Servadac s last argument. They could then observe it with attention. The glasses were brought, and soon it was certain that this was not the ancient Phcebe of earttily nights. In fact, although this satellite appeared to be much nearer Gallia than the moon is to the earth, it seemed to be much smaller, and it presented a surface one- tenth the size of the earth's satellite. It was, then, a reduced moon, which but feebly reflected the light of the sun, and could not extinguish the stars of the eighth magnitude. It rose in the west, precisely in opposition with the radiant stars, and it must have been full at that moment. As for confounding it with the moon, it was not possible. Captain Servadac had to admit that they saw there neither seas, nor fur- rows, nor craters, nor mountains, nor any of those de- tails which assume forms so clearly on the seleno- graphical maps. It was no longer the sweet face of Apollo's sister, who, fresh and young, according to some, old and wrinkled, according to others, tranquilly contemplates, through the lapse of centuries, sublunary mortals. So, then, this was a particular moon, and, as Count Timascheff had observed, very probably some asteriod which Gallia had captured in traversing the zone of the telescopic planets. Now came the question, was this one of the one hundred and sixty-nine little planets catalogued at this period, or some other of which as- tronomers as yet knew nothing? Perhaps they would know later. It was just like those asteriods, with ex- tremely reduced dimensions, of whieh a good pedes- trian could easily make the circuit in twenty-four hours. Their mass, in this case, was very inferior to the mass of Gallia, whose attractive power had been perfectly able to exercise itself on one of these microcasms in miniature. The first night spent in Nina's Hive passed without any incident. The next day, the general life was defi- nitely organized. "The governor," as Ben-Zouf em- phatically said, did not intend that they should remain idle. Above all, in fact, Captain Servadac dreaded idleness—and its evil consequences. The daily occu- pation was then regulated with the greatest care, and work never failed. The care of the domestic animals constituted a very heavy task. The preparation of alimentary preserves, fishing, while the sea was still open, the management of the galleries which it was necessary to hollow out in certain places so as to ren- der them more practicable, a thousand details which unceasingly renewed themselves, did not leave the arms idle for a moment. We must add that the most complete agreement reigned in the little colony. Russians and Spaniards accorded perfectly, and commenced to use some words in French, which was the official language of Gallia. Pablo and Nina had become pupils of Captain Serva- dac, who instructed them. As for amusing them, that was Ben-Zouf's affair. The orderly taught them not only his own tongue, but the Parisian, which is still more elegant. Then, he promised to take them soma day to a town " built at the foot of a mountain," which had not its equal in the world, and of which he gave enchanting descriptions. Readers will divine of what town the enthusiastic professor spoke. A question of etiquette was also regulated at this epoch. It will be remembered that Ben-Zouf had presented his captain as the Governor-General of the colony. But, not content with giving him this title, he qualified it with "Monseigneur" "My Lord" at every t*rm. This ended by particularly irritating Hector Servadac, who enjoined his orderly to no longer give him this honorary title. " Meanwhile, my lord-----" invariably replied Ben Zouf. " Hold your'tongue, animal !" " Yes, my lord. Finally, Captain Servadac, not knowing how to mak» him obey, said one day to Ben-Zouf: " Will you give up calling me my lord?" " If you please, my lord," replied Ben-Zouf. " But, blockhead, do you know what you do by call ing me thus?" F'No, my lord." " Are you ignorant of the meaning of this word whieh you employ without even understanding it?" "No, my lord! "Well, it means, ' my old one,1 in Latin, and you fah in the respect due to your superior when you call him 'my old one!' " And, in fact, after that little lesson, the honorary qualification disappeared from Ben-Zouf's vocabulary. Meanwhile, the great cold did not come with the last fortnight of March, and, consequently, Hector Serva- dac and his companions did not yet sequester them, selves. Several excursions were even organized along the coast and on the surface of the new continent. They explored it for a radius of five or six kilometres around Hot-Land. It was always the horrible rocky desert, without trace of vegetation. Some threads of frozen water, here and there plates of snow, arising from vapors condensed in the atmosphere, indicated the appearance of the liquid on the surface. But cen- turies, no doubt, would pass before a river could hol- low its bed in this stony soil and roll its waters as far as the sea ! As for the homogeneous concretion, to which the Gallians had given the name of Hot-Land, was it a continent, was it an island, did it extend or not as far as the southern pole? They could not tell, and an ex- pedition across these metallic crystalizations might be considered as impossible. For the rest, Captain Servadac and Count Timascheff could form a general idea of this country by observing it one day from the summit of the volcano. This mountain rose at the end of the promontory of Hot-Land, and it measured nine hundred or a thousand metres of altitude above the level of the sea. It was an enormous block, rather regularly constructed, which took the form of a truncated cone. At the top of the cone opened the narrow crater, by which were dis- charged the eruptive matters, which an immense plume of vapors incessantly crowned. This volcano, transported to the old ground, was not to be climbed without difficulties, without fatigue. Its very steep slopes, its slippery declivities, offered no facilities to the most determined climbers. In most cases, this expedition would have required a great eT pense of strength, and its object would not have beeb attained without trouble. Here, on the contrary thanks to the serious dhninution.of gravity and the in crease of muscular power which resulted from it Hector Servadac and Count Timascheff accomplished Erodigies of suppleness and vigor. A goat could no) ave been more agile in springing f i-om one rock to another, a bird could not have run more lightly on the narrow edges which bordered the abyss. Thej were hardly an hour springing up the three thousand feet which lay between the earth and the summit of the- mountain. When they arrived at the edge of the crater they were no more fatigued than if they had walked à kilometre and a half, following a horizontal line. De- cidedly, if the inhabitancy of Gallia presented certain inconveniences, it also offered some advantages. From the summit of the mountain, the two explorers, their glasses to their eyes, could reci ¦ ¦ fee that the ap- Çearance of the asteroid remained s^ nsibly the same, o the north extended the immense Gallian Sea, smooth as a mirror, for there was no more wind than if the gases of the air had been satisfied by the cold of the high atmosphere. A little point, lightly stumped in the fog, marked the place occupied by Gourbi Island. To the east and to the west was spread the liquid plain, as usual, deserted. Toward the south, beyond the limits of the horizon, Hot-Land lost itself in the distance. This end of the continent seemed to form a vast triangle, of which the volcano was the apex, the base not being perceptible. Seen from this height, which should have leveled all the asperities, the soil of this unknown territory did not appear to be practicable. The millions of hexa- gonal lamels with which it bristled rendered it abso- lutely impossible for the steps of a pedestrian. "A balloon or wings!" said Captain Servadac. " These are what we need to explore this new territory I Faith ! We are carried on a really chemical product, as curious, certainly, as those which they expose under glass in the museums 1" "You remark, captain," said Count Timascheff, " how the convexity of Gallia is rapidlv betrayed to our glances, and, in eensequence, how relatively short is the distance which separates us from the horizon!" " Yes, Count Timascheff," replied Hector Servadac. " It is the effect, only increased, that I had already ob- served from the top of the cliffs of the island. To an observer placed at a height of a thousand metres on our old earth, the horizon would close in at a more con- siderable distance." " It is a very little globe, our Gallia, if we compare it with the terrestrial spheroid!" replied Count Tima- scheff. " Without doubt, but it is more than sufficient forth» " m which inhabit it I Remark, besides, «hat its