Off on a Comet! a Journey through Planetary Space

by Jules Verne

  CHAPTER V. WANTED: A STEELYARD

  Under the still diminishing influence of the sun's attraction, butwithout let or hindrance, Gallia continued its interplanetary course,accompanied by Nerina, its captured satellite, which performed itsfortnightly revolutions with unvarying regularity.

  Meanwhile, the question beyond all others important was ever recurringto the minds of Servadac and his two companions: were the astronomer'scalculations correct, and was there a sound foundation for hisprediction that the comet would again touch the earth? But whatevermight be their doubts or anxieties, they were fain to keep all theirmisgivings to themselves; the professor was of a temper far toocross-grained for them to venture to ask him to revise or re-examine theresults of his observations.

  The rest of the community by no means shared in their uneasiness.Negrete and his fellow-countrymen yielded to their destiny withphilosophical indifference. Happier and better provided for than theyhad ever been in their lives, it did not give them a passing thought,far less cause any serious concern, whether they were still circlinground the sun, or whether they were being carried right away within thelimits of another system. Utterly careless of the future, the majos,light-hearted as ever, carolled out their favorite songs, just as ifthey had never quitted the shores of their native land.

  Happiest of all were Pablo and Nina. Racing through the galleries of theHive, clambering over the rocks upon the shore, one day skating faraway across the frozen ocean, the next fishing in the lake that was keptliquid by the heat of the lava-torrent, the two children led a life ofperpetual enjoyment. Nor was their recreation allowed to interfere withtheir studies. Captain Servadac, who in common with the count reallyliked them both, conceived that the responsibilities of a parent insome degree had devolved upon him, and took great care in superintendingtheir daily lessons, which he succeeded in making hardly less pleasantthan their sports.

  Indulged and loved by all, it was little wonder that young Pablo had nolonging for the scorching plains of Andalusia, or that little Ninahad lost all wish to return with her pet goat to the barren rocks ofSardinia. They had now a home in which they had nothing to desire.

  "Have you no father nor mother?" asked Pablo, one day.

  "No," she answered.

  "No more have I," said the boy, "I used to run along by the side of thediligences when I was in Spain."

  "I used to look after goats at Madalena," said Nina; "but it is muchnicer here--I am so happy here. I have you for a brother, and everybodyis so kind. I am afraid they will spoil us, Pablo," she added, smiling.

  "Oh, no, Nina; you are too good to be spoiled, and when I am with you,you make me good too," said Pablo, gravely.

  July had now arrived. During the month Gallia's advance along its orbitwould be reduced to 22,000,000 leagues, the distance from the sun at theend being 172,000,000 leagues, about four and a half times as great asthe average distance of the earth from the sun. It was traveling nowat about the same speed as the earth, which traverses the ecliptic at arate of 21,000,000 leagues a month, or 28,800 leagues an hour.

  In due time the 62d April, according to the revised Gallian calendar,dawned; and in punctual fulfillment of the professor's appointment, anote was delivered to Servadac to say that he was ready, and hoped thatday to commence operations for calculating the mass and density of hiscomet, as well as the force of gravity at its surface.

  A point of far greater interest to Captain Servadac and his friendswould have been to ascertain the nature of the substance of which thecomet was composed, but they felt pledged to render the professorany aid they could in the researches upon which he had set his heart.Without delay, therefore, they assembled in the central hall, where theywere soon joined by Rosette, who seemed to be in fairly good temper.

  "Gentlemen," he began, "I propose to-day to endeavor to complete ourobservations of the elements of my comet. Three matters of investigationare before us. First, the measure of gravity at its surface; thisattractive force we know, by the increase of our own muscular force,must of course be considerably less than that at the surface of theearth. Secondly, its mass, that is, the quality of its matter. Andthirdly, its density or quantity of matter in a unit of its volume. Wewill proceed, gentlemen, if you please, to weigh Gallia."

  Ben Zoof, who had just entered the hall, caught the professor's lastsentence, and without saying a word, went out again and was absent forsome minutes. When he returned, he said, "If you want to weigh thiscomet of yours, I suppose you want a pair of scales; but I have beento look, and I cannot find a pair anywhere. And what's more," he addedmischievously, "you won't get them anywhere."

  A frown came over the professor's countenance. Servadac saw it, and gavehis orderly a sign that he should desist entirely from his bantering.

  "I require, gentlemen," resumed Rosette, "first of all to know by howmuch the weight of a kilogramme here differs from its weight upon theearth; the attraction, as we have said, being less, the weight willproportionately be less also."

  "Then an ordinary pair of scales, being under the influence ofattraction, I suppose, would not answer your purpose," submitted thelieutenant.

  "And the very kilogramme weight you used would have become lighter," putin the count, deferentially.

  "Pray, gentlemen, do not interrupt me," said the professor,authoritatively, as if _ex cathedra_. "I need no instruction on thesepoints."

  Procope and Timascheff demurely bowed their heads.

  The professor resumed. "Upon a steelyard, or spring-balance, dependentupon mere tension or flexibility, the attraction will have no influence.If I suspend a weight equivalent to the weight of a kilogramme, theindex will register the proper weight on the surface of Gallia. ThusI shall arrive at the difference I want: the difference between theearth's attraction and the comet's. Will you, therefore, havethe goodness to provide me at once with a steelyard and a testedkilogramme?"

  The audience looked at one another, and then at Ben Zoof, who wasthoroughly acquainted with all their resources. "We have neither one northe other," said the orderly.

  The professor stamped with vexation.

  "I believe old Hakkabut has a steelyard on board his tartan," said BenZoof, presently.

  "Then why didn't you say so before, you idiot?" roared the excitablelittle man.

  Anxious to pacify him, Servadac assured him that every exertion shouldbe made to procure the instrument, and directed Ben Zoof to go to theJew and borrow it.

  "No, stop a moment," he said, as Ben Zoof was moving away on his,errand; "perhaps I had better go with you myself; the old Jew may make adifficulty about lending us any of his property."

  "Why should we not all go?" asked the count; "we should see what kind ofa life the misanthrope leads on board the _Hansa_."

  The proposal met with general approbation. Before they started,Professor Rosette requested that one of the men might be ordered to cuthim a cubic decimeter out of the solid substance of Gallia. "My engineeris the man for that," said the count; "he will do it well for you if youwill give him the precise measurement."

  "What! you don't mean," exclaimed the professor, again going off into apassion, "that you haven't a proper measure of length?"

  Ben Zoof was sent off to ransack the stores for the article in question,but no measure was forthcoming. "Most likely we shall find one on thetartan," said the orderly.

  "Then let us lose no time in trying," answered the professor, as hehustled with hasty strides into the gallery.

  The rest of the party followed, and were soon in the open air upon therocks that overhung the shore. They descended to the level of the frozenwater and made their way towards the little creek where the _Dobryna_and the _Hansa_ lay firmly imprisoned in their icy bonds.

  The temperature was low beyond previous experience; but well muffled upin fur, they all endured it without much actual suffering. Their breathissued in vapor, which was at once congealed into little crystals upontheir whiskers, beards, eyebrows, and eyelashes, until their faces,covered with countless
snow-white prickles, were truly ludicrous. Thelittle professor, most comical of all, resembled nothing so much as thecub of an Arctic bear.

  It was eight o'clock in the morning. The sun was rapidly approaching thezenith; but its disc, from the extreme remoteness, was proportionatelydwarfed; its beams being all but destitute of their proper warmth andradiance. The volcano to its very summit and the surrounding rocks werestill covered with the unsullied mantle of snow that had fallen whilethe atmosphere was still to some extent charged with vapor; but on thenorth side the snow had given place to the cascade of fiery lava, which,making its way down the sloping rocks as far as the vaulted opening ofthe central cavern, fell thence perpendicularly into the sea. Abovethe cavern, 130 feet up the mountain, was a dark hole, above whichthe stream of lava made a bifurcation in its course. From this holeprojected the case of an astronomer's telescope; it was the opening ofPalmyrin Rosette's observatory.

  Sea and land seemed blended into one dreary whiteness, to which the paleblue sky offered scarcely any contrast. The shore was indented with themarks of many footsteps left by the colonists either on their way tocollect ice for drinking purposes, or as the result of their skatingexpeditions; the edges of the skates had cut out a labyrinth of curvescomplicated as the figures traced by aquatic insects upon the surface ofa pool.

  Across the quarter of a mile of level ground that lay between themountain and the creek, a series of footprints, frozen hard into thesnow, marked the course taken by Isaac Hakkabut on his last return fromNina's Hive.

  On approaching the creek, Lieutenant Procope drew his companions'attention to the elevation of the _Dobryna's_ and _Hansa's_ waterline,both vessels being now some fifteen feet above the level of the sea.

  "What a strange phenomenon!" exclaimed the captain.

  "It makes me very uneasy," rejoined the lieutenant; "in shallow placeslike this, as the crust of ice thickens, it forces everything upwardswith irresistible force."

  "But surely this process of congelation must have a limit!" said thecount.

  "But who can say what that limit will be? Remember that we have not yetreached our maximum of cold," replied Procope.

  "Indeed, I hope not!" exclaimed the professor; "where would be the useof our traveling 200,000,000 leagues from the sun, if we are only toexperience the same temperature as we should find at the poles of theearth?"

  "Fortunately for us, however, professor," said the lieutenant, with asmile, "the temperature of the remotest space never descends beyond 70degrees below zero."

  "And as long as there is no wind," added Servadac, "we may passcomfortably through the winter, without a single attack of catarrh."

  Lieutenant Procope proceeded to impart to the count his anxietyabout the situation of his yacht. He pointed out that by the constantsuperposition of new deposits of ice, the vessel would be elevated toa great height, and consequently in the event of a thaw, it mustbe exposed to a calamity similar to those which in polar seas causedestruction to so many whalers.

  There was no time now for concerting measures offhand to prevent thedisaster, for the other members of the party had already reached thespot where the _Hansa_ lay bound in her icy trammels. A flight of steps,recently hewn by Hakkabut himself, gave access for the present to thegangway, but it was evident that some different contrivance wouldhave to be resorted to when the tartan should be elevated perhaps to ahundred feet.

  A thin curl of blue smoke issued from the copper funnel that projectedabove the mass of snow which had accumulated upon the deck of the_Hansa_. The owner was sparing of his fuel, and it was only thenon-conducting layer of ice enveloping the tartan that rendered theinternal temperature endurable.

  "Hi! old Nebuchadnezzar, where are you?" shouted Ben Zoof, at the fullstrength of his lungs.

  At the sound of his voice, the cabin door opened, and the Jew's head andshoulders protruded onto the deck.