Off on a Comet! a Journey through Planetary Space

by Jules Verne

  CHAPTER XIII. DREARY MONTHS

  Henceforth, then, with a velocity ever increasing, Gallia wouldre-approach the sun.

  Except the thirteen Englishmen who had been left at Gibraltar, everyliving creature had taken refuge in the dark abyss of the volcano'scrater.

  And with those Englishmen, how had it fared?

  "Far better than with ourselves," was the sentiment that would havebeen universally accepted in Nina's Hive. And there was every reasonto conjecture that so it was. The party at Gibraltar, they all agreed,would not, like themselves, have been compelled to have recourse toa stream of lava for their supply of heat; they, no doubt, had hadabundance of fuel as well as food; and in their solid casemate, with itssubstantial walls, they would find ample shelter from the rigor of thecold. The time would have been passed at least in comfort, and perhapsin contentment; and Colonel Murphy and Major Oliphant would have hadleisure more than sufficient for solving the most abstruse problems ofthe chess-board. All of them, too, would be happy in the confidence thatwhen the time should come, England would have full meed of praise toaward to the gallant soldiers who had adhered so well and so manfully totheir post.

  It did, indeed, more than once occur to the minds both of Servadacand his friends that, if their condition should become one of extremeemergency, they might, as a last resource, betake themselves toGibraltar, and there seek a refuge; but their former reception hadnot been of the kindest, and they were little disposed to renew anacquaintanceship that was marked by so little cordiality. Not in theleast that they would expect to meet with any inhospitable rebuff. Farfrom that; they knew well enough that Englishmen, whatever their faults,would be the last to abandon their fellow-creatures in the hour ofdistress. Nevertheless, except the necessity became far more urgent thanit had hitherto proved, they resolved to endeavor to remain in theirpresent quarters. Up till this time no casualties had diminishedtheir original number, but to undertake so long a journey across thatunsheltered expanse of ice could scarcely fail to result in the loss ofsome of their party.

  However great was the desire to find a retreat for every living thingin the deep hollow of the crater, it was found necessary to slaughteralmost all the domestic animals before the removal of the community fromNina's Hive. To have stabled them all in the cavern below would havebeen quite impossible, whilst to have left them in the upper gallerieswould only have been to abandon them to a cruel death; and since meatcould be preserved for an indefinite time in the original store-places,now colder than ever, the expedient of killing the animals seemed torecommend itself as equally prudent and humane.

  Naturally the captain and Ben Zoof were most anxious that their favoritehorses should be saved, and accordingly, by dint of the greatest care,all difficulties in the way were overcome, and Zephyr and Galette wereconducted down the crater, where they were installed in a large hole andprovided with forage, which was still abundant.

  Birds, subsisting only on scraps thrown out to them did not cease tofollow the population in its migration, and so numerous did they becomethat 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 theycould be said to be fairly settled. And then began a life of drearymonotony. Then seemed to creep over everyone a kind of moral torporas well as physical lassitude, which Servadac, the count, and thelieutenant did their best not only to combat in themselves, butto counteract in the general community. They provided a variety ofintellectual pursuits; they instituted debates in which everybody wasencouraged to take part; they read aloud, and explained extracts fromthe elementary manuals of science, or from the books of adventuroustravel which their library supplied; and Russians and Spaniards, dayafter day, might be seen gathered round the large table, giving theirbest attention to instruction which should send them back to MotherEarth less ignorant than they had left her.

  Selfish and morose, Hakkabut could never be induced to be presentat these social gatherings. He was far too much occupied in his ownappropriated corner, either in conning his accounts, or in counting hismoney. Altogether, with what he had before, he now possessed the roundsum of 150,000 francs, half of which was in sterling gold; but nothingcould give him any satisfaction while he knew that the days werepassing, and that he was denied the opportunity of putting out hiscapital in advantageous investments, or securing a proper interest.

  Neither did Palmyrin Rosette find leisure to take any share in themutual intercourse. His occupation was far too absorbing for him tosuffer it to be interrupted, and to him, living as he did perpetually ina world of figures, the winter days seemed neither long nor wearisome.Having ascertained every possible particular about his comet, he was nowdevoting himself with equal ardor to the analysis of all the propertiesof the satellite Nerina, to which he appeared to assert the same claimof proprietorship.

  In order to investigate Nerina it was indispensable that he should makeseveral actual observations at various points of the orbit; and for thispurpose he repeatedly made his way up to the grotto above, where, inspite of the extreme severity of the cold, he would persevere in the useof his telescope till he was all but paralyzed. But what he felt morethan anything was the want of some retired apartment, where he couldpursue his studies without hindrance or intrusion.

  It was about the beginning of February, when the professor brought hiscomplaint 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 insilence and without molestation. So readily did Servadac promise to doeverything in his power to provide him with the accommodation for whichhe asked, that the professor was put into such a manifest good temperthat the captain ventured to speak upon the matter that was everuppermost in his mind.

  "I do not mean," he began timidly, "to cast the least imputation ofinaccuracy upon any of your calculations, but would you allow me, mydear professor, to suggest that you should revise your estimate of theduration of Gallia's period of revolution. It is so important, you know,so all important; the difference of one half minute, you know, would socertainly 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 anyassistance in the revision."

  "Sir," said the professor, bridling up, "I want no assistant; mycalculations want no revision. I never make an error. I have made myreckoning as far as Gallia is concerned. I am now making a like estimateof the elements of Nerina."

  Conscious how impolitic it would be to press this matter further, thecaptain casually remarked that he should have supposed that all theelements of Nerina had been calculated long since by astronomers on theearth. 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 isa moon now. And do you not think, sir, that we have a right to know asmuch about our moon as those _terrestrials_"--and he curled his lip ashe spoke with a contemptuous emphasis--"know of theirs?"

  "I beg pardon," said the corrected captain.

  "Well then, never mind," replied the professor, quickly appeased; "onlywill 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 willdo."

  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 discoveredlikely to suit his requirements; but at length a little nook was foundin the side of the cavern just large enough to hold an armchair anda table, and in this the astronomer was soon ensconced to his entiresatisfaction.

  Buried thus, nearly 900 feet below ground, the Gallians ought to havehad unbounded mental energy to furnish an adequate reacti
on to thedepressing monotony of their existence; but many days would often elapsewithout any one of them ascending to the surface of the soil, and hadit not been for the necessity of obtaining fresh water, it seemed almostprobable that there would never have been an effort made to leave thecavern at all.

  A few excursions, it is true, were made in the downward direction. Thethree leaders, with Ben Zoof, made their way to the lower depths of thecrater, not with the design of making any further examination as tothe nature of the rock--for although it might be true enough that itcontained thirty per cent. of gold, it was as valueless to them asgranite--but with the intention of ascertaining whether the subterraneanfire still retained its activity. Satisfied upon this point, they cameto the conclusion that the eruption which had so suddenly ceased in onespot had certainly broken out in another.

  February, March, April, May, passed wearily by; but day succeeded to daywith such gloomy sameness that it was little wonder that no notice wastaken of the lapse of time. The people seemed rather to vegetate thanto live, and their want of vigor became at times almost alarming. Thereadings around the long table ceased to be attractive, and the debates,sustained by few, became utterly wanting in animation. The Spaniardscould hardly be roused to quit their beds, and seemed to have scarcelyenergy enough to eat. The Russians, constitutionally of more enduringtemperament, did not give way to the same extent, but the long and drearconfinement was beginning to tell upon them all. Servadac, the count,and the lieutenant all knew well enough that it was the want of air andexercise that was the cause of much of this mental depression; butwhat could they do? The most serious remonstrances on their part wereentirely in vain. In fact, they themselves occasionally fell a preyto the same lassitude both of body and mind. Long fits of drowsiness,combined with an utter aversion to food, would come over them. It almostseemed as if their entire nature had become degenerate, and that, liketortoises, they could sleep and fast till the return of summer.

  Strange to say, little Nina bore her hardships more bravely than anyof them. Flitting about, coaxing one to eat, another to drink, rousingPablo as often as he seemed yielding to the common languor, the childbecame the life of the party. Her merry prattle enlivened the gloom ofthe grim cavern like the sweet notes of a bird; her gay Italian songsbroke the monotony of the depressing silence; and almost unconscious asthe half-dormant population of Gallia were of her influence, they stillwould have missed her bright presence sorely. The months still glidedon; how, it seemed impossible for the inhabitants of the living tomb tosay. There was a dead level of dullness.

  At the beginning of June the general torpor appeared slightly to relaxits hold upon its victims. This partial revival was probably due to thesomewhat increased influence of the sun, still far, far away. Duringthe first half of the Gallian year, Lieutenant Procope had taken carefulnote of Rosette's monthly announcements of the comet's progress, and hewas able now, without reference to the professor, to calculate the rateof advance on its way back towards the sun. He found that Gallia hadre-crossed the orbit of Jupiter, but was still at the enormous distanceof 197,000,000 leagues from the sun, and he reckoned that in about fourmonths 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 regainedmost of their ordinary physical and mental energies. Ben Zoof, inparticular, roused himself with redoubled vigor, like a giant refreshedfrom his slumbers. The visits, consequently, to the long-neglectedgalleries 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 acloud was visible from horizon to zenith. The old footmarks were all asdistinct as on the day in which they had been imprinted, and the onlyportion of the shore where any change was apparent was in the littlecreek. Here the elevation of the ice had gone on increasing, until theschooner and the tartan had been uplifted to a height of 150 feet, notonly rendering them quite inaccessible, but exposing them to all butcertain destruction in the event of a thaw.

  Isaac Hakkabut, immovable from the personal oversight of his propertyin the cavern, had not accompanied the party, and consequently was inblissful ignorance of the fate that threatened his vessel. "A good thingthe old fellow wasn't there to see," observed Ben Zoof; "he would havescreamed like a peacock. What a misfortune it is," he added, speaking tohimself, "to have a peacock's voice, without its plumage!"

  During the months of July and August, Gallia advanced 164,000,000leagues along her orbit. At night the cold was still intense, but inthe daytime the sun, here full upon the equator, caused an appreciabledifference of 20 degrees in the temperature. Like birds, the populationspent whole days exposed to its grateful warmth, rarely returning tillnightfall to the shade of their gloomy home.

  This spring-time, if such it may be called, had a most enliveninginfluence upon all. Hope and courage revived as day by day the sun'sdisc expanded in the heavens, and every evening the earth assumed agreater magnitude amongst the fixed stars. It was distant yet, but thegoal was cheeringly in view.

  "I can't believe that yonder little speck of light contains my mountainof Montmartre," said Ben Zoof, one night, after he had been gazing longand 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 distantsphere. After meditating a while, he spoke again. "I suppose ProfessorRosette 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 ofthe universe. That belongs to a Higher Power than ours!"