3. The direction of the axis major of the orbit, which was found by calculating the longitude of the comet’s perihelion. 4. The perihelion distance from the sun, which settled the precise form of the parabola. 5. The motion of the comet, as being retrograde, or, unlike the planets, from east to west. Rosette thus found himself able to calculate the date at which the comet would reach its perihelion, and, overjoyed at his discovery, without thinking of calling it Palmyra or Rosette, after his own name, he resolved that it should be known as Gallia. His next business was to draw up a formal report. Not only did he at once recognize that a collision with the earth was possible, but he soon foresaw that it was inevitable, and that it must happen on the night of the 31st of December; moreover, as the bodies were moving in opposite directions, the shock could hardly fail to be violent. To say that he was elated at the prospect was far below the truth; his delight amounted almost to delirium. Anyone else would have hurried from the solitude of Formentera in sheer fright; but, without communicating a word of his startling discovery, he remained resolutely at his post. From occasional newspapers which he had received, he had learnt that fogs, dense as ever, continued to envelop both hemispheres, so that he was assured that the existence of the comet was utterly unknown elsewhere; and the ignorance of the world as to the peril that threatened it averted the panic that would have followed the publication of the facts, and left the philosopher of Formentera in sole possession of the great secret. He clung to his post with the greater persistency, because his calculations had led him to the conclusion that the comet would strike the earth somewhere to the south of Algeria, and as it had a solid nucleus, he felt sure that, as he expressed it, the effect would be “unique,” and he was anxious to be in the vicinity. The shock came, and with it the results already recorded. Palmyrin Rosette was suddenly separated from his servant Joseph, and when, after a long period of unconsciousness, he came to himself, he found that he was the solitary occupant of the only fragment that survived of the Balearic Archipelago. Such was the substance of the narrative which the professor gave with sundry repetitions and digressions; while he was giving it, he frequently paused and frowned as if irritated in a way that seemed by no means justified by the patient and good-humored demeanor of his audience. “But now, gentlemen,” added the professor, “I must tell you something more. Important changes have resulted from the collision; the cardinal points have been displaced; gravity has been diminished: not that I ever supposed for a minute, as you did, that I was still upon the earth. No! the earth, attended by her moon, continued to rotate along her proper orbit. But we, gentlemen, have nothing to complain of; our destiny might have been far worse; we might all have been crushed to death, or the comet might have remained in adhesion to the earth; and in neither of these cases should we have had the satisfaction of making this marvelous excursion through untraversed solar regions. No, gentlemen, I repeat it, we have nothing to regret.” And as the professor spoke, he seemed to kindle with the emotion of such supreme contentment that no one had the heart to gainsay his assertion. Ben Zoof alone ventured an unlucky remark to the effect that if the comet had happened to strike against Montmartre, instead of a bit of Africa, it would have met with some resistance. “Pshaw!” said Rosette, disdainfully. “A mole-hill like Montmartre would have been ground to powder in a moment.” “Mole-hill!” exclaimed Ben Zoof, stung to the quick. “I can tell you it would have caught up your bit of a comet and worn it like a feather in a cap.” The professor looked angry, and Servadac having imposed silence upon his orderly, explained the worthy soldier’s sensitiveness on all that concerned Montmartre. Always obedient to his master, Ben Zoof held his tongue; but he felt that he could never forgive the slight that had been cast upon his beloved home. It was now all-important to learn whether the astronomer had been able to continue his observations, and whether he had learned sufficient of Gallia’s path through space to make him competent to determine, at least approximately, the period of its revolution round the sun. With as much tact and caution as he could, Lieutenant Procope endeavored to intimate the general desire for some information on this point. “Before the shock, sir,” answered the professor, “I had conclusively demonstrated the path of the comet; but, in consequence of the modifications which that shock has entailed upon my comet’s orbit, I have been compelled entirely to recommence my calculations.” The lieutenant looked disappointed. “Although the orbit of the earth was unaltered,” continued the professor, “the result of the collision was the projection of the comet into a new orbit altogether.” “And may I ask,” said Procope, deferentially, “whether you have got the elements of the fresh orbit?” “Yes.” “Then perhaps you know--” “I know this, sir, that at 47 minutes 35.6 seconds after two o’clock on the morning of the 1st of January last, Gallia, in passing its ascending node, came in contact with the earth; that on the 10th of January it crossed the orbit of Venus; that it reached its perihelion on the 15th; that it re-crossed the orbit of Venus; that on the 1st of February it passed its descending node; on the 13th crossed the orbit of Mars; entered the zone of the telescopic planets on the 10th of March, and, attracting Nerina, carried it off as a satellite.” Servadac interposed: “We are already acquainted with well-nigh all these extraordinary facts; many of them, moreover, we have learned from documents which we have picked up, and which, although unsigned, we cannot entertain a doubt have originated with you.” Professor Rosette drew himself up proudly and said: “Of course, they originated with me. I sent them off by hundreds. From whom else could they come?” “From no one but yourself, certainly,” rejoined the count, with grave politeness. Hitherto the conversation had thrown no light upon the future movements of Gallia, and Rosette was disposed apparently to evade, or at least to postpone, the subject. When, therefore, Lieutenant Procope was about to press his inquiries in a more categorical form, Servadac, thinking it advisable not prematurely to press the little -savant- too far, interrupted him by asking the professor how he accounted for the earth having suffered so little from such a formidable concussion. “I account for it in this way,” answered Rosette: “the earth was traveling at the rate of 28,000 leagues an hour, and Gallia at the rate of 57,000 leagues an hour, therefore the result was the same as though a train rushing along at a speed of about 86,000 leagues an hour had suddenly encountered some obstacle. The nucleus of the comet, being excessively hard, has done exactly what a ball would do fired with that velocity close to a pane of glass. It has crossed the earth without cracking it.” “It is possible you may be right,” said Servadac, thoughtfully. “Right! of course I am right!” replied the snappish professor. Soon, however, recovering his equanimity, he continued: “It is fortunate that the earth was only touched obliquely; if the comet had impinged perpendicularly, it must have plowed its way deep below the surface, and the disasters it might have caused are beyond reckoning. Perhaps,” he added, with a smile, “even Montmartre might not have survived the calamity.” “Sir!” shouted Ben Zoof, quite unable to bear the unprovoked attack. “Quiet, Ben Zoof!” said Servadac sternly. Fortunately for the sake of peace, Isaac Hakkabut, who at length was beginning to realize something of the true condition of things, came forward at this moment, and in a voice trembling with eagerness, implored the professor to tell him when they would all be back again upon the earth. “Are you in a great hurry?” asked the professor coolly. The Jew was about to speak again, when Captain Servadac interposed: “Allow me to say that, in somewhat more scientific terms, I was about to ask you the same question. Did I not understand you to say that, as the consequence of the collision, the character of the comet’s orbit has been changed?” “You did, sir.” “Did you imply that the orbit has ceased to be a parabola?” “Just so.” “Is it then an hyperbola? and are we to be carried on far and away into remote distance, and never, never to return?” “I did not say an hyperbola.” “And is it not?” “It is not.” “Then it must be an ellipse?” “Yes.” “And does its plane coincide with the plane of the earth?” “Yes.” “Then it must be a periodic comet?” “It is.” Servadac involuntarily raised a ringing shout of joy that echoed again along the gallery. “Yes,” continued the professor, “Gallia is a periodic comet, and allowing for the perturbations to which it is liable from the attraction of Mars and Jupiter and Saturn, it will return to the earth again in two years precisely.” “You mean that in two years after the first shock, Gallia will meet the earth at the same point as they met before?” said Lieutenant Procope. “I am afraid so,” said Rosette. “Why afraid?” “Because we are doing exceedingly well as we are.” The professor stamped his foot upon the ground, by way of emphasis, and added, “If I had my will, Gallia should never return to the earth again!” CHAPTER IV. A REVISED CALENDAR All previous hypotheses, then, were now forgotten in the presence of the one great fact that Gallia was a comet and gravitating through remote solar regions. Captain Servadac became aware that the huge disc that had been looming through the clouds after the shock was the form of the retreating earth, to the proximity of which the one high tide they had experienced was also to be attributed. As to the fulfillment of the professor’s prediction of an ultimate return to the terrestrial sphere, that was a point on which it must be owned that the captain, after the first flush of his excitement was over, was not without many misgivings. The next day or two were spent in providing for the accommodation of the new comer. Fortunately his desires were very moderate; he seemed to live among the stars, and as long as he was well provided with coffee, he cared little for luxuries, and paid little or no regard to the ingenuity with which all the internal arrangements of Nina’s Hive had been devised. Anxious to show all proper respect to his former tutor, Servadac proposed to leave the most comfortable apartment of the place at his disposal; but the professor resolutely declined to occupy it, saying that what he required was a small chamber, no matter how small, provided that it was elevated and secluded, which he could use as an observatory and where he might prosecute his studies without disturbance. A general search was instituted, and before long they were lucky enough to find, about a hundred feet above the central grotto, a small recess or reduct hollowed, as it were, in the mountain side, which would exactly answer their purpose. It contained room enough for a bed, a table, an arm-chair, a chest of drawers, and, what was of still more consequence, for the indispensable telescope. One small stream of lava, an off-shoot of the great torrent, sufficed to warm the apartment enough. In these retired quarters the astronomer took up his abode. It was on all hands acknowledged to be advisable to let him go on entirely in his own way. His meals were taken to him at stated intervals; he slept but little; carried on his calculations by day, his observations by night, and very rarely made his appearance amongst the rest of the little community. The cold now became very intense, the thermometer registering 30 degrees F. below zero. The mercury, however, never exhibited any of those fluctuations that are ever and again to be observed in variable climates, but continued slowly and steadily to fall, and in all probability would continue to do so until it reached the normal temperature of the regions of outlying space. This steady sinking of the mercury was accompanied by a complete stillness of the atmosphere; the very air seemed to be congealed; no particle of it stirred; from zenith to horizon there was never a cloud; neither were there any of the damp mists or dry fogs which so often extend over the polar regions of the earth; the sky was always clear; the sun shone by day and the stars by night without causing any perceptible difference in the temperature. These peculiar conditions rendered the cold endurable even in the open air. The cause of so many of the diseases that prove fatal to Arctic explorers resides in the cutting winds, unwholesome fogs, or terrible snow drifts, which, by drying up, relaxing, or otherwise affecting the lungs, make them incapable of fulfilling their proper functions. But during periods of calm weather, when the air has been absolutely still, many polar navigators, well-clothed and properly fed, have been known to withstand a temperature when the thermometer has fallen to 60 degrees below zero. It was the experience of Parry upon Melville Island, of Kane beyond latitude 81 degrees north, and of Hall and the crew of the -Polaris-, that, however intense the cold, in the absence of the wind they could always brave its rigor. Notwithstanding, then, the extreme lowness of the temperature, the little population found that they were able to move about in the open air with perfect immunity. The governor general made it his special care to see that his people were all well fed and warmly clad. Food was both wholesome and abundant, and besides the furs brought from the -Dobryna’s- stores, fresh skins could very easily be procured and made up into wearing apparel. A daily course of out-door exercise was enforced upon everyone; not even Pablo and Nina were exempted from the general rule; the two children, muffled up in furs, looking like little Esquimeaux, skated along together, Pablo ever at his companion’s side, ready to give her a helping hand whenever she was weary with her exertions. After his interview with the newly arrived astronomer, Isaac Hakkabut slunk back again to his tartan. A change had come over his ideas; he could no longer resist the conviction that he was indeed millions and millions of miles away from the earth, where he had carried on so varied and remunerative a traffic. It might be imagined that this realization of his true position would have led him to a better mind, and that, in some degree at least, he would have been induced to regard the few fellow-creatures with whom his lot had been so strangely cast, otherwise than as mere instruments to be turned to his own personal and pecuniary advantage; but no--the desire of gain was too thoroughly ingrained into his hard nature ever to be eradicated, and secure in his knowledge that he was under the protection of a French officer, who, except under the most urgent necessity, would not permit him to be molested in retaining his property, he determined to wait for some emergency to arise which should enable him to use his present situation for his own profit. On the one hand, the Jew took it into account that although the chances of returning to the earth might be remote, yet from what he had heard from the professor he could not believe that they were improbable; on the other, he knew that a considerable sum of money, in English and Russian coinage, was in the possession of various members of the little colony, and this, although valueless now, would be worth as much as ever if the proper condition of things should be restored; accordingly, he set his heart on getting all the monetary wealth of Gallia into his possession, and to do this he must sell his goods. But he would not sell them yet; there might come a time when for many articles the supply would not be equal to the demand; that would be the time for him; by waiting he reckoned he should be able to transact some lucrative business. Such in his solitude were old Isaac’s cogitations, whilst the universal population of Nina’s Hive were congratulating themselves upon being rid of his odious presence. As already stated in the message brought by the carrier pigeon, the distance traveled by Gallia in April was 39,000,000 leagues, and at the end of the month she was 110,000,000 leagues from the sun. A diagram representing the elliptical orbit of the planet, accompanied by an ephemeris made out in minute detail, had been drawn out by the professor. The curve was divided into twenty-four sections of unequal length, representing respectively the distance described in the twenty-four months of the Gallian year, the twelve former divisions, according to Kepler’s law, gradually diminishing in length as they approached the point denoting the aphelion and increasing as they neared the perihelion. It was on the 12th of May that Rosette exhibited this result of his labors to Servadac, the count, and the lieutenant, who visited his apartment and naturally examined the drawing with the keenest interest. Gallia’s path, extending beyond the orbit of Jupiter, lay clearly defined before their eyes, the progress along the orbit and the solar distances being inserted for each month separately. Nothing could look plainer, and if the professor’s calculations were correct (a point upon which they dared not, if they would, express the semblance of a doubt), Gallia would accomplish her revolution in precisely two years, and would meet the earth, which would in the same period of time have completed two annual revolutions, in the very same spot as before. What would be the consequences of a second collision they scarcely ventured to think. Without lifting his eye from the diagram, which he was still carefully scrutinizing, Servadac said, “I see that during the month of May, Gallia will only travel 30,400,000 leagues, and that this will leave her about 140,000,000 leagues distant from the sun.” “Just so,” replied the professor. “Then we have already passed the zone of the telescopic planets, have we not?” asked the count. “Can you not use your eyes?” said the professor, testily. “If you will look you will see the zone marked clearly enough upon the map.” Without noticing the interruption, Servadac continued his own remarks, “The comet then, I see, is to reach its aphelion on the 15th of January, exactly a twelvemonth after passing its perihelion.” “A twelvemonth! Not a Gallian twelvemonth?” exclaimed Rosette. Servadac looked bewildered. Lieutenant Procope could not suppress a smile. “What are you laughing at?” demanded the professor, turning round upon him angrily. “Nothing, sir; only it amuses me to see how you want to revise the terrestrial calendar.” “I want to be logical, that’s all.” “By all manner of means, my dear professor, let us be logical.” “Well, then, listen to me,” resumed the professor, stiffly. “I presume you are taking it for granted that the Gallian year--by which I mean the time in which Gallia makes one revolution round the sun--is equal in length to two terrestrial years.” They signified their assent. “And that year, like every other year, ought to be divided into twelve months.” “Yes, certainly, if you wish it,” said the captain, acquiescing. “If I wish it!” exclaimed Rosette. “Nothing of the sort! Of course a year must have twelve months!” “Of course,” said the captain. “And how many days will make a month?” asked the professor. “I suppose sixty or sixty-two, as the case may be. The days now are only half as long as they used to be,” answered the captain. “Servadac, don’t be thoughtless!” cried Rosette, with all the petulant impatience of the old pedagogue. “If the days are only half as long as they were, sixty of them cannot make up a twelfth part of Gallia’s year--cannot be a month.” “I suppose not,” replied the confused captain. “Do you not see, then,” continued the astronomer, “that if a Gallian month is twice as long as a terrestrial month, and a Gallian day is only half as long as a terrestrial day, there must be a hundred and twenty days in every month?” “No doubt you are right, professor,” said Count Timascheff; “but do you not think that the use of a new calendar such as this would practically be very troublesome?” “Not at all! not at all! I do not intend to use any other,” was the professor’s bluff reply. After pondering for a few moments, the captain spoke again. “According, then, to this new calendar, it isn’t the middle of May at all; it must now be some time in March.” “Yes,” said the professor, “to-day is the 26th of March. It is the 266th day of the Gallian year. It corresponds with the 133d day of the terrestrial year. You are quite correct, it is the 26th of March.” “Strange!” muttered Servadac. “And a month, a terrestrial month, thirty old days, sixty new days hence, it will be the 86th of March.” “Ha, ha!” roared the captain; “this is logic with a vengeance!” The old professor had an undefined consciousness that his former pupil was laughing at him; and as it was growing late, he made an excuse that he had no more leisure. The visitors accordingly quitted the observatory. It must be owned that the revised calendar was left to the professor’s sole use, and the colony was fairly puzzled whenever he referred to such unheard-of dates as the 47th of April or the 118th of May. According to the old calendar, June had now arrived; [illustration omitted] [page intentionally blank] and by the professor’s tables Gallia during the month would have advanced 27,500,000 leagues farther along its orbit, and would have attained a distance of 155,000,000 leagues from the sun. The thermometer continued to fall; the atmosphere remained clear as heretofore. The population performed their daily avocations with systematic routine; and almost the only thing that broke the monotony of existence was an occasional visit from the blustering, nervous, little professor, when some sudden fancy induced him to throw aside his astronomical studies for a time, and pay a visit to the common hall. His arrival there was generally hailed as the precursor of a little season of excitement. Somehow or other the conversation would eventually work its way round to the topic of a future collision between the comet and the earth; and in the same degree as this was a matter of sanguine anticipation to Captain Servadac and his friends, it was a matter of aversion to the astronomical enthusiast, who had no desire to quit his present quarters in a sphere which, being of his own discovery, he could hardly have cared for more if it had been of his own creation. The interview would often terminate in a scene of considerable animation. On the 27th of June (old calendar) the professor burst like a cannon-ball into the central hall, where they were all assembled, and without a word of salutation or of preface, accosted the lieutenant in the way in which in earlier days he had been accustomed to speak to an idle school-boy, “Now, lieutenant! no evasions! no shufflings! Tell me, have you or have you not circumnavigated Gallia?” The lieutenant drew himself up stiffly. “Evasions! shufflings! I am not accustomed, sir--” he began in a tone evidencing no little resentment; but catching a hint from the count he subdued his voice, and simply said, “We have.” “And may I ask,” continued the professor, quite unaware of his previous discourtesy, “whether, when you made your voyage, you took any account of distances?” “As approximately as I could,” replied the lieutenant; “I did what I could by log and compass. I was unable to take the altitude of sun or star.” “At what result did you arrive? What is the measurement of our equator?” “I estimate the total circumference of the equator to be about 1,400 miles.” “Ah!” said the professor, more than half speaking to himself, “a circumference of 1,400 miles would give a diameter of about 450 miles. That would be approximately about one-sixteenth of the diameter of the earth.” Raising his voice, he continued, “Gentlemen, in order to complete my account of my comet Gallia, I require to know its area, its mass, its volume, its density, its specific gravity.” “Since we know the diameter,” remarked the lieutenant, “there can be no difficulty in finding its surface and its volume.” “And did I say there was any difficulty?” asked the professor, fiercely. “I have been able to reckon that ever since I was born.” “Cock-a-doodle-doo!” cried Ben Zoof, delighted at any opportunity of paying off his old grudge. The professor looked at him, but did not vouchsafe a word. Addressing the captain, he said, “Now, Servadac, take your paper and a pen, and find me the surface of Gallia.” With more submission than when he was a school-boy, the captain sat down and endeavored to recall the proper formula. “The surface of a sphere? Multiply circumference by diameter.” “Right!” cried Rosette; “but it ought to be done by this time.” “Circumference, 1,400; diameter, 450; area of surface, 630,000,” read the captain. “True,” replied Rosette, “630,000 square miles; just 292 times less than that of the earth.” “Pretty little comet! nice little comet!” muttered Ben Zoof. The astronomer bit his lip, snorted, and cast at him a withering look, but did not take any further notice. “Now, Captain Servadac,” said the professor, “take your pen again, and find me the volume of Gallia.” The captain hesitated. “Quick, quick!” cried the professor, impatiently; “surely you have not forgotten how to find the volume of a sphere!” “A moment’s breathing time, please.” “Breathing time, indeed! A mathematician should not want breathing time! Come, multiply the surface by the third of the radius. Don’t you recollect?” Captain Servadac applied himself to his task while the by-standers waited, with some difficulty suppressing their inclination to laugh. There was a short silence, at the end of which Servadac announced that the volume of the comet was 47,880,000 cubic miles. “Just about 5,000 times less than the earth,” observed the lieutenant. “Nice little comet! pretty little comet!” said Ben Zoof. The professor scowled at him, and was manifestly annoyed at having the insignificant dimensions of his comet pointed out in so disparaging a manner. Lieutenant Procope further remarked that from the earth he supposed it to be about as conspicuous as a star of the seventh magnitude, and would require a good telescope to see it. “Ha, ha!” laughed the orderly, aloud; “charming little comet! so pretty; and so modest!” “You rascal!” roared the professor, and clenched his hand in passion, as if about to strike him. Ben Zoof laughed the more, and was on the point of repeating his satirical comments, when a stern order from the captain made him hold his tongue. The truth was that the professor was just as sensitive about his comet as the orderly was about Montmartre, and if the contention between the two had been allowed to go on unchecked, it is impossible to say what serious quarrel might not have arisen. When Professor Rosette’s equanimity had been restored, he said, “Thus, then, gentlemen, the diameter, the surface, the volume of my comet are settled; but there is more to be done. I shall not be satisfied until, by actual measurement, I have determined its mass, its density, and the force of gravity at its surface.” “A laborious problem,” remarked Count Timascheff. “Laborious or not, it has to be accomplished. I am resolved to find out what my comet weighs.” “Would it not be of some assistance, if we knew of what substance it is composed?” asked the lieutenant. “That is of no moment at all,” replied the professor; “the problem is independent of it.” “Then we await your orders,” was the captain’s reply. “You must understand, however,” said Rosette, “that there are various preliminary calculations to be made; you will have to wait till they are finished.” “As long as you please,” said the count. “No hurry at all,” observed the captain, who was not in the least impatient to continue his mathematical exercises. “Then, gentlemen,” said the astronomer, “with your leave we will for this purpose make an appointment a few weeks hence. What do you say to the 62d of April?” Without noticing the general smile which the novel date provoked, the astronomer left the hall, and retired to his observatory. CHAPTER V. WANTED: A STEELYARD Under the still diminishing influence of the sun’s attraction, but without let or hindrance, Gallia continued its interplanetary course, accompanied by Nerina, its captured satellite, which performed its fortnightly revolutions with unvarying regularity. Meanwhile, the question beyond all others important was ever recurring to the minds of Servadac and his two companions: were the astronomer’s calculations correct, and was there a sound foundation for his prediction that the comet would again touch the earth? But whatever might be their doubts or anxieties, they were fain to keep all their misgivings to themselves; the professor was of a temper far too cross-grained for them to venture to ask him to revise or re-examine the results of his observations. The rest of the community by no means shared in their uneasiness. Negrete and his fellow-countrymen yielded to their destiny with philosophical indifference. Happier and better provided for than they had ever been in their lives, it did not give them a passing thought, far less cause any serious concern, whether they were still circling round the sun, or whether they were being carried right away within the limits of another system. Utterly careless of the future, the majos, light-hearted as ever, carolled out their favorite songs, just as if they had never quitted the shores of their native land. Happiest of all were Pablo and Nina. Racing through the galleries of the Hive, clambering over the rocks upon the shore, one day skating far away across the frozen ocean, the next fishing in the lake that was kept liquid by the heat of the lava-torrent, the two children led a life of perpetual enjoyment. Nor was their recreation allowed to interfere with their studies. Captain Servadac, who in common with the count really liked them both, conceived that the responsibilities of a parent in some degree had devolved upon him, and took great care in superintending their daily lessons, which he succeeded in making hardly less pleasant than their sports. Indulged and loved by all, it was little wonder that young Pablo had no longing for the scorching plains of Andalusia, or that little Nina had lost all wish to return with her pet goat to the barren rocks of Sardinia. 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 the diligences when I was in Spain.” “I used to look after goats at Madalena,” said Nina; “but it is much nicer here--I am so happy here. I have you for a brother, and everybody is 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 orbit would be reduced to 22,000,000 leagues, the distance from the sun at the end being 172,000,000 leagues, about four and a half times as great as the average distance of the earth from the sun. It was traveling now at about the same speed as the earth, which traverses the ecliptic at a rate 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, a note was delivered to Servadac to say that he was ready, and hoped that day to commence operations for calculating the mass and density of his comet, as well as the force of gravity at its surface. A point of far greater interest to Captain Servadac and his friends would have been to ascertain the nature of the substance of which the comet was composed, but they felt pledged to render the professor any aid they could in the researches upon which he had set his heart. Without delay, therefore, they assembled in the central hall, where they were soon joined by Rosette, who seemed to be in fairly good temper. “Gentlemen,” he began, “I propose to-day to endeavor to complete our observations of the elements of my comet. Three matters of investigation are before us. First, the measure of gravity at its surface; this attractive force we know, by the increase of our own muscular force, must of course be considerably less than that at the surface of the earth. Secondly, its mass, that is, the quality of its matter. And thirdly, its density or quantity of matter in a unit of its volume. We will proceed, gentlemen, if you please, to weigh Gallia.” Ben Zoof, who had just entered the hall, caught the professor’s last sentence, and without saying a word, went out again and was absent for some minutes. When he returned, he said, “If you want to weigh this comet of yours, I suppose you want a pair of scales; but I have been to look, and I cannot find a pair anywhere. And what’s more,” he added mischievously, “you won’t get them anywhere.” A frown came over the professor’s countenance. Servadac saw it, and gave his orderly a sign that he should desist entirely from his bantering. “I require, gentlemen,” resumed Rosette, “first of all to know by how much the weight of a kilogramme here differs from its weight upon the earth; the attraction, as we have said, being less, the weight will proportionately be less also.” “Then an ordinary pair of scales, being under the influence of attraction, I suppose, would not answer your purpose,” submitted the lieutenant. “And the very kilogramme weight you used would have become lighter,” put in the count, deferentially. “Pray, gentlemen, do not interrupt me,” said the professor, authoritatively, as if -ex cathedra-. “I need no instruction on these points.” Procope and Timascheff demurely bowed their heads. The professor resumed. “Upon a steelyard, or spring-balance, dependent upon mere tension or flexibility, the attraction will have no influence. If I suspend a weight equivalent to the weight of a kilogramme, the index will register the proper weight on the surface of Gallia. Thus I shall arrive at the difference I want: the difference between the earth’s attraction and the comet’s. Will you, therefore, have the goodness to provide me at once with a steelyard and a tested kilogramme?” The audience looked at one another, and then at Ben Zoof, who was thoroughly acquainted with all their resources. “We have neither one nor the other,” said the orderly. The professor stamped with vexation. “I believe old Hakkabut has a steelyard on board his tartan,” said Ben Zoof, presently. “Then why didn’t you say so before, you idiot?” roared the excitable little man. Anxious to pacify him, Servadac assured him that every exertion should be made to procure the instrument, and directed Ben Zoof to go to the Jew 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 a difficulty about lending us any of his property.” “Why should we not all go?” asked the count; “we should see what kind of a 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 cut him a cubic decimeter out of the solid substance of Gallia. “My engineer is the man for that,” said the count; “he will do it well for you if you will give him the precise measurement.” “What! you don’t mean,” exclaimed the professor, again going off into a passion, “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 the tartan,” said the orderly. “Then let us lose no time in trying,” answered the professor, as he hustled with hasty strides into the gallery. The rest of the party followed, and were soon in the open air upon the rocks that overhung the shore. They descended to the level of the frozen water 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 up in fur, they all endured it without much actual suffering. Their breath issued in vapor, which was at once congealed into little crystals upon their whiskers, beards, eyebrows, and eyelashes, until their faces, covered with countless snow-white prickles, were truly ludicrous. The little professor, most comical of all, resembled nothing so much as the cub of an Arctic bear. It was eight o’clock in the morning. The sun was rapidly approaching the zenith; but its disc, from the extreme remoteness, was proportionately dwarfed; its beams being all but destitute of their proper warmth and radiance. The volcano to its very summit and the surrounding rocks were still covered with the unsullied mantle of snow that had fallen while the atmosphere was still to some extent charged with vapor; but on the north 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 of the central cavern, fell thence perpendicularly into the sea. Above the cavern, 130 feet up the mountain, was a dark hole, above which the stream of lava made a bifurcation in its course. From this hole projected the case of an astronomer’s telescope; it was the opening of Palmyrin Rosette’s observatory. Sea and land seemed blended into one dreary whiteness, to which the pale blue sky offered scarcely any contrast. The shore was indented with the marks of many footsteps left by the colonists either on their way to collect ice for drinking purposes, or as the result of their skating expeditions; the edges of the skates had cut out a labyrinth of curves complicated as the figures traced by aquatic insects upon the surface of a pool. Across the quarter of a mile of level ground that lay between the mountain and the creek, a series of footprints, frozen hard into the snow, marked the course taken by Isaac Hakkabut on his last return from Nina’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 places like this, as the crust of ice thickens, it forces everything upwards with irresistible force.” “But surely this process of congelation must have a limit!” said the count. “But who can say what that limit will be? Remember that we have not yet reached our maximum of cold,” replied Procope. “Indeed, I hope not!” exclaimed the professor; “where would be the use of our traveling 200,000,000 leagues from the sun, if we are only to experience the same temperature as we should find at the poles of the earth?” “Fortunately for us, however, professor,” said the lieutenant, with a smile, “the temperature of the remotest space never descends beyond 70 degrees below zero.” “And as long as there is no wind,” added Servadac, “we may pass comfortably through the winter, without a single attack of catarrh.” Lieutenant Procope proceeded to impart to the count his anxiety about the situation of his yacht. He pointed out that by the constant superposition of new deposits of ice, the vessel would be elevated to a great height, and consequently in the event of a thaw, it must be exposed to a calamity similar to those which in polar seas cause destruction to so many whalers. There was no time now for concerting measures offhand to prevent the disaster, for the other members of the party had already reached the spot where the -Hansa- lay bound in her icy trammels. A flight of steps, recently hewn by Hakkabut himself, gave access for the present to the gangway, but it was evident that some different contrivance would have to be resorted to when the tartan should be elevated perhaps to a hundred feet. A thin curl of blue smoke issued from the copper funnel that projected above the mass of snow which had accumulated upon the deck of the -Hansa-. The owner was sparing of his fuel, and it was only the non-conducting layer of ice enveloping the tartan that rendered the internal temperature endurable. “Hi! old Nebuchadnezzar, where are you?” shouted Ben Zoof, at the full strength of his lungs. At the sound of his voice, the cabin door opened, and the Jew’s head and shoulders protruded onto the deck. CHAPTER VI. MONEY AT A PREMIUM “Who’s there? I have nothing here for anyone. Go away!” Such was the inhospitable greeting with which Isaac Hakkabut received his visitors. “Hakkabut! do you take us for thieves?” asked Servadac, in tones of stern displeasure. “Oh, your Excellency, my lord, I did not know that it was you,” whined the Jew, but without emerging any farther from his cabin. “Now, old Hakkabut, come out of your shell! Come and show the governor proper respect, when he gives you the honor of his company,” cried Ben Zoof, who by this time had clambered onto the deck. After considerable hesitation, but still keeping his hold upon the cabin-door, the Jew made up his mind to step outside. “What do you want?” he inquired, timorously. “I want a word with you,” said Servadac, “but I do not want to stand talking out here in the cold.” Followed by the rest of the party, he proceeded to mount the steps. The Jew trembled from head to foot. “But I cannot let you into my cabin. I am a poor man; I have nothing to give you,” he moaned piteously. “Here he is!” laughed Ben Zoof, contemptuously; “he is beginning his chapter of lamentations over again. But standing out here will never do. Out of the way, old Hakkabut, I say! out of the way!” and, without more ado, he thrust the astonished Jew on one side and opened the door of the cabin. Servadac, however, declined to enter until he had taken the pains to explain to the owner of the tartan that he had no intention of laying violent hands upon his property, and that if the time should ever come that his cargo was in requisition for the common use, he should receive a proper price for his goods, the same as he would in Europe. “Europe, indeed!” muttered the Jew maliciously between his teeth. “European prices will not do for me. I must have Gallian prices--and of my own fixing, too!” So large a portion of the vessel had been appropriated to the cargo that the space reserved for the cabin was of most meager dimensions. In one corner of the compartment stood a small iron stove, in which smoldered a bare handful of coals; in another was a trestle-board which served as a bed; two or three stools and a rickety deal table, together with a few cooking utensils, completed a stock of furniture which was worthy of its proprietor. On entering the cabin, Ben Zoof’s first proceeding was to throw on the fire a liberal supply of coals, utterly regardless of the groans of poor Isaac, who would almost as soon have parted with his own bones as submit to such reckless expenditure of his fuel. The perishing temperature of the cabin, however, was sufficient justification for the orderly’s conduct, and by a little skillful manipulation he soon succeeded in getting up a tolerable fire. The visitors having taken what seats they could, Hakkabut closed the door, and, like a prisoner awaiting his sentence, stood with folded hands, expecting the captain to speak. “Listen,” said Servadac; “we have come to ask a favor.” Imagining that at least half his property was to be confiscated, the Jew began to break out into his usual formula about being a poor man and having nothing to spare; but Servadac, without heeding his complainings, went on: “We are not going to ruin you, you know.” Hakkabut looked keenly into the captain’s face. “We have only come to know whether you can lend us a steelyard.” So far from showing any symptom of relief, the old miser exclaimed, with a stare of astonishment, as if he had been asked for some thousand francs: “A steelyard?” “Yes!” echoed the professor, impatiently; “a steelyard.” “Have you not one?” asked Servadac. “To be sure he has!” said Ben Zoof. Old Isaac stammered and stuttered, but at last confessed that perhaps there might be one amongst the stores. “Then, surely, you will not object to lend it to us?” said the captain. “Only for one day,” added the professor. The Jew stammered again, and began to object. “It is a very delicate instrument, your Excellency. The cold, you know, the cold may do injury to the spring; and perhaps you are going to use it to weigh something very heavy.” “Why, old Ephraim, do you suppose we are going to weigh a mountain with it?” said Ben Zoof. “Better than that!” cried out the professor, triumphantly; “we are going to weigh Gallia with it; my comet.” “Merciful Heaven!” shrieked Isaac, feigning consternation at the bare suggestion. Servadac knew well enough that the Jew was holding out only for a good bargain, and assured him that the steelyard was required for no other purpose than to weigh a kilogramme, which (considering how much lighter everything had become) could not possibly put the slightest strain upon the instrument. The Jew still spluttered, and moaned, and hesitated. “Well, then,” said Servadac, “if you do not like to lend us your steelyard, do you object to sell it to us?” Isaac fairly shrieked aloud. “God of Israel!” he ejaculated, “sell my steelyard? Would you deprive me of one of the most indispensable of my means of livelihood? How should I weigh my merchandise without my . , 1 . 2 3 . , 4 . 5 6 . , , , , 7 . 8 9 10 , , , 11 , , 12 . 13 14 . 15 , 16 , 17 ; , 18 , . 19 20 ; 21 . 22 ; , 23 , . 24 , 25 , , , 26 27 ; 28 29 , 30 . , 31 32 , 33 , , , 34 « , » . 35 36 , . 37 , , 38 , , 39 40 . 41 42 43 ; , 44 45 - 46 . 47 48 « , , » , « 49 . ; 50 ; : 51 , , . ! 52 , , 53 . , , ; 54 ; , 55 ; 56 57 . , , , 58 . » 59 60 , 61 . 62 63 , 64 , . 65 66 « ! » , . « - 67 . » 68 69 « - ! » , . « 70 71 . » 72 73 , 74 , 75 . , 76 ; 77 . 78 79 - 80 , 81 , 82 , . 83 , 84 . 85 86 « , , » , « 87 ; , 88 , 89 . » 90 91 . 92 93 « , » 94 , « 95 . » 96 97 « , » , , « 98 ? » 99 100 « . » 101 102 « - - » 103 104 « , , . 105 , , 106 , ; 107 ; ; 108 - ; 109 ; ; 110 , , 111 , . » 112 113 : 114 115 « - ; 116 , , 117 , , , 118 . » 119 120 : « , 121 . . 122 ? » 123 124 « , , » , 125 . 126 127 128 , , 129 , . , , 130 , , 131 - - , 132 133 . 134 135 « , » : « 136 , , 137 , , 138 , 139 . , 140 , 141 . 142 . » 143 144 « , » , . 145 146 « ! ! » . , 147 , , : « 148 ; 149 , , 150 . , » 151 , , « 152 . » 153 154 « ! » , . 155 156 « , ! » . 157 158 , , 159 , 160 , , 161 162 . 163 164 « ? » . 165 166 , : 167 « , , 168 . , 169 , 170 ? » 171 172 « , . » 173 174 « ? » 175 176 « . » 177 178 « ? 179 , , ? » 180 181 « . » 182 183 « ? » 184 185 « . » 186 187 « ? » 188 189 « . » 190 191 « ? » 192 193 « . » 194 195 « ? » 196 197 « . » 198 199 200 . 201 202 « , » , « , 203 204 , 205 . » 206 207 « , 208 ? » . 209 210 « , » . 211 212 « ? » 213 214 « . » 215 , , , « 216 , ! » 217 218 219 220 . 221 222 223 , , 224 225 . 226 227 , 228 . 229 230 231 , 232 , 233 , . 234 235 236 . ; 237 , , 238 , 239 240 . , 241 242 ; , 243 , , 244 , 245 246 . , 247 , , 248 , , , 249 . , 250 , - , , , 251 , . 252 , - , 253 . 254 255 . 256 257 . ; 258 ; , , 259 260 . 261 262 , 263 . . , , 264 265 , , 266 267 . 268 269 270 ; ; 271 ; ; 272 273 ; ; 274 275 . 276 277 278 . 279 , , 280 , , , , 281 , . 282 , , 283 , - , 284 285 . , 286 , 287 - - , , , 288 . 289 290 , , , 291 292 . 293 . 294 , 295 - - , 296 . - 297 ; 298 ; , , 299 , , 300 , 301 . 302 303 , 304 . ; 305 306 , 307 . 308 , , 309 , 310 - , 311 312 ; - - 313 , 314 , , 315 , 316 , 317 . 318 319 , 320 , 321 ; 322 , , 323 , 324 , , , 325 ; , 326 327 , . 328 ; 329 ; ; 330 331 . 332 333 , 334 335 . 336 337 , 338 , , , 339 , , . 340 , 341 , 342 . - 343 , 344 - , , 345 , 346 347 . 348 349 350 , , , 351 . 352 , , 353 , 354 . 355 , ( 356 , , ) , 357 , 358 , 359 , . 360 . 361 362 , 363 , , « , 364 , , , 365 , , . » 366 367 « , » . 368 369 « , 370 ? » . 371 372 « ? » , . « 373 . » 374 375 , , 376 « , , , 377 . » 378 379 « ! ? » . 380 381 . 382 . 383 384 « ? » , 385 . 386 387 « , ; 388 . » 389 390 « , . » 391 392 « , , . » 393 394 « , , , » , . « 395 - - 396 - - 397 . » 398 399 . 400 401 « , , 402 . » 403 404 « , , , » , . 405 406 « ! » . « ! 407 ! » 408 409 « , » . 410 411 « ? » . 412 413 « - , . 414 , » . 415 416 « , ! » , 417 . « 418 , 419 - - . » 420 421 « , » . 422 423 « , , » , « 424 , 425 , 426 ? » 427 428 « , , » ; « 429 430 ? » 431 432 « ! ! , » 433 . 434 435 , . « , 436 , , ; 437 . » 438 439 « , » , « - . 440 . 441 . , . » 442 443 « ! » . 444 445 « , , , 446 , . » 447 448 « , ! » ; « ! » 449 450 451 ; , 452 . 453 . 454 455 456 , 457 - . 458 459 , ; [ 460 ] [ ] 461 , , 462 , , , 463 . ; 464 . 465 ; 466 , 467 , , 468 , 469 . 470 . 471 472 ; 473 , 474 , 475 , , 476 . 477 478 . 479 480 ( ) 481 - , , 482 , 483 484 - , « , ! ! ! , 485 ? » 486 487 . « ! ! 488 , - - » ; 489 , 490 , « . » 491 492 « , » , 493 , « , , 494 ? » 495 496 « , » ; « 497 . 498 . » 499 500 « ? ? » 501 502 « , 503 . » 504 505 « ! » , , « 506 , . 507 - 508 . » 509 510 , , « , 511 , , , 512 , , . » 513 514 « , » , « 515 . » 516 517 « ? » , . 518 « . » 519 520 « - - - ! » , 521 . 522 523 , . 524 , , « , , , 525 . » 526 527 - , 528 . 529 530 « ? . » 531 532 « ! » ; « . » 533 534 « , , ; , ; , , , » 535 . 536 537 « , » , « , ; 538 . » 539 540 « ! ! » . 541 542 , , , 543 . 544 545 « , , » , « , 546 . » 547 548 . 549 550 « , ! » , ; « 551 ! » 552 553 « , . » 554 555 « , ! 556 ! , . 557 ? » 558 559 - 560 , . 561 , 562 , , . 563 564 « , , » . 565 566 « ! ! » . 567 568 , 569 570 . 571 572 , . 573 574 « , ! » , ; « ! ; 575 ! » 576 577 « ! » , , 578 . , 579 , 580 . 581 , 582 , 583 . 584 585 , , « , 586 , , , , 587 ; . , 588 , , , 589 . » 590 591 « , » . 592 593 « , . 594 . » 595 596 « , 597 ? » . 598 599 « , » ; « 600 . » 601 602 « , » . 603 604 « , , » , « 605 ; 606 . » 607 608 « , » . 609 610 « , » , 611 . 612 613 « , , » , « 614 . 615 ? » 616 617 , 618 , . 619 620 621 622 . : 623 624 625 , 626 , , 627 , , 628 . 629 630 , 631 : 632 , 633 ? 634 , 635 ; 636 - - 637 . 638 639 . 640 - 641 . 642 , , 643 , 644 , 645 . , , 646 - , , 647 . 648 649 . 650 , , 651 , 652 - , 653 . 654 . , 655 , 656 , 657 , 658 . 659 660 , 661 , 662 663 . . 664 665 « ? » , . 666 667 « , » . 668 669 « , » , « 670 . » 671 672 « , » ; « 673 - - . , 674 . , , » , . 675 676 « , , ; , , 677 , » , . 678 679 . 680 , , , 681 , , , 682 . 683 , 684 , , , , . 685 686 , , 687 ; , 688 , 689 690 , . 691 692 693 694 , 695 . 696 , , , 697 , . 698 699 « , » , « - 700 . 701 . , ; 702 , , 703 704 . , , , . 705 , . 706 , , , . » 707 708 , , 709 , , 710 . , , « 711 , ; 712 , . , » 713 , « . » 714 715 . , 716 . 717 718 « , , » , « 719 720 ; , , , 721 . » 722 723 « , 724 , , , » 725 . 726 727 « , » 728 , . 729 730 « , , , » , 731 , - - . « 732 . » 733 734 . 735 736 . « , - , 737 , . 738 , 739 . 740 : 741 . , , 742 743 ? » 744 745 , , 746 . « 747 , » . 748 749 . 750 751 « , » 752 , . 753 754 « , ? » 755 . 756 757 , 758 , 759 . 760 761 « , , » , , 762 ; « ; 763 . » 764 765 « ? » ; « 766 - - . » 767 768 . , 769 770 . « 771 , » ; « 772 . » 773 774 « ! , » , 775 , « ? » 776 777 , 778 . « 779 , » . 780 781 « , » , 782 . 783 784 , 785 . 786 - - 787 - - . 788 789 ; 790 , . 791 , 792 , , , , , 793 - , . 794 , , 795 . 796 797 . 798 ; , , 799 ; 800 . 801 802 ; 803 , , 804 805 , . 806 , , , 807 . 808 ; 809 . 810 811 , 812 . 813 814 , 815 ; 816 817 . 818 819 820 , , 821 , 822 . 823 824 , 825 - - - - , 826 . 827 828 « ! » . 829 830 « , » ; « 831 , , 832 . » 833 834 « ! » 835 . 836 837 « ? 838 , » . 839 840 « , ! » ; « 841 , , , 842 843 ? » 844 845 « , , , » , 846 , « 847 . » 848 849 « , » , « 850 , . » 851 852 853 . 854 , 855 , , 856 857 . 858 859 860 , 861 - - . , 862 , 863 , 864 865 . 866 867 868 869 - - . , 870 - 871 . 872 873 « ! , ? » , 874 . 875 876 , , 877 . 878 879 880 881 . 882 883 884 « ? . ! » 885 . 886 887 « ! ? » , 888 . 889 890 « , , , , » 891 , . 892 893 « , , ! 894 , , » 895 , . 896 897 , 898 - , . « 899 ? » , . 900 901 « , » , « 902 . » 903 904 , . 905 . « . 906 ; , » . 907 908 « ! » , ; « 909 . . 910 , , ! ! » , 911 , 912 . 913 914 , , 915 916 , 917 , 918 , . 919 920 « , ! » . 921 « . - - 922 , ! » 923 924 925 . 926 , 927 ; - 928 ; , 929 , 930 . 931 932 , 933 , 934 , 935 . 936 , , 937 , 938 . 939 940 , 941 , , , 942 , . 943 944 « , » ; « . » 945 946 , 947 948 ; , , 949 : « , . » 950 951 . 952 953 « . » 954 955 , , 956 , 957 : « ? » 958 959 « ! » , ; « . » 960 961 « ? » . 962 963 « ! » . 964 965 , 966 . 967 968 « , , ? » . 969 970 « , » . 971 972 , . « 973 , . , , 974 ; 975 . » 976 977 « , , 978 ? » . 979 980 « ! » , ; « 981 ; . » 982 983 « ! » , 984 . 985 986 987 , 988 , ( 989 ) 990 . 991 992 , , . 993 994 « , , » , « 995 , ? » 996 997 . « ! » , « 998 ? 999 ? 1000