are chilly are welcome to go as much lower as they like.

For my part, I shall be quite warm enough here."
After throwing the gleams of torch-light in all directions,

the explorers seated themselves on a jutting rock,
and began to debate whether it was practicable for the colony

to make an abode in these lower depths of the mountain.
The prospect, it must be owned, was not inviting. The crater,

it is true, widened out into a cavernsufficiently large,
but here its accommodation ended. Above and below were a few

ledges in the rock that would serve as receptacles for provisions;
but, with the exception of a small recess that must be reserved

for Nina, it was clear that henceforth they must all renounce
the idea of having separate apartments. The single cave must

be their dining-room, drawing-room, and dormitory, all in one.
From living the life of rabbits in a warren, they were reduced

to the existence of moles, with the difference that they could not,
like them, forget their troubles in a long winter's sleep.

The cavern, however, was quite capable of being lighted
by means of lamps and lanterns. Among the stores were several

barrels of oil and a considerable quantity of spirits of wine,
which might be burned when required for cooking purposes.

Moreover, it would be unnecessary for them to confine
themselves entirely to the seclusion of their gloomyresidence;

well wrapped up, there would be nothing to prevent them making
occasional excursions both to the Hive and to the sea-shore.

A supply of fresh water would be constantly required;
ice for this purpose must be perpetually carried in from the coast,

and it would be necessary to arrange that everyone in turn
should perform this office, as it would be no sinecure to clamber

up the sides of the crater for 900 feet, and descend the same
distance with a heavy burden.

But the emergency was great, and it was accordingly soon decided
that the little colony should forthwith take up its quarters

in the cave. After all, they said, they should hardly be much
worse off than thousands who annually winter in Arctic regions.

On board the whaling-vessels, and in the establishments
of the Hudson's Bay Company, such luxuries as separate cabins

or sleeping-chambers are never thought of; one large apartment,
well heated and ventilated, with as few corners as possible,

is considered far more healthy; and on board ship the entire hold,
and in forts a single floor, is appropriated to this purpose.

The recollection of this fact served to reconcile them,
in a great degree, to the change to which they felt it

requisite to submit.
Having remounted the ascent, they made the result of their exploration known

to the mass of the community, who received the tidings with a sense of relief,
and cordially accepted the scheme of the migration.

The first step was to clear the cavern of its accumulation of ashes,
and then the labor of removal commenced in earnest. Never was a task

undertaken with greater zest. The fear of being to a certainty frozen
to death if they remained where they were, was a stimulus that made

everyone put forth all his energies. Beds, furniture, cooking utensils--
first the stores of the _Dobryna_, then the cargo of the tartan--

all were carried down with the greatest alacrity, and the diminished
weight combined with the downhill route to make the labor proceed

with incredible briskness.
Although Professor Rosette yielded to the pressure of circumstances,

and allowed himself to be conducted to the lower regions, nothing would
induce him to allow his telescope to be carried underground;

and as it was undeniable that it would certainly be of no service
deep down in the bowels of the mountain, it was allowed to remain

undisturbed upon its tripod in the great hall of Nina's Hive.
As for Isaac Hakkabut, his outcry was beyond description lamentable.

Never, in the whole universe, had a merchant met with such reverses;
never had such a pitiable series of losses befallen an unfortunate man.

Regardless of the ridicule which his abject wretchedness excited,
he howled on still, and kept up an unending wail; but meanwhile

he kept a keen eye upon every article of his property, and amidst
universal laughter insisted on having every item registered in an

inventory as it was transferred to its appointed place of safety.
Servadac considerately allowed the whole of the cargo to be deposited

in a hollow apart by itself, over which the Jew was permitted to keep
a watch as vigilant as he pleased.

By the 10th the removal was accomplished. Rescued, at all events,
from the exposure to a perilous temperature of 60 degrees below zero,

the community was installed in its new home. The large cave was
lighted by the _Dobryna's_ lamps, while several lanterns, suspended at

intervals along the acclivity that led to their deserted quarters above,
gave a weird picturesqueness to the scene, that might vie with any

of the graphicdescriptions of the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments."
"How do you like this, Nina?" said Ben Zoof.

"_Va bene!_" replied the child. "We are only living in the cellars
instead of upon the ground floor."

"We will try and make ourselves comfortable," said the orderly.
"Oh yes, we will be happy here," rejoined the child; "it is nice and warm."

Although they were as careful as they could to conceal
their misgivings from the rest, Servadac and his two friends

could not regard their present situation without distrust.
When alone, they would frequently ask each other what would become

of them all, if the volcanic heat should really be subsiding,
or if some unexpected perturbation should retard the course of

the comet, and compel them to an indefinitely" target="_blank" title="ad.模糊地；无限期地">indefinitely prolonged residence
in their grim abode. It was scarcely likely that the comet could

supply the fuel of which ere long they would be in urgent need.
Who could expect to find coal in the bowels of Gallia,--coal, which is

the residuum of ancient forests mineralized by the lapse of ages?
Would not the lava-cinders exhumed from the extinct volcano

be their last poor resource?
"Keep up your spirits, my friends," said Servadac; "we have plenty of time

before us at present. Let us hope that as fresh difficulties arise,
fresh ways of escape will open. Never despair!"

"True," said the count; "it is an old saying that 'Necessity is the mother
of invention.' Besides, I should think it very unlikely that the internal

heat will fail us now before the summer."
The lieutenant declared that he entertained the same hope.

As the reason of his opinion he alleged that the combustion
of the eruptive matter was most probably of quite recent origin,

because the comet before its collision with the earth had
possessed no atmosphere, and that consequently no oxygen could

have penetrated to its interior.
"Most likely you are right," replied the count; "and so far from dreading

a failure of the internal heat, I am not quite sure that we may not be exposed
to a more terrible calamity still?"

"What?" asked Servadac.
"The calamity of the eruption breaking out suddenly again,

and taking us by surprise."
"Heavens!" cried the captain, "we will not think of that."

"The outbreak may happen again," said the lieutenant, calmly; "but it will
be our fault, our own lack of vigilance, if we are taken by surprise."

And so the conversation dropped.
The 15th of January dawned; and the comet was 220,000,000 leagues

from the sun.
Gallia had reached its aphelion.

CHAPTER XIII
DREARY MONTHS

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

Except the thirteen Englishmen who had been left at Gibraltar,
every living creature had taken refuge in the dark abyss

of the volcano's crater.
And with those Englishmen, how had it fared?

"Far better than with ourselves," was the sentiment that would
have been universally accepted in Nina's Hive. And there was every

reason to conjecture that so it was. The party at Gibraltar,
they all agreed, would not, like themselves, have been compelled

to have recourse to a stream of lava for their supply of heat;
they, no doubt, had had abundance of fuel as well as food;

and in their solid casemate, with its substantial walls,
they would find ample shelter from the rigor of the cold.

The time would have been passed at least in comfort, and perhaps
in contentment; and Colonel Murphy and Major Oliphant would have

had leisure more than sufficient for solving the most abstruse
problems of the chess-board. All of them, too, would be happy