Whilst the rest were enjoying their
recreation, Servadac and the count
would hold long conversations with Lieutenant Procope about their present
position and future prospects, discussing all manner of speculations
as to the results of the anticipated
collision with the earth,
and wondering whether any measures could be devised for mitigating
the
violence of a shock which might be terrible in its consequences,
even if it did not
entail a total annihilation of themselves.
There was no
visitor to the Hive more regular than Rosette. He had already
directed his
telescope to be moved back to his former
observatory, where,
as much as the cold would permit him, he persisted in making his all-absorbing
studies of the heavens.
The result of these studies no one ventured to inquire;
but it became generally noticed that something was very seriously
disturbing the professor's equanimity. Not only would he be seen
toiling more frequently up the
arduous way that lay between his nook
below and his
telescope above, but he would be heard muttering
in an angry tone that indicated
considerable agitation.
One day, as he was hurrying down to his study, he met Ben Zoof, who,
secretly entertaining a feeling of delight at the professor's
manifestdiscomfiture, made some
casual remark about things not being very straight.
The way in which his advance was received the good
orderly never divulged,
but henceforward he maintained the firm
conviction that there was something
very much amiss up in the sky.
To Servadac and his friends this
continual disquietude and ill-humor
on the part of the professor occasioned no little
anxiety.
From what, they asked, could his
dissatisfaction arise?
They could only
conjecture that he had discovered some flaw
in his reckonings; and if this were so, might there not be reason
to
apprehend that their anticipations of coming into contact
with the earth, at the settled time, might all be falsified?
Day followed day, and still there was no cessation of the
professor's discomposure. He was the most
miserable of mortals. If really
his calculations and his observations were at variance, this, in a man
of his
irritabletemperament, would
account for his
perpetual perturbation.
But he entered into no
explanation; he only climbed up to his
telescope,
looking
haggard and distressed, and when compelled by the frost to retire,
he would make his way back to his study more
furious than ever.
At times he was heard giving vent to his
vexation. "Confound it!
what does it mean? what is she doing? All behind! Is Newton a fool?
Is the law of
universalgravitation the law of
universal nonsense?"
And the little man would seize his head in both his hands, and tear
away at the
scanty locks which he could ill afford to lose.
Enough was overheard to
confirm the
suspicion that there was some
irreconcilable discrepancy between the results of his computation
and what he had
actually observed; and yet, if he had been called
upon to say, he would have sooner insisted that there was derangement
in the laws of
celestialmechanism, than have owned there was
the least
probability of error in any of his own calculations.
Assuredly, if the poor professor had had any flesh to lose he would
have withered away to a shadow.
But this state of things was before long to come to an end.
On the 12th, Ben Zoof, who was
hanging about outside the great
hall of the
cavern, heard the professor inside utter a loud cry.
Hurrying in to
ascertain the cause, he found Rosette in a state
of perfect
frenzy, in which
ecstasy and rage seemed to be struggling
for the predominance.
"Eureka! Eureka!" yelled the excited astronomer.
"What, in the name of peace, do you mean?" bawled Ben Zoof,
in open-mouthed amazement.
"Eureka!" again shrieked the little man.
"How? What? Where?" roared the bewildered
orderly.
"Eureka! I say,"
repeated Rosette; "and if you don't understand me,
you may go to the devil!"
Without availing himself of this
politeinvitation, Ben Zoof betook himself
to his master. "Something has happened to the professor," he said;
"he is rushing about like a
madman, screeching and yelling 'Eureka!'"
"Eureka?" exclaimed Servadac. "That means he has made a discovery;"
and, full of
anxiety, he
hurried off to meet the professor.
But, however great was his desire to
ascertain what this discovery
implied, his
curiosity was not yet destined to be gratified.
The professor kept muttering in incoherent phrases: "Rascal! he shall
pay for it yet. I will be even with him! Cheat! Thrown me out!"
But he did not
vouchsafe any reply to Servadac's inquiries,
and
withdrew to his study.
From that day Rosette, for some reason at present incomprehensible,
quite altered his
behavior to Isaac Hakkabut, a man for whom he had
always
hitherto evinced the greatest repugnance and contempt.
All at once he began to show a
remarkable interest in the Jew and
his affairs, paying several visits to the dark little storehouse,
making inquiries as to the state of business and expressing some
solicitude about the state of the exchequer.
The wily Jew was taken somewhat by surprise, but came to an immediate
conclusion that the professor was contemplating borrowing some money;
he was
consequently very
cautious in all his replies.
It was not Hakkabut's habit ever to advance a loan except at an extravagant
rate of interest, or without demanding far more than an
adequate security.
Count Timascheff, a Russian
nobleman, was
evidently rich;
to him perhaps, for a proper
consideration, a loan might be made:
Captain Servadac was a Gascon, and Gascons are proverbially poor;
it would never do to lend any money to him; but here was a professor,
a mere man of science, with circumscribed means; did _he_ expect to borrow?
Certainly Isaac would as soon think of flying, as of lending money to him.
Such were the thoughts that made him receive all Rosette's approaches
with a careful reservation.
It was not long, however, before Hakkabut was to be called upon
to apply his money to a purpose for which he had not reckoned.
In his
eagerness to effect sales, he had parted with all the
alimentary articles in his cargo without having the precautionary
prudence to reserve enough for his own consumption.
Amongst other things that failed him was his stock of coffee,
and as coffee was a
beverage without which he deemed it impossible
to exist, he found himself in
considerable perplexity.
He pondered the matter over for a long time, and
ultimately persuaded
himself that, after all, the stores were the common property of all,
and that he had as much right to a share as anyone else. Accordingly, he made
his way to Ben Zoof, and, in the most
amiable tone he could assume,
begged as a favor that he would let him have a pound of coffee.
The
orderly shook his head dubiously.
"A pound of coffee, old Nathan? I can't say."
"Why not? You have some?" said Isaac.
"Oh yes! plenty--a hundred kilogrammes."
"Then let me have one pound. I shall be grateful."
"Hang your gratitude!"
"Only one pound! You would not refuse anybody else."
"That's just the very point, old Samuel; if you were anybody else,
I should know very well what to do. I must refer the matter
to his Excellency."
"Oh, his Excellency will do me justice."
"Perhaps you will find his justice rather too much for you."
And with this consoling remark, the
orderly went to seek his master.
Rosette
meanwhile had been listening to the conversation, and secretly
rejoicing that an opportunity for which he had been watching had arrived.
"What's the matter, Master Isaac? Have you parted with all your coffee?"
he asked, in a sympathizing voice, when Ben Zoof was gone.
"Ah! yes, indeed," groaned Hakkabut, "and now I require some for my own use.
In my little black hole I cannot live without my coffee."
"Of course you cannot," agreed the professor.
"And don't you think the
governor ought to let me have it?"
"No doubt."