demanded the captain.
As soon as the professor had recovered his
breath, exhausted by
his exertions, he said, "The old reprobate, the
rascal has cheated us!
His steelyard is wrong! He is a thief!"
Captain Servadac looked
sternly at Hakkabut.
"How is this, Hakkabut? Is this a fact?"
"No, no--yes--no, your Excellency, only--"
"He is a cheat, a thief!" roared the excited astronomer.
"His weights deceive!"
"Stop, stop!" interposed Servadac; "let us hear.
Tell me, Hakkabut--"
"The steelyard lies! It cheats! it lies!" roared the irrepressible Rosette.
"Tell me, Hakkabut, I say,"
repeated Servadac.
The Jew only kept on stammering, "Yes--no--I don't know."
But
heedless of any
interruption, the professor continued, "False weights!
That confounded steelyard! It gave a false result! The mass was wrong!
The observations contradicted the calculations; they were wrong!
She was out of place! Yes, out of place entirely."
"What!" cried Servadac and Procope in a
breath, "out of place?"
"Yes, completely," said the professor.
"Gallia out of place?"
repeated Servadac, agitated with alarm.
"I did not say Gallia," replied Rosette, stamping his foot impetuously;
"I said Nerina."
"Oh, Nerina," answered Servadac. "But what of Gallia?"
he inquired, still nervously.
"Gallia, of course, is on her way to the earth. I told you so.
But that Jew is a
rascal!"
CHAPTER XV
A JOURNEY AND A DISAPPOINTMENT
It was as the professor had said. From the day that
Isaac Hakkabut had entered upon his mercantile career,
his dealings had all been carried on by a
system of false weight.
That
deceitful steelyard had been the mainspring of his fortune.
But when it had become his lot to be the
purchaser instead
of the vendor, his spirit had groaned within him at being
compelled to reap the fruits of his own dishonesty.
No one who had
studied his
character could be much surprised
at the
confession that was extorted from him, that for every
supposed kilogramme that he had ever sold the true weight
was only 750 grammes, or just five and twenty per cent.
less than it ought to have been.
The professor, however, had ascertained all that he wanted to know.
By estimating his comet at a third as much again as its proper weight,
he had found that his calculations were always at variance with the observed
situation of the
satellite, which was immediately influenced by the mass
of its primary.
But now, besides enjoying the
satisfaction of having punished
old Hakkabut, Rosette was able to recommence his calculations
with
reference to the elements of Nerina upon a correct basis,
a task to which he
devoted himself with redoubled energy.
It will be easily imagined that Isaac Hakkabut, thus caught in his own trap,
was jeered most unmercifully by those whom he had attempted to make
his dupes. Ben Zoof, in particular, was never wearied of telling him how on
his return to the world he would be prosecuted for using false weights,
and would certainly become acquainted with the inside of a prison.
Thus badgered, he secluded himself more than ever in his
dismal hole,
never venturing, except when
absolutely obliged, to face the other members
of the community.
On the 7th of October the comet re-entered the zone of the telescopic
planets,
one of which had been captured as a
satellite, and the
origin of the whole
of which is most probably
correctly attributed to the disintegration of some
large
planet that
formerly revolved between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
By the
beginning of the following month half of this zone had been traversed,
and only two months remained before the
collision with the earth was to
be expected. The temperature was now
rarely below 12 degrees below zero,
but that was far too cold to permit the slightest symptoms of a thaw.
The surface of the sea remained as
frozen as ever, and the two vessels,
high up on their icy pedestals, remained unaltered in their
critical position.
It was about this time that the question began to be mooted whether it
would not be right to reopen some
communication with the Englishmen
at Gibraltar. Not that any doubt was entertained as to their having
been able
successfully to cope with the rigors of the winter;
but Captain Servadac, in a way that did honor to his generosity,
represented that, however uncourteous might have been their
former
behavior, it was at least due to them that they should
be informed of the true condition of things, which they had had
no opportunity of
learning; and,
moreover, that they should
be invited to co-operate with the population of Nina's Hive,
in the event of any measures being suggested by which the shock
of the approaching
collision could be mitigated.
The count and the
lieutenant both
heartily concurred in Servadac's
sentiments of
humanity and
prudence, and all agreed that if the intercourse
were to be opened at all, no time could be so
suitable as the present,
while the surface of the sea presented a smooth and solid footing.
After a thaw should set in, neither the yacht nor the tartan could be reckoned
on for service, and it would be inexpedient to make use of the steam launch,
for which only a few tons of coal had been reserved, just sufficient
to
convey them to Gourbi Island when the occasion should arise;
whilst as
to the yawl, which, transformed into a
sledge, had performed so successful
a trip to Formentera, the
absence of wind would make that quite unavailable.
It was true that with the return of summer temperature, there would be certain
to be a derangement in the
atmosphere of Gallia, which would result in wind,
but for the present the air was
altogether too still for the yawl to have
any
prospects of making its way to Gibraltar.
The only question remaining was as to the
possibility of going on foot.
The distance was somewhere about 240 miles. Captain Servadac declared
himself quite equal to the
taking" target="_blank" title="n.任务;事业;计划">
undertaking. To skate sixty or seventy miles
a day would be nothing, he said, to a practical skater like himself.
The whole journey there and back might be performed in eight days.
Provided with a
compass, a sufficient supply of cold meat, and a spirit lamp,
by which he might boil his coffee, he was
perfectly sure he should,
without the least difficulty, accomplish an
enterprise that chimed
in so exactly with his
adventurous spirit.
Equally
urgent were both the count and the
lieutenant to be allowed
to accompany him; nay, they even offered to go instead; but Servadac,
expressing himself as most
grateful for their consideration,
declined their offer, and avowed his
resolution of
taking no other
companion than his own orderly.
Highly
delighted at his master's decision, Ben Zoof expressed
his
satisfaction at the
prospect of "stretching his legs a bit,"
declaring that nothing could induce him to permit the captain to go alone.
There was no delay. The
departure was fixed for the following morning,
the 2nd of November.
Although it is not to be questioned that a
genuine desire of doing an act
of kindness to his fellow-creatures was a leading
motive of Servadac's
proposed visit to Gibraltar, it must be owned that another idea,
confided to nobody, least of all to Count Timascheff, had been conceived
in the brain of the
worthy Gascon. Ben Zoof had an inkling that his
master was "up to some other little game," when, just before starting,
he asked him
privately whether there was a French tricolor among the stores.
"I believe so," said the orderly.
"Then don't say a word to anyone, but
fasten it up tight in your knapsack."
Ben Zoof found the flag, and folded it up as he was directed.
Before
proceeding to explain this somewhat enig-matical conduct
of Servadac, it is necessary to refer to a certain physiological fact,
co
incident but unconnected with
celestialphenomena,
originating entirely
in the
frailty of human nature. The nearer that Gallia approached
the earth, the more a sort of reserve began to spring up between
the captain and Count Timascheff. Though they could not be said
to be
conscious of it, the
remembrance of their former rivalry,
so completely buried in
oblivion for the last year and ten months,
was insensibly recovering its hold upon their minds, and the question
was all but coming to the surface as to what would happen if, on their
return to earth, the handsome Madame de L---- should still be free.