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become hers."
Off on a Comet
CHAPTER XXII. A FROZEN OCEAN
80
"Assuming, however," continued Servadac, "such to be the case"
"I am afraid," said the lieutenant, interrupting him, "that I cannot assume
anything of the sort even for a moment."
Servadac smiled goodhumoredly.
"I confess you seem to have the best of the argument, and if Gallia had become
a satellite of the moon, it would not have taken three months to catch sight
of her. I suppose you are right."
While this discussion had been going on, the satellite, or whatever it might
be, had been rising steadily above the horizon, and had reached a position
favorable for observation. Telescopes were brought, and it was very soon
ascertained, beyond a question, that the new luminary was not the wellknown
Phoebe of terrestrial nights; it had no feature in common with the moon.
Although it was apparently much nearer to Gallia than the moon to the earth,
its superficies was hardly onetenth as large, and so feebly did it reflect the
light of the remote sun, that it scarcely emitted radiance enough to
extinguish the dim luster of stars of the eighth magnitude. Like the sun, it
had risen in the west, and was now at its full. To mistake its identity with
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the moon was absolutely impossible; not even Servadac could discover a trace
of the seas, chasms, craters, and mountains which have been so minutely
delineated in lunar charts, and it could not be denied that any transient hope
that had been excited as to their once again being about to enjoy the peaceful
smiles of "the queen of night" must all be resigned.
Count Timascheff finally suggested, though somewhat doubtfully, the question
of the probability that Gallia, in her course across the zone of the minor
planets, had carried off one of them; but whether it was one of the
169 asteroids already included in the astronomical catalogues, or one
previously unknown, he did not presume to determine. The idea to a certain
extent was plausible, inasmuch as it has been ascertained that several of the
telescopic planets are of such small dimensions that a good walker might make
a circuit of them in four and twenty hours; consequently Gallia, being of
superior volume, might be supposed capable of exercising a power of attraction
upon any of these miniature microcosms.
The first night in Nina's Hive passed without special incident; and next
morning a regular scheme of life was definitely laid down. "My lord governor,"
as Ben Zoof until he was peremptorily forbidden delighted to call
Servadac, had a wholesome dread of idleness and its consequences, and insisted
upon each member of the party undertaking some special duty to fulfill. There
was plenty to do. The domestic animals required a great deal of attention; a
supply of food had to be secured and preserved; fishing had to be carried on
while the condition of the sea would allow it; and in several places the
galleries had to be further excavated to render them more available for use.
Occupation, then, need never be wanting, and the daily round of labor could go
on in orderly routine.
A perfect concord ruled the little colony. The Russians and Spaniards
amalgamated well, and both did their best to pick up various scraps of French,
which was considered the official language of the place. Servadac himself
undertook the tuition of Pablo and Nina, Ben Zoof being their companion in
playhours, when he entertained them with enchanting stories in the best
Parisian French, about "a lovely city at the foot of a mountain," where he
always promised one day to take them.
The end of March came, but the cold was not intense to such a degree as to
confine any of the party to the interior of their resort; several excursions
were made along the shore, and for a radius of three or four miles the
adjacent district was carefully explored. Investigation, however, always ended
in the same result; turn their course in whatever direction they would, they
found that the country retained everywhere its desert character, rocky,
barren, and without a trace of vegetation. Here and there a slight layer of
snow, or a thin coating of ice arising from atmospheric condensation indicated
the existence of superficial moisture, but it
Off on a Comet
CHAPTER XXII. A FROZEN OCEAN
81
would require a period indefinitely long, exceeding human reckoning, before
that moisture could collect into a stream and roll downwards over the stony
strata to the sea. It seemed at present out of their power to determine
whether the land upon which they were so happily settled was an island or a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] - zanotowane.pl
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