Off on a Comet (42 page)

No one was quite exempt from the feverish excitement which prevailed
during the last days of December. Lieutenant Procope superintended his
final arrangements. The two low masts of the schooner had been erected
firmly on the shore, and formed supports for the montgolfier, which had
been duly covered with the netting, and was ready at any moment to
be inflated. The car was close at hand. Some inflated skins had been
attached to its sides, so that the balloon might float for a time, in
the event of its descending in the sea at a short distance from the
shore. If unfortunately, it should come down in mid-ocean, nothing but
the happy chance of some passing vessel could save them all from the
certain fate of being drowned.

The 31st came. Twenty-four hours hence and the balloon, with its large
living freight, would be high in the air. The atmosphere was less
buoyant than that of the earth, but no difficulty in ascending was to be
apprehended.

Gallia was now within 96,000,000 miles of the sun, consequently not much
more than 4,000,000 miles from the earth; and this interval was being
diminished at the rate of nearly 208,000 miles an hour, the speed of the
earth being about 70,000 miles, that of the comet being little less than
138,000 miles an hour.

It was determined to make the start at two o'clock, three-quarters of
an hour, or, to speak correctly 42 minutes 35.6 seconds, before the time
predicted by the professor as the instant of collision. The modified
rotation of the comet caused it to be daylight at the time.

An hour previously the balloon was inflated with perfect success,
and the car was securely attached to the network. It only awaited the
stowage of the passengers.

Isaac Hakkabut was the first to take his place in the car. But scarcely
had he done so, when Servadac noticed that his waist was encompassed
by an enormous girdle that bulged out to a very extraordinary extent.
"What's all this, Hakkabut?" he asked.

"It's only my little bit of money, your Excellency; my modest little
fortune—a mere bagatelle," said the Jew.

"And what may your little fortune weigh?" inquired the captain.

"Only about sixty-six pounds!" said Isaac.

"Sixty-six pounds!" cried Servadac. "We haven't reckoned for this."

"Merciful heavens!" began the Jew.

"Sixty-six pounds!" repeated Servadac. "We can hardly carry ourselves;
we can't have any dead weight here. Pitch it out, man, pitch it out!"

"God of Israel!" whined Hakkabut.

"Out with it, I say!" cried Servadac.

"What, all my money, which I have saved so long, and toiled for so
hard?"

"It can't be helped," said the captain, unmoved.

"Oh, your Excellency!" cried the Jew.

"Now, old Nicodemus, listen to me," interposed Ben Zoof; "you just get
rid of that pouch of yours, or we will get rid of you. Take your choice.
Quick, or out you go!"

The avaricious old man was found to value his life above his money; he
made a lamentable outcry about it, but he unfastened his girdle at last,
and put it out of the car.

Very different was the case with Palmyrin Rosette. He avowed over and
over again his intention of never quitting the nucleus of his comet. Why
should he trust himself to a balloon, that would blaze up like a piece
of paper? Why should he leave the comet? Why should he not go once again
upon its surface into the far-off realms of space?

His volubility was brought to a sudden check by Servadac's bidding two
of the sailors, without more ado, to take him in their arms and put him
quietly down at the bottom of the car.

To the great regret of their owners, the two horses and Nina's pet goat
were obliged to be left behind. The only creature for which there was
found a place was the carrier-pigeon that had brought the professor's
message to the Hive. Servadac thought it might probably be of service in
carrying some communication to the earth.

When every one, except the captain and his orderly, had taken their
places, Servadac said, "Get in, Ben Zoof."

"After you, sir," said Ben Zoof, respectfully.

"No, no!" insisted Servadac; "the captain must be the last to leave the
ship!"

A moment's hesitation and the orderly clambered over the side of the
car. Servadac followed. The cords were cut. The balloon rose with
stately calmness into the air.

When the balloon had reached an elevation of about 2,500 yards,
Lieutenant Procope determined to maintain it at that level. A wire-work
stove, suspended below the casing, and filled with lighted hay, served
to keep the air in the interior at a proper temperature.

Beneath their feet was extended the basin of the Gallian Sea. An
inconsiderable speck to the north marked the site of Gourbi Island.
Ceuta and Gibraltar, which might have been expected in the west, had
utterly disappeared. On the south rose the volcano, the extremity of the
promontory that jutted out from the continent that formed the framework
of the sea; whilst in every direction the strange soil, with its
commixture of tellurium and gold, gleamed under the sun's rays with a
perpetual iridescence.

Apparently rising with them in their ascent, the horizon was
well-defined. The sky above them was perfectly clear; but away in the
northwest, in opposition to the sun, floated a new sphere, so small that
it could not be an asteroid, but like a dim meteor. It was the fragment
that the internal convulsion had rent from the surface of the comet,
and which was now many thousands of leagues away, pursuing the new orbit
into which it had been projected. During the hours of daylight it
was far from distinct, but after nightfall it would assume a definite
luster.

The object, however, of supreme interest was the great expanse of the
terrestrial disc, which was rapidly drawing down obliquely towards them.
It totally eclipsed an enormous portion of the firmament above, and
approaching with an ever-increasing velocity, was now within half its
average distance from the moon. So close was it, that the two poles
could not be embraced in one focus. Irregular patches of greater or
less brilliancy alternated on its surface, the brighter betokening the
continents, the more somber indicating the oceans that absorbed the
solar rays. Above, there were broad white bands, darkened on the side
averted from the sun, exhibiting a slow but unintermittent movement;
these were the vapors that pervaded the terrestrial atmosphere.

But as the aeronauts were being hurried on at a speed of 70 miles
a second, this vague aspect of the earth soon developed itself into
definite outlines. Mountains and plains were no longer confused, the
distinction between sea and shore was more plainly identified, and
instead of being, as it were, depicted on a map, the surface of the
earth appeared as though modelled in relief.

Twenty-seven minutes past two, and Gallia is only 72,000 miles from the
terrestrial sphere; quicker and quicker is the velocity; ten minutes
later, and they are only 36,000 miles apart!

The whole configuration of the earth is clear.

"Europe! Russia! France!" shout Procope, the count, and Servadac, almost
in a breath.

And they are not mistaken. The eastern hemisphere lies before them
in the full blaze of light, and there is no possibility of error in
distinguishing continent from continent.

The surprise only kindled their emotion to yet keener intensity, and it
would be hard to describe the excitement with which they gazed at the
panorama that was before them. The crisis of peril was close at hand,
but imagination overleaped all consideration of danger; and everything
was absorbed in the one idea that they were again within reach of that
circle of humanity from which they had supposed themselves severed
forever.

And, truly, if they could have paused to study it, that panorama of
the states of Europe which was outstretched before their eyes, was
conspicuous for the fantastic resemblances with which Nature on the one
hand, and international relations on the other, have associated them.
There was England, marching like some stately dame towards the east,
trailing her ample skirts and coroneted with the cluster of her little
islets; Sweden and Norway, with their bristling spine of mountains,
seemed like a splendid lion eager to spring down from the bosom of the
ice-bound north; Russia, a gigantic polar bear, stood with its head
towards Asia, its left paw resting upon Turkey, its right upon Mount
Caucasus; Austria resembled a huge cat curled up and sleeping a watchful
sleep; Spain, with Portugal as a pennant, like an unfurled banner,
floated from the extremity of the continent; Turkey, like an insolent
cock, appeared to clutch the shores of Asia with the one claw, and the
land of Greece with the other; Italy, as it were a foot and leg encased
in a tight-fitting boot, was juggling deftly with the islands of Sicily,
Sardinia, and Corsica; Prussia, a formidable hatchet imbedded in the
heart of Germany, its edge just grazing the frontiers of France; whilst
France itself suggested a vigorous torso with Paris at its breast.

All at once Ben Zoof breaks the silence: "Montmartre! I see Montmartre!"
And, smile at the absurdity as others might, nothing could induce the
worthy orderly to surrender his belief that he could actually make out
the features of his beloved home.

The only individual whose soul seemed unstirred by the approaching earth
was Palmyrin Rosette. Leaning over the side of the car, he kept his eyes
fixed upon the abandoned comet, now floating about a mile and a half
below him, bright in the general irradiation which was flooding the
surrounding space.

Chronometer in hand, Lieutenant Procope stood marking the minutes and
seconds as they fled; and the stillness which had once again fallen upon
them all was only broken by his order to replenish the stove, that the
montgolfier might retain its necessary level. Servadac and the count
continued to gaze upon the earth with an eagerness that almost amounted
to awe. The balloon was slightly in the rear of Gallia, a circumstance
that augured somewhat favorably, because it might be presumed that if
the comet preceded the balloon in its contact with the earth, there
would be a break in the suddenness of transfer from one atmosphere to
the other.

The next question of anxiety was, where would the balloon alight? If
upon
terra firma
, would it be in a place where adequate resources for
safety would be at hand? If upon the ocean, would any passing vessel be
within hail to rescue them from their critical position? Truly, as the
count observed to his comrades, none but a Divine Pilot could steer them
now.

"Forty-two minutes past!" said the lieutenant, and his voice seemed to
thrill through the silence of expectation.

There were not 20,000 miles between the comet and the earth!

The calculated time of impact was 2 hours 47 minutes 35.6 seconds. Five
minutes more and collision must ensue!

But was it so? Just at this moment, Lieutenant Procope observed that the
comet deviated sensibly in an oblique course. Was it possible that after
all collision would not occur?

The deviation, however, was not great; it did not justify any
anticipation that Gallia would merely graze the earth, as it had done
before; it left it certain that the two bodies would inevitably impinge.

"No doubt," said Ben Zoof, "this time we shall stick together."

Another thought occurred. Was it not only too likely that, in the fusion
of the two atmospheres, the balloon itself, in which they were being
conveyed, would be rent into ribbons, and every one of its passengers
hurled into destruction, so that not a Gallian should survive to tell
the tale of their strange peregrinations?

Moments were precious; but Hector Servadac resolved that he would adopt
a device to secure that at least some record of their excursion in solar
distances should survive themselves.

Tearing a leaf from his note-book, he wrote down the name of the comet,
the list of the fragments of the earth it had carried off, the names
of his companions, and the date of the comet's aphelion; and having
subscribed it with his signature, turned to Nina and told her he must
have the carrier-pigeon which was nestling in her bosom.

The child's eyes filled with tears; she did not say a word, but
imprinting a kiss upon its soft plumage, she surrendered it at once, and
the message was hurriedly fastened to its neck. The bird wheeled round
and round in a few circles that widened in their diameter, and quickly
sunk to an altitude in the comet's atmosphere much inferior to the
balloon.

Some minutes more were thus consumed and the interval of distance was
reduced to less than 8,000 miles.

The velocity became inconceivably great, but the increased rate of
motion was in no way perceptible; there was nothing to disturb the
equilibrium of the car in which they were making their aerial adventure.

"Forty-six minutes!" announced the lieutenant.

The glowing expanse of the earth's disc seemed like a vast funnel,
yawning to receive the comet and its atmosphere, balloon and all, into
its open mouth.

"Forty-seven!" cried Procope.

There was half a minute yet. A thrill ran through every vein. A
vibration quivered through the atmosphere. The montgolfier, elongated
to its utmost stretch, was manifestly being sucked into a vortex. Every
passenger in the quivering car involuntarily clung spasmodically to its
sides, and as the two atmospheres amalgamated, clouds accumulated in
heavy masses, involving all around in dense obscurity, while flashes of
lurid flame threw a weird glimmer on the scene.

In a mystery every one found himself upon the earth again. They could
not explain it, but here they were once more upon terrestrial soil; in
a swoon they had left the earth, and in a similar swoon they had come
back!