Off on a Comet (20 page)

On returning to the gourbi, they communicated their discovery to Count
Timascheff only, deeming any further publication of it to be premature.
The count at once placed his yacht at their disposal, and expressed his
intention of accompanying them.

"The yacht, I think," said Procope, "had better remain where she is;
the weather is beautifully calm, and the steam-launch will answer our
purpose better; at any rate, it will convey us much closer to shore than
the schooner."

The count replied that the lieutenant was by all means to use his own
discretion, and they all retired for the night.

Like many other modern pleasure-yachts, the
Dobryna
, in addition to
her four-oar, was fitted with a fast-going little steam-launch, its
screw being propelled, on the Oriolle system, by means of a boiler,
small but very effective. Early next morning, this handy little craft
was sufficiently freighted with coal (of which there was still about ten
tons on board the
Dobryna
), and manned by nobody except the captain,
the count, and the lieutenant, left the harbor of the Shelif, much to
the bewilderment of Ben Zoof, who had not yet been admitted into the
secret. The orderly, however, consoled himself with the reflection
that he had been temporarily invested with the full powers of governor
general, an office of which he was not a little proud.

The eighteen miles between the island and the headland were made in
something less than three hours. The volcanic eruption was manifestly
very considerable, the entire summit of the promontory being enveloped
in flames. To produce so large a combustion either the oxygen of
Gallia's atmosphere had been brought into contact with the explosive
gases contained beneath her soil, or perhaps, still more probable, the
volcano, like those in the moon, was fed by an internal supply of oxygen
of her own.

It took more than half an hour to settle on a suitable landing-place.
At length, a small semi-circular creek was discovered among the rocks,
which appeared advantageous, because, if circumstances should so
require, it would form a safe anchorage for both the
Dobryna
and the
Hansa
.

The launch securely moored, the passengers landed on the side of the
promontory opposite to that on which a torrent of burning lava was
descending to the sea. With much satisfaction they experienced, as they
approached the mountain, a sensible difference in the temperature, and
their spirits could not do otherwise than rise at the prospect of having
their hopes confirmed, that a deliverance from the threatened calamity
had so opportunely been found. On they went, up the steep acclivity,
scrambling over its rugged projections, scaling the irregularities of
its gigantic strata, bounding from point to point with the agility of
chamois, but never alighting on anything except on the accumulation of
the same hexagonal prisms with which they had now become so familiar.

Their exertions were happily rewarded. Behind a huge pyramidal rock they
found a hole in the mountain-side, like the mouth of a great tunnel.
Climbing up to this orifice, which was more than sixty feet above the
level of the sea, they ascertained that it opened into a long dark
gallery. They entered and groped their way cautiously along the sides.
A continuous rumbling, that increased as they advanced, made them aware
that they must be approaching the central funnel of the volcano; their
only fear was lest some insuperable wall of rock should suddenly bar
their further progress.

Servadac was some distance ahead.

"Come on!" he cried cheerily, his voice ringing through the darkness,
"come on! Our fire is lighted! no stint of fuel! Nature provides that!
Let us make haste and warm ourselves!"

Inspired by his confidence, the count and the lieutenant advanced
bravely along the unseen and winding path. The temperature was now at
least fifteen degrees above zero, and the walls of the gallery were
beginning to feel quite warm to the touch, an indication, not to be
overlooked, that the substance of which the rock was composed was
metallic in its nature, and capable of conducting heat.

"Follow me!" shouted Servadac again; "we shall soon find a regular
stove!"

Onwards they made their way, until at last a sharp turn brought them
into a sudden flood of light. The tunnel had opened into a vast cavern,
and the gloom was exchanged for an illumination that was perfectly
dazzling. Although the temperature was high, it was not in any way
intolerable.

One glance was sufficient to satisfy the explorers that the grateful
light and heat of this huge excavation were to be attributed to a
torrent of lava that was rolling downwards to the sea, completely
subtending the aperture of the cave. Not inaptly might the scene be
compared to the celebrated Grotto of the Winds at the rear of the
central fall of Niagara, only with the exception that here, instead of
a curtain of rushing water, it was a curtain of roaring flame that hung
before the cavern's mouth.

"Heaven be praised!" cried Servadac, with glad emotion; "here is all
that we hoped for, and more besides!"

The habitation that had now revealed itself, well lighted and thoroughly
warm, was indeed marvelous. Not only would it afford ample accommodation
for Hector Servadac and "his subjects," as Ben Zoof delighted to
call them, but it would provide shelter for the two horses, and for a
considerable number of domestic animals.

This enormous cavern was neither more or less than the common junction
of nearly twenty tunnels (similar to that which had been traversed by
the explorers), forming ramifications in the solid rock, and the pores,
as it were, by which the internal heat exuded from the heart of the
mountain. Here, as long as the volcano retained its activity, every
living creature on the new asteroid might brave the most rigorous of
climates; and as Count Timascheff justly remarked, since it was the only
burning mountain they had sighted, it was most probably the sole outlet
for Gallia's subterranean fires, and consequently the eruption might
continue unchanged for ages to come.

But not a day, not an hour, was to be lost now. The steam-launch
returned to Gourbi Island, and preparations were forthwith taken in hand
for conveying man and beast, corn and fodder, across to the volcanic
headland. Loud and hearty were the acclamations of the little colony,
especially of the Spaniards, and great was the relief of Nina, when
Servadac announced to them the discovery of their future domicile; and
with requickened energies they labored hard at packing, anxious to reach
their genial winter quarters without delay.

For three successive days the
Dobryna
, laden to her very gunwale, made
a transit to and fro. Ben Zoof was left upon the island to superintend
the stowage of the freight, whilst Servadac found abundant occupation in
overlooking its disposal within the recesses of the mountain. First
of all, the large store of corn and fodder, the produce of the recent
harvest, was landed and deposited in one of the vaults; then, on the
15th, about fifty head of live cattle—bullocks, cows, sheep, and
pigs—were conveyed to their rocky stalls. These were saved for the sake
of preserving the several breeds, the bulk of the island cattle being
slaughtered, as the extreme severity of the climate insured all meat
remaining fresh for almost an indefinite period. The winter which they
were expecting would probably be of unprecedented length; it was quite
likely that it would exceed the six months' duration by which many
arctic explorers have been tried; but the population of Gallia had
no anxiety in the matter of provisions—their stock was far more than
adequate; while as for drink, as long as they were satisfied with pure
water, a frozen sea would afford them an inexhaustible reservoir.

The need for haste in forwarding their preparations became more and more
manifest; the sea threatened to be un-navigable very soon, as ice was
already forming which the noonday sun was unable to melt. And if haste
were necessary, so also were care, ingenuity, and forethought. It
was indispensable that the space at their command should be properly
utilized, and yet that the several portions of the store should all be
readily accessible.

On further investigation an unexpected number of galleries was
discovered, so that, in fact, the interior of the mountain was like a
vast bee-hive perforated with innumerable cells; and in compliment to
the little Italian it was unanimously voted by the colony that their new
home should be called "Nina's Hive."

The first care of Captain Servadac was to ascertain how he could make
the best possible use of the heat which nature had provided for them
so opportunely and with so lavish a hand. By opening fresh vents in the
solid rock (which by the action of the heat was here capable of fissure)
the stream of burning lava was diverted into several new channels, where
it could be available for daily use; and thus Mochel, the
Dobryna's
cook, was furnished with an admirable kitchen, provided with a permanent
stove, where he was duly installed with all his culinary apparatus.

"What a saving of expense it would be," exclaimed Ben Zoof, "if every
household could be furnished with its own private volcano!"

The large cavern at the general junction of the galleries was fitted up
as a drawing-room, and arranged with all the best furniture both of the
gourbi and of the cabin of the
Dobryna
. Hither was also brought the
schooner's library, containing a good variety of French and Russian
books; lamps were suspended over the different tables; and the walls of
the apartment were tapestried with the sails and adorned with the flags
belonging to the yacht. The curtain of fire extending over the opening
of the cavern provided it, as already stated, with light and heat.

The torrent of lava fell into a small rock-bound basin that had no
apparent communication with the sea, and was evidently the aperture of
a deep abyss, of which the waters, heated by the descent of the eruptive
matter, would no doubt retain their liquid condition long after the
Gallian Sea had become a sheet of ice.

A small excavation to the left of the common hall was allotted for
the special use of Servadac and the count; another on the right was
appropriated to the lieutenant and Ben Zoof; whilst a third recess,
immediately at the back, made a convenient little chamber for Nina. The
Spaniards and the Russian sailors took up their sleeping-quarters in the
adjacent galleries, and found the temperature quite comfortable.

Such were the internal arrangements of Nina's Hive, the refuge where
the little colony were full of hope that they would be able to brave
the rigors of the stern winter-time that lay before them—a winter-time
during which Gallia might possibly be projected even to the orbit of
Jupiter, where the temperature would not exceed one twenty-fifth of the
normal winter temperature of the earth.

The only discontented spirit was Isaac Hakkabut. Throughout all the
preparations which roused even the Spaniards to activity, the Jew,
still incredulous and deaf to every representation of the true state of
things, insisted upon remaining in the creek at Gourbi Island; nothing
could induce him to leave his tartan, where, like a miser, he would keep
guard over his precious cargo, ever grumbling and growling, but with his
weather-eye open in the hope of catching sight of some passing sail. It
must be owned that the whole party were far from sorry to be relieved
of his presence; his uncomely figure and repulsive countenance was
a perpetual bugbear. He had given out in plain terms that he did not
intend to part with any of his property, except for current money, and
Servadac, equally resolute, had strictly forbidden any purchases to be
made, hoping to wear out the rascal's obstinacy.

Hakkabut persistently refused to credit the real situation; he could
not absolutely deny that some portions of the terrestrial globe had
undergone a certain degree of modification, but nothing could bring him
to believe that he was not, sooner or later, to résumé his old line of
business in the Mediterranean. With his wonted distrust of all with whom
he came in contact, he regarded every argument that was urged upon him
only as evidence of a plot that had been devised to deprive him of his
goods. Repudiating, as he did utterly, the hypothesis that a fragment
had become detached from the earth, he scanned the horizon for hours
together with an old telescope, the case of which had been patched up
till it looked like a rusty stove-pipe, hoping to descry the passing
trader with which he might effect some bartering upon advantageous
terms.

At first he professed to regard the proposed removal into
winter-quarters as an attempt to impose upon his credulity; but the
frequent voyages made by the
Dobryna
to the south, and the repeated
consignments of corn and cattle, soon served to make him aware that
Captain Servadac and his companions were really contemplating a
departure from Gourbi Island.

The movement set him thinking. What, he began to ask himself—what
if all that was told him was true? What if this sea was no longer
the Mediterranean? What if he should never again behold his German
fatherland? What if his marts for business were gone for ever? A vague
idea of ruin began to take possession of his mind: he must yield
to necessity; he must do the best he could. As the result of his
cogitations, he occasionally left his tartan and made a visit to the
shore. At length he endeavored to mingle with the busy group, who were
hurrying on their preparations; but his advances were only met by jeers
and scorn, and, ridiculed by all the rest, he was fain to turn his
attention to Ben Zoof, to whom he offered a few pinches of tobacco.

"No, old Zebulon," said Ben Zoof, steadily refusing the gift, "it is
against orders to take anything from you. Keep your cargo to yourself;
eat and drink it all if you can; we are not to touch it."