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twentyone minutesan evidence, from the unaltered duration of its days, that
the planet had not shared in the disturbance. On its disc the clouds formed
from its atmospheric vapor were plainly perceptible, as also were the seven
spots, which, according to
Bianchini, are a chain of seas. It was now visible in broad daylight.
Buonaparte, when under the Directory, once had his attention called to Venus
at noon, and immediately hailed it joyfully, recognizing it as his own
peculiar star in the ascendant. Captain Servadac, it may well be imagined, did
not experience the same gratifying emotion.
On the 20th, the distance between the two bodies had again sensibly
diminished. The captain had ceased to be surprised that no vessel had been
sent to rescue himself and his companion from their strange imprisonment;
the governor general and the minister of war were doubtless far differently
occupied, and their interests far otherwise engrossed. What sensational
articles, he thought, must now be teeming to the newspapers! What crowds must
be flocking to the churches! The end of the world approaching! the great
climax close at hand!
Two days more, and the earth, shivered into a myriad atoms, would be lost in
boundless space!
These dire forebodings, however, were not destined to be realized. Gradually
the distance between the two planets began to increase; the planes of their
orbits did not coincide, and accordingly the dreaded catastrophe did not
ensue. By the 25th, Venus was sufficiently remote to preclude any further fear
of collision. Ben Zoof gave a sigh of relief when the captain communicated the
glad intelligence.
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Their proximity to Venus had been close enough to demonstrate that beyond a
doubt that planet has no moon or satellite such as Cassini, Short, Montaigne
of Limoges, Montbarron, and some other astronomers have imagined to exist.
"Had there been such a satellite," said Servadac, "we might have captured it
in passing. But what can be the meaning," he added seriously, "of all this
displacement of the heavenly bodies?"
"What is that great building at Paris, captain, with a top like a cap?" asked
Ben Zoof.
"Do you mean the Observatory?"
"Yes, the Observatory. Are there not people living in the Observatory who
could explain all this?"
"Very likely; but what of that?"
"Let us be philosophers, and wait patiently until we can hear their
explanation."
Servadac smiled. "Do you know what it is to be a philosopher, Ben Zoof?" he
asked.
"I am a soldier, sir," was the servant's prompt rejoinder, "and I have learnt
to know that 'what can't be cured must be endured.'"
The captain made no reply, but for a time, at least, he desisted from puzzling
himself over matters which he felt he was utterly incompetent to explain. But
an event soon afterwards occurred which awakened his keenest interest.
About nine o'clock on the morning of the 27th, Ben Zoof walked deliberately
into his master's apartment, and, in reply to a question as to what he wanted,
announced with the utmost composure that a ship was in
Off on a Comet
CHAPTER VIII. VENUS IN PERILOUS PROXIMITY
26
sight.
"A ship!" exclaimed Servadac, starting to his feet. "A ship! Ben Zoof, you
donkey! you speak as unconcernedly as though you were telling me that my
dinner was ready."
"Are we not philosophers, captain?" said the orderly.
But the captain was out of hearing.
CHAPTER IX. INQUIRIES UNSATISFIED
Fast as his legs could carry him, Servadac had made his way to the top of the
cliff. It was quite true that a vessel was in sight, hardly more than six
miles from the shore; but owing to the increase in the earth's convexity, and
the consequent limitation of the range of vision, the rigging of the topmasts
alone was visible above the water. This was enough, however, to indicate that
the ship was a schooner an impression that was confirmed when, two hours
later, she came entirely in sight.
"The
Dobryna
!" exclaimed Servadac, keeping his eye unmoved at his telescope.
"Impossible, sir!" rejoined Ben Zoof; "there are no signs of smoke."
"The
Dobryna
!" repeated the captain, positively. "She is under sail; but she is Count
Timascheff's yacht."
He was right. If the count were on board, a strange fatality was bringing him
to the presence of his rival. But no longer now could Servadac regard him in
the light of an adversary; circumstances had changed, and all animosity was
absorbed in the eagerness with which he hailed the prospect of obtaining some
information about the recent startling and inexplicable events. During the
twentyseven days that she had been absent, the
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