"Jules Verne. Off on a Comet. WORKS" - читать интересную книгу автора

"Constant ever I will be,
Constant . . . ."

His next thought was to wonder what had happened; and in order to find
an answer, he pushed aside the broken thatch, so that his head appeared
above the _debris_. "The gourbi leveled to the ground!" he exclaimed,
"surely a waterspout has passed along the coast."

He felt all over his body to perceive what injuries he had sustained,
but not a sprain nor a scratch could he discover. "Where are you,
Ben Zoof?" he shouted.

"Here, sir!" and with military promptitude a second head protruded
from the rubbish.

"Have you any notion what has happened, Ben Zoof?"

"I've a notion, captain, that it's all up with us."

"Nonsense, Ben Zoof; it is nothing but a waterspout!"

"Very good, sir," was the philosophical reply, immediately followed
by the query, "Any bones broken, sir?"

"None whatever," said the captain.

Both men were soon on their feet, and began to make a vigorous clearance
of the ruins, beneath which they found that their arms, cooking utensils,
and other property, had sustained little injury.

"By-the-by, what o'clock is it?" asked the captain.

"It must be eight o'clock, at least," said Ben Zoof, looking at
the sun, which was a considerable height above the horizon.
"It is almost time for us to start."

"To start! what for?"

"To keep your appointment with Count Timascheff."

"By Jove! I had forgotten all about it!" exclaimed Servadac. Then looking
at his watch, he cried, "What are you thinking of, Ben Zoof? It is
scarcely two o'clock."

"Two in the morning, or two in the afternoon?" asked Ben Zoof,
again regarding the sun.

Servadac raised his watch to his ear. "It is going," said he; "but, by all
the wines of Medoc, I am puzzled. Don't you see the sun is in the west?
It must be near setting."