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

he seemed perfectly stupefied; then, recovering himself, he began
to overwhelm the count with a torrent of questions. Had he noticed,
ever since the 1st of January, that the sun had risen in the west?
Had he noticed that the days had been only six hours long,
and that the weight of the atmosphere was so much diminished?
Had he observed that the moon had quite disappeared, and that
the earth had been in imminent hazard of running foul of the
planet Venus? Was he aware, in short, that the entire motions
of the terrestrial sphere had undergone a complete modification?
To all these inquiries, the count responded in the affirmative.
He was acquainted with everything that had transpired; but, to Servadac's
increasing astonishment, he could throw no light upon the cause
of any of the phenomena.

"On the night of the 31st of December," he said, "I was proceeding
by sea to our appointed place of meeting, when my yacht was suddenly
caught on the crest of an enormous wave, and carried to a height
which it is beyond my power to estimate. Some mysterious force
seemed to have brought about a convulsion of the elements.
Our engine was damaged, nay disabled, and we drifted entirely at the mercy
of the terrible hurricane that raged during the succeeding days.
That the _Dobryna_ escaped at all is little less than a miracle,
and I can only attribute her safety to the fact that she occupied
the center of the vast cyclone, and consequently did not experience
much change of position."

He paused, and added: "Your island is the first land we have seen."

"Then let us put out to sea at once and ascertain the extent of the disaster,"
cried the captain, eagerly. "You will take me on board, count, will you not?"

"My yacht is at your service, sir, even should you require to make a tour
round the world."

"A tour round the Mediterranean will suffice for the present, I think,"
said the captain, smiling.

The count shook his head.

"I am not sure," said he, "but what the tour of the Mediterranean
will prove to be the tour of the world."

Servadac made no reply, but for a time remained silent and
absorbed in thought.

After the silence was broken, they consulted as to what course was
best to pursue; and the plan they proposed was, in the first place,
to discover how much of the African coast still remained, and to carry
on the tidings of their own experiences to Algiers; or, in the event
of the southern shore having actually disappeared, they would make their