by Jules Verne
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIFTH.
A Little Philosophy.--A Cloud on the Horizon.--In the Midst of aFog.--The Strange Balloon.--An Exact View of the Victoria.--ThePalm-Trees.--Traces of a Caravan.--The Well in the Midst of the Desert.
On the morrow, there was the same purity of sky, the same stillness ofthe atmosphere. The balloon rose to an elevation of five hundredfeet, but it had scarcely changed its position to the westward in anyperceptible degree.
"We are right in the open desert," said the doctor. "Look at that vastreach of sand! What a strange spectacle! What a singular arrangement ofnature! Why should there be, in one place, such extreme luxuriance ofvegetation yonder, and here, this extreme aridity, and that in the samelatitude, and under the same rays of the sun?"
"The why concerns me but little," answered Kennedy, "the reasoninterests me less than the fact. The thing is so; that's the importantpart of it!"
"Oh, it is well to philosophize a little, Dick; it does no harm."
"Let us philosophize, then, if you will; we have time enough before us;we are hardly moving; the wind is afraid to blow; it sleeps."
"That will not last forever," put in Joe; "I think I see some banks ofclouds in the east."
"Joe's right!" said the doctor, after he had taken a look.
"Good!" said Kennedy; "now for our clouds, with a fine rain, and a freshwind to dash it into our faces!"
"Well, we'll see, Dick, we'll see!"
"But this is Friday, master, and I'm afraid of Fridays!"
"Well, I hope that this very day you'll get over those notions."
"I hope so, master, too. Whew!" he added, mopping his face, "heat's agood thing, especially in winter, but in summer it don't do to take toomuch of it."
"Don't you fear the effect of the sun's heat on our balloon?" askedKennedy, addressing the doctor.
"No! the gutta-percha coating resists much higher temperatures thaneven this. With my spiral I have subjected it inside to as much as onehundred and fifty-eight degrees sometimes, and the covering does notappear to have suffered."
"A cloud! a real cloud!" shouted Joe at this moment, for that piercingeyesight of his beat all the glasses.
And, in fact, a thick bank of vapor, now quite distinct, could be seenslowly emerging above the horizon. It appeared to be very deep, and,as it were, puffed out. It was, in reality, a conglomeration of smallerclouds. The latter invariably retained their original formation, andfrom this circumstance the doctor concluded that there was no current ofair in their collected mass.
This compact body of vapor had appeared about eight o'clock in themorning, and, by eleven, it had already reached the height of the sun'sdisk. The latter then disappeared entirely behind the murky veil, andthe lower belt of cloud, at the same moment, lifted above the line ofthe horizon, which was again disclosed in a full blaze of daylight.
"It's only an isolated cloud," remarked the doctor. "It won't do tocount much upon that."
"Look, Dick, its shape is just the same as when we saw it this morning!"
"Then, doctor, there's to be neither rain nor wind, at least for us!"
"I fear so; the cloud keeps at a great height."
"Well, doctor, suppose we were to go in pursuit of this cloud, since itrefuses to burst upon us?"
"I fancy that to do so wouldn't help us much; it would be a consumptionof gas, and, consequently, of water, to little purpose; but, in oursituation, we must not leave anything untried; therefore, let usascend!"
And with this, the doctor put on a full head of flame from the cylinder,and the dilation of the hydrogen, occasioned by such sudden and intenseheat, sent the balloon rapidly aloft.
About fifteen hundred feet from the ground, it encountered an opaquemass of cloud, and entered a dense fog, suspended at that elevation;but it did not meet with the least breath of wind. This fog seemed evendestitute of humidity, and the articles brought in contact with itwere scarcely dampened in the slightest degree. The balloon, completelyenveloped in the vapor, gained a little increase of speed, perhaps, andthat was all.
The doctor gloomily recognized what trifling success he had obtainedfrom his manoeuvre, and was relapsing into deep meditation, when heheard Joe exclaim, in tones of most intense astonishment:
"Ah! by all that's beautiful!"
"What's the matter, Joe?"
"Doctor! Mr. Kennedy! Here's something curious!"
"What is it, then?"
"We are not alone, up here! There are rogues about! They've stolen ourinvention!"
"Has he gone crazy?" asked Kennedy.
Joe stood there, perfectly motionless, the very picture of amazement.
"Can the hot sun have really affected the poor fellow's brain?" said thedoctor, turning toward him.
"Will you tell me?--"
"Look!" said Joe, pointing to a certain quarter of the sky.
"By St. James!" exclaimed Kennedy, in turn, "why, who would havebelieved it? Look, look! doctor!"
"I see it!" said the doctor, very quietly.
"Another balloon! and other passengers, like ourselves!"
And, sure enough, there was another balloon about two hundred pacesfrom them, floating in the air with its car and its aeronauts. It wasfollowing exactly the same route as the Victoria.
"Well," said the doctor, "nothing remains for us but to make signals;take the flag, Kennedy, and show them our colors."
It seemed that the travellers by the other balloon had just the sameidea, at the same moment, for the same kind of flag repeated preciselythe same salute with a hand that moved in just the same manner.
"What does that mean?" asked Kennedy.
"They are apes," said Joe, "imitating us."
"It means," said the doctor, laughing, "that it is you, Dick, yourself,making that signal to yourself; or, in other words, that we seeourselves in the second balloon, which is no other than the Victoria."
"As to that, master, with all respect to you," said Joe, "you'll nevermake me believe it."
"Climb up on the edge of the car, Joe; wave your arms, and then you'llsee."
Joe obeyed, and all his gestures were instantaneously and exactlyrepeated.
"It is merely the effect of the MIRAGE," said the doctor, "and nothingelse--a simple optical phenomenon due to the unequal refraction of lightby different layers of the atmosphere, and that is all.
"It's wonderful," said Joe, who could not make up his mind to surrender,but went on repeating his gesticulations.
"What a curious sight! Do you know," said Kennedy, "that it's a realpleasure to have a view of our noble balloon in that style? She's abeauty, isn't she?--and how stately her movements as she sweeps along!"
"You may explain the matter as you like," continued Joe, "it's a strangething, anyhow!"
But ere long this picture began to fade away; the clouds rose higher,leaving the balloon, which made no further attempt to follow them, andin about an hour they disappeared in the open sky.
The wind, which had been scarcely perceptible, seemed still to diminish,and the doctor in perfect desperation descended toward the ground, andall three of the travellers, whom the incident just recorded had, fora few moments, diverted from their anxieties, relapsed into gloomymeditation, sweltering the while beneath the scorching heat.
About four o'clock, Joe descried some object standing out against thevast background of sand, and soon was able to declare positively thatthere were two palm-trees at no great distance.
"Palm-trees!" exclaimed Ferguson; "why, then there's a spring--a well!"
He took up his glass and satisfied himself that Joe's eyes had not beenmistaken.
"At length!" he said, over and over again, "water! water! and we aresaved; for if we do move slowly, still we move, and we shall arrive atlast!"
"Good, master! but suppose we were to drink a mouthful in the mean time,for this air is stifling?"
"Let us drink then, my boy!"
No one waited to be coaxed. A whole pint was swallowed then and there,reducing the total r
emaining supply to three pints and a half.
"Ah! that does one good!" said Joe; "wasn't it fine? Barclay and Perkinsnever turned out ale equal to that!"
"See the advantage of being put on short allowance!" moralized thedoctor.
"It is not great, after all," retorted Kennedy; "and if I were neveragain to have the pleasure of drinking water, I should agree oncondition that I should never be deprived of it."
At six o'clock the balloon was floating over the palm-trees.
They were two shrivelled, stunted, dried-up specimens of trees--twoghosts of palms--without foliage, and more dead than alive. Fergusonexamined them with terror.
At their feet could be seen the half-worn stones of a spring, but thesestones, pulverized by the baking heat of the sun, seemed to be nothingnow but impalpable dust. There was not the slightest sign of moisture.The doctor's heart shrank within him, and he was about to communicatehis thoughts to his companions, when their exclamations attracted hisattention. As far as the eye could reach to the eastward, extendeda long line of whitened bones; pieces of skeletons surrounded thefountain; a caravan had evidently made its way to that point, markingits progress by its bleaching remains; the weaker had fallen one by oneupon the sand; the stronger, having at length reached this spring forwhich they panted, had there found a horrible death.
Our travellers looked at each other and turned pale.
"Let us not alight!" said Kennedy, "let us fly from this hideousspectacle! There's not a drop of water here!"
"No, Dick, as well pass the night here as elsewhere; let us have a clearconscience in the matter. We'll dig down to the very bottom of the well.There has been a spring here, and perhaps there's something left in it!"
The Victoria touched the ground; Joe and Kennedy put into the cara quantity of sand equal to their weight, and leaped out. They thenhastened to the well, and penetrated to the interior by a flight ofsteps that was now nothing but dust. The spring appeared to have beendry for years. They dug down into a parched and powdery sand--the verydryest of all sand, indeed--there was not one trace of moisture!
The doctor saw them come up to the surface of the desert, saturated withperspiration, worn out, covered with fine dust, exhausted, discouragedand despairing.
He then comprehended that their search had been fruitless. He hadexpected as much, and he kept silent, for he felt that, from this momentforth, he must have courage and energy enough for three.
Joe brought up with him some pieces of a leathern bottle that had grownhard and horn-like with age, and angrily flung them away among thebleaching bones of the caravan.
At supper, not a word was spoken by our travellers, and they even atewithout appetite. Yet they had not, up to this moment, endured the realagonies of thirst, and were in no desponding mood, excepting for thefuture.