Cinq semaines en ballon. English

  CHAPTER SIXTH.

  A Servant--match him!--He can see the Satellites of Jupiter.--Dickand Joe hard at it.--Doubt and Faith.--The Weighing Ceremony.--Joe andWellington.--He gets a Half-crown.

  Dr. Ferguson had a servant who answered with alacrity to the nameof Joe. He was an excellent fellow, who testified the most absoluteconfidence in his master, and the most unlimited devotion to hisinterests, even anticipating his wishes and orders, which were alwaysintelligently executed. In fine, he was a Caleb without the growling,and a perfect pattern of constant good-humor. Had he been made onpurpose for the place, it could not have been better done. Fergusonput himself entirely in his hands, so far as the ordinary details ofexistence were concerned, and he did well. Incomparable, whole-souledJoe! a servant who orders your dinner; who likes what you like; whopacks your trunk, without forgetting your socks or your linen; who hascharge of your keys and your secrets, and takes no advantage of allthis!

  But then, what a man the doctor was in the eyes of this worthy Joe! Withwhat respect and what confidence the latter received all his decisions!When Ferguson had spoken, he would be a fool who should attempt toquestion the matter. Every thing he thought was exactly right; everything he said, the perfection of wisdom; every thing he ordered to bedone, quite feasible; all that he undertook, practicable; all thathe accomplished, admirable. You might have cut Joe to pieces--not anagreeable operation, to be sure--and yet he would not have altered hisopinion of his master.

  So, when the doctor conceived the project of crossing Africa through theair, for Joe the thing was already done; obstacles no longer existed;from the moment when the doctor had made up his mind to start, he hadarrived--along with his faithful attendant, too, for the noble fellowknew, without a word uttered about it, that he would be one of theparty.

  Moreover, he was just the man to render the greatest service by hisintelligence and his wonderful agility. Had the occasion arisen to namea professor of gymnastics for the monkeys in the Zoological Garden (whoare smart enough, by-the-way!), Joe would certainly have received theappointment. Leaping, climbing, almost flying--these were all sport tohim.

  If Ferguson was the head and Kennedy the arm, Joe was to be the righthand of the expedition. He had, already, accompanied his master onseveral journeys, and had a smattering of science appropriate to hiscondition and style of mind, but he was especially remarkable for asort of mild philosophy, a charming turn of optimism. In his sight everything was easy, logical, natural, and, consequently, he could see no usein complaining or grumbling.

  Among other gifts, he possessed a strength and range of vision thatwere perfectly surprising. He enjoyed, in common with Moestlin, Kepler'sprofessor, the rare faculty of distinguishing the satellites of Jupiterwith the naked eye, and of counting fourteen of the stars in the groupof Pleiades, the remotest of them being only of the ninth magnitude.He presumed none the more for that; on the contrary, he made his bow toyou, at a distance, and when occasion arose he bravely knew how to usehis eyes.

  With such profound faith as Joe felt in the doctor, it is not tobe wondered at that incessant discussions sprang up between him andKennedy, without any lack of respect to the latter, however.

  One doubted, the other believed; one had a prudent foresight, theother blind confidence. The doctor, however, vibrated between doubt andconfidence; that is to say, he troubled his head with neither one northe other.

  "Well, Mr. Kennedy," Joe would say.

  "Well, my boy?"

  "The moment's at hand. It seems that we are to sail for the moon."

  "You mean the Mountains of the Moon, which are not quite so far off.But, never mind, one trip is just as dangerous as the other!"

  "Dangerous! What! with a man like Dr. Ferguson?"

  "I don't want to spoil your illusions, my good Joe; but this undertakingof his is nothing more nor less than the act of a madman. He won't go,though!"

  "He won't go, eh? Then you haven't seen his balloon at Mitchell'sfactory in the Borough?"

  "I'll take precious good care to keep away from it!"

  "Well, you'll lose a fine sight, sir. What a splendid thing it is! Whata pretty shape! What a nice car! How snug we'll feel in it!"

  "Then you really think of going with your master?"

  "I?" answered Joe, with an accent of profound conviction. "Why, I'd gowith him wherever he pleases! Who ever heard of such a thing? Leave himto go off alone, after we've been all over the world together! Who wouldhelp him, when he was tired? Who would give him a hand in climbing overthe rocks? Who would attend him when he was sick? No, Mr. Kennedy, Joewill always stick to the doctor!"

  "You're a fine fellow, Joe!"

  "But, then, you're coming with us!"

  "Oh! certainly," said Kennedy; "that is to say, I will go with you up tothe last moment, to prevent Samuel even then from being guilty of suchan act of folly! I will follow him as far as Zanzibar, so as to stop himthere, if possible."

  "You'll stop nothing at all, Mr. Kennedy, with all respect to you, sir.My master is no hare-brained person; he takes a long time to think overwhat he means to do, and then, when he once gets started, the Evil Onehimself couldn't make him give it up."

  "Well, we'll see about that."

  "Don't flatter yourself, sir--but then, the main thing is, to haveyou with us. For a hunter like you, sir, Africa's a great country. So,either way, you won't be sorry for the trip."

  "No, that's a fact, I shan't be sorry for it, if I can get this crazyman to give up his scheme."

  "By-the-way," said Joe, "you know that the weighing comes off to-day."

  "The weighing--what weighing?"

  "Why, my master, and you, and I, are all to be weighed to-day!"

  "What! like horse-jockeys?"

  "Yes, like jockeys. Only, never fear, you won't be expected to makeyourself lean, if you're found to be heavy. You'll go as you are."

  "Well, I can tell you, I am not going to let myself be weighed," saidKennedy, firmly.

  "But, sir, it seems that the doctor's machine requires it."

  "Well, his machine will have to do without it."

  "Humph! and suppose that it couldn't go up, then?"

  "Egad! that's all I want!"

  "Come! come, Mr. Kennedy! My master will be sending for us directly."

  "I shan't go."

  "Oh! now, you won't vex the doctor in that way!"

  "Aye! that I will."

  "Well!" said Joe with a laugh, "you say that because he's not here;but when he says to your face, 'Dick!' (with all respect to you, sir,)'Dick, I want to know exactly how much you weigh,' you'll go, I warrantit."

  "No, I will NOT go!"

  At this moment the doctor entered his study, where this discussion hadbeen taking place; and, as he came in, cast a glance at Kennedy, who didnot feel altogether at his ease.

  "Dick," said the doctor, "come with Joe; I want to know how much youboth weigh."

  "But--"

  "You may keep your hat on. Come!" And Kennedy went.

  They repaired in company to the workshop of the Messrs. Mitchell,where one of those so-called "Roman" scales was in readiness. Itwas necessary, by the way, for the doctor to know the weight of hiscompanions, so as to fix the equilibrium of his balloon; so he made Dickget up on the platform of the scales. The latter, without making anyresistance, said, in an undertone:

  "Oh! well, that doesn't bind me to any thing."

  "One hundred and fifty-three pounds," said the doctor, noting it down onhis tablets.

  "Am I too heavy?"

  "Why, no, Mr. Kennedy!" said Joe; "and then, you know, I am light tomake up for it."

  So saying, Joe, with enthusiasm, took his place on the scales, andvery nearly upset them in his ready haste. He struck the attitude ofWellington where he is made to ape Achilles, at Hyde-Park entrance, andwas superb in it, without the shield.

  "One hundred and twenty pounds," wrote the doctor.

  "Ah! ha!" said Joe, with a smile of satisfaction And why did he smile?He never co
uld tell himself.

  "It's my turn now," said Ferguson--and he put down one hundred andthirty-five pounds to his own account.

  "All three of us," said he, "do not weigh much more than four hundredpounds."

  "But, sir," said Joe, "if it was necessary for your expedition, I couldmake myself thinner by twenty pounds, by not eating so much."

  "Useless, my boy!" replied the doctor. "You may eat as much as you like,and here's half-a-crown to buy you the ballast."