Free Off on a Comet by Jules Verne

to employ it in reaching a port where fuel could be
replenished.
    The damage sustained by the engine proved to be not very serious; and
in three days after her arrival the
Dobryna
was again ready to put to
sea.
    Servadac employed the interval in making the count acquainted with
all he knew about his small domain. They made an entire circuit of
the island, and both agreed that it must be beyond the limits of that
circumscribed territory that they must seek an explanation of what had
so strangely transpired.
    It was on the last day of January that the repairs of the schooner were
completed. A slight diminution in the excessively high temperature which
had prevailed for the last few weeks, was the only apparent change in
the general order of things; but whether this was to be attributed to
any alteration in the earth's orbit was a question which would still
require several days to decide. The weather remained fine, and although
a few clouds had accumulated, and might have caused a trifling fall
of the barometer, they were not sufficiently threatening to delay the
departure of the
Dobryna
.
    Doubts now arose, and some discussion followed, whether or not it was
desirable for Ben Zoof to accompany his master. There were various
reasons why he should be left behind, not the least important being that
the schooner had no accommodation for horses, and the orderly would have
found it hard to part with Zephyr, and much more with his own favorite
Galette; besides, it was advisable that there should be some one left to
receive any strangers that might possibly arrive, as well as to keep an
eye upon the herds of cattle which, in the dubious prospect before them,
might prove to be the sole resource of the survivors of the catastrophe.
Altogether, taking into consideration that the brave fellow would incur
no personal risk by remaining upon the island, the captain was induced
with much reluctance to forego the attendance of his servant, hoping
very shortly to return and to restore him to his country, when he had
ascertained the reason of the mysteries in which they were enveloped.
    On the 31st, then, Ben Zoof was "invested with governor's powers," and
took an affecting leave of his master, begging him, if chance should
carry him near Montmartre, to ascertain whether the beloved "mountain"
had been left unmoved.
    Farewells over, the
Dobryna
was carefully steered through the creek,
and was soon upon the open sea.

Chapter X - A Search for Algeria
*
    The
Dobryna
, a strong craft of 200 tons burden, had been built in the
famous shipbuilding yards in the Isle of Wight. Her sea going qualities
were excellent, and would have amply sufficed for a circumnavigation of
the globe. Count Timascheff was himself no sailor, but had the
greatest confidence in leaving the command of his yacht in the hands of
Lieutenant Procope, a man of about thirty years of age, and an excellent
seaman. Born on the count's estates, the son of a serf who had been
emancipated long before the famous edict of the Emperor Alexander,
Procope was sincerely attached, by a tie of gratitude as well as of duty
and affection, to his patron's service. After an apprenticeship on a
merchant ship he had entered the imperial navy, and had already reached
the rank of lieutenant when the count appointed him to the charge of
his own private yacht, in which he was accustomed to spend by far the
greater part of his time, throughout the winter generally cruising in
the Mediterranean, whilst in the summer he visited more northern waters.
    The ship could not have been in better hands. The lieutenant was well
informed in many matters outside the pale of his profession, and his
attainments were alike creditable to himself and to the liberal friend
who had given him his education. He had an excellent crew, consisting
of Tiglew the engineer, four sailors named Niegoch, Tolstoy, Etkef, and
Panofka, and Mochel the cook. These men, without exception, were all
sons of the count's tenants, and so tenaciously,