quickly collected; the wind, by a fortuitous
Providence, had shifted into a favorable quarter; they set their sail
with all speed, and ere long were on their journey back from Formentera.

Thirty-six hours later, the brave travelers were greeted by the
acclamations of their fellow-colonists, who had been most anxiously
awaiting their reappearance, and the still senseless _savant_, who had
neither opened his eyes nor spoken a word throughout the journey, was
safely deposited in the warmth and security of the great hall of Nina's
Hive.

END OF FIRST BOOK

BOOK II.

CHAPTER I. THE ASTRONOMER

By the return of the expedition, conveying its contribution from
Formentera, the known population of Gallia was raised to a total of
thirty-six.

On learning the details of his friends' discoveries, Count Timascheff
did not hesitate in believing that the exhausted individual who was
lying before him was the author alike of the two unsigned documents
picked up at sea, and of the third statement so recently brought to hand
by the carrier-pigeon. Manifestly, he had arrived at some knowledge of
Gallia's movements: he had estimated her distance from the sun; he had
calculated the diminution of her tangential speed; but there was nothing
to show that he had arrived at the conclusions which were of the most
paramount interest to them all. Had he ascertained the true character of
her orbit? had he established any data from which it would be possible
to reckon what time must elapse before she would again approach the
earth?

The only intelligible words which the astronomer had uttered had been,
"My comet!"

To what could the exclamation refer? Was it to be conjectured that a
fragment of the earth had been chipped off by the collision of a comet?
and if so, was it implied that the name of the comet itself was Gallia,
and were they mistaken in supposing that such was the name given by the
_savant_ to the little world that had been so suddenly launched
into space? Again and again they discussed these questions; but no
satisfactory answer could be found. The only man who was able to throw
any light upon the subject was lying amongst them in an unconscious and
half-dying condition.

Apart from motives of humanity, motives of self-interest made it a
matter of the deepest concern to restore animation to that senseless
form. Ben Zoof, after making the encouraging remark that _savants_ have
as many lives as a cat, proceeded, with N