e.

By the 14th the balloon was finished, and, carefully sewn and well
varnished as it had been, it was really a very substantial structure. It
was covered with a network that had been made from the light rigging
of the yacht, and the car, composed of wicker-work that had formed
partitions in the hold of the _Hansa_, was quite commodious enough to
hold the twenty-three passengers it was intended to convey. No thought
had been bestowed upon comfort or convenience, as the ascent was to
last for so short a time, merely long enough for making the transit from
atmosphere to atmosphere.

The necessity was becoming more and more urgent to get at the true
hour of the approaching contact, but the professor seemed to grow more
obstinate than ever in his resolution to keep his secret.

On the 15th the comet crossed the orbit of Mars, at the safe distance
of 56,000,000 leagues; but during that night the community thought
that their last hour had taken them unawares. The volcano rocked and
trembled with the convulsions of internal disturbance, and Servadac and
his companions, convinced that the mountain was doomed to some sudden
disruption, rushed into the open air.

The first object that caught their attention as they emerged upon the
open rocks was the unfortunate professor, who was scrambling down
the mountain-side, piteously displaying a fragment of his shattered
telescope.

It was no time for condolence.

A new marvel arrested every eye. A fresh satellite, in the gloom of
night, was shining conspicuously before them.

That satellite was a part of Gallia itself!

By the expansive action of the inner heat, Gallia, like Gambart's comet,
had been severed in twain; an enormous fragment had been detached and
launched into space!

The fragment included Ceuta and Gibraltar, with the two English
garrisons!

CHAPTER XVII. THE VENTURE MADE

What would be the consequences of this sudden and complete disruption,
Servadac and his people hardly dared to think.

The first change that came under their observation was the rapidity of
the sun's appearances and disappearances, forcing them to the conviction
that although the comet still rotated on its axis from east to west, yet
the period of its rotation had been diminished by about one-half. Only
six hours instead of twelve elapsed between sunrise and sunrise; three
hours after rising in the west the sun was sinking again in the east.

"We are coming to something!" exclaim