The lieutenant drew himself up stiffly. "Evasions! shufflings! I am not
accustomed, sir--" he began in a tone evidencing no little resentment;
but catching a hint from the count he subdued his voice, and simply
said, "We have."

"And may I ask," continued the professor, quite unaware of his previous
discourtesy, "whether, when you made your voyage, you took any account
of distances?"

"As approximately as I could," replied the lieutenant; "I did what I
could by log and compass. I was unable to take the altitude of sun or
star."

"At what result did you arrive? What is the measurement of our equator?"

"I estimate the total circumference of the equator to be about 1,400
miles."

"Ah!" said the professor, more than half speaking to himself, "a
circumference of 1,400 miles would give a diameter of about 450 miles.
That would be approximately about one-sixteenth of the diameter of the
earth."

Raising his voice, he continued, "Gentlemen, in order to complete my
account of my comet Gallia, I require to know its area, its mass, its
volume, its density, its specific gravity."

"Since we know the diameter," remarked the lieutenant, "there can be no
difficulty in finding its surface and its volume."

"And did I say there was any difficulty?" asked the professor, fiercely.
"I have been able to reckon that ever since I was born."

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" cried Ben Zoof, delighted at any opportunity of
paying off his old grudge.

The professor looked at him, but did not vouchsafe a word. Addressing
the captain, he said, "Now, Servadac, take your paper and a pen, and
find me the surface of Gallia."

With more submission than when he was a school-boy, the captain sat down
and endeavored to recall the proper formula.

"The surface of a sphere? Multiply circumference by diameter."

"Right!" cried Rosette; "but it ought to be done by this time."

"Circumference, 1,400; diameter, 450; area of surface, 630,000," read
the captain.

"True," replied Rosette, "630,000 square miles; just 292 times less than
that of the earth."

"Pretty little comet! nice little comet!" muttered Ben Zoof.

The astronomer bit his lip, snorted, and cast at him a withering look,
but did not take any further notice.

"Now, Captain Servadac," said the professor, "take your pen again, and
find me the volume of Gallia."

The captain hesitated.

"Quick, quick!" cried the professor, impatiently; "surely you have not
forgotten how to find the vol