wnfall, the heavens still remained veiled in cloud. Servadac,
moreover, did not fail to observe that for the season the temperature
was unusually high; and, as a matter still more surprising, that it kept
steadily increasing, as though the earth were gradually and continuously
approximating to the sun. In proportion to the rise of temperature, the
light also assumed greater intensity; and if it had not been for
the screen of vapor interposed between the sky and the island, the
irradiation which would have illumined all terrestrial objects would
have been vivid beyond all precedent.

But neither sun, moon, nor star ever appeared; and Servadac's irritation
and annoyance at being unable to identify any one point of the firmament
may be more readily imagined than described. On one occasion Ben Zoof
endeavored to mitigate his master's impatience by exhorting him to
assume the resignation, even if he did not feel the indifference, which
he himself experienced; but his advice was received with so angry a
rebuff that he retired in all haste, abashed, to resume his watchman's
duty, which he performed with exemplary perseverance. Day and night,
with the shortest possible intervals of rest, despite wind, rain, and
storm, he mounted guard upon the cliff--but all in vain. Not a speck
appeared upon the desolate horizon. To say the truth, no vessel could
have stood against the weather. The hurricane raged with tremendous
fury, and the waves rose to a height that seemed to defy calculation.
Never, even in the second era of creation, when, under the influence of
internal heat, the waters rose in vapor to descend in deluge back upon
the world, could meteorological phenomena have been developed with more
impressive intensity.

But by the night of the 13th the tempest appeared to have spent its
fury; the wind dropped; the rain ceased as if by a spell; and Servadac,
who for the last six days had confined himself to the shelter of his
roof, hastened to join Ben Zoof at his post upon the cliff. Now, he
thought, there might be a chance of solving his perplexity; perhaps now
the huge disc, of which he had had an imperfect glimpse on the night of
the 31st of December, might again reveal itself; at any rate, he hoped
for an opportunity of observing the constellations in a clear firmament
above.

The night was magnificent. Not a cloud dimmed the luster of the stars,
which spangled the heavens in surpassing brilliancy, and several nebulae
which