Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne Page A

and orders, which were always intelligently
executed. In fine, he was a Caleb without the
growling, and a perfect pattern of constant good-humor.
Had he been made on purpose for the place, it could not
have been better done. Ferguson put himself entirely in
his hands, so far as the ordinary details of existence were
concerned, and he did well. Incomparable, whole-souled
Joe! a servant who orders your dinner; who likes what
you like; who packs your trunk, without forgetting your
socks or your linen; who has charge of your keys and your
secrets, and takes no advantage of all this!
    But then, what a man the doctor was in the eyes of
this worthy Joe! With what respect and what confidence
the latter received all his decisions! When Ferguson had
spoken, he would be a fool who should attempt to question
the matter. Every thing he thought was exactly right;
every thing he said, the perfection of wisdom; every thing
he ordered to be done, quite feasible; all that he undertook,
practicable; all that he accomplished, admirable.
You might have cut Joe to pieces—not an agreeable
operation, to be sure—and yet he would not have altered
his opinion of his master.
    So, when the doctor conceived the project of crossing
Africa through the air, for Joe the thing was already
done; obstacles no longer existed; from the moment when
the doctor had made up his mind to start, he had arrived
—along with his faithful attendant, too, for the noble
fellow knew, without a word uttered about it, that he would
be one of the party.
    Moreover, he was just the man to render the greatest
service by his intelligence and his wonderful agility. Had
the occasion arisen to name a professor of gymnastics for
the monkeys in the Zoological Garden (who are smart
enough, by-the-way!), Joe would certainly have received
the appointment. Leaping, climbing, almost flying—
these were all sport to him.
    If Ferguson was the head and Kennedy the arm, Joe
was to be the right hand of the expedition. He had,
already, accompanied his master on several journeys, and
had a smattering of science appropriate to his condition
and style of mind, but he was especially remarkable for a
sort of mild philosophy, a charming turn of optimism. In
his sight every thing was easy, logical, natural, and,
consequently, he could see no use in complaining or grumbling.
    Among other gifts, he possessed a strength and range
of vision that were perfectly surprising. He enjoyed, in
common with Moestlin, Kepler's professor, the rare faculty
of distinguishing the satellites of Jupiter with the naked
eye, and of counting fourteen of the stars in the group of
Pleiades, the remotest of them being only of the ninth
magnitude. He presumed none the more for that; on the
contrary, he made his bow to you, at a distance, and when
occasion arose he bravely knew how to use his eyes.
    With such profound faith as Joe felt in the doctor, it
is not to be wondered at that incessant discussions sprang
up between him and Kennedy, without any lack of respect
to the latter, however.
    One doubted, the other believed; one had a prudent foresight,
the other blind confidence. The doctor, however, vibrated
between doubt and confidence; that is to say, he troubled
his head with neither one nor the other.
    "Well, Mr. Kennedy," Joe would say.
    "Well, my boy?"
    "The moment's at hand. It seems that we are to sail
for the moon."
    "You mean the Mountains of the Moon, which are not
quite so far off. But, never mind, one trip is just as
dangerous as the other!"
    "Dangerous! What! with a man like Dr. Ferguson?"
    "I don't want to spoil your illusions, my good Joe;
but this undertaking of his is nothing more nor less than
the act of a madman. He won't go, though!"
    "He won't go, eh? Then you haven't seen his balloon
at Mitchell's factory in the Borough?"
    "I'll take precious good care to keep away from it!"
    "Well, you'll lose a fine sight, sir. What a splendid
thing it is! What a pretty shape! What a nice car!
How snug we'll feel in