which in a less faithful follower would have been intolerable,
and from time to time he would drop a word of sympathy that served
to deepen his subordinate's devotion.

On one occasion, when Ben Zoof had mounted his hobby-horse,
and was indulging in high-flown praises about his beloved
eighteenth arrondissement, the captain had remarked gravely,
"Do you know, Ben Zoof, that Montmartre only requires a matter
of some thirteen thousand feet to make it as high as Mont Blanc?"

Ben Zoof's eyes glistened with delight; and from that moment Hector Servadac
and Montmartre held equal places in his affection.




CHAPTER III

INTERRUPTED EFFUSIONS


Composed of mud and loose stones, and covered with a thatch of turf
and straw, known to the natives by the name of "driss," the gourbi,
though a grade better than the tents of the nomad Arabs, was yet far
inferior to any habitation built of brick or stone. It adjoined an old
stone hostelry, previously occupied by a detachment of engineers,
and which now afforded shelter for Ben Zoof and the two horses.
It still contained a considerable number of tools, such as mattocks,
shovels, and pick-axes.