Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 1.djvu/238

 he even anticipated his orders, and carried them out with the greatest intelligence. Never grumbling, and always in good humor, people said that, had he been made on purpose, he could not have been better.

Ferguson placed himself in Joe's hands entirely and rightly. Rare and honest Joe! A servant who orders your dinner exactly to your taste, who packs your portmanteau and never forgets the shirts and socks, who keeps your keys and your secrets, and never gives up either.

But what a master the doctor was to Joe! With what respect and confidence he welcomed his decisions! When Ferguson had spoken, it would be folly to reply. All that he thought was right; everything he said was correct; all that he ordered to be done, feasible; all he undertook was possible; all that he accomplished, magnificent! You might have cut Joe in pieces, which would have been, doubtless, very unpleasant, but he would not have changed his opinion respecting his master. Thus, when the doctor broached the project of crossing Africa in a balloon, Joe looked upon the feat as already accomplished; no obstacles existed for him. As soon as the doctor had resolved to set out, he would be there with his faithful servant of course; for the brave lad, without ever having mentioned the subject, knew very well that he would be of the party. He would, besides, be able to render important service, in consequence of his activity and intelligence. If it had been necessary to appoint a professor of gymnastics to the monkeys in the Zoological Gardens, who are pretty lively now, Joe would certainly have obtained the situation. To jump, climb, to impel himself through the air, to execute a thousand almost impossible antics, was child's play to Joe.

If Ferguson was the head and Kennedy the arm, Joe was certainly the right hand. He had already traveled a great deal with his master, and possessed some smattering of science suitable to his position, but he distinguished himself above all by a philosophic calmness, and a charming talent for looking on the bright side. Everything to him was easy, logical, and natural, and consequently he never complained nor swore.

Besides these attributes he possessed a most astonishing range of vision. He, equally with Moestlin, Kepler's teacher, enjoyed the curious faculty of being able to see