these bold explorers, desirous of widening the circle of human knowledge, had audaciously rushed into space, and had risked their lives in the strangest experiment of modern times.
The notice from Long’s Peak once made known, there spread throughout the universe a feeling of surprise and horror. Was it possible to go to the aid of these bold inhabitants of the earth? Certainly not, for they had put themselves outside of the pale of humanity by crossing the limits imposed by the Creator on His terrestrial creatures. They could procure themselves air for two months; they had provisions for one year; but after? The hardest hearts palpitated at this terrible question.
One man alone would not admit that the situation was desperate. One alone had confidence, and it was their friend—devoted, audacious, and resolute as they—the brave J.T. Maston.
He resolved not to lose sight of them. His domicile was henceforth the post of Long’s Peak—his horizon the immense reflector. As soon as the moon rose above the horizon he immediately framed her in the field of his telescope; he did not lose sight of her for an instant, and assiduously followed her across the stellar spaces; he watched with eternal patience the passage of the projectile over her disc of silver, and in reality the worthy man remained in perpetual communication with his three friends, whom he did not despair of seeing again one day.
“We will correspond with them,” said he to any one who would listen, “as soon as circumstances will allow. We shall have news from them, and they will have news from us. Besides, I know them—they are ingenious men. Those three carry with them into space all the resources of art, science, and industry. With those everything can be accomplished, and you will see that they will get out of the difficulty.”
Around the Moon
(A Sequel to From the Earth to the Moon)
Chapter I. From 10 P.M. to 10 46' 40''.
Chapter II. The First Half Hour.
Chapter III. They Make Themselves at Home and Feel Quite Comfortable.
Chapter IV. A Chapter for the Cornell Girls.
Chapter V. The Colds of Space.
Chapter VI. Instructive Conversation.
Chapter VIII. The Neutral Point.
Chapter IX. A Little Off the Track.
Chapter X. The Observers of the Moon.
Chapter XII. A Bird's Eye View of the Lunar Mountains.
Chapter XIII. Lunar Landscapes
Chapter XIV. A Night of Fifteen Days.
Chapter XV. Glimpses at the Invisible.
Chapter XVI. The Southern Hemisphere.
Chapter XVIII. Puzzling Questions.
Chapter XIX. In Every Fight, The Impossible Wins.
Chapter XX. Off the Pacific Coast.
Chapter XXI. News for Marston!
Chapter XXII. On the Wings of the Wind.
Chapter XXIII. The Club Men Go A Fishing.
Chapter XXIV. Farewell to the Baltimore Gun Club.
Preliminary Chapter,
Resuming the First Part of the Work and Serving as an Introduction to the Second.
A few years ago the world was suddenly astounded by hearing of an experiment of a most novel and daring nature, altogether unprecedented in the annals of science. The BALTIMORE GUN CLUB, a society of artillerymen started in America during the great Civil War, had conceived the idea of nothing less than establishing direct communication with the Moon by means of a projectile! President Barbican, the originator of the enterprise, was strongly encouraged in its feasibility by the astronomers of Cambridge Observatory, and took upon himself to provide all the means necessary to secure its success. Having realized by means of a public subscription the sum of nearly five and a half millions of dollars, he immediately set himself to work at the necessary gigantic labors.
In accordance with the Cambridge men's note, the cannon intended to discharge the projectile was to be planted in some country not further than 28° north or south from the equator, so that it might be aimed vertically at the Moon in the zenith. The bullet was to be animated with an initial velocity of 12,000 yards to the second. It was to be fired off on the night of December 1st, at thirteen minutes and twenty seconds before eleven o'clock, precisely. Four days afterwards it was to hit the Moon, at the very moment that she
