We must, therefore, have
been in motion more than twenty minutes. Consequently, unless our
initial velocity has been very much diminished by the friction, we must
have long before this completely cleared the fifty miles of atmosphere
enveloping the earth."
"Correct," said the Captain, cool as a cucumber, because once more in
complete possession of all his senses; "but how much do you think the
initial velocity to have been diminished by the friction?"
"By a third, according to my calculations," replied Barbican, "which I
think are right. Supposing our initial velocity, therefore, to have been
12,000 yards per second, by the time we quitted the atmosphere it must
have been reduced to 8,000 yards per second. At that rate, we must have
gone by this time--"
"Then, Mac, my boy, you've lost your two bets!" interrupted Ardan. "The
Columbiad has not burst, four thousand dollars; the Projectile has risen
at least six miles, five thousand dollars; come, Captain, bleed!"
"Let me first be sure we're right," said the Captain, quietly. "I don't
deny, you see, that friend Barbican's arguments are quite right, and,
therefore, that I have lost my nine thousand dollars.
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