"And do all astronomers admit its existence?" asked the Captain.
"Well, some of them have their doubts," replied Barbican--
"If the unbelievers had been here a minute or two ago," interrupted
Ardan, "they would never express a doubt again."
"If Petit's calculation is right," continued Barbican, "I can even form
a very good idea as to our distance from the Earth."
"It seems to me Barbican can do what he pleases here or elsewhere,"
observed Ardan to the Captain.
"Let us see, Barbican," asked M'Nicholl; "where has Petit's calculation
placed us?"
"The bolide's distance being known," replied Barbican, "at the moment we
met it we were a little more than 5 thousand miles from the Earth's
surface."
"Five thousand miles already!" cried Ardan, "why we have only just
started!"
"Let us see about that," quietly observed the Captain, looking at his
chronometer, and calculating with his pencil. "It is now 10 minutes past
eleven; we have therefore been 23 minutes on the road. Supposing our
initial velocity of 10,000 yards or nearly seven miles a second, to have
been kept up, we should by this time be about 9,000 miles from the
Earth; but by allowing for friction and gravity, we can hardly be more
than 5,500 miles.
Pages:
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54