Carefully avoiding,
therefore, the use of any expression which might needlessly alarm his
companions, he continued to observe the Moon as carefully as he could,
hoping every moment to find some grounds for believing that the
deviation from the centre was only a slight one. He almost shuddered at
the thought of what would be their situation, if the bullet, missing its
aim, should pass the Moon, and plunge into the interplanetary space
beyond it.
As he continued to gaze, the Moon, instead of presenting the usual
flatness of her disc, began decidedly to show a surface somewhat convex.
Had the Sun been shining on her obliquely, the shadows would have
certainly thrown the great mountains into strong relief. The eye could
then bury itself deep in the yawning chasms of the craters, and easily
follow the cracks, streaks, and ridges which stripe, flecker, and bar
the immensity of her plains. But for the present all relief was lost in
the dazzling glare. The Captain could hardly distinguish even those dark
spots that impart to the full Moon some resemblance to the human face.
"Face!" cried Ardan: "well, a very fanciful eye may detect a face,
though, for the sake of Apollo's beauteous sister, I regret to say, a
terribly pockmarked one!"
The travellers, now evidently approaching the end of their journey,
observed the rapidly increasing world above them with newer and greater
curiosity every moment.
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