"
"_Ma foi_," said Ardan simply, "I do only what the greatest of your
scientific men do--that is, guess. There is this difference however
between us--I call my guesses, guesses, mere conjecture;--they dignify
theirs as profound theories or as astounding discoveries!"
"Often the case, friend Ardan, too often the case," said Barbican.
"In the question under consideration, however," continued the Frenchman,
"my conjecture has this advantage over some others: it explains why
these rills appear and seem to disappear at regular intervals."
"Let us hear the explanation," said the Captain.
"They become invisible when the trees lose their leaves, and they
reappear when they resume them."
"His explanation is not without ingenuity," observed Barbican to
M'Nicholl, "but, my dear friend," turning to Ardan, "it is hardly
admissible."
"Probably not," said Ardan, "but why not?"
"Because as the Sun is nearly always vertical to the lunar equator, the
Moon can have no change of seasons worth mentioning; therefore her
vegetation can present none of the phenomena that you speak of."
This was perfectly true. The slight obliquity of the Moon's axis, only
1-1/2 deg.
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