My weak point is light, and that I must have
when it can be got."
"Unless, as perhaps in this case, you might be paying too dear for it,"
observed M'Nicholl. "How would you like to pay for your light by the
loss of the atmosphere, which, according to some philosophers, is piled
away on the dark side?"
"Ah! In that case I should consider a little before committing myself,"
replied Ardan, "I should like to hear your opinion regarding such a
notion, Barbican. Hey! Do your hear? Have astronomers any valid reasons
for supposing the atmosphere to have fled to the dark side of the Moon?"
"Defer that question till some other time, Ardan," whispered M'Nicholl;
"Barbican is just now thinking out something that interests him far more
deeply than any empty speculation of astronomers. If you are near the
window, look out through it towards the Moon. Can you see anything?"
"I can feel the window with my hand; but for all I can see, I might as
well be over head and ears in a hogshead of ink."
The two friends kept up a desultory conversation, but Barbican did not
hear them. One fact, in particular, troubled him, and he sought in vain
to account for it. Having come so near the Moon--about 30 miles--why had
not the Projectile gone all the way? Had its velocity been very great,
the tendency to fall could certainly be counteracted.
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