They were wholly engrossed with the
terrible catastrophe that had befallen the famous adventurers. What was
the loss of the _Susquehanna_ and all it contained, in comparison to the
loss experienced by the world at large in the terrible tragic
_denouement_ just witnessed? The worst had now come to the worst. At
last the long agony was over forever. Those three gallant men, who had
not only conceived but had actually executed the grandest and most
daring enterprise of ancient or modern times, had paid by the most
fearful of deaths, for their sublime devotion to science and their
unselfish desire to extend the bounds of human knowledge! Before such a
reflection as this, all other considerations were at once reduced to
proportions of the most absolute insignificance.
But was the death of the adventurers so very certain after all? Hope is
hard to kill. Consciousness had brought reflection, reflection doubt,
and doubt had resuscitated hope.
"It's they!" had exclaimed the little Midshipman, and the cry had
thrilled every heart on board as with an electric shock. Everybody had
instantly understood it. Everybody had felt it to be true. Nothing could
be more certain than that the meteor which had just flashed before their
eyes was the famous projectile of the Baltimore Gun Club.
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