CHAPTER XXVIII
A NEW STAR
That very night, the startling news so impatiently awaited,burst like a thunderbolt over the United States of the Union,and thence, darting across the ocean, ran through all thetelegraphic wires of the globe. The projectile had beendetected, thanks to the gigantic reflector of Long's Peak!Here is the note received by the director of the Observatoryof Cambridge. It contains the scientific conclusion regardingthis great experiment of the Gun Club.
LONG'S PEAK, December 12.To the Officers of the Observatory of Cambridge.The projectile discharged by the Columbiad at Stones Hill hasbeen detected by Messrs. Belfast and J. T. Maston, 12th ofDecember, at 8:47 P.M., the moon having entered her last quarter.This projectile has not arrived at its destination. It haspassed by the side; but sufficiently near to be retained by thelunar attraction.
The rectilinear movement has thus become changed into a circularmotion of extreme velocity, and it is now pursuing an ellipticalorbit round the moon, of which it has become a true satellite.
The elements of this new star we have as yet been unable todetermine; we do not yet know the velocity of its passage.The distance which separates it from the surface of the moonmay be estimated at about 2,833 miles.
However, two hypotheses come here into our consideration.
1. Either the attraction of the moon will end by drawing theminto itself, and the travelers will attain their destination; or,
2. The projectile, following an immutable law, will continue togravitate round the moon till the end of time.
At some future time, our observations will be able to determinethis point, but till then the experiment of the Gun Club canhave no other result than to have provided our solar system witha new star. J. BELFAST.
To how many questions did this unexpected _denouement_ give rise?What mysterious results was the future reserving for theinvestigation of science? At all events, the names of Nicholl,Barbicane, and Michel Ardan were certain to be immortalized inthe annals of astronomy!
When the dispatch from Long's Peak had once become known, therewas but one universal feeling of surprise and alarm. Was itpossible to go to the aid of these bold travelers? No! for theyhad placed themselves beyond the pale of humanity, by crossingthe limits imposed by the Creator on his earthly creatures.They had air enough for _two_ months; they had victuals enoughfor _twelve;-- but after that?_ There was only one man whowould not admit that the situation was desperate-- he alone hadconfidence; and that was their devoted friend J. T. Maston.
Besides, he never let them get out of sight. His home washenceforth the post at Long's Peak; his horizon, the mirror ofthat immense reflector. As soon as the moon rose above thehorizon, he immediately caught her in the field of thetelescope; he never let her go for an instant out of hissight, and followed her assiduously in her course through thestellar spaces. He watched with untiring patience the passageof the projectile across her silvery disc, and really the worthyman remained in perpetual communication with his three friends,whom he did not despair of seeing again some day.
"Those three men," said he, "have carried into space all theresources of art, science, and industry. With that, one can doanything; and you will see that, some day, they will come outall right."