第26章 BOOK II.(2)

"We must be ready to watch the signals from the arctic circle,"said Bearwarden."At midnight,if the calculations are finished,the result will be flashed by the searchlight."It was then ten minutes to twelve,and the earth was already over four hundred thousand miles away.Focusing their glasses upon the region near the north pole,which,being turned from the sun,was towards them and in darkness,they waited.

"In this blaze of sunlight,"said Cortlandt,"I am afraid we can see nothing."Fortunately,at this moment the Callisto entered the moon's tapering shadow.

"This,"said Ayrault,"is good luck.We could of course have gone into the shadow;but to change our course would have delayed us,and we might have lost part of the chance of increasing our speed.""There will be no danger from,meteors or sub-satellites here,"said Bearwarden,"for anything revolving about the moon at this distance would be caught by the earth."The sun had apparently set behind the moon,and they were eclipsed.The stars shone with the utmost splendour against the dead-black sky,and the earth appeared as a large crescent,still considerably larger than the satellite to which they were accustomed.Exactly at midnight a faint phosphorescent light,like that of a glow-worm,appeared in the region of Greenland on the planet they had left.It gradually increased its strength till it shone like a long white beam projected from a lighthouse,and in this they beheld the work of the greatest search-light ever made by man,receiving for a few moments all the electricity generated by the available dynamos at Niagara and the Bay of Fundy,the steam engines,and other sources of power in the northern hemisphere.The beam lasted with growing intensity for one minute;it then spelled out with clean-cut intervals,according to the Cable Code:"23@no'6".The southern hemisphere pumps are now raising and storing water at full blast.

We have already begun to lower the Arctic Ocean.""Victory!"shouted Bearwarden,in an ecstasy of delight."Nearly half a degree in six months,with but one pole working.If we can add at this rate each time to the speed of straightening already acquired,we can reverse our engines in five years,and in five more the earth will be at rest and right.""Look!"said Ayrault,"they are sending something else."The flashes came in rapid succession,reaching far into space.With their glasses fixed upon them,they made out these sentences:

"Our telescopes,in whatever part of the earth was turned towards you,have followed you since you started,and did not lose sight of you till you entered the moon's shadow.On your present course you will be in darkness till 12.16,when we shall see you again."On receiving this last earthly message,the travellers sprang to their searchlight,and,using its full power,telegraphed back the following:"Many thanks to you for good news about earth,and to Secretary Deepwaters for lending us the navy.Result of work most glorious.Remember us to everybody.Shadow's edge approaching."This was read by the men in the great observatories,who evidently telephoned to the arctic Signal Light immediately,for it flashed back:"Got your message perfectly.Wish you greatest luck.The T.A.S.Co.has decked the Callisto's pedestal with flowers,and has ordered a tablet set up on the site to commemorate your celestial journey."At that moment the shadow swept by,and they were in the full blaze of cloudless day.The change was so great that for a moment they were obliged to close their eyes.The polished sides of the Callisto shone so brightly that they knew they were easily seen.The power temporarily diverted in sending them the message then returned to the work of draining the Arctic Ocean,which,as the north pole was now returning to the sun,was the thing to do,and the travellers resumed their study of the heavenly bodies.

CHAPTER II.

SPACE AND MARS.

Never before had the travellers observed the stars and planets under such favourable conditions.No air or clouds intervened,and as the Callisto did not revolve on its axis there was no necessity for changing the direction of the glasses.After an hour of this interesting work,however,as it was already late at the longitude they had left on earth,and as they knew they had many days in space before them,they prepared to go to bed.When ready,they had only to pull down the shades;for,as apergy was not applied to them,but only to the Callisto,they still looked upon the floor as down,and closed the heavy curtains to have night or darkness.They found that the side of the Callisto turned constantly towards the sun was becoming very warm,the double-toughened glass windows making it like a greenhouse;but they consoled themselves with the thought that the sun's power on them was hourly becoming less,and they felt sure the double walls and thick upholstery would protect them almost anywhere within the solar system from the intense cold of space.

"We could easily have arranged,"said Ayrault,for night and day on alternate sides of the Callisto by having strips of metal arranged spirally on the outside as on the end of an arrow.

These would have started us turning as slowly as we like,since we passed through the atmosphere at a comparatively low rate of speed.""I am afraid,"said Cortlandt,"the motion,however slow,would have made us dizzy.It would be confusing to see the heavens turning about us,and it would interfere with using the glasses."The base and one side of the Callisto had constant sunshine,while the other side and the dome were in the blackest night.

This dome,on account of its shape,sky windows,and the completeness with which it could be isolated,was an ideal observatory,and there was seldom a time during their waking hours for the rest of the journey when it was not occupied by one,two,or all the observers.