 Chapter 7 In which President Barbican says no more than suits his purpose. On the 22nd of December the subscribers to Barbican & Co were summoned to a general meeting. It is hardly necessary to say that the headquarters of the gun club were selected as the place of the meeting. In reality the whole block would not have been sufficient to give room to the large crowd of subscribers who assembled on that day. But a meeting in the fresh air on one of the public squares of Baltimore was not very agreeable in such cold weather. Usually the large hall of the gun club was decorated with models of all kinds lent by members of the club. It was a real museum of artillery. Even the furniture, chairs and tables, sofas and divans, recalled by their strange shapes those murderous engines which had sent into a better world many brave people whose greatest wish was to die of old age. In this meeting day all these things were taken down and out. This was not a meeting for the purpose of war, but a commercial and peaceful meeting over which Impe Barbican was going to preside. All room possible had been made for the subscribers who arrived from all parts of the United States. In the hall as well as in the adjoining rooms the crowds were pushing and pressing each other without heeding the innumerable people who were standing on the adjoining streets. The members of the gun club, as first subscribers to the affair, had places reserved for them very near the desk. Among them could be found Colonel Bloomsbury, more happy than ever, Tom Hunter with his wooden legs and the Jolly Billsby. Very snug in a comfortable armchair was Mrs. Evangelina Skorbit, who should really have had a place on the right hand of the president, as she was in reality the owner of the Arctic region. Several other ladies were in the crowd. They could readily be seen by their large and much decorated hats in many different colours. The large crowd on the outside tried to push into the hall, and one might easily have thought that all the people present were not merely helpmates of the members of the gun club, but rather their personal friends. The European delegates, Swedish, Norwegians, Danish, English, Dutch and Russian, occupied reserved seats, and if they had bought any stock in this society, it was only each one individually to such an extent as to justify a vote in the proceedings. After they had been so closely united in purchase in these regions, they were united now only to annoy the purchasers. It may easily be imagined what intense curiosity they had to hear the important communication which the president was about to make to them. This communication undoubtedly would throw some information on the point as to how the society would proceed to reach the North Pole. Was this not a more difficult thing than merely to make use of the coal mines? If there should be any objections to make, you may be assured that Major Donolan, backed up by his secretary, Dean Tudrink, would make them, and the other delegates would not be very slow in adding their word also. The Major had firmly decided to harass and annoy his rival, Impi Barbecaen, as much as he possibly could. It was eight o'clock in the evening, the hall, the parlours and all quarters occupied by the gun club, blazed with lights which the Edison electrolyirs throw out. As soon as the doors were thrown open for the public, a terrible crowd jammed into the hall, but everyone became silent as the ushers announced that the council of administration was coming. There, on a draped platform, with a table covered with black cloth in full sight, President Barbecaen, his secretary, JT Maston, and his associates took their places. A triple round of cheers followed by hearty tigers rang through the hall and out to the adjoining streets. Very solemnly, Mr. Maston and Captain Nicol took their seats. Then the president, who had remained standing, opened the proceedings. He put his right hand in his trouser pocket and his left hand in his vest front and began as follows. Lady and gentlemen subscribers, the council of administration has called a meeting in these headquarters of the gun club to make an important communication to you. You have learned by the circulars and through the discussions in the papers that the object of our club is to explore the large coal fields situated in the Arctic regions, which we have recently purchased, and to which we hold a title from the American government. The amount of money raised by public subscription will be used for these purposes. The success which will be attained by it surpasses belief, and the dividends your money will bring you will be unsurpassed in the commercial or financial history of this or any other country. Here applause was heard for the first time, and for a moment the orator was interrupted. You do not forget, said he, how we have proved to you that there must be vast coal fields in these regions, perhaps also fields of fossil ivory. The articles published on this subject do not allow any doubts that coal fields are there, and coal is now, you know, the basis of all our commercial industry. Without mentioning the coal which is used every year in firing and heating, we might think of coal used for many other purposes, of which I could mention a hundred different ones. It is certain that coal is the most precious substance and will someday on account of the large consumption of it fail in its supply. Before five hundred years have passed, the coal mines which are at present in use will have stopped giving coal. Three hundred years, cried one of those present, two hundred years, answered another. Let us say at some time sooner or later, continued the president calmly, and let us suppose too that we will even discover new coal fields yet, whose coal will give out, say, at the end of the nineteenth century. Here he stopped to give his listeners a chance to grasp the idea. Then he began again, therefore we come here, subscribers, and I ask you to rise and go with me to the North Pole immediately. Everybody present got up and seemed about to rush away and pack their trunks, as if President Barbican had a vessel ready to take them direct to the North Pole. But a remark made by Major Donilon in a clear and loud voice brought them back to reality and stopped them at once. Before starting, he asked, I would like to know by what means we can reach the North Pole? Either by water or land or by air, quietly answered President Barbican. All the people present sat down, and it may readily be understood with what a feeling of curiosity. In spite of all the devotion and courage of previous explorers, the 84th parallel has thus far been the northern limit reached, and it may fairly be supposed that this is as far north as anybody will ever get by the means employed at the present day. Up to the present time, we have only used boats and vessels to reach the icebergs and rafts to pass over the fields of ice. People should not adopt such rash means and face the dangers to which they are exposed through the low temperature. We must employ other means to reach the North Pole. It could be seen by the excitement which took hold of the auditors that they were on the point of hearing the secret which has been so vigorously searched for by everyone. And how would you reach it? demanded the delegate of England. Before ten minutes have passed, you will know it, Major Donilon, said President Barbican, and I may add in addressing myself to all the stockholders that they should have confidence in us as the promoters of this affair, for we are the same who have tried to send a projectile to the moon. Yes, cried Dean Two-Drink sarcastically, they tried to go as far as the moon, and we can easily see that they are here yet. President Barbican ignored the interruption, shrugging his shoulders, he said in a loud voice, Yes, ladies and gentlemen, in ten minutes you will know what we are going to do. A murmur made up of many ahs and ohs followed this remark. It seemed to them as if the orator had said in ten minutes they would be at the North Pole. He then continued in the following words. First of all, it is a continent which forms this Arctic region, or it is an ocean, and has Commander Nair has been right in calling it Paleocrystic Ocean, which means an ocean of cold ice? To this question I must answer that I think he was not right. This is not sufficient, exclaimed Eric Baldenac. It is not the question of supposing, it is the question of being certain. Well, we are certain, came the answer to this furious inquire. Yes, it is a solid continent and not an ice ocean which the NPPA has purchased, and which now belongs to the United States, and which no European power has the right to touch. A little murmur came from the neighbourhood of the delegates of the old world. Bah! they said. It is full of water, a regular wash basin which you will not be able to empty. Dean Tudrink, as usual, made most of the remarks and met the hearty applause of his associates. No, sir? answered President Barbican quickly. There is a regular continent, a platform, which rises like the Gobi Desert in Central Asia, three or four kilometres above the surface of the ocean. This is very easy to be seen from the observations made in the neighbouring countries, of which the polar region is only an extension. After their explorations, have not Nordenskald, Peri and Maigard stated that Greenland gets higher and higher towards the North Pole? Besides, they have found birds, different products and vegetables in the Northern Ice, ivory teeth also, which indicate that this region must have been inhabited, and that animals must have been there, and perhaps people as well. There used to be large forests there, which must have been formed into coal fields, which we will explore. Yes, there is a continent without a doubt around the North Pole, a continent free from all human beings, and on which we will place the banner of the United States. At this remark, the auditors expressed great delight. When the noise had finally subsided, Major Donald could be heard to remark, well, seven minutes have already gone by of the ten, which, as you say, would be sufficient to reach the North Pole. We shall be there in three minutes, coolly answered President Barbican. But even if this be a continent which constitutes your purchase, and if it is a raised country, as we may have reasons to believe, it is also obstructed by eternal ice, and in a condition which will make exploration extremely difficult, responded the Major. Impossible, cried Jan Harald, who emphasised this remark with a wave of his hand. Impossible, all right, said Impe Barbican, but it is to conquer this impossibility that we have purchased this region. We will need neither vessels nor rafts to reach the North Pole. No, thanks to our operations, the ice and icebergs new or old will melt by themselves, and it will not cost one dollar of our capital nor one minute of our time. At this there was absolute silence. The most important moment had come. Gentlemen, said the President of the Gun Club. Our comedies only asked for a lever to lift the world. Well, this lever we have found. We are now in a position to remove the North Pole. What? Remove the North Pole? cried Eric Baldenac. Will you bring it to America? asked Jan Harald. Without doubt President Barbican did not wish to explain himself just yet, for he continued. In regard to this point of leverage. Do not tell it! Do not tell it! cried one of his associates with a terrible voice. In regard to this lever. Keep the secret! Keep the secret! cried the majority of the spectators, taking up the cry. We will keep it, said President Barbican. Naturally, the European delegates were very much vexed at this remark. This will be easily understood. In spite of all these exclamations, the orator never had any intention of making his plan known. He continued to say, We obtained our object thanks from a mechanical device, one which has no precedent in the annals of industrial art. We will undertake it and bring it to a successful finish by means of our capital, and how I will inform you forthwith. Here here, said the others present. First of all, the idea of our plan comes from one of the ablest, most devoted and illustrious calculators, and one of our associates as well, said President Barbican, one to whom we owe all the calculations which allows us to have our work in such good condition. As the exploration of the North Pole is not a piece of play, the removal of the Pole is a problem which could only be solved by the highest calculations. Therefore, we have called the assistance of the honourable secretary, Mr. J. T. Maston. Hipp-hipp-hipp-rah for J. T. Maston exclaimed all the auditors, seemingly electrified by the presence of this extraordinary calculator. Mrs. Evangelina Skorbit was deeply touched by this recognition of the celebrated mathematician who had already entirely gained her heart. He contented himself with turning his head to the right and left, bowing and thanking his auditors. Already, dear subscribers, said President Barbican, since the great meeting in honour of the arrival of the Frenchman Michel Ardaugh in America some months before our departure for the moon, and this confident Yankee spoke of the trip to the moon as quietly as if it were no more than a trip to New York. J. T. Maston has already said to himself, we must invent machines to move the North Pole. We must find a point for action and put the axis of the earth in the right direction from the object. Well, any or all of you who listen to me, find it if you can. I can only say the machines have been invented, the point of leverage has been found, and now let us pay our attention to the question of fixing in the right way for our end of the axis of the earth. Here he stopped speaking, and the astonishment which was expressed on the faces of his auditors, it is impossible to describe. What! cried Major Donlan. You then have the idea of putting the axis of the earth in another direction. Yes, sir, answered President Barbican promptly, we have the means of making a new one which will, hereafter, regulate the routine of day and night. You want to modify the daily rotation of the earth? replied Colonel Karkov with fire in his eyes. Absolutely, but without affecting its duration, answered President Barbican, this operation will bring the pole at or about the 67th parallel of latitude. Then the earth will be similar to the planet Jupiter, whose axis is nearly perpendicular to the plane of its orbit. Now, this movement of 23 degrees 28 minutes will be sufficient to give at our north pole such a degree of heat that it will melt in less than no time the icebergs and field which have been there for thousands of years. The audience was out of breath, nobody thought of interrupting the auditor, even to applaud him. All were taken in by this idea, so ingenious and simple, of modifying the axis on which this earthly spheroid is rotating. And as for the European delegates, well, they were simply stupefied, paralyzed and crushed. They kept their mouth shut in the last stage of astonishment. But the Haras seemed to rend the hall asunder when President Barbican made the additional remark, it is the sun which will take upon himself the melting of the icebergs and fields around the north pole, and thus make access to the same very easy. So, as people cannot go to the pole, the pole will come to them. End of Chapter 7 Chapter 8 of Topsy-Turvy This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Topsy-Turvy by Jules Verne Translated by Anonymous Chapter 8 Yes, just like Jupiter Since that memorable meeting in honour of Michel Arden, the honourable J.T. Mastin had talked and thought of nothing else but the changing of the axis of the earth. He had studied the subject as much as possible and found out all the facts and figures about it. As the problem had been solved by this eminent calculator, a new axis was going to take place of the old one, upon which the earth was now turning, and the world would otherwise remain the same. In the scheme it would be possible for the climate around the north pole to become exactly the same as that of Trondheim in Norway in the spring. Naturally then, the large amount of ice would melt under the ardent sun. At the same time the climates would be distributed over our sphere, like those now on the surface of Jupiter. In other words, the new form society of Barbican was going to change everything at present on the surface of the earth. And the creation of this new axis was possible, just as soon as the platform of which Archimedes had dreamed, and the lever imagined by J.T. Mastin were at the disposal of these courageous engineers. And as they had decided to make a secret of their invention, until a future time, people could not do anything else but make their own figures. This was what all the papers did, calling on the most scientific persons, and learning as well something from the most ignorant persons. If there really were people living on the surface of Jupiter, they had a good many advantages over those on the earth, advantages which had all been narrated and explained in the meeting which was held before the trip to the moon. All these advantages would come to the people living on the earth if Barbican and company could accomplish what they intended to do. 24 hours would then always separate two noons from each other. Twilight and Dawn would always be as they are now, but the most curious thing of all would be the absence of the different seasons of the year. Now there were summer, winter, fall and spring. The people living on Jupiter did not know these seasons at all. After this experiment people living on this globe would not know them either. As soon as the new axes would be in smooth working order there would be no more ice regions nor torrid regions but the whole world would have an even temperature climate. What after all is the torrid zone? It is a part of the surface in which the people can see the sun twice yearly at its zenith and the temperate zone but apart where the sun never goes to the zenith and the icy region but a part of the world which the sun forgets entirely for a long time and around the North Pole this extends for six months. It is simply the position of the sun which makes a country exceedingly hot or cold while these things would not appear any longer on the surface of the world. The sun would always be over the equator. It would go down every twelve hours just as regularly as before and among the advantages of the new method said the friends of President Barbican were these that each person could choose a climate which was best for himself and his health. No more rheumatism, no more colds, no more gripe. The variations of extreme heat would not be known any more. In short Barbican and company were going to change fixtures which had existed ever since the world was in existence. Certainly the observer would lose a few stars and things which he perhaps liked to look at now and the poet would not have any longer his dreamy nights etc. But what a great advantage it would be for the world at large. And, said certain journals, the products of the ground can be regulated so that agriculturalists can give to each sort of plant life the temperature which suits it most. Other newspapers asked will we no more have rain or storms or hail things upon which a great deal depends in the harvest time? Undoubtedly said the friends of Barbican and company. But these accidents will be more rare than they have been as the temperature will be more even. Yes, taken in all, it will be a great advantage to humanity. It will be the real millennium of the earthly globe. And Barbican and company will have done a service to mankind which, but for them, would have remained an impossibility. Yes, said Michel Arden, our hemisphere, the surface of which is always either too cold or too warm, will no longer be the place for colds and frumitism etc. A New York paper of December 27th printed the following article. Honor to President Barbican, his associates and himself will not only annex a new province to our American continent and thereby enlarge the already vast possessions of the United States, but they will make the whole world more productive and inhabitable. It will be possible then to put seed in the ground as soon as the crop had grown up and been taken out. There would be no more time lost during the winter, and the coal mines also would make the country richer than the value of its entire present reality. Barbican and company will change the whole world and put it in better condition. Thanks then to the people who have done this greatest of benefits to humanity. End of Chapter 8 Truthful Story Such then were to be the profits due to the changes which were to be wrought by President Barbican. The earth would continue to revolve and the course of the year would not be much altered. As the changes would concern the whole world, it was natural that they became of interest at all. In regard to the access which was going to be used, that was the secret which neither President Barbican nor Captain Nitchell nor J.T. Mastin seem to be willing to give to the public. Were they to reveal it before or would none know of it until after the change had taken place? A degree of uncertainty began to fill the American mind. Criticisms very natural and to be expected were made in the papers. By what mechanical means was this project to be carried out which would bring about this change? It would necessarily demand a terrible power. One of the greatest papers at that time commented in the following article. If the earth was not turning on its access, perhaps a very feeble shock would be sufficient to give it a movement as might be chosen, but otherwise it would be very difficult if not impossible to deviate a fixed amount. Nothing seemed more correct after having discussed the effort which the engineers of the NPPA were to make. Discussion took on interesting turns as to whether the result would be reached insensibly or suddenly. And if the latter would not terrible accidents happen at the moment when the change took place. This troubled scientific people as well as ignorant people. It was not agreeable to know that a blow was to be struck and not know precisely what the after effects were to be. It seemed as if the promoters of this undertaking had not fully considered the consequences, that they would be so very dangerous to the earth and that it would not do as much good as first thought. The European delegates, more than ever angry at the loss which they had suffered, resolved to make the most of this question and to excite the public as much as possible, upon it so as to turn feeling against the members of the gun club. It will not be forgotten that France had absolutely nothing to do with these delegates, as it had no intentions of buying the Arctic region. However, a Frenchman had come to Baltimore and for his own personal benefit and information had watched with great interest the proceedings of the gun club. He was an engineer, not more than 35 years old. He had been first in the polytechnic school and came out of it with the highest honors. He was, without doubt, as skillful a calculator as Mr. J. T. Mastin. This engineer was a very intelligent man, very original, always pleasant, and with most amiable manners. He always spoke very frankly and used plain language, no matter whether he was speaking in earnest or in fun. He even went so far as to use slainly expressions when they served his purpose. He could sit for hours at his table and figure and calculate, making his figures and calculations as fast as he could write with a pen. His greatest pleasure, next to those difficult mathematical efforts, was in wist, which he played, apparently, very indifferently, not forgetting to figure out all his chances. His name was Outside Perdue, but he generally signed it A. Paird, and sometimes only A. Pi. He was very tall. His friend remarked that his height measured about the five millionth part of the quarter of the Meridian, and they were not much mistaken. He had a small head, at least it looks so on his broad shoulders, but with a most lively expression on his face, and his blue eyes, behind his eyeglasses, twinkled merrily. This was characteristic of him, for he had one of those faces, which appeared merry, even when they are in sober earnest. He was at once the best scholar in his class, and the best tempered. But even if his head did seem a little small on his shoulders, it is safe to say that it was filled to its highest capacity. He was a mathematician, as all his ancestors had been, but he did not study mathematics to use them in his profession, for which he never had any taste, as he disliked trade. No, he studied mathematics for themselves alone, simply to find them out more and more, where there was so much unknown to man. Let us also remark that Outside Perdue was a bachelor. He was as yet single, or as he would express it equal to one, although his greatest wish was to get married. His friends all thought he would marry a very charming girl, gay and spiritual, but unhappily for him, the girl's father said he was too smart, and that he would talk to his daughter in language which she would not be able to understand. How modest and simple this father was, indeed, and for this reason, the young engineer decided to place between himself and his country the broad ocean. He asked permission to go abroad for a year, and obtained it. He thought that he could not make any better use of his time than to go to Baltimore and note the actions of the NPPA, and this is how he came to be at this time in the United States. However, since he got to Baltimore, he had cared little, apparently, for the great undertaking of Barbican and Co. Whether the earth would have a chance of this access or not, why did it matter to him? He only wanted to know, and his curiosity was at the highest point to find out, by what means they were to move the earth. He thought again and again how they would do it, had several plans in his head, and dismissed them only to consider the matter afresh. He concluded that they wanted, probably, to substitute a new access, but he did not clearly see where their point of operations was to be. Then again he would say, There is the daily movement. It is impossible to suppress it. How they will do it is a perfect conundrum to me. He had no idea what the plans of Barbican and Mastin were. It is to be regretted very much that their intentions were not known to him, as he would have been able to figure out the formulae in a very short time. And so it came about that, on this twenty-ninth day of December, outside Paradeau was walking with his hand at his brow, pondering about the streets of Baltimore. CHAPTER X In which a little uneasiness begins to show itself. A month had elapsed since the meeting of the gun club and the stockholders of the new form society, and public opinion was getting much altered. The advantages of the change to be brought in the axis of the earth were forgotten, and its disadvantages began to be spoken of. It was very probable, public opinion said, that a terrible catastrophe would happen, as the change could only be brought about by a violent shock. What would this catastrophe exactly be? In regard to the change of climates, was it so desirable after all? The Esquimox and the Laps, and the Samoyedin, and the Chuck cheese would benefit by it, as they had nothing to lose. The European delegates were very energetic in their talk against President Barbican and his work. To begin with, they sent information to their government. They used the cable frequently, and always sent cipher messages. They asked questions and received instructions, what then were these instructions, always in cipher and very guarded? Show energy, but do not compromise our government, said one. Act very considerably, but do not touch the status quo, said another. Major Donald Lin and his associates did not fail to predict a terrible accident. It is very evident that the American engineers have taken steps so as not to hurt, or at least, as little as possible, the territory of the United States, thought Colonel Boris Karkov. But how could they do it? asked Jan Harald. If you shake a tree, do not all the branches suffer while you are shaking it? And if someone hits you on the back, does not your whole body feel the pain? said Jock Johnson. That is, then, what this strange paragraph of the document meant, said Dean Toodrink. That is the reason why they may mention certain geographical changes. Yes, said Eric Baldenek. That is what we have to fear. This change will throw the sea out of its basin, and should the ocean leave its present quarters, would not certain inhabitants of this globe find themselves so located that they could not radically communicate with their fellow citizens? It is very possible that they may be brought into such a density of surrounding medium, said John Harald, gravely, that they will be unable to breathe. We will see London at the top of Mount Blanc, exclaimed Major Donaldin, and with his legs crossed and his head thrown back, this gentleman looked straight up as if the capital of his country was already lost in the clouds. In short, it became a public danger and a most annoying one. True, it was only a question of a change of 23 degrees in 28 minutes, but this change might bring about a great movement of the oceans as the newer flattened itself around the pole. Protestations were heard from all over, and the government of the United States was asked to interfere. It was best not to try the operation at all. The consequence of it might destroy this world. God has done all things well. It was not necessary to better His work, were the comments. And yet there were people lighthearted enough to make merry at the whole matter. Look at these Yankees, they said. They want to turn the earth on its axis. If the earth had shown any faults in its motion, it would be all right to better it. But it had gone on for millions of years and always as regular as clockwork. Instead of answering such questions, engineer outside Peridou tried to find which would be the countries and directions figured out by mathematician Mastin in which the test would take place. The exact point of the globe where the work would begin. As soon as he should know this, he would be master of the situation and know exactly the place where it would be in the most danger. It has been mentioned before that the countries of the Old Continent were probably connected with those of the New across the North Pole. Was it not possible, it was asked in Europe, that President Barbican and Captain Nichole and J.T. Mastin had considered only how to save their own country from any ill consequences that might come from the shock? He was a Yankee, it was pointed out, they were all Yankees, and particularly this man Barbican who had created the idea of going to the moon. In any case, it was argued the whole new world from the Arctic regions to the Gulf of Mexico would not have to fear anything from the shock. It is even probable, on the other hand, that America would profit immensely by it and gain some territory. Who knows what is lying in the two oceans which wash the American coast. Was it not probable that there was some valuable territory which they wished to take possession of as people who never saw anything but the dark side of a question? Is it sure that there is no danger? Suppose J.T. Mastin should make a mistake in his calculations, and could not the President have made a mistake when he came to put his apparatus in working order? This might happen to the smartest people. They may not always put the bullet in the target, or they might neglect to put the cannonball into the cannon, were the comments of these nervous folk. This uneasiness was fomented by the European delegates, Secretary Dean Tudrink published several articles in this line, and even stronger ones were put to him in the standard. John Harald put some in the Swedish journal Aftonblass, and Colonel Boris Karkoff in a Russian journal which had a large circulation. Even in America opinions differed, the Republicans were friends of President Barbican, but the Democrats declared themselves against him. A part of the American press agreed with the European press, as in the United States, the papers had become great powers, paying yearly for news about 20 million of dollars. They had a great influence on the people. In vain did other journals of large circulation speak in favor of the NPPA. In vain did Mrs. Evangeline Nascarmit pay as high as $10 a line for articles showing the advantages of this invention. In vain did this ardent widow try to demonstrate that everything was perfectly correct, and that JT Mastin could never commit an error in figuring. Finally, America took fright in the matter, and was inclined to be governed by Europe, but neither President Barbican nor Secretary Mastin of the Gun Club seemed to care what was said. They did not even take the trouble to correct the different articles. They let people say what they liked, and did not try to change their minds at all. They were too much occupied in preparations for the immense undertaking. It is indeed strange that the public, who were at first so enthusiastic and so certain of a success, had so suddenly turned and go against this operation. Soon, however, in spite of the money Mrs. Evangeline Nascarmit spent on the matter, the President and Secretary of the Club came to be considered dangerous characters by the people of the two worlds. The governments of the United States was officially asked by the European powers to interfere and examine the matter. The originators were to openly show their ideas and by what means they hoped to accomplish what they intended. They would have to inform the government which parts of the world would be most in danger, and, in short, tell everything which the public commanded to know. The government at Washington was compelled to do what they were asked. The uprising of public sentiment in northern, southern, and middle states of the Union did not allow them any other course. A commission of engineers, mechanics, mathematicians, and geographers were appointed, 50 in all, presided over by John Prestus, by the Act of the 19th of February, with full power to do anything which they considered necessary in the matter. At first, the President of the Society received orders to appear before this committee. President Barbican did not respond. Ages went to his house in Baltimore, but the President was gone. Where was he? No one knew. When did he depart? Six weeks ago, on the 11th of January, he had left the city and the state of Maryland as well, and company of Captain Nechole. Where did they both go? No one could tell. Evidently, the two members of the gun club went to that mysterious region where preparations were going on for the Great Operation, but where could this place be? It was most important to know where the place was in order to break up and destroy the plans of these engineers before they had got too far in their work. The consternation produced by this departure of the President at his associate was enormous. It soon changed public opinion to hatred against the NPPA and its managers, but there was one man who ought to know where the President and his associate had gone. There was one man who could answer this gigantic question, which at present excited the whole world, and this man was J.T. Mastin. He was ordered to appear before the committee of inquiry under the presidency of John Prestus. He did not appear. Had he also left Baltimore, had he also gone to join his associates to aid them in their work, the results of which the whole world now expected with such immense fright? No, J.T. Mastin was living still in his ballistic college at No. 179 Franklin Street, working all the time and already beginning new calculations, only interrupting his work when he wanted to spend a social evening with Miss Evangelionis Gorbit at her magnificent residence at New Park. An agent was sent to him by the President of the Inquiry Committee with orders to bring him to their meeting. The agent arrived at the cottage, knocked at the door, and introduced himself. He was harshly received by fire-fire, but much worse by the proprietor of the house. However, Mr. Mastin thought it was no more than right that he should go to the meeting, and he went with the agent. As soon as he had arrived, they began to question him. The first question was, where is President Barbican and Captain Neutral at present? He answered with a steady voice, I know where they are, but I am not at liberty to disclose this information. Second question, has he and his associates made the necessary preparation to put this operation in working order? This, said Mastin, is part of the secret which I cannot reveal. Would he be land enough to let this committee examine his own work, so they would be able to judge if his society was in position to accomplish their intentions? No, most certainly I shall not allow it, never. I would rather destroy it. It is my right as a citizen of free America to refuse to communicate to any person the results of my work. But, said President Preston, said in a very serious voice, if it is your right to keep silent, it is the right of the whole United States to ask you to stop these rumors and give an explanation of the means which will be employed by your company. Mr. Mastin did not agree that it was his right, nor that it was his duty to answer further questions. In spite of their begging, threatening, etc., they could obtain nothing from this man with the iron hook. Never, never would he say one word of it, and it was hardly possible to believe that such a strong will was concealed under the cover of Gada Purcha. Mr. Mastin would away as he had come and was congratulated by Miss Evangeline Escorbit, who was delighted by the courageous attitude taken by him. When the results of this last meeting of the inquiry committee became known public, indignation really took a turn which threatened the security and safety of the calculator. The pressure of public opinion was so great that the cabinet of the government of the United States was compelled to give the committee full permission to do what they thought most necessary and advisable in the matter. One evening, the 13th of March, J.T. Mastin was in his study at the Ballistic College, very much interested in different figures, when suddenly the telephone bell attracted his attention. Hello, hello, said he, annoyed by the sudden interruption. Who wants me? Madame Azale Escorbit. What does Mrs. Escorbit want? She wants to put you on your guard. I am informed this moment, and she had not time to finish the phrase when Mr. Mastin heard a terrible noise at the door of his house. On the stairs, which led to his study, there was an extraordinary racket. He could hear loud voices, many angry voices, then the noise of a whole army of men moving towards the door. It was his servant, Firefire, who was trying to keep the intruders from breaking into the house and disturbing the home of the master. A moment afterwards, the door was violently opened, and a policeman appeared, followed by several others. This policeman had a warrant to make a visit to the house and take possession of all the papers and also of J.T. Mastin himself. The angry secretary of the gun club reached for his revolver and would have certainly defended himself had he not suddenly been disarmed. He was held by officers and all his papers were put in a bundle. Suddenly he made a bold effort, freed himself, grabbed his notebook, out of which he tore the last page and began to chew it very quickly. Now you may take it, said he, for it will be no good to you. An hour afterwards, he was a prisoner in the jail of Baltimore. This was undoubtedly the best that could happen to him as it was extremely dangerous for him to be at liberty due to the then excited state of the public mind. CHAPTER 11 What was found in the notebook of J.T. Mastin and what it no longer contained The notebook, which was taken possession of by the police, had 30 pages covered with formula and figures, including all the calculations of J.T. Mastin. It was a work of the higher mathematics, which could only be appreciated by the highest mathematicians. The following formula, 1 by 2, open parentheses v squared minus v not squared, close parentheses, is equal to g r open brace r by x minus 1 plus m dash by m, open parentheses, r by d minus x minus r by d minus r, close parentheses, close brace, which was also to be found in the calculation of from the earth to the moon held a prominent place in these calculations. The majority of people could not understand anything of what was written in the notebook, but it would have given satisfaction to give out the results, which everyone expected with so much curiosity. And so, it was all of the newspapers and the inquiry committee as well, tried to read the formula of the celebrated calculator. In the work of Mr. Mastin, were found some problems correctly executed, others half solved, etc. The calculations had been made with great exactness, and of course the inquiry committee supposed that they were absolutely correct. If the plan was carried out fully, it was seen that without a doubt the earth's axis would be greatly changed and that the terrible disasters which were predicted would take place in full force. The reports made by the inquiry committee to the different newspapers ran as follows. The idea followed by the administrative council of the NPPA and the object of which is to substitute a new axis for the old one is to be carried out by means of the recoil of a piece of ordinance fixed at a certain point of the earth. If the barrel of this device is immovably fixed to the ground, it is not at all doubtful that it will communicate its shock over our whole planet. The engine adopted by the engineers of the society is then nothing but a monster cannon, the effect of shooting which would be absolutely nothing if it were pointed vertically. To produce the highest effect, it is necessary to point horizontally towards the north or south, and this is the last direction which has been chosen by Barbara Canemco. Under these conditions, the recoil would produce a movement of the earth towards the north, a movement similar to that of one billiard ball touched very slightly to the other. This was really just what the clever outside pair do had predicted. As soon as the cannon has been fired, the center line of the earth would be displaced in a parallel direction to that of the recoil. This would change the direction of the orbit somewhat and consequently, the duration of the year, but in such a mild way that it must be considered as absolutely free from bad results. At the same time, the earth takes a new movement of rotation around an axis in the plane of the equator, and the daily rotation will then be accomplished indefinitely upon this new axis as if no daily movement had existed previous to the shock. At present, this movement is made around the lines of the poles and in combination with the accessory force produced by the recoil there was created a new axis, the pole of which moves from the present to the amount of a quantity called x. In other words, if the cannon is fired at the moment when the vernal equinox, one of the intersections of the equator and the ecliptic is at the nadir of the point of shooting and if the recoil is sufficiently strong to displace the old pole 23 degrees, 28 minutes, the new axis becomes perpendicular to the direction of the earth's orbit, the same as it is for the planet Jupiter. What the consequences were expected to be were already known. As President Barbican had indicated them at the meeting of the 22nd of December, but given the mass of the earth and the quantity of momentum which she possesses, is it possible to conceive a piece of ordinance so strong that its recoil will be able to produce a modification in the actual direction of the real pole and especially to the extent of 23 degrees, 28 minutes? Yes, if a cannon or a series of cannons are built with the dimensions required by the laws of mechanics or in lieu of these dimensions if the inventors were in possession of an explosive strong enough to impell a projectile with the necessary velocity for such displacement. Now, taking as a basis model the cannon of 27 centimeters of the French Marine Corps which throws a projectile of 180 kilograms with an initial velocity of 500 meters per second by giving to this piece of ordinance an increased dimension of 100 miles that is a million times in volume. It would throw a projectile of 180,000 tons or in other words if the powder had strength sufficient to give to the projectile an initial velocity 5600 times greater than that of the old black powder used for a cannon though a desired result would be obtained. In fact, with a velocity of 2800 kilometers a second a velocity sufficient to go from Paris to St. Petersburg in one second there was no doubt that the recoil of the projectile acting against the earth would put everything again in a state of quietude. Well, extraordinary as it may appear J.T. Mastin and his associates had in their possession exactly this explosive of a nearly unlimited power and of which the gunpowder used to throw the ball of the Columbia towards the moon gave but a faint idea. It was Captain Nick Cole who had discovered it. The substances which entered into its composition were only imperfectly entered in the notebook of Mr. Mastin and he merely named it Melamelo Knight. All that was known was that it was formed by the reaction of a melamelo of organic substances and exotic acids. No matter what the explosive was with the power which it possessed it was more than sufficient to throw a projectile away 180,000 tons outside of the earth's attraction and it was evident that the recoil which it would produce to the cannon would have the effect of changing the axis displacing the North Pole 23 degrees in 28 minutes bringing the new axis in the direction of the ecliptic and as consequence of this affecting all the changes so gestally dreaded by the inhabitants of the earth. However, there was one chance for humanity to escape the consequences of this trial which was to provoke such a revulsion in the geographical and climatic conditions of the globe. Was it possible to build a cannon of such dimensions that it was to be a million times greater in volume than the one of 27 centimeters? It was doubtful. That was just the point and one of the reasons for thinking the attempt of Barbicanum Co. would not succeed. But there was the other possibility for it seemed that the company had already begun to work on their gigantic project. Now the question arose where was their place of operation? No one knew and consequently it was impossible to overtake these audacious operations. It was well known that Barbicanum Neutral had left Baltimore and America. They had gone away two months ago. Where were they? Most certainly at that unknown point of the globe which the operations were underway for the grand object. It was evident that the place was indicated on the last page of the notebook of J.T. Mastin. On this point there was no doubt that the last page had been torn out and eaten up by the accomplice of M.P. Barbicanum and Mastin sat in prison in the Baltimore City Prison and absolutely refused to speak. This was the condition of affairs. If the President succeeded in making the monster cannon and its projectile in a word if the operations was carried out under and above the stated conditions it would modify the Earth's axis and within six months the Earth would be subject to the consequences of this audacious attempt of Barbicanum Co. This would come on the 22nd day of September 12 hours after the passage of the sun over the meridian of the place X. The facts that were known were first that the sheeting would be done with a cannon a million times larger than the cannon of 27 centimeters. Second that the cannon would be loaded with a projectile of 180,000 tons. Third that the projectile would be animated with a velocity of 2800 kilometers. Fourth that the sheeting would take place on the 22nd of September 12 hours after the passage of the sun over meridian at the place X. Was it possible to deduce under these facts where was the spot X with the operation was to take place? Evidently not so the inquiry committee. There was nothing by which to calculate where the point X was and nothing of the calculations of Mr. Mastin indicated through which the point of the globe the new axis was to pass or in other words on which part of the present earth the new poles would be situated. Therefore it would be impossible to know which would be elevated and submerged countries due to the change surface of the ocean or which parts of the earth would be transformed into water and where the water would be transformed into land. It was evident that the maximum change in the ocean surface would be 8.415 meters and that in certain points of the globe various areas would be lowered and raised to this amount. All however depended on the location of the point X or where the shooting was to take place. In other words X was the secret of the promoter of this uncertain affair. We have said the committee only to mention again that the inhabitants of this world no matter in what part of it they are living are directly interested in knowing the secret as they are all directly threatened by the actions of Barbican and Co. Therefore all the inhabitants of Europe Asia Africa America and Australia are advised to watch all gun foundries powder foundries etc. which are situated in the territory and to note the presence of strangers who arrivals may appear suspicious and to advise the inquiry committee at Baltimore by wire immediately. Heaven grant that this news may arrive before the 22nd of September of the present year as that date threatens to disturb the order established since the creation in our earthly system. End of Chapter 11 CHAPTER XII in which J. T. Mastin heroically continues to be silent. According to a former story a gun was to be employed to throw the projectile from the earth to the moon. Now the gun was to be employed to change the earth's axis. The cannon always the cannon. These gunners of the gun club had nothing else in their heads but the cannon. They had a real craze for the cannon. Was this brutal engine again threatening the universe? Yes, we are sorry to confess it. It was a cannon which was uppermost in the mind of President Barbican and his associates. After the Columbia of Florida they had gone on to the monster cannon of the place X. We may almost hear them shout with a loud voice. Take aim at the moon. First Act Fire Change the axis of the earth. Second Act Fire And the wish which the whole world had for them was to hell. Third Act Fire And really their scheme justified the popular opinion. As it was the publication of this last report of the committee in the newspapers produced an effect of which one can scarcely form an ideal. The operation to be tried by President Barbican and Captain Nickel it was very clear was going to bring about one of the most disastrous interruptions in the daily routine of the earth. Everybody understood what the consequences of it would be. Therefore the experiment of Barbican and Co. was generally cursed, denounced, etc. In the old as well as in the new world the members of the NPPA had at the time only enemies. If there were indeed a few friends left to them among their cranky American admirers they were very few. Regarding only their personal security President Barbican and Captain Nickel had acted wisely in leaving Baltimore and America. It was safe to believe that some accident had happened to them. They could not without divine punishment threaten 1400 million inhabitants by a change wrought in the habitability of the earth. But how is it possible that the two leaders of the gun club had disappeared without leaving any trace behind them? How could they have sent away the material and assistance which were necessary to such an operation without anyone seeing them? A hundred railroad cars if it was by rail a hundred vessels if it was by water would not have been more than sufficient to transport the loads of metal, of coal, and of melly-mellonite. It was entirely incomprehensible how this departure could have been made incognito. However, it was done. And still more serious it appeared when it was known after inquiry that no orders had been sent to the gun foundries or powder factories or the factories which produced chemical products in either of the two continents how inexplicable all this was. Without doubt it would be explained some day. At any rate if President Barbican and Captain Nicol who had mysteriously disappeared were sheltered from any immediate danger their colleague Mr. Mastin was under lock and key and had to face all the public indignation. Nothing could make him yield, however. Deep at the bottom of the cell which he occupied in the prison of Baltimore the Secretary of the Gun Club gave himself up more and more to thinking of those distant associates whom he was not able to follow. He pictured the vision of President Barbican and his associate Captain Nicol preparing their gigantic operation at this unknown point of the globe with nothing in their way. He saw them build their enormous device combining their melomalinite molding the projectile which the Sun would so soon count as one of its small satellites. This new star was to have the charming name Scorpetta in gallant acknowledgement of the love and esteem felt towards the rich capitalist widow of New Park. J.T. Mastin calculated the days which would elapse before the one on which the gun would be fired. It was already the beginning of April. In two months and a half the Meridian star after having stopped on the Tropic of Cancer would go back towards the Tropic of Capricorn. Three months later it would traverse the equatorial line at the fall equinox. And then these seasons which have appeared annually for millions of years and which have changed so regularly will be brought to an end. For the last time in 189 the sphere would have submitted to the succession of days and nights. Truly this was a magnificent work superhuman even divine. J.T. Mastin forgot the Arctic region and the exploration of the coal mines around the pole and he only saw in his mind's eye the cosmographic consequences of the operation. The principal object of the association was now to make those changes and displacements which were to remodel the face of the earth. But that was just the point. Did the earth wish to change her face at all? Was she not still young and charming with the one which God had given her at the first hour of her creation? Alone and defenseless in his prison cell nothing could induce Mr. Mastin to speak about the matter no matter what plan was tried. The members of the inquiry committee urged him daily to speak and visited him daily but they could obtain nothing. It was about this time that John Prestus had the idea of using an influence which might possibly succeed and this was the aid of Mrs. Evangelina Scorbit. Everyone knew what feelings the generous widow entertained for Mr. Mastin how devoted she was to him and what unlimited interest she had in this celebrated calculator. Therefore, after deliberation of the committee Mrs. Evangelina Scorbit was authorized to come and go visiting the prisoner as much as she liked. Was she not threatened just as well as any other person on this earth by the recoil of this monster cannon? Would her palace at New Park be spared any more than the smallest hut of the Indian? Was not her very existence just as much in doubt as that of the savage living in the far the style of the Pacific Ocean? That is what the President of the Inquiry Committee gave her to understand and for this reason she was begged to use her influence with the mathematician. If he would consent to speak and would say at what place President Barbican and Captain Nickel were and how many people they had with them to accomplish their ends it would yet be time to go and stop them and put an end to their project and thus save humanity from this most dangerous catastrophe which threatened the world. Mrs. Angelina Scorbet was therefore admitted to the prison whenever she wished it. She was most desirous of seeing J.T. Mastin again after he had been taken from his comfortable study at the ballistic cottage by those rough police agents. If any impolite person had on the 9th of April put his ear at the door of his cell the first time when Mrs. Scorbet entered he would have heard the following conversation. Ah! At last my dear Mastin I see you again. You Mrs. Scorbet! Yes my dear friend after four weeks four long weeks of separation exactly 28 days five hours and 45 minutes answered J.T. Mastin after having consulted his watch. Finally we are reunited. But how did it happen that they allowed you to penetrate as far as this cell to see me dear Mrs. Scorbet under the condition of using all my influence over you thanks to my affection for you in advising you to disclose the secret of the whereabouts of President Barbican. What of Angelina? cried Mr. Mastin. And you have consented to give me such advice? You have entertained the thought that I could betray my associates. Me dear Mastin do you consider me so bad? Me to sacrifice your security for your honor? Me to persuade you to enact which would shame a life consecrated entirely to the highest speculations of pure mathematics? Bravo, Mrs. Scorbet! I see in you once more the generous patron of our society. No, I have never doubted your great heart. Thank you, Mr. Mastin. In regard to myself, continued Mastin, allow me to say before telling the point of the earth where our great shooting will take place, sell, so to speak, the secret which I have been able to keep so well, to allow these barbarians to fly and pursue our friends to interrupt their works which will make our profit in glory, I would rather die. Splendid, Mr. Mastin, cried Mrs. Evangelina Scorbet, and these two beings united by the same enthusiasm, crazed by it, if you will, one as well as the other, were well matched in understanding each other perfectly. No, they will never know the name of the country which my calculations have designated and the reputation of which will become immortal, said J. T. Mastin. They can silence me if they like, but they will never have the secret from me. And they can kill me with you, said Mrs. Evangelina Scorbet. I will also be mute. It is lucky, dear Evangelina, that they are ignorant of your knowledge of the place. Do you believe that I would be capable of betraying it because I am only a woman? Betray my associates and you? No, my friend, no. If they should raise the whole city and country against you, if the whole world were to come to the door of this cell to take you away, I shall be there too, and we will at least have one consolation. We will die together. As if there could be any greater consolation and Mr. Mastin could dream of a sweeter death than dying in the arms of Mrs. Evangelina Scorbet. And so ended the conversation every time that this excellent woman visited the prisoner. And when the inquiry committee asked her what the result was, she would say, nothing is yet. Perhaps with time I shall be able to reach my point. Ah, women, women! What are women? In time, she urged. But time went on with fast steps. Weeks went round like days, days like hours, and hours like minutes. It was already May. Mrs. Evangelina Scorbet had not been able to get any information from J. T. Mastin, and where she had failed, there was no hope of any other person succeeding. Was it then necessary to accept this terrible shock without interfering in any way? No, no. Under such circumstances resignation was impossible. The European delegates became more and more out of spirits. There was wrangling between them every day. Even Jacques Jansen woke up out of his Dutch placidity and annoyed his colleagues greatly by his daily charges and countercharges. Colonel Boris Karkov even had a duel with the Secretary of the Inquiry Committee in which he only slightly injured his adversary. And Major Donilon, well, he neither fought with firearms nor with bare fists, quite contrary to English use, and he only looked on while his secretary, Dean Tuddrink, exchanged a few blows according to the Prizering Rules with William S. Forster, the phlegmatic dealer in Codfish, the strawman of the NPPA, who really knew absolutely nothing of the affair. The whole world was leagued against the United States and wanted to hold the Americans responsible for the actions of one of their number, the celebrated empty Barbican. There was talk of recalling the ambassadors and the foreign ministers that present accredited to this most reckless government at Washington and of declaring war against the United States. Poor United States, it only wished to lay its hands on Barbican and Co. In vain did the Republic reply to the powers of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia that they were at liberty to arrest these adventurous Americans wherever they found them. Nobody would listen patiently to such talk, and so, far away, President Barbican and his associate were occupied in preparing their great operation. As nothing could be found of them, the foreign countries began to say, You have their accomplice. Now it is sure that Mr. Mastin knows where these people are and what they are doing. Make him speak this man, Mr. Mastin. Why not use hot oil, melted lead, etc.? Why not use such means as were used formerly under circumstances less grave and for cases which only interested a few private people? But it was answered that, while such means were justified in former times, they could not be used at the end of a century as far advanced as the nineteenth century was. Therefore J. T. Mastin had nothing to fear in that line. All that was left to hope was that he would finally consider the enormity of his crime and would decide to reveal his secret, or that some accident would reveal it for him. Chapter 13 At the close of which J. T. Mastin utters an epigram. Time went on, however, and very likely also the works of Barbara Cohn and Captain Nishel, who were going on also under these very surprising conditions, no one knew where. How is it possible, he was asked, that an operation which required the establishment of a considerable iron foundry, the erection of high blast furnaces, capable of melting a massive metal a million times as large as the Marine Corps cannon of 27 centimeters and a projectile weighing 180,000 tons, all of which necessitated the employment of several thousand workmen, their transport, their management, etc. Yes, how is it possible that such an operation could go on without the interested world getting any knowledge of it? In which part of the old or new world had Barbara Cain in company secretly established a foothold so that no hint was given to people living in the vicinity? Was it on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean or in the Indian Ocean? But there were no more deserted islands the English had gobbled them all up. Perhaps the new society had discovered one for this special purpose. Perhaps, one remarked, there might be in some part of the Arctic regions. No, this could not be as it was simply because they could not be reached that the NPPA was going to remove them. Therefore, to look for President Barbara Cain and Captain Nisho on one of these islands or in some inaccessible point was simply wasting time. Did not the notebook taken away from JT Mastin state that the shooting would take place on or about the equator? And all the countries around it were inhabited by some people. It seemed impossible for them to be so secreted in any part of the habitable world without someone informing the committee at Baltimore. Now, what did Alcide Perdoux think of all of this? He was dreaming of all kinds of consequences which this operation would have. At Captain Nisho had invented an explosive of such tremendous power that he had found the Meli Melanite with an explosive force three or four thousand times stronger than that of the most violent explosion known and five thousand six hundred times stronger than the good old black powder of our ancestors. This was astonishing enough. Very astonishing. But it was not impossible at all. One can hardly know what the future will bring in these days of progress when devices exist to destroy whole armies at very long distances. In any event, the change of the Earth's access produced by the recoil of a piece of ordinance was not sufficiently novel to astonish the French engineer. Then considering the plans of President Barbican, he said, it is evident that the Earth receives daily the recoil of all the blows which are given on its surface. Hundreds of thousands of people amuse themselves daily by sending thousands of projectiles weighing a few kilograms or millions of projectiles weighing a few grams. And even when I walk or jump or when I stretch out my arm, all this takes place on the surface of our sphere and adds to or checks its motion. Is then your great machine of such a nature as to produce the recoil, asked for? How in the name of candor can this recoil be sufficient to move the Earth? And if the calculations of this fellow, J.T. Mastin, prove it, it is easy enough to show it. Alcide Perdue could not but admire the ingenious calculations of the Secretary of the Gun Club. Which were communicated by the members of the inquiry committee to those wise people who were able to understand it. And Alcide Perdue, who was able to read algebra like one would read a newspaper, found in this sort of reading matter an inexpressible charm. If these changes were to take place, what a terrible catastrophe it would be. Towns would be turned upside down. Oceans would be thrown out of their beds. People killed by millions. It would be an earthquake of incomparable violence. If perhaps, said Alcide Perdue, this damnable powder of Captain Nichel were less strong. We might hope that the projectile would again strike the Earth after the shooting. And after having made the trip around the globe, then everything would be replaced in a very short time and without having caused any very great destruction. But do not worry about that. Thanks to their melancholy night, the bullet will go its way and not return to the Earth to beg her pardon for having deranged her by putting her back again in her place. Perdue finally said, If the place of shooting were known, I would soon be able to say upon which places the movement would have the least and where the greatest effect. The people might be informed in time to save themselves before their cities and houses had fallen under the blow. But how were we to know it? I think, he said, the consequences of the shock may be more complicated than can even be imagined. The volcanoes, profiting by this occasion, would vomit like a person who is seasick. Perhaps a part of the ocean might fall into one of their craters. It would make small difference then. It is entirely possible that we might have explosives which will make our Earth jump. Ah, this Satan master! Imagine him juggling with our earthly globe and playing with it as if he were playing billions! So talked and reasoned how C. de Perdue. Soon these terrible hypotheses were taken up and discussed by the newspapers. A confusion, which would be the result of the scheme of barbecane and company, could only result in terrible accidents. And so it happened that the nearer the day came, the greater the fright which took possession of the bravest people. It was the same as it was in the year 1000, when all living people supposed that they would be thrown suddenly into the jaws of death. It may be recalled what happened at this period. According to the apocalypse, the people were led to believe that the judgment day had come. In the last year of the 10th century, says H. Martin, everything was interrupted. Pleasures, business, interest, all, even the public works of the country. Thinking only of the eternity, which was to begin on the morrow, provisions was made only for the most necessary articles from one or two days. All possessions, real estate, castles, were bequeathed to the church. So as to acquire protection in that kingdom of heaven, where all were so soon to enter. Many donations to the church were made with these words. As the end of the world has come, and its ruin is imminent. When this fatal time came, all the people ran to the churches and places set apart for religious meetings and waited to hear the seven trumpets of the seven angels of the judgment day sound and call from heaven. We know that the first day of 1000 came and went and nothing was changed. But this time, it was not the question of disturbance simply based upon some verse of the Bible. It was the question of removing the access of the earth and this was founded on very reliable calculations and was very probable. Under these conditions, the situation of J.T. Masted became each day more and more critical. This is Angelina Scorbit. Trimbled lest he would become the victim of a universal cry for vengeance. Perhaps she even had in her mind the idea of making him give up the information which he so heroically held to himself. But she did not dare to mention it to him. And she did well. It would have been unwise for her to expose herself to the volley of rebukes he would have given her. As we may well understand, Fright had taken a strong foothold in the city of Baltimore. And the inhabitants became nearly unmanageable. The excitement was increased by articles appearing in the daily papers. In any case, if J.T. Masted had been found among the crowd of people, his fate would have been soon settled. He would have been given to the wild beast. But he was content and said, I'm ready for it. No matter what happened, J.T. Masted refused to make known the situation of the ex, knowing very well that if he should unveil the secret President Barbican and Captain Nishel would be unable to finish their work. It was an interesting struggle. This fight of one man against the whole world, it only made J.T. Masted a grander and better man in the eyes of Evangeline Skorvin and also in the opinion of his associates of the Gun Club. The secretary of the Gun Club became such a celebrated person that he began to receive letters, as all criminals do, from people who wished to have a few lines from the hand which was going to turn the world over. But even if this was all very nice, it became every day more and more dangerous for our secretary. The population hung day and night around the prison with great noise and great tumult. The enraged crowd wanted to lynch J.T. Masted. The police saw the moment would come when they would be unable to defend the prison and the prisoner J.T. Masted. Being desirous of giving satisfaction and information to the American people as well as to the people of other countries, the government at Washington decided to put J.T. Masted before a court of justice. What other people have not been able to accomplish the judges will not said Alcide Perdu who had after all a kind of friendly feeling for the unhappy calculator. On the morning of the fifth September, the president of the commission went personally to the cell of the prisoner. This is Evangeline Skorbin at her own request had been allowed to accompany him. Perhaps at this last attempt the influence of this excellent lady would succeed and bring the hoped for result. There was nothing to be left undone. All means possible were to be used to make this last attempt successful. If it was not, well, we will see. Yes, we will see. What we would see is the hanging of this brute Mastin said the people and the event would have come off in all its horror if the people could have it their way. So it happened that at 11 o'clock J.T. Mastin was ushered into the presence of Mrs. Evangeline Skorbin and John Preston's president of the inquiry committee. The opening was a very simple one. The conversation consisted of the following questions and answers very rapid on one side and very quiet on the other. And even under these circumstances the calm, quiet speaker was J.T. Mastin. For the last time will you answered as John Preston's answer what ironically observed the secretary of the Gun Club? Answer the question where is the place in which your associate Barbican is at present? I have told it to you a hundred times. Repeat it for the 100th and first time. He is where the shooting will take place. Where will the shooting take place? Where my associate Barbican is. How much care J.T. Mastin for what? For the consequences of your refusal to answer the result of which will be to prevent you from learning that which you should not know. But we have the rights to know. That is not my opinion. We will bring you before the court. Go ahead. And the jury will condemn you. What care I? And as soon as judgment is rendered it will be executed. All right. Dear Mastin, Benchard, Mrs. Evangelina Skorvid, whose heart nearly broke on account of these terrible threats. What? You, madam, said J.T. Mastin. She hung her head and was silent. And do you want to know what this judgment will be? If you wish to tell it, said J.T. Mastin, that you will suffer capital punishment as you deserve. Really? That you will be hanged as sure, sir, as two and two makes four. Then, sir, I have you had a chance, said J.T. Mastin, reflectingly. If you were a little better mathematician, you would not say that two and two are four. You simply prove that all mathematicians have been fools until today in affirming that the sum of two numbers is equal to one of their parts. That is, two and two are exactly four. Sir, cried the president, absolutely puzzled. Well, said J.T. Mastin. If you were, if you would say as sure as one and one or two, all right, that is absolutely evident, because that is no longer a theorem. This is a definition. After this lesson in simple arithmetic, the president of the committee went out, followed by Mrs. Evangelina Skorvid, who had so much admiration for the calculator that she did not venture to look at him. End of Chapter 13, Chapter 14. Very short, but in which X takes a geographical value. Very luckily for J.T. Mastin, the federal government received the following telegram sent by the American consul stationed at Zanzibar. To John S. Wright, Minister of State, Washington, USA. Zanzibar, September 13th, 5 a.m. local time. Great works are being executed in the Wama Sai, south of the chain of Kilimanjaro. For eight months, President Barbicone and Captain Nishil have been established there with a great number of Black help under the authority of Sultan Bali Bali. This is brought to the knowledge of the government by its devoted Richard W. Trust consul. And this was how the secret of J.T. Mastin became known. And therefore, where the secretary of the gun club still in prison, he could not have been hanged. But after all, who knows whether he would not rather have been glad to meet with death in the full glory of his life than to live on with all the chances of disappointment. Chapter 15, which contains a few interesting details for the inhabitants of the earthly sphere. Finally the government of Washington had found out the place where Barbicone and Co. were operating. Should they doubt the authenticity of this cable? No, that was not reasonable. The consul at Zanzibar was a very reliable person, and his information could be accepted without doubt. It was further corroborated by later telegrams. It was, really, in the center of the region of Kilimanjaro in the African wama sai, a little under the equatorial line where the engineers of the NPPA were going to accomplish their gigantic works. How could they have secretly reached this lost country at the foot of the celebrated mountain, discovered in 1849 by doctors Rebviani and Kraft, ascended by the travellers Otto Ellers and Abbott? How were they able to establish their workshops there, erect a foundry, and bring a large number of help, or at least enough to succeed? How had they been able to establish friendly relations with the dangerous tribes of the country, and their sovereigns, as cunning as they were cruel? This we do not know. And perhaps it would never be known, as there were only a few days left before the 22nd of September would arrive. J. T. Maston heard from Mrs. Evangelina Skorbit that the mystery of Kilimanjaro had been unveiled by a telegram sent from Zanzibar. Great Scott, he exclaimed, sawing the air with his iron hand. Well, we do not travel by telegram yet, nor by telephone, and in six days the matter will be finished. Those who saw and heard this remarkable man utter these words were astonished at the energy in the old gunner. J. T. Maston was right. There was no time left to send agents to Omasai with orders to arrest President Barbican. They would even have been too late had they departed from Algiers or Egypt. Even from Aden, Madagascar or Zanzibar, as they would have met thousands of difficulties in this mountainous region, and perhaps they would have met with an army composed of followers of the sultan who was interested in the matter. Therefore all hope of preventing this operation had to be given up. But if prevention was impossible, nothing seemed more easy than the figuring out of the terrible consequences, as the exact situation of X was now known. This problem was difficult enough, but all algebraists and mathematicians of large reputation ought to be able to solve it. As the cable of the Council of Zanzibar had been sent direct to the Minister of State at Washington, the federal government wanted to keep it secret at first. They wished as well that its contents were published all over the country, so that they could indicate what the results would be of this displacement of the axis and the uprising of the oceans, unless the inhabitants of the world might learn which place of refuge was open to them according to the section of the globe in which they lived. And it is easy to understand how anxious the people were to learn their fate. On the 14th of September the cable dispatch was sent to the Office of the Observatory at Washington, with orders to figure out the final consequences upon geographical locations. Two days afterwards the problem was all worked out. The Old World was notified of the results by cable and the New World by telegram. After this calculation had been published by thousands of papers, it was the only thing talked of in the great cities and everywhere. What will happen? This was the question which everybody was asking at every point of the globe. The following was the notice made by the Observatory at Washington. Important notice. The operation, which is being tried by President Barbican and Captain Nicol, is as follows. The production of a recoil on the 22nd of September at midnight by means of a cannon a million times larger in volume than the cannon of 27 centimeters, throwing a projectile of 180,000 tons with a powder giving it a velocity of 2,800 kilometers. Now, if this shooting takes place below the equatorial line, nearly on the 34th degree of latitude west of the meridian of Paris at the foot of Kilimanjaro, and if it is directed towards the south, these are the mechanical effects which it will have on the Earth's sphere. Instantly, in consequence of the shock acting with the daily movement, a new axis will be formed, and as the old axis will be displaced to the amount of 23 degrees and 28 minutes, according to the figures obtained by J.T. Mastin, the new axis will be perpendicular to the direction of the adiptic. Which point will the new axis start from? As the point of shooting is known, it has been easy to calculate this. In the north, the extremity of the new axis will be situated between Greenland and Grinnelland, exactly on that part of Baffin Sea where it cuts the Arctic Polar Circle. In the south, it will be on the line of the Antarctic Circle a few degrees east of Adieland. Under these conditions, a new zero meridian starting from the new North Pole will pass through Dublin and Ireland, Paris and France, Palermo and Sicily, the Gulf of Gran Citra on the coast of Tripoli, Obed in Darfur, the mountain chain of Kilimanjaro Madagascar, the Kurgwelen Island in the Central Pacific, the new Antarctic Pole, the Antipodes of Paris, Cook Island, the island of Quadra Vancouver on the margin of British Columbia, across North America to Melville Island in the neighborhood of the North Pole. In connection with this new axis of rotation starting from Baffins Bay in the north to Adieland in the south, a new equator will be formed above which the sun will travel without ever changing its daily course. The equinoctical line will cross the Kilimanjaro at Muamasi, the Indian Ocean, Goa and Chichakola, a little below Calcutta in India, Mandalay in the Kingdom of Siam, Keisho in Tongkwan, Hong Kong in China, Risa Island, Marshall Island, Gaspar Rico, Walker Island in the Pacific, the Cordilleras in the Argentine Republic, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, the Islands of Trinity in Saint Helena in the Atlantic Ocean, Saint Paul de Lando on the Congo, and finally it will meet again in the territories of Muamasi, back of Kilimanjaro. This new equator being thus determined by the creation of the new axis, it became possible to calculate the changes of the ocean tides, which was so important for the security of the inhabitants of the earth. It is just to observe that the directions of the North Pole Practical Association had taken measure to weaken the shock as much as possible. If the shooting had been towards the North, the consequences of it would have been much more disastrous for the more civilized parts of the earth. On the other hand, shooting towards the South, the consequences would only be felt most in parts less populated and less civilized. The careful calculations made showed how the waters would be distributed when thrown out of their beds by the flattening of the sphere around the new poles. The globe would be divided by two great circles, intersecting in a right angle at Kilimanjaro and at its antipodes in the equinoctal co-ocean. This would form four sections, two in the North and two in the South, separated by the lines upon which the ocean upheaval would be zero. In the Northern Hemisphere, the first section, West of Kilimanjaro, would take in Africa from the Congo to Egypt, Europe from Turkey to Greenland, America from English Columbia to Peru, and from Brazil as high as San Salvador, and finally the whole Northern Atlantic Ocean and the largest part of the temperate Atlantic zone. The second section, East of Kilimanjaro, would include the greater part of Europe from the Black Sea to Sweden, European and Asiatic Russia, Arabia, nearly the whole of India, Persia, Balakistan, Afghanistan, Turkestan, the Celestial Empire, Mongolia, Japan, Korea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the greater part of the Pacific Ocean, the territories of Alaska in North America, and also the polar region which belonged to the American Society North Polar Practical Association. The Southern Hemisphere would embrace the third section, East of Kilimanjaro, which would include Madagascar, the islands of Marion, Kerguelen, Maurice, Reunion, and all the islands of the Indian Ocean, the Antarctic Ocean, as far as the new Pole, half the island of Malacca, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, the islands of Sondi, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, New Caledonia, all the northern parts of the Pacific and its numerous archipelagos nearly up to the 160th Meridian. The fourth section, West of Kilimanjaro, would comprise the southern part of Africa, from the Congo to the canal of Mozambique, to the Cape of Good Hope, the Southern Atlantic Ocean, from Pernambuco and Lima, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, the Argentine Republic, Patagonia, the Fire Islands, the Maulin Islands, Sandwich and Shelter Islands, and the southern part of the Pacific Ocean, East of the present 160th degree of latitude. These would be the four sections separated by the line of zero in calculating the sea level changes. Now the question was to indicate the effects produced on the surface of the four sections in consequence of the displacement of the oceans. Upon each of these sections, there was a central point on which the effect would be at a maximum, either by the oceans rising up or the waters retiring entirely. The calculations of J.T. Maston had established without a doubt that at each of these maximum points, the greatest height obtained would be 8,415 meters. It was therefore certain that the consequences would be most severe against the security of those points through the operation carried out by Barbican and Co. The two effects may be considered separate in their action. In two of the sections situated opposite each other in the northern hemisphere and in the southern as well, the oceans would retreat and invade the two other sections, opposing each other in each of the two hemispheres. In the first section, the Atlantic Ocean would be nearly entirely emptied and the maximum point of depression being nearly at the region of Bermuda where the ground would appear if the depth of the ocean was inferior at that point to 8,415 meters. Consequently, between Europe and America, vast territories would be discovered which the United States, England, France, Spain, and Portugal could claim according to the geographical situation, as these powers might wish to do. It must be observed that in consequence of the falling of the oceans, the air will also fall equally as much. Therefore, the barometric pressure of Europe and that of America will be modified to such an extent that cities situated even 20 or 30 degrees from the maximum points would only have the quantity of air which is now actually found in a height of one league in the atmosphere. The principal cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, Panama, Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Cairo, Constantinople, Danzig, Stockholm, on one side, and the city's corresponding in latitude on the other side would keep their normal position with regard to the general level of the air. In regard to Bermuda, air would be missing there the same as it would be wanting to aeronauts who go higher than 8,000 meters. Therefore, it would be impossible to live there. The same effect would obtain in the opposite section which would contain the Indian Ocean, Australia, and part of the Pacific Ocean which would be thrown partly on the southern sea coasts of Australia. The air into which they would be thrown would be very clear. There was no doubt on that point, but it would not be dense enough for human wants. These in general were a part of the modifications which would take place in the two sections in which the oceans would be more or less emptied. There would undoubtedly appear new islands and mountains in such parts as the water did not entirely abandon. But if the diminuation of the thickness of the air did not bring enough inconveniences to those parts of the new continents raised to the high zones of the atmosphere, what was to be the case of those parts which the eruption of waters put below the surface? We may still breathe under the diminished pressure of air below the atmospheric pressure. On the contrary, under a very few inches of water we cannot breathe at all, and this was the condition in which the other two sections found themselves. In the section northwest of Kilimanjaro the maximum point would be at Yakautst in Siberia. From this city submerged 8,415 meters under the water, lest its present actual altitude, the liquid mass decreasing would extend to the neutral lines drowning the greater part of Asiatic Russia and of India, of China, of Japan, and of America and Alaska to the Bering Sea. In regard to St. Petersburg and Moscow on one side and Calcutta, Bangkok, Saigon, Peking, Hong Kong, and Yodo on the other side, these cities would disappear under a cover of water sufficient to drown all Russians, Hindus, Siamese, Cochin Chinese, Chinese and Japanese, if they did not have enough time to immigrate before the catastrophe. In the section southwest of Kilimanjaro the disasters would be equally marked. This section is in the great part covered by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the level of which would raise 8,415 meters at the archipelagos of the Azores. All this vast area would disappear under this artificial deluge. Among others, the angle of Southern Africa from Guinea and Kilimanjaro to the Cape of Good Hope, and the triangle of South America formed by Peru, Central Brazil, Chile, and the Argentine Republic as far as Terra del Fuego and Cape Horn. The Patagonians, high as they are located, would not escape this immersion, and would not even have opportunity of taking refuge on that part of the Andes, as the highest points of that range would not be visible at all in this part of the globe. This, then, must be the result. The lowering of the upper and raising of the lower sections, and an entirely new surface to the oceans produced by the Coruscations in the surface of the Earth's sphere. Such were the happenings which would result, and against which the people of this world had no help if they could not promptly stop Barbicanan Co. in their criminal attempt. Chapter 15 In which a crowd of this satisfied people break into the cell of J. T. Mastin. After this public notice, there was nothing left but to wait for the coming danger or to run away to the neutral lines where there would be no danger. The threatened people were in general divided into two classes, the people who would be suffocated and those who would be drowned. This communication roused many different suggestions which, however, all turned into the strongest and most violent protestations against the schemer and schemers. Among those who would suffocate were the Americans in the United States, the Europeans of France, England, Spain, etc. Even the prospect of annexing territories now at the bottom of the ocean was not sufficient to make them quietly accept these changes. Paris, carried towards the new pole a distance about equal to which, separates it now from the old, would gain nothing by it. It would have a continued spring. It is true, but it would lose considerable air. And this was not satisfactory to the Parisians who liked to have as much air as possible. In boulevard property and cafe is when to begging. Among those who would be drowned were the inhabitants of South America, of Australia, Canada, India, Zealand, etc. Great Britain would suffer the loss of her richest colonies, which Barbican and company would take away from her through their operation. Evidently, the Gulf of Mexico would constitute a vast kingdom of the Antilles, of which the Yankees and Mexicans could claim possession by the principles of the Monroe Doctrine. The islands of the Philippines, Celebes, and the water around them would leave vast territories of which the English and Spanish people could take possession. It is a vain compensation. It did not at all balance the loss due to the terrible flood. If under the new oceans only, Samoyedans, La Pons of Siberia, Fugans, Patagonians, even Targers, Chinese, Japanese, or a few Argentines would suffer and be lost, perhaps the civilized powers would have accepted this sacrifice complacently. But too many powers took part in the Great Catastrophe, not to raise a torrent of protest. And what especially concerned Europe was that although the central part of it would be nearly intact, it would be raised in the west and lowered in the east, half suffocated on one side and half drowned on the other. This was not very acceptable. The Mediterranean Sea would be almost emptied, and this would not be very agreeable to the Frenchmen, Italians, Spaniards, Greeks, Turks, and Egyptians, who by their situation on the coast had indisputable rights in ocean travel. And then what good would be the Suez Canal, which would be saved by its position on the neutral line? But what use could be made of this immense works of le seps when there was no longer the Mediterranean on one side of the Isthmus and the Red Sea on the other, at least within any reasonable distance of it? No, never, never would England consent to siege a brawler. Malta and Cyprus transformed into mountaintops lost in the clouds so that its men of war could no longer approach them. No, she would not be satisfied with the possession of some of the territory which would be gained from the Atlantic Ocean. Major Donilon had, however, prepared already to return to Europe to secure his rights on this new territory in case the operation of Barbican and Company should succeed. It is seen how protests came from all parts of the world, even from states where the changes would be imperceptible, because their people were interested in some other direction more or less. These protestations became more and more violent after the arrival of the cablegram from Zanzibar, which indicated the point of shooting and which it was found necessary to publish the above report to explain. President Barbican and Captain Nickel, as well as J.T. Mastin, were put under the ban of humanity and declared outlaws. But what a business all this created for the newspapers. What sales they had and how the circulations ran up, how on many occasions they were forced to print extra editions. It is perhaps the first time in journalistic history that they were all united with each other, and they generally quarrel incessantly. This was not a European or an American affair. It was an affair which concerned the whole world. It was like a bomb falling into a powder magazine. In regard to Mastin, it looked as if his last hour had come. A rabid crowd rushed into his prison on the evening of September 17th with the intention of lynching him, and the jailer did not put any obstacles in their way. They rushed along the corridor, but the cell of J.T. Mastin was empty. Mrs. Evangelina Skorbit had come to his help with a heavy purse of gold, and he had made his escape. The jailer had been bribed by an amount of money on which he could live the rest of his life without working. He remembered that Baltimore, Washington, New York, and many of the principal cities of America were on the line of those parts which would be raised and which would still have enough air for the daily consumption of their inhabitants. J.T. Mastin had gained a quiet resting spot and a safe place from the enraged crowd of people, and so this great man owed his life to the devotion of a loving woman. There were only four days to wait, four days only before the gigantic operation of Barbican and Company would be accomplished. The public notice had been read far and wide and had created as much public excitement as such a momentous document only could. If there were at the beginning a few skeptics on the subject, there were none at present. The various governments had notified in haste those of their provinces which would be raised into the air and those, a much larger number, the territory of which would be overrun with water. In consequence of this advice sent by telegraph over the five continents of the world and emigration began such as had never been seen before. Every race was represented, white, black, brown, yellow, etc. in one chromatic procession. Unhappily, time was one thing for all to secure safety. The hours were now counted. A few months notice would be required for the Chinese to leave China, the Australians, Australia, the Siberians, Siberia. In some instances, the danger was a local one as soon as the place of the shooting was known so the fright became less general. Some provinces and even some states began to feel easy again. In a word, except in the regions directly threatened, there was only felt an apprehension of the terrible shock. And during all this time, Alcy Perdue was saying to himself, how in the wide world can President Barbican make a cannon a million times larger than that of 27 cm? This Mastin I would like very much to meet him, to have with him a talk upon this subject. This does not agree with anything sensible. It is too enormous and too improbable. Be this as it may, the failure of the operation was the only hope which was left for certain parts of the world to escape more terrible destruction. End of Chapter 16 Recording by Todd Cranston-Guevas