Telegram-herald., 1890-03-13
CHAPTER TX


70 WHOM wE REFssEEp AZ TzK bEsINNING
oF gaIs TkufhfUL sTotf
Such, theL. aere 10 bs the profits due
20 the changes which were 70 be wrought
v President Barbicane. The earth
would continue 70 evolve and the
course Of the year would not be much
altered. As the changes would concern
the whole world ID was natural that
they became OF interest 10 all. ln re-
gard 10 the new axis which was golng
10 De used. that Was the secret watch
neither President Barbicane ncr Cap
tain Nicholl nor j. 7. MastOn seemed
20 lee willing 10 give 20 the psblic
Were they 10 reveal II before or would
none know Of IL until after the change
had taken place? A degree Of uncer-
tainty began 10 nh the American mind.
Criticisms very natural and % be ex-
pected were made in the papers. BY
what mechanical means was this project
70 be carried out which would bring
about this change II would necessarily
demand terrible power. One OF the
greatest papers a. that time COM
mented in tho following article: If
perhaps a very feeble shock would
be sufficient 10 give il srrh
movement as miyht be chosen, but
otherwise il would De very difficult If
not impossible D deviste IL fixed
amount Nothing seemed more correct
after having discussed the ofCrt which
the engineers OF the y. y. j. A were 10
make. Discussion took on sse interest
ing turn as to whether this result would
be reached insensibly or suddenly. And
II the latter, would not terrible scci-
dents happen at the moment when the
change took place This troubled
scientific people az we'll as ignorant
people. 1t was not agreeable 70 know
that blow was 20 be struck and not
know precisely what the after effects
were To be.
1t tseemed as II the promoters of this
undertaking had not fully considered
the consequenccs-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 70 excite the pub
lie as much as possible upon ii 30 as to
turn feeling against the members of
the gun club.
1t Will not he forgotten that France
had absolutely nothing TO ID With these
delegates. as Il had no inten lions of buy
ing the Arctic region. However. n
Frenchman had come 10 Baltimore, and
FOR his own personal benefit and iufor-
nation had watched with great interest
the proceedings OF the gun cl b. Ho
was an engineer, not more than thirty
five years old. He mad been first IN the
polytechnic school. and came out of it
with the highest honors. lie was with
out doub as skilled calculator a. Nr.
!. r. Maston. This engineer was a very
intelligent young man. very origi nal,
always pleasant and with most amiahie
manners. He always spoke ve-y frankly
and used plain language. no matter
whether he was speaking in earnest or
81 fun. He even went so fer as 20 use
slanry expressions when they servc3 his
purpose. Hc could Sit for hours a { hi~
table and Hgure and calculate. making
his figures and calculations as fast as he
could write with a pen. His greatest
Z pleasure, next 10 these difficult mathc
matical efforts. was in whist" which
he played apparently very indiferentlv.
not forgetting 20 figure ont al lis
. chances. His name was Alcide Pier
deux, but he generally signed it 4.
Pierd, and sometimes only a Pie. 10
was very tall. Hic friends remarked
that his height measured about
the five millionth part Of ths
quarter OF tina meridian. and they
were not much mistaken. He had
small head, at least II Looked 50 or
bis broad shoulders, but with a mos
lively expression on his face, and biz
blue eyes behind ais eyc-glasse.
twinkled merrily This was character
istic OF him, FOR he had one OF thes'
faces which appear merry, even v'hel
they are in sober earnest. He was a
once the beat scholar IN his class. AM
the best ten pered. But cvcn = bi
head cid seem = little small on hi
shoulders. 81 is safe 20 say that s. va
filled 20 is hivhest capacity. Iie was
snathema tiCisu. as All bis ancestors hal
been. but nc did not study Tnathematic
70 use them IN his profession, for vhicl
he never had any taste. as be dis keI
trade. No. he studied mathematics "a
themselves alone. simply % fnd ther
out more and more where there vas s