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Final Details
Matson;"whataningeniousfellow!whatasplendididea!Indeed,mygoodfriends,weshallnotforgetyou!"
"Ishallreckonuponyou!Then,yousee,weshallreceivenewsregularlyfromtheearth,andweshallindeedbestupidifwehituponnoplanforcommunicatingwithourgoodfriendshere!"
Thesewordsinspiredsuchconfidence,thatMichelArdancarriedalltheGunClubwithhiminhisenthusiasm.Whathesaidseemedsosimpleandsoeasy,sosureofsuccess,thatnonecouldbesosordidlyattachedtothisearthastohesitatetofollowthethreetravelersontheirlunarexpedition.
Allbeingreadyatlast,itremainedtoplacetheprojectileintheColumbiad,anoperationabundantlyaccompaniedbydangersanddifficulties.
TheenormousshellwasconveyedtothesummitofStonesHill.There,powerfulcranesraisedit,andhelditsuspendedoverthemouthofthecylinder.
Itwasafearfulmoment!Whatifthechainsshouldbreakunderitsenormousweight?Thesuddenfallofsuchabodywouldinevitablycausethegun-cottontoexplode!
Fortunatelythisdidnothappen;andsomehourslatertheprojectile-vehicledescendedgentlyintotheheartofthecannonandrestedonitscouchofpyroxyle,averitablebedofexplosiveeider-down.Itspressurehadnoresult,otherthanthemoreeffectualrammingdownofthechargeintheColumbiad.
"Ihavelost,"saidthecaptain,whoforthwithpaidPresidentBarbicanethesumofthreethousanddollars
