by Jules Verne
CHAPTER XXII.
THE NEW CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES.
That same day all America heard of the affair of Captain Nicholl andPresident Barbicane, as well as its singular _denouement_. From thatday forth, Michel Ardan had not one moment's rest. Deputations from allcorners of the Union harassed him without cessation or intermission.He was compelled to receive them all, whether he would or no. How manyhands he shook, how many people he was "hail-fellow-well-met" with, itis impossible to guess! Such a triumphal result would have intoxicatedany other man; but he managed to keep himself in a state of delightful_semi_-tipsiness.
Among the deputations of all kinds which assailed him, that of "TheLunatics" were careful not to forget what they owed to the futureconqueror of the moon. One day, certain of these poor people, so numerousin America, came to call upon him, and requested permission to returnwith him to their native country.
"Singular hallucination!" said he to Barbicane, after having dismissedthe deputation with promises to convey numbers of messages to friends inthe moon. "Do you believe in the influence of the moon upon distempers?"
"Scarcely!"
"No more do I, despite some remarkable recorded facts of history. Forinstance, during an epidemic in 1693, a large number of persons diedat the very moment of an eclipse. The celebrated Bacon always faintedduring an eclipse. Charles VI. relapsed six times into madness duringthe year 1399, sometimes during the new, sometimes during the fullmoon. Gall observed that insane persons underwent an accession of theirdisorder twice in every month, at the epochs of new and full moon. Infact, numerous observations made upon fevers, somnambulisms, and otherhuman maladies, seem to prove that the moon does exercise some mysteriousinfluence upon man."
"But the how and the wherefore?" asked Barbicane.
"Well, I can only give you the answer which Arago borrowed from Plutarch,which is nineteen centuries old. 'Perhaps the stories are not true!'"
In the height of his triumph, Michel Ardan had to encounter all theannoyances incidental to a man of celebrity. Managers of entertainmentswanted to exhibit him. Barnum offered him a million dollars to make thetour of the United States in his show. As for his photographs, they weresold of all sizes, and his portrait taken in every imaginable posture.More than half a million copies were disposed of in an incredibly shortspace of time.
But it was not only the men who paid him homage, but the women also. Hemight have married well a hundred times over, if he had been willing tosettle in life. The old maids, in particular, of forty years and upwards,and dry in proportion, devoured his photographs day and night. Theywould have married him by hundreds, even if he had imposed upon them thecondition of accompanying him into space. He had, however, no intentionof transplanting a race of Franco-Americans upon the surface of the moon.
He therefore declined all offers.
As soon as he could withdraw from these somewhat embarrassingdemonstrations, he went, accompanied by his friends, to pay a visit tothe Columbiad. He was highly gratified by his inspection, and made thedescent to the bottom of the tube of this gigantic machine which waspresently to launch him to the regions of the moon.
It is necessary here to mention a proposal of J. T. Maston's. When thesecretary of the Gun Club found that Barbicane and Nicholl accepted theproposal of Michel Ardan, he determined to join them, and make one ofa snug party of four. So one day he determined to be admitted as oneof the travellers. Barbicane, pained at having to refuse him, gave himclearly to understand that the projectile could not possibly containso many passengers. Maston, in despair, went in search of Michel Ardan,who counselled him to resign himself to the situation, adding one or twoarguments _ad hominem_.
"You see, old fellow," he said, "you must not take what I say in bad part;but really, between ourselves, you are in too incomplete a condition toappear in the moon!"
"Incomplete?" shrieked the valiant invalid.
"Yes, my dear fellow! imagine our meeting some of the inhabitants upthere! Would you like to give them such a melancholy notion of what goeson down here? to teach them what war is, to inform them that we employour time chiefly in devouring each other, in smashing arms and legs, andthat too on a globe which is capable of supporting a hundred billions ofinhabitants, and which actually does contain nearly two hundred millions?Why, my worthy friend, we should have to turn you out of doors!"
"But still, if you arrive there in pieces, you will be as _incomplete_as I am."
"Unquestionably," replied Michel Ardan; "but we shall not."
In fact, a preparatory experiment, tried on the 18th October, had yieldedthe best results and caused the most well-grounded hopes of success.Barbicane, desirous of obtaining some notion of the effect of the shockat the moment of the projectile's departure, had procured a 38-inchmortar from the arsenal of Pensacola. He had this placed on the bank ofHillisborough Roads, in order that the shell might fall back into thesea, and the shock be thereby destroyed. His object was to ascertain theextent of the shock of departure, and not that of the return.
A hollow projectile had been prepared for this curious experiment. A thickpadding fastened upon a kind of elastic network, made of the best steel,lined the inside of the walls. It was a veritable _nest_ most carefullywadded.
"What a pity I can't find room in there," said J. T. Maston, regrettingthat his height did not allow of his trying the adventure.
Within this shell were shut up a large cat, and a squirrel belonging toJ. T. Maston, and of which he was particularly fond. They were desirous,however, of ascertaining how this little animal, least of all otherssubject to giddiness, would endure this experimental voyage.
The mortar was charged with 160 lbs. of powder, and the shell placed inthe chamber. On being fired, the projectile rose with great velocity,described a majestic parabola, attained a height of about a thousandfeet, and with a graceful curve descended in the midst of the vesselsthat lay there at anchor.
Without a moment's loss of time a small boat put off in the direction ofits fall; some active divers plunged into the water and attached ropesto the handles of the shell, which was quickly dragged on board. Fiveminutes did not elapse between the moment of enclosing the animals andthat of unscrewing the coverlid of their prison.
Ardan, Barbicane, Maston, and Nicholl were present on board the boat,and assisted at the operation with an interest which may readily becomprehended. Hardly had the shell been opened when the cat leaped out,slightly bruised, but full of life, and exhibiting no signs whatever ofhaving made an aerial expedition. No trace, however, of the squirrelcould be discovered. The truth at last became apparent;--the cat hadeaten its fellow-traveller!
J. T. Maston grieved much for the loss of his poor squirrel, and proposedto add its case to that of other martyrs to science.
After this experiment all hesitation, all fear disappeared.
Illustration: THE CAT TAKEN OUT OF THE SHELL.
Besides, Barbicane's plans would ensure greater perfection for hisprojectile, and go far to annihilate altogether the effects of the shock.Nothing now remained but to go!
Two days later Michel Ardan received a message from the President of theUnited States, an honour of which he showed himself especially sensible.
After the example of his illustrious fellow-countryman, the Marquis dela Fayette, the government had decreed to him the title of "Citizen ofthe United States of America."
