"Impossible, old fellow!" replied Barbicane. A few moments later, the three fellow-travelers had ensconced themselves in the projectile, and screwed down the plate which covered the entrance-aperture.The mouth of the Columbiad, now completely disencumbered, was open entirely to the sky.
The moon advanced upward in a heaven of the purest clearness, outshining in her passage the twinkling light of the stars. She passed over the constellation of the Twins, and was now nearing the halfway point between the horizon and the zenith.A terrible silence weighed upon the entire scene!Not a breath of wind upon the earth! not a sound of breathing from the countless chests of the spectators!Their hearts seemed afraid to beat! All eyes were fixed upon the yawning mouth of the Columbiad.