Barbicane studied the consequences of these different situations; he was trying what he could make of them when he was suddenly interrupted by a cry from Michel Ardan.

“I’faith!” cried Michel, “what fools we are!”

“I don’t say we are not,” answered Barbicane; “but why?”

“Because we have some very simple means of slackening the speed that is taking us away from the moon, and we do not use them.”

“And what are those means?”

“That of utilising the force of recoil in our rockets.”

“Ah, why not?” said Nicholl.

“We have not yet utilised that force, it is true,” said Barbicane, “but we shall do so.”

“When?” asked Michel.

“When the time comes.  Remark, my friends, that in the position now occupied by the projectile, a position still oblique to the lunar disc, our rockets, by altering its direction, might take it farther away instead of nearer to the moon.  Now I suppose it is the moon you want to reach?”

“Essentially,” answered Michel.

“Wait, then.  Through some inexplicable influence the projectile has a tendency to let its lower end fall towards the earth.  It is probable that at the point of equal attraction its conical summit will be rigorously directed towards the moon.  At that moment it may be hoped that its speed will be nil.  That will be the time to act, and under the effort of our rockets we can, perhaps, provoke a direct fall upon the surface of the lunar disc.”

“Bravo!” said Michel.

“We have not done it yet, and we could not do it as we passed the neutral point, because the projectile was still animated with too much velocity.”

“Well reasoned out,” said Nicholl.

“We must wait patiently,” said Barbicane, “and put every chance on our side; then, after having despaired so long, I again begin to think we shall reach our goal.”

This conclusion provoked hurrahs from Michel Ardan.  No one of these daring madmen remembered the question they had all answered in the negative—­No, the moon is not inhabited!  No, the moon is probably not inhabitable!  And yet they were going to do all they could to reach it.

One question only now remained to be solved:  at what precise moment would the projectile reach that point of equal attraction where the travellers would play their last card?

In order to calculate that moment to within some seconds Barbicane had only to have recourse to his travelling notes, and to take the different altitudes from lunar parallels.  Thus the time employed in going over the distance between the neutral point and the South Pole must be equal to the distance which separates the South Pole from the neutral point.  The hours representing the time it took were carefully noted down, and the calculation became easy.

Barbicane found that this point would be reached by the projectile at 1 a.m. on the 8th of December.  It was then 3 a.m. on the 7th of December.  Therefore, if nothing intervened, the projectile would reach the neutral point in twenty-two hours.