John Munro

“ You remember how we came to the conclusion that Schiaparelli was right, and that the planet Venus, by rotating about her own axis in the same time as she takes to revolve around the sun, always keeps the same face turned to the sun, one hemisphere being in perpetual light and summer, whilst the other is in perpetual darkness and winter? ”

“ I took his proffered hand, scarcely knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"It seems to me that I have found my life in losing it," he continued with a grim smile. "Saturn! what a courtship is ours--what an engagement--what a bridal bed! But there, old fellow, I'm afraid I'm happier than you--alone in spirit, and separated from her you love. ”

“ The earth may be compared to a top that is whirling fast, and Venus to one that has slowed down. She is less able than the earth to resist the disturbing attraction of the sun on the inequalities of her figure, and therefore she wobbles. In addition to the slow swinging of her axis which produces her 'seasons,' she has a quicker nodding, which gives rise to day and night in some favoured spots like Womla. ”

“ Perhaps I was wrong to carry you away from Venus--it has not turned out well--but I acted for the best. Forgive me!"
I wrung his hand in silence.
"Now let us take a look through the telescope," he went on, wiping his eyes, and adjusting the instrument. "You will see how soon it gets out of focus. We are flying from Mercury, my friend, faster and faster."
It was true.
"But I don't understand how that should be," said I. "The firing ought to have had a contrary effect."
"The rifles are not to blame," answered Gazen. "If we had used them earlier we might have saved ourselves. ”

“ Well, judging from the observations I have made, we were probably right so far; but if you recollect, I accounted for the mysterious daily rise and set of the sun, if I may use the words, by changes in the density of the atmosphere bending the solar rays, and making the disk appear to rise and sink periodically, though in reality it does nothing of the kind. A similar effect is well-known on the earth. It produces the 'after glow' on the peaks of the Alps when the sun is far below the horizon ”

“ It's a forlorn hope at best, but perhaps it's our only hope. If we could only get into the shadow of the planet we might be saved."
As delay might prove fatal to Carmichael, and since it was uncertain whether he could right the engines in their present situation, we decided to act on the suggestion without loss of time. Gazen and I calculated the positions of the rifles and the number of shots to be fired in order to give the required impetus to the car. ”