globe. Under the circumstances, therefore, and without interfering with the rights of free citizens, it was a case for the intervention of Government, which ought not to endanger the safety of all for the pleasure of one individual. 

 In spite of all his arguments, however, Captain Nicholl remained alone in his opinion. Nobody listened to him, and he did not succeed in alienating a single admirer from the president of the Gun Club. The latter did not even take the pains to refute the arguments of his rival. 

 Nicholl, driven into his last entrenchments, and not able to fight personally in the cause, resolved to fight with money. He published, therefore, in the Richmond Inquirer a series of wagers, conceived in these terms, and on an increasing scale: 

 No. 1 ($1,000).—That the necessary funds for the experiment of the Gun Club will not be forthcoming. 

 No. 2 ($2,000).—That the operation of casting a cannon of 900 feet is impracticable, and cannot possibly succeed. 

 No. 3 ($3,000).—That is it impossible to load the Columbiad, and that the pyroxyle will take fire spontaneously under the pressure of the projectile. 

 No. 4 ($4,000).—That the Columbiad will burst at the first fire. 

 No. 5 ($5,000).—That the shot will not travel farther than six miles, and that it will fall back again a few seconds after its discharge. 

 It was an important sum, therefore, which the captain risked in his invincible obstinacy. He had no less than $15,000 at stake. 

 Notwithstanding the importance of the challenge, on the 19th of May he received a sealed packet containing the following superbly laconic reply: 

 “BALTIMORE, October 19. ”Done. ”BARBICANE.” 

 

CHAPTER XI. FLORIDA AND TEXAS

 One question remained yet to be decided; it was necessary to choose a favorable spot for the experiment. According to the advice of the Observatory of Cambridge, the gun must be fired perpendicularly to the plane of the horizon, that is to say, toward the zenith. Now the moon does not traverse the zenith, except in places situated between 0° and 28° of latitude. It became, then, necessary to determine exactly that spot on the globe where the immense Columbiad should be cast. 

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