I've forgotten how many
there are."
"Fifty. The idea, of course, is that the original charge of powder
within the cannon will send the projectile at something like two
miles a second. Upon reaching a certain point in space another
charge will be automatically fired in the base of the outermost
shell. Thus it will act as another cannon, from which the remaining
shells will be shot. And so on, until the forty-ninth shell has been
blown to the rear. The remaining one will, by that time, have
traveled far enough to get out of our gravitation into Alma's."
"What is the size of the fiftieth shell?"
"Only two feet in diameter; [Footnote: All dimensions are
necessarily a matter of judgment; but they represent the opinion of
an architect, whose sense of proportion is presumably better than
average.] but of such length that it will hold five tons of
explosive. It is expected to demolish a square mile of their roof."
The great projectile was carefully lowered until its tip was flush
with the volcano-like mouth of the cannon.
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