ered, and then looked at Procope as though awaiting
from him some further elucidation of the difficulty. The lieutenant
hesitated. When, in a few moments, he began to speak, Servadac smiled
intelligently, anticipating the answer he was about to hear.

"My conjecture is," said Procope, "that a fragment of considerable
magnitude has been detached from the earth; that it has carried with
it an envelope of the earth's atmosphere, and that it is now traveling
through the solar system in an orbit that does not correspond at all
with the proper orbit of the earth."

The hypothesis was plausible; but what a multitude of bewildering
speculations it entailed! If, in truth, a certain mass had been broken
off from the terrestrial sphere, whither would it wend its way? What
would be the measure of the eccentricity of its path? What would be its
period round the sun? Might it not, like a comet, be carried away into
the vast infinity of space? or, on the other hand, might it not be
attracted to the great central source of light and heat, and be absorbed
in it? Did its orbit correspond with the orbit of the ecliptic? and was
there no chance of its ever uniting again with the globe, from which it
had been torn off by so sudden and violent a disruption?

A thoughtful silence fell upon them all, which Servadac was the first
to break. "Lieutenant," he said, "your explanation is ingenious, and
accounts for many appearances; but it seems to me that in one point it
fails."

"How so?" replied Procope. "To my mind the theory meets all objections."

"I think not," Servadac answered. "In one point, at least, it appears to
me to break down completely."

"What is that?" asked the lieutenant.

"Stop a moment," said the captain. "Let us see that we understand each
other right. Unless I mistake you, your hypothesis is that a fragment of
the earth, comprising the Mediterranean and its shores from Gibraltar
to Malta, has been developed into a new asteroid, which is started on an
independent orbit in the solar regions. Is not that your meaning?"

"Precisely so," the lieutenant acquiesced.

"Well, then," continued Servadac, "it seems to me to be at fault in this
respect: it fails, and fails completely, to account for the geological
character of the land that we have found now encompassing this sea. Why,
if the new land is a fragment of the old--why does it not retain its old
formation? What has become of the granite and the calcareous deposits?