So many took part in these singular experiments, which assumed rather the appearance of outdoor sports than of scientific demonstrations, that in a short time we had provided the asteroid with a very large number of little moons, or satellites, of gold, which revolved around it in orbits of various degrees of ellipticity, taking, on the average, about three-quarters of an hour to complete a circuit. Since, on completing a revolution, they must necessarily pass through the point from which they started, they kept us constantly on the _qui vive_ to avoid being knocked over by them as they swept around in their orbits. Finally the signal was given for all to embark, and with great regret the savants quitted their scientific games, and prepared to return to the electric ships. Just on the moment of departure, the fact was announced by one, who had been making a little calculation on a bit of paper, that the velocity with which a body must be thrown in order to escape forever the attraction of the asteroid, and to pass on to an infinite distance in any direction, was only about forty-two feet in a second. Manifestly it would be quite easy to impart such a speed as that to the chunks of gold that we held in our hands. "Hurrah!" exclaimed one. "Let's send some of this back to the earth." "Where is the earth?" asked another. Being appealed to, several astronomers turned their eyes in the direction of the sun, where the black firmament was ablaze with stars, and in a moment recognized the earth-star shining there, with the moon attending close at hand. "There," said one, "is the earth. Can you throw straight enough to hit it?" "We'll try," was the reply, and immediately several threw huge golden nuggets in the direction of our far-away world, endeavoring to impart to them at least the required velocity of forty-two feet in a second, which would insure their passing beyond the attraction of the asteroid, and if there should be no disturbance on the way, and the aim were accurate, their eventual arrival upon the earth. "Here's for you, Old Earth," said one of the throwers, "good luck, and more gold to you!" If these precious missiles ever reached the earth we knew that they would plunge into the atmosphere like meteors and that probably the heat developed by their passage would melt and dissipate them in golden vapors before they could touch the ground. Yet there was a chance that some of them--if the aim were true--might survive the fiery passage through the atmosphere and fall upon the surface of our planet where, perhaps, they would afterward be picked up by a prospector and lead him to believe that he had struck a new bonanza. But until we returned to the earth it would be impossible for us to tell what had become of the golden gifts which we had launched into space for our mother planet. CHAPTER NINE _JOURNEY'S END_