But not upon the moon. They were falling towards the earth! This was dreadful. A fall of 240,000 miles! But they could not help it, and down they went. Out in the Pacific ocean there was a United States steamship, taking soundings. The captain was astonished to find at the place where they were sailing, about two hundred miles from the coast of California, that the water was so deep that the longest sounding lines would scarcely reach the bottom. As he and his officers were discussing this matter, a distant hissing sound was heard, like the escape of steam from a steam-pipe. But it sounded as if it were high up in the air. It came nearer and nearer and grew louder and louder, and as all eyes were turned upwards towards the point from which the hissing seemed to come, they saw what they thought was a great meteor, rapidly approaching them from the sky. [Illustration: THE NARROW ESCAPE OF THE STEAMER.] It seemed to be coming directly towards the ship. In a moment more they saw plainly that it was coming straight down on the ship! Before they had time to do anything, or even to give warning to those who were below, it dashed into the sea just before the vessel, carrying away the bowsprit in its furious descent. Fortunately that was all the damage it did. Had the vessel been a few yards farther in advance it would have been instantly sunk. It was a most narrow escape, and everybody felt wonderfully relieved when this great object, which looked like a ball of fire as it came so rapidly through the air, sank hissing into the sea. But the officers guessed what it was, when it had disappeared. They had heard of the wonderful trip to the moon that had been undertaken by the three adventurers, and they very sensibly supposed that this must be the projectile that had fallen back upon the earth. When they had made up their minds about the matter, and this did not take them long, they began to think what they should do. The unfortunate men in the projectile might be yet alive, and measures should instantly be taken to rescue them, if they were living, and in any case, to raise the projectile and discover their fate. But the vessel had no machinery by which this ponderous mass could be drawn up from the bottom of the sea, especially as the sea was at this spot about four miles deep. So they determined to return as rapidly as possible to San Francisco and obtain the necessary machinery for the work. Fortunately they had been sounding and had a line out. So they fastened a buoy to this line to mark the place, and steamed away at the best speed of their vessel, for San Francisco. When they reached this port the news was telegraphed to the proper authorities, and, indeed, all over the country, and of course it created a great excitement.