But Ardan saw through the window a long thin flash, which vanished in a second.

At the same moment, the three friends became instantaneously conscious of a slight shock experienced by the Projectile.
They looked at each other, speechless, breathless, for about as long as it would take you to count five: the silence so intense that they could easily hear the pulsation of their hearts.

Ardan was the first to break it.
"Are we falling or are we not ?" he asked in a loud whisper.
"We're not!" answered M'Nicholl, also hardly speaking above his breath.
"The base of the Projectile is still turned away as far as ever from the Moon!" Barbican, who had been looking out of the window, now turned hastily towards his companions.

His face frightened them.

He was deadly pale; his eyes stared, and his lips were painfully contracted.
"We _are_ falling!" he shrieked huskily.
"Towards the Moon ?" exclaimed his companions.
"No!" was the terrible reply.