"Why not?" demanded the major.
"Because the shot," quickly replied J. T. Maston,"must be big enough to attract the attention of the inhabitants of the moon, if there are any?"
"Yes," replied Barbicane, "and for another reason more important still."
"What mean you?" asked the major.
"I mean that it is not enough to discharge a projectile,and then take no further notice of it; we must follow it throughout its course, up to the moment when it shall reach its goal."