"And can you tell from what sort of gun it comes?" asked Tom.
"It was fired from a monster cannon," was the answer. "That is a cannon not so much a monster in bore, as in length and in its power to impel a missile nearly eighty miles."
"Can it be done?" asked Jack.
"It has been done!" exclaimed Major de Trouville, the officer who was detailed to talk to the boys "It has been done. That is the gun that has been bombarding Paris."
"But, from a military standpoint," began Tom, "is it—"
"It is utterly useless," was the quick answer. "Come, I will show you the shell."
He led them to an apartment set aside for the testing of explosives and working out ordnance problems, and there on a table, around which sat many prominent French officials, was the German shell—the "dud," as Jack had called it.
"The charge has been drawn," explained Major de Trouville, "so there is no danger. And we have determined that the manner in which shots reach Paris from a distance of from seventy to eighty miles is by the use of a sub-calibre missile."
"A sub-calibre?" murmured Tom.
"Yes. You know, in general, that the more powder you use, and the larger the surface of the missile which receives it, the greater distance it can be thrown, providing your angle of elevation is proper."