“Impossible!” said Harald.
“Impossible, I am aware,” said Barbicane. “And it is to conquer this impossibility that our efforts are directed. We have no need of ships or sledges to reach the Pole, but thanks to our arrangements the fusion of the ice, ancient or modern, will take place like enchantment!”
He paused. There was absolute silence.
“Gentlemen,” he continued, “Archimedes demanded but a fulcrum to lift the world! Well, we have found a fulcrum! A lever was what the great Syracusan geometer required, and a lever we possess! We are in a position to displace the Pole—”
“Displace the Pole!” exclaimed Baldenak.
“Bring it to Baltimore!” said Professor Harald.
Evidently Barbicane did not wish to be more precise, for he continued,—
“As to this fulcrum—”
“Don’t tell! Don’t tell!” shouted one of the audience excitedly.
“As to this lever—”