The rest of that day was spent in trying out the guns, firing them with practice and service charges, though none of the shells used contained projectiles. It would not have been possible to shoot these, with the Mars held in place in the midst of Tom's factory buildings.
"Well, is she a success, Tom?" asked Ned, when the experimenting was over for the time being.
"I think I can say so—yes," was the answer, with a questioning look at the officer.
"Indeed it is—a great success! We must give the Newton shock absorber due credit."
Ned blushed with pleasure.
"It was only my suggestion," he said. "Tom worked it all out."
"But I needed the suggestion to start with," the young inventor replied.
"Of course something may develop when you take your craft high in the air, and discharge the guns there," said the lieutenant. "In a rarefied atmosphere the recoil check may not be as effective as at the earth's surface. But, in such case doubtless, you can increase the strength of the springs and the hydrostatic valves."
"Yes, I counted on that," Tom explained. "I shall have to work out that formula, though, and be ready for it. But, on the whole, I am pretty well satisfied."
"And indeed you may well feel that way," commented the government official.