"Gentlemen," he announces, "will the intending travelers kindly take seats in the shell!" With the exception of Dr. Ox, the party gets into the projectile and, the scene changing, the huge mortar. Just as the match is being applied, Monsieur Volsius rushes on the stage and insists on an excursion ticket, which is kindly granted by the Gun Club's committee. He gets in at the vent: an explosion is heard, and again the scene shifts to the planet Altor. The vehicle has reached its destination in safety; and the occupants are met by Maitre Volsius as an Altorian in a long robe, to whom Valdemar and Tartelet make a political speech in explanation of the advantages and disadvantages of parliamentarianism, while their companions admire the architectural beauties of a planet where a cottage has a golden roof and walls encrusted with precious stones. Another discovery much impresses the party: the Altorians are favored with two suns-one for the day, the other for the night.

It is in the marketplace of Altor that the third ballet of the play takes place. Suddenly, in the midst of mirth and joy, comes a terrible crash. A "meteoric comet" has struck the festive planet: everything crumbles away, the clouds gather, the thunder rolls, the lightning flashes, and Altor becomes a thing of the past. The excursionists escape the cataclysm. They return to Earth, where, in Andernak Castle, Hatteras, at first quite insane, recovers his reason, thanks to his betrothed, whose love triumphs over the jealous hate of the fatal doctor, after which comes the obligatory apotheosis in three transformations and the curtain falls.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Mme de Traventhal, a wealthy aristocrat living in Andernak Castle. Her money pays all expenses during the journey.

Eva, daughter of Mme de Traventhal and fiancee of George Hatteras

George, son of Captain Hatteras, the explorer who discovered the North Pole in journeys and Adventures of Captain Hatteras, by Jules Verne. George wants to do more than his father: not an "Extraordinary journey," but an "Impossible Journey."

Doctor Ox, scientist and chemist, evil character, from Verne's short story "Doctor Ox." He mentors George and pushes him to do the impossible.

Volsius, a good character who becomes Lidenbrock (from Journey to the Center of the Earth) in Act I, Nemo (from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea) in Act II, and Michel Ardan (from From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon) in Act III. Volsius protects George and Eva, and fights against Dr. Ox.

Tartelet, friend of Mme de Traventhal and Eva, a comic character in the play.

Valdemar, Danish citizen and the other comic character. He becomes a friend of Tartelet.

SECONDARY CHARACTERS

In Andernak:

Niels, servant of Mme de Traventhal

In Naples:

Italian Innkeeper

In Goa:

Jeweller in Goa

First Hindu

Englishman (Captain Anderson)

A naval officer

In Atlantis:

A herald

Ammon (citizen of Atlantis)

Ascalis (citizen of Atlantis)

Electra (a prophetess)

At the Gun Club and at the Columbiad, in Florida:

First group of members of the Gun Club

Second group of members of the Gun Club

Barbicane, president of the Gun Club in Baltimore (from From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon)

An Usher

J.T. Maston, secretary of the Gun Club in Baltimore (from From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon)

Members of the Gun Club

The employee of the telephone company

On the Planet Altor:

First Altorian

Second Altorian

by

Joles Berne

TRANSLATED BY Edward Baxter

The great hall of a Danish castle' in Saxon architectural style. Doors at the back and at the left. On the right, an organ stands against the wall. It is night. Mme de Traventhal3 is sitting at the left, working at a tapestry. Eva is sitting at a table, leafing through maps and books.

Eva: Here they are, the travel books and maps that poor George is always looking through. The pages are covered with notes that show only too clearly how disturbed his mind is. Look, grandma! There are pencil marks everywhere, scrawled in a shaky handwriting. These travelers discovered the remotest regions of our globe and risked their lives to explore them from one pole to the other. But that would not have satisfied George's ambition. Look at these words written in the margin: "Onward! Farther! Still farther!" Ah! George will never find peace of mind again.

Mme de Traventhal: Eva, my dear girl, you mustn't give up hope. George loves you and he knows you love him. He's never known any family but ours since the misfortune that befell his father, who went insane in the course of his ambitious undertakings. But it's nearly twenty years now that George has been living with us in Andernak Castle. Under our care, he'll eventually control his overactive imagination.