Chapter 9
In gold! It was in gold! The first sentiment was incredulity. Some people thought the thing was a mistake which would soon be rectified; others that it was a huge hoax concocted by jokers of the first water. If so, no doubt the Paris Observatory would at once contradict the statement.
But no disclaimer came. On the contrary, the astronomers of all countries, having repeated the experiments of their French confreres, confirmed the conclusions arrived at, nemine contradicente. Consequently, every one was obliged to accept the strange phenomenon with its explanation. The excitement was enormous.
When an eclipse of the sun occurs, the sale of optical instruments augments in considerable proportions. It was the same now. People rushed to buy whatever lay within their means for the
