Therewasnomistakingit。Theysoondiscoveredasmallice—capatonepole,andthenmadeoutoceansandcontinents,withmountains,forests,rivers,andgreenfields。Thesightlastedbutafewmomentsbeforetheysweptby,buttheysecuredseveralphotographs,andcarriedavividimpressionintheirminds。
Hildaappearedtobeabouttwohundredmilesindiameter。
\"Howdoyouaccountforthatlivingworld,\"BearwardenaskedCortlandt,\"onyourtheoryofsizeandlongevity？\"
\"Therearetwoexplanations,\"repliedCortlandt,\"ifthetheory,asIstillbelieve,iscorrect。Hildahaseitherbeenbroughttothissystemfromsomeotherlessmatured,inthetrainofacomet,andbeencapturedbytheimmensepowerof\"Jupiter,whichmightaccountfortheeccentricityofitsorbit,orsomeaccidenthashappenedtorejuvenateithere。Acollisionwithanotherminorplanetmovinginanorbitthatcrosseditsown,orwiththeheadofalargecomet,wouldhavereconverteditintoastar,perhapsafterithadlongbeencold。Acometmayfirsthavesochangedthecourseofoneoftwosmallbodiesastomakethemcollide。Thisseemstomethemostplausibletheory。OverahundredyearsagotheEnglishastronomer,Chambers,wroteofhavingfoundtracesofatmosphereinsomeoftheseminorplanets,butitwasgenerallythoughthewasmistaken。Onereasonweknowsolittleaboutthisgreatswarmofminorplanetsis,thattillrecentlynoneofthemshowedadisktothetelescope。Inasmuchasonlytheirlightwasvisible,theywereindistinguishablefromstars,exceptbytheirslowmotion。Ahundredyearsagoonlythreehundredandfiftyhadbeendiscovered;ourphotographicstar—chartshavesincethenshownthenumberrecordedtoexceedonethousand。\"
CHAPTERIV。