seven minutes after 11
`` Yes , '' said the Captain , as slowly as if every word were a gem of the profoundest thought , `` the Boss has a fearful and a wonderful head ! '' `` But now to business ! '' cried the versatile Ardan , `` Why do you think , Barbican , that we are at present beyond the limits of the terrestrial atmosphere ? '' `` For a very simple reason , '' said Barbican , pointing to the chronometer ; `` it is now more than seven minutes after 11 . We must , therefore , have been in motion more than twenty minutes . Consequently , unless our initial velocity has been very much diminished by the friction , we must have long before this completely cleared the fifty miles of atmosphere enveloping the earth . '' `` Correct , '' said the Captain , cool as a cucumber , because once more in complete possession of all his senses ; `` but how much do you think the initial velocity to have been diminished by the friction ? ''