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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Five Thousand Miles Underground, by Roy Rockwood
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+Title: Five Thousand Miles Underground
+
+Author: Roy Rockwood
+
+Release Date: January, 2004  [EBook #4994]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on April 7, 2002]
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+Edition: 10
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+Language: English
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+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, FIVE THOUSAND MILES UNDERGROUND ***
+
+
+
+
+This eBook was produced by Jim Weiler, xooqi.com
+
+
+
+                     Five Thousand Miles Underground
+
+ Or
+
+The Mystery of the Centre of the Earth
+
+by Roy Rockwood, 1908
+
+  CHAPTER I
+
+ WASHINGTON BACKS OUT
+
+"WASHINGTON! I say Washington!"
+
+Throughout a big shed, filled for the most part with huge pieces of
+machinery, echoed the voice of Professor Amos Henderson. He did not
+look up from a small engine over which he was bending.
+
+"Washington! Where are you? Why don't you answer me?"
+
+From somewhere underneath an immense pile of iron, steel and aluminum
+came the voice of a colored man.
+
+"Yas sir, Perfesser, I'se goin' t' saggasiate my bodily presence in
+yo' contiguous proximity an' attend t' yo' immediate conglomerated
+prescriptions at th' predistined period. Yas, sir!"
+
+"Well, Washington, if you had started when you began that long speech
+you would have been at least half way here by this time. Hurry up!
+Never mind tightning those bolts now. Find the boys. I need them to
+help me with this engine. They must be around somewhere."
+
+"I seen 'em goin' fishin' down by th' brook a little while ago,"
+answered the negro, crawling out from under what seemed to be a
+combined airship and watercraft. "Jack says as how yo' gived him
+permission t' occupy his indisputatious period of levity in
+endeavorin' t' extract from th' liquid element some specimens of
+swimmin' creatures."
+
+"If you mean I said he and Mark could go fishing in the brook, you're
+right, Washington," replied the professor with a smile. "But you waste
+a lot of time and breath trying to say it. Why, don't you give up
+using big words?"
+
+"I reckon I was brought up t' it," replied the colored man grinning
+from ear to ear. He did not always use big words but when he did they
+were generally the wrong ones. Sometimes, he spoke quite correctly.
+
+"Well, I suppose you can't help it," resumed Mr. Henderson. "However,
+never mind that. Find the boys and send them to me."
+
+"With th' least appreciatableness amount of postponement," answered
+the messenger, and he went out.
+
+Washington White, who in color was just the opposite to his name, a
+general helper and companion to Professor Henderson, found Mark
+Sampson and Jack Darrow about a quarter of a mile from the big shed,
+which was in the center of a wooded island off the coast of Maine. The
+lads were seated on the bank of a small brook, fishing.
+
+"Perfesser wants yo' immediate," said Washington.
+
+"But we haven't caught a single fish," objected Mark.
+
+"Them's the orders from headquarters," replied the colored man. "Yo'
+both got t' project yo'selves in th' vicinity of th' machine shop. I
+reckon th' new fangled contraption that th' perfesser is goin' t'
+navigate th' air an' sail th' angry seas in, am about done. He want's
+t' try th' engine."
+
+"Come on then," said Jack. "We probably would not catch any fish,
+anyhow, Mark."
+
+Accompanied by Washington, the youths, each of whom was about eighteen
+years old, started toward the big shed.
+
+While they are on their way opportunity may be taken to tell a little
+about them, as well as about Washington and the professor, and the
+curious craft on which the scientist was working.
+
+A few years before this story opens Mr. Henderson had invented a
+wonderful electric airship. He had it about completed when, one day,
+he and the two boys became unexpectedly acquainted, and, as it
+developed, friends.
+
+Mark and Jack were orphans. After having rather a hard time knocking
+about the world trying to make a living, they chanced to meet, and
+resolved to cast their lots together. They boarded a freight train,
+and, as told in the first volume of this series, entitled, "Through
+the Air to the North Pole; or the Wonderful Cruise of the Electric
+Monarch," the cars were wrecked near where Professor Henderson was
+building his strange craft.
+
+The boys were cared for by the scientist, and, after their recovery
+from hurts received in the collision, they accepted his invitation to
+make the trip through the upper regions in the airship, to search for
+the north pole. With them went Andy Sudds, an old hunter, and Tom
+Smith and Bill Jones, two farmers, but who were hired as helpers on
+the voyage. The party had many adventures on the trip, having battles
+with savage animals and more savage Esquimaux, and were tossed about
+in terrible storms. After making some scientific observations, which
+the professor was much interested in, they started back home.
+
+Having found he could successfully sail in the air, Mr. Henderson
+resolved to try what it might be like under water.
+
+He moved his machine shop to a lonely spot on the Maine coast, and
+there, with the help of the boys, Washington, Andy and two machinists
+constructed a submarine boat, called the Porpoise.
+
+In this the professor resolved to seek the south pole, he having a
+theory that it was surrounded by an open sea. After much hard work the
+Porpoise was made ready for the voyage.
+
+What occurred on this great trip is described in the second book of
+this series, called "Under the Ocean to the South Pole, or the Strange
+Cruise of the Submarine Wonder." In that is told how once more Tom and
+Bill, with Andy, the boys and Washington, accompanying Professor
+Henderson, had many thrilling experiences.
+
+They were caught in the grip of the grass of the terrible Sargasso
+Sea. Monstrous suckers grasped the boat in their powerful arms, and
+had to be fought off. They were caught in a sea of boiling water and
+imprisoned between big fields of ice.
+
+By means of strong diving suits they were able to leave the ship and
+walk about on the bottom of the sea. They visited a graveyard of
+sunken ships, saw many strange monsters as well as many beautiful fish
+in the great depths to which they sunk. Many times they were in dire
+peril but the resources of the professor, the bravery and daring of
+the boys, no less than the help Washington and Andy Sudds, the hunter,
+rendered at times, brought them through.
+
+Those of you who read of their adventures will recall the strange
+island which they came upon in the Atlantic Ocean, far from the coast
+of South America.
+
+When they first drew near this island they were almost sucked into the
+depths of a great whirlpool, caused by water pouring down a big hole
+that seemed to lead far into the earth. They reversed their ship just
+in time.
+
+But, on going to another side of the island they were able to approach
+safely, as at this point the great hole was farther from the shore.
+Then they landed and investigated.
+
+They found the island was almost circular, and the hole was also
+round, but not in the center of the land. It was an immense cavity, so
+wide they could not see across, and as for the depth they could only
+guess at it. Looking down they could only see rolling masses of vapor
+and clouds caused by the water which poured down from the ocean with
+the force of a Niagara.
+
+Gazing down into the big hole Mark suggested it might lead to the
+centre of the earth, which some scientists claim is hollow. The
+professor admitted that the cavity looked as though it led to China.
+
+They had no means of investigating further the mystery of the opening
+and returned to their submarine, completing the voyage to the south
+pole.
+
+It was now about two years since they had come back from that eventful
+trip. One of the first things the professor did, after docking the
+Porpoise, was to shut himself up in his study and begin to draw plans.
+To the questions of the boys he returned no answer for several days.
+Then he announced he was working on a craft which could both sail on
+top of the water and navigate the air.
+
+In time the plans were done, and, in order to keep the work secret,
+the shop was moved to an island which the professor owned.
+
+Parts of the Monarch and the Porpoise were used in constructing the
+new craft, so there was no need to get other help than that which the
+boys, Washington and Bill and Tom could give, since the two latter
+accepted an offer of the professor to remain and work for him. The
+boys, of course, would not leave their friend.
+
+The professor realized that he had a more difficult task in his new
+venture than he had set himself on other occasions. For a ship to be
+light enough to rise in the air, and, at another time, and with no
+change, to be strong enough to navigate the ocean, was indeed
+something to tax Mr. Henderson's ingenuity.
+
+However, in the course of a little over a year the larger part of the
+work was done. Inside the big shed was the huge affair which, it was
+hoped, would enable its owner to be master of both air and water.
+
+"Did the professor say anything special?" asked Mark of Washington.
+
+"Nope. I reckon he were too busy problamatin' the exact altitude
+projected in an inverse direction by th' square root of th' new engine
+when operated at a million times inside of a few seconds, but he
+didn't say nothin' t' me. I were busy underneath th' ship, fixin'
+bolts when he tole me t' find yo'. I wouldn't be s'prised if he had
+th' thing goin' soon."
+
+"Do you think he'll be generating the new gas to-day?" asked Jack
+eagerly. "That's the most troublesome part; to get that gas right."
+
+"He didn't say nothin' t' me 'bout it," Washington stated, as he
+walked along beside the two boys. "He jest seemed anxious like."
+
+"We'd better hurry," advised Mark. "He may be at an important part in
+his experiments and probably needs us. I hope it will work. He has
+spent many days on it, and we all have worked hard. It ought to be a
+success."
+
+"Perfesser allers makes things work," declared Washington stoutly.
+
+"That's a good way to feel about it, anyway," observed Mark. "Well,
+we'll soon know."
+
+The three hurried to the shed which they could see as they rounded a
+turn of the path through the wood. They noticed an elderly man
+approaching with a gun on his shoulder. On one arm he carried a game
+bag.
+
+"Guess Andy got something for dinner," remarked Jack.
+
+"I hopes so, honey," put in Washington. "I'se got a sort of gone
+feelin' in my stomach!"
+
+"Any luck, Andy?" called Mark, when he came within hailing distance.
+
+"Fine," replied Andy Sudds. "Rabbits and quail. We'll have a good
+dinner to-morrow."
+
+While Andy entered the living part of the big shed to put away his gun
+and game, the boys and Washington kept on to the engine room. They
+found the professor, with Bill and Tom, busy fitting pipes to the
+small engine which was set up at one side of the structure.
+
+"Come, boys, I need your aid," remarked Mr. Henderson as they entered.
+"Take off your coats and pitch in. Tighten up these bolts, Jack. Mark,
+you mix up those chemicals the way I taught you, and see that the
+dynamo is in working order for Washington to attend to."
+
+In a little while the shop was a veritable hive of industry, and it
+resounded to the sound of hammers, wrenches and machinery. In the
+background was the big ship, which seemed like two immense cigars, one
+above the other, the lower one the larger.
+
+"Where was you calalatin' t' take this here ship when it gits done,
+Perfesser?" asked Washington, during a lull in the operations.
+
+"Do you remember that big hole in the island we visited on our trip to
+the south pole?"
+
+"I suah does," answered the colored man.
+
+"We are going to explore that," went on the scientist. "We are going
+to make a voyage to the interior of the earth in our Flying Mermaid."
+
+"Go down into th' earth!" exclaimed Washington, his eyes big with
+fright.
+
+"Certainly; why not?"
+
+"Not for mine!" cried the colored man, dropping the wrench he was
+holding. "No sire I'm not goin' t' project myself int' a grave while
+I'se alive. Time enough when I kicks th' bucket. No sir! If yo' an'
+the boys wants t' risk yo' se'ves goin' down int' th' interior of th'
+earth, where th' Bible says there's fiery furnaces, yo' kin go, but
+Washington White stays on terra cotta! That's where he stays; He ain't
+ready t' be buried, not jest yet!" and the frightened colored man
+started to leave the shed.
+
+  CHAPTER II
+
+ THE FLYING MERMAID
+
+"HERE! Stop him!" cried Professor Henderson. "Don't let him get away.
+We still need his help to get the ship in shape. He needn't be
+frightened. We're not going to start at once."
+
+Mark and Jack ran after Washington, whose progress was somewhat
+impeded because he kept looking back as if he feared the new ship was
+chasing him.
+
+"Come on back!" said Mark. "There's no danger, and if there was we're
+not going to start to-day."
+
+"Ain't yo' foolin' me?" asked Washington, pausing and looking
+doubtfully at the boys.
+
+"Of course not," answered Mark. "You know Professor Henderson would
+not make you do anything you didn't want to do, Wash. He wishes you to
+stay and help him get ready, that's all."
+
+"Well, Washington," observed the aged scientist. "I didn't think you'd
+go back on me."
+
+"I'd do mos' anything fer yo', Perfesser," said the colored man, "but
+I got t' beg off this time," and he looked at the Flying Mermaid as if
+he thought the metal sides would open and devour him.
+
+Then help me get things in shape to generate the gas," the scientist
+said. "I want to give the new vapor the first real test in lifting
+power to-day. On the success of it depends the future of the ship."
+
+Seeing there was no immediate danger of being carried to the centre of
+the earth, Washington resumed his labors. The professor, the boys,
+Bill and Tom were also hurrying matters to enable a test to be made
+before night.
+
+As will readily be seen, even by those not familiar with the
+construction of airships and submarines, the chief problem was to find
+some agent strong enough to lift from the earth a weight heavier than
+had ever before been put into an apparatus that was destined to
+traverse the clouds. For the Flying Mermaid was not only an airship
+but an ocean voyager as well. It had to be made light enough to be
+lifted far above the earth, yet the very nature of it, necessitating
+it being made heavy enough to stand the buffeting of the waves and the
+pressure of water, was against its flying abilities.
+
+Professor Henderson realized this and knew that the chief concern
+would be to discover a gas or vapor with five times the lifting power
+of hydrogen, one of the lightest gases known, and one sometimes used
+to inflate balloons.
+
+After long study he had been partially successful, but he knew from
+experiments made that the gas he had so far been able to manufacture
+would not answer. What he wanted was some element that could be mixed
+with the gas, to neutralize the attraction of gravitation, or downward
+pull of the earth.
+
+While he was seeking this, and experimenting on many lines, the
+construction of the air-water ship went on. In general the outward
+construction was two cigar shaped hulls, one above the other.
+Aluminum, being the lightest and strongest metal that could be used
+for the purpose, formed the main part of both bodies.
+
+The upper hull was one hundred feet long and twenty feet in diameter
+at the widest part. It tapered to points at either end. It was
+attached to the lower hull by strong braces, at either end, while from
+the center there extended a pipe which connected with the lower
+section. This pipe was intended to convey the lifting gas to the part
+which corresponded to the bag of the balloon, save that it was of
+metal instead of silk, or rubber as is usual.
+
+There were two reasons for this. One was that it would not be liable
+to puncture, particularly in the proposed underground trip, and the
+other was that it did not have to be so large as a cloth bag would
+have had to be. It was also a permanent part of the ship, and on a
+voyage where part of the time the travelers would be in the air and
+part on the water, and when the change from one to the other would
+have to be made quickly, this was necessary. It would have taken too
+long to raise the ship in the air had a cloth bag been used to contain
+the gas.
+
+The lower hull or main part of the craft was one hundred and fifty
+feet long, and forty feet through at the largest part, in the centre.
+
+It was divided into four sections. The forward one contained the
+sleeping quarters of Professor Henderson and his crew. There was a
+small stateroom for each one. Above was a conning or observation
+tower, reached by a small flight of steps. From this tower the ship
+could be steered, stopped and started, as could also be done from the
+engine room, which was in the after part of the hull.
+
+As in the Porpoise and Monarch, electricity formed the motive power
+and was also used for many other purposes on board. Engines operated
+by gas produced the current which heated, lighted and moved the ship,
+as well as played a part in producing the wonderful gas.
+
+The ship moved forward or backward by means of a novel arrangement.
+This was by the power of compressed air. From either end of the lower
+hull there projected a short pipe working in a ball and socket joint,
+so it could be turned in any direction. By means of strong pumps a
+current of compressed air could be sent out from either pipe. Thus
+when floating above the earth the ship was forced forward by the blast
+of air rushing from the pipe at the stern. It was the same principle
+as that on which a sky rocket is shot heavenward, save that gases
+produced by the burning of powder in the pasteboard rocket form its
+moving impulse.
+
+In the case of the Flying Mermaid, it could be made to move backward
+by sending the air out of the forward tube. Thus, when in the water,
+the compressed air rushing from the pipe struck the fluid and forced
+the ship forward or backward as was desired. It floated on the
+surface, the deck being about three feet out of water, while the
+aluminum gas bag was overhead.
+
+The engine room was a marvel of machine construction. It contained
+pumps for air and water, motors, dynamos, gas engines, and a maze of
+wheels and levers. Yet everything was very compact and no room was
+wasted.
+
+The use of the air method of propulsion did away with the necessity of
+a large propellor such as most airships have to use, a propellor which
+must of necessity be very light and which is easily broken.
+
+Next to the engine room was the kitchen. It contained an electric
+range and all necessary appliances and utensils for preparing meals.
+There were lockers and a large reserve storeroom which when the time
+came would be well stocked with food. Forward of the kitchen was the
+living and dining room. It contained comfortable seats, folding tables
+and a small library. Here, also were many instruments designed to show
+how the various machines were working. There were gages, pointers and
+dials, which told the direction the ship was traveling, the speed and
+the distance above the earth or below the surface. Similar indicators
+were in the conning tower, which had a powerful search light.
+
+The ship was lighted throughout by incandescent lamps, and there was
+even a small automatic piano worked by the electric current, on which
+popular airs could be played.
+
+If the gas and the gravity neutralizer worked as Professor Henderson
+hoped they would, as soon as the ship was completed, all that would be
+necessary to start on the voyage would be to fill the aluminum bag and
+set the air compressor in motion.
+
+The gas was made from common air, chemically treated and with a secret
+material added which by means of a complicated machine in a measure
+did away with the downward pull of the earth. Thus all that was
+necessary to carry on a long voyage was a quantity of gasolene to
+operate the engine which worked the electric machines, and some of
+this secret compound.
+
+The professor and his helpers had been working to good advantage. At
+last all was in readiness for the gas test.
+
+It was proposed to try it on an experimental scale. Some of the fluid
+was to be generated and forced into an aluminum cylinder under the
+same pressure it would be used in the air ship. To this cylinder were
+attached weights in proportion to the weight of the Flying Mermaid
+with its load of human freight, engines and equipment.
+
+"This cylinder is just one one-hundredth the size of the cylinder of
+the ship," said the professor. "I am going to fasten to it a hundred
+pound weight. If it lifts that our latest contrivance will be a
+success."
+
+"You mean if the little cylinder pulls a hundred pounds up the big
+ship will take us and the machinery up?" asked Mark.
+
+"Certainly," answered the professor. "If this cylinder lifts a hundred
+pounds, one a hundred times as big (as that of the Mermaid is), will
+lift a hundred times as much, or ten thousand pounds. That is five
+tons, or more than a ton over what I figure to be the weight of our
+ship and contents. The latest war balloon can lift one ton with ease,
+and if my machine can not do five times as well I shall be
+disappointed."
+
+The last adjustments were made, pipes were run from the gas generator
+to the cylinder, and the hundred pound weight was attached.
+
+"Everybody look out now," said Mr. Henderson. "I am going to start the
+machine and let the gas enter the cylinder. It is a very powerful gas
+and may break the cylinder. If it does you must all duck."
+
+The scientist gave a last look at everything. The boys got behind some
+boards whence they could see without being in danger. Washington, who
+had little fear so long as there was no danger of going under ground,
+took his place at the dynamo. Andy Sudds, with Bill and Tom, stationed
+themselves in safe places.
+
+"All ready!" called the professor.
+
+He pulled a lever toward him, turned a wheel and signalled to
+Washington to start the dynamo. There was a sound of buzzing
+machinery, which was followed by a hiss as the gas began to enter the
+cylinder under pressure. Would it stand the strain? That question was
+uppermost in every one's mind save the professor's. He only cared to
+see the cylinder leave the ground, carrying the weight with it. That
+would prove his long labors were crowned with success.
+
+Faster and faster whirred the dynamo. The gas was being generated from
+the air. The secret chemical made a hissing which could be heard for
+some distance. The gage registered a heavy pressure. Anxiously the
+professor watched the cylinder.
+
+"There!" he exclaimed at length. "It has all the gas it can hold. Now
+to see if it works!"
+
+He disconnected the pipe leading from the generator. This left the
+cylinder free. It seemed to tremble slightly. There appeared to be a
+movement to the hundred pound weight which rested on the ground. It
+was as if it was tugging to get loose.
+
+"There it goes! There it goes!" cried Mark, joyfully.
+
+"Hurrah!" shouted Jack. "There she rises!"
+
+"It suttinly am projectin' itself skyward!" yelled Washington, coming
+from the dynamo.
+
+Sure enough the cylinder was slowly rising in the air, bearing the
+weight with it. It had lifted it clear from the ground and was
+approaching the roof of the big shed.
+
+"It will work! It will work!" exclaimed the professor, strangely
+excited.
+
+The next instant the cylinder, carrying the weight, sailed right out
+of an open skylight, and began drifting outside the shop, and across
+the fields.
+
+"Quick! We must get it back!" cried Mr. Henderson. "If it gets away my
+secret may be discovered and I will lose all! We must secure it!"
+
+But the cylinder was now two hundred feet in the air and being blown
+to the east, the weight dangling below it, making it look like a
+miniature airship.
+
+"We can never catch that!" cried Mark.
+
+  CHAPTER III
+
+ WASHINGTON DECIDES
+
+"WE must catch that cylinder!" the professor exclaimed. "Some one may
+find it when it comes down and analyze the gas. Then he would discover
+how to make it. The cylinder must come down!"
+
+"Don't see how we can proximate ourselves inter th' vicinity of it
+lessen we delegate th' imperial functions of orinthological specimens
+t' some member of this here party," observed Washington.
+
+"If you mean we can't catch that there contraption unless we turn into
+birds I'll show you that you're mistaken!" cried Andy Sudds. "I guess
+I have a trick or two up my sleeve," and the old hunter quickly threw
+open the breech of his gun and inserted a couple of cartridges.
+
+He raised the piece to his shoulder and took quick aim. There was a
+sliver of flame, a puff of smoke and a sharp report. The professor and
+the boys who were watching the cylinder saw it vibrate up in the air.
+Then there came a whistling sound. An instant later the metal body
+began to descend, and it and the weight fell to the earth.
+
+"I'm sorry I had to put a bullet through it, Professor," said old Andy
+with a queer smile, "but it was the only way I saw of bringing it
+down. Hope it isn't damaged much."
+
+"It doesn't matter if it is," the scientist answered. "I can make more
+cylinders, but I don't want that secret of the gas to become known.
+Your bullet served a good turn, Andy, for it let the compressed vapor
+out just in time."
+
+"Then we may consider the experiment a success," said Mark, as
+Washington went to where the cylinder had fallen, to detach it from
+the weight and bring both to the shed.
+
+"It seems so," Mr. Henderson answered. "True, it was only an
+experiment. We have yet to test the ship itself."
+
+"When can we do that?" asked Jack.
+
+"I hope by Monday," the scientist answered.
+
+"Will you try it in the water or air first?" asked Mark.
+
+"I'm almost certain it will float in the water," the aged inventor
+said. "It does not require much work to make a ship which will do
+that. But the air proposition is another matter. However, since the
+cylinder rose, I am pretty sure the Flying Mermaid will.
+
+"But we have done enough work to-day. Let's rest and have something to
+eat. Then, with Sunday to sit around and talk matters over, we will be
+ready for Monday's test."
+
+Some of the game Andy had killed was soon on the table, for
+Washington, in addition to his other accomplishments, was an expert
+cook. During the evening the boys and their friends sat in the living
+room of the big shed and talked over the events of the day.
+
+Sunday was spent in discussing what adventures might lie before them
+should they be able to descend into the big hole. Washington did not
+say, much, but it was easy to see he had no notion of going. He even
+began to pack his few belongings in readiness to leave the service of
+Mr. Henderson, for whom he had worked a good many years.
+
+No one remained long abed Monday morning. Even Washington was up early
+in spite of the interest he had lost in the professor's voyage.
+
+"I jest wants t' see yo' start fer that place where they buries live
+folks," he said.
+
+In order to properly test the Flying Mermaid it was necessary to move
+the craft from the shed from which place it had never been taken since
+it's construction was started. It had been built on big rollers in
+anticipation of this need, so that all which was now necessary was to
+open the doors at the end, and roll the craft out.
+
+This was accomplished with no small amount of labor, and it was nearly
+noon before the big ship was moved into the open. It was shoved along
+to a little clearing in front of the shed, where no trees would
+interfere with its possible upward movement.
+
+Everyone was bustling about. The professor was busiest of all. He went
+from one machine to another; from this apparatus to that, testing
+here, turning wheels there, adjusting valves and seeing that all was
+in readiness for the generating of the powerful gas.
+
+As the airship was half round on the bottom and as it rested in a sort
+of semi-circular cradle; it brought the entrance some distance above
+the ground. To make it easier to get in and out while preparations for
+the trial were going on, Bill and Tom had made an improvised pair of
+steps, which were tied to the side of the ship with ropes.
+
+Up and down these the professor, the boys and Andy went, taking in
+tools and materials, and removing considerable refuse which had
+accumulated during the building of the craft.
+
+Finally all was in readiness for starting the making of the gas. The
+ship was not wholly complete and no supplies or provisions for the
+long voyage had been taken aboard. The Flying Mermaid was about a ton
+lighter than it would be when fully fitted out, but to make up for
+this the professor had left in the ship a lot of tools and surplus
+machinery so that the craft held as much weight as it would under
+normal conditions. If the gas lifted it now it would at any other
+time.
+
+"Start the generator," said Mr. Henderson, to Mark. "We'll soon see
+whether we are going to succeed or fail."
+
+The boy turned a number of levers and wheels. The machine which made
+the powerful vapor was soon in operation. The professor had already
+added enough of the secret compound to the tank containing the other
+ingredients, and the big pump was sucking in air to be transformed
+into the lifting gas.
+
+The boys and the professor were in the engine room. Andy Sudds, with
+Bill and Tom, had taken their places in the living room, to more
+evenly balance the ship, since the things in it were not yet all in
+their proper places. As for Washington he was busy running from the
+shed to the ship with various tools and bits of machinery the
+professor desired.
+
+The gas was being generated rapidly. Throughout the ship there
+resounded a hissing noise that told it was being forced through the
+pipe into the aluminum shell above the ship proper.
+
+"I wonder how soon it will begin to lift us," said Mark.
+
+"It will take about half an hour," replied Mr. Henderson. "You see we
+have first to fill the holder completely, since there is no gas in it.
+After this we will keep some on hand, so that it will only need the
+addition of a small quantity to enable the ship to rise."
+
+He was busy watching the pointer on a dial which indicated the
+pressure of the gas, and the lifting force. The boys were kept busy
+making adjustments to the machinery and oiling bearings.
+
+Suddenly, throughout the length of the craft there was felt a curious
+trembling. It was as though the screw of a powerful steamer was
+revolving in the water.
+
+"What is it?" asked Jack.
+
+"I hope it is the lifting power of the gas making itself felt," the
+professor answered. "Perhaps the Flying Mermaid is getting ready to
+try her wings."
+
+The trembling became more pronounced. The gas was being generated
+faster than ever. The whole ship was trembling. Tom and Bill came from
+the room, where they were stationed, to inquire the meaning, but were
+reassured by the professor.
+
+"Don't be alarmed if you find yourselves up in the air pretty soon,"
+he remarked with a smile. "Remember the Electric Monarch, and the
+flights she took. We may not go as high as we did in her, but it will
+answer the same purpose."
+
+The gas was hissing through the big tube as it rushed into the
+overhead holder. The gage indicated a heavy pressure. The ship began
+to tremble more violently and to sway slightly from side to side.
+
+"I think we shall rise presently," said Mr. Henderson. His voice
+showed the pride he felt at the seeming success with which his
+invention was about to meet.
+
+Suddenly, with a little jerk, as though some one with a giant hand had
+plucked the Flying Mermaid from the earth, the ship gave a little
+bound into the air, and was floating free.
+
+"Here we go!" cried Mr. Henderson. "The ship is a success. Now we're
+off for the hole in the earth!"
+
+The Flying Mermaid was indeed rising in the air. True it did not go up
+so swiftly as had the Monarch, but then it was a much heavier and
+stronger vessel, and flying was only one of its accomplishments.
+
+"It's a success! It's a success!" shouted Mark, capering about in his
+excitement.
+
+"Now we'll see what the centre of the earth looks like," went on Jack.
+"I can hardly wait for the time to come when we are to start on the
+voyage."
+
+At that instant, when the ship was but a few feet from the ground, but
+slowly rising, the boys and the professor heard a shouting below them.
+
+"What's that?" asked the scientist. "Is any one hurt?"
+
+Mark ran to a small window, something like a port hole in an ocean
+steamer, and looked out.
+
+"Quick!" he shouted. "Stop the ship! Washington will be killed!"
+
+In fact from the agonized yells which proceeded from somewhere under
+the craft it seemed that the accident was in process of happening.
+
+"Save me! Save me!" cried the colored man. "I'm goin' to fall! Catch
+me, some one!"
+
+"What is it?" asked the professor, making ready to shut off the power
+and let the ship settle back to earth, from which it had moved about
+fifty feet.
+
+"It's Washington," explained Mark. "He evidently tried to walk up the
+steps just as the boat mounted skyward. He rolled down and managed to
+grab the end of the rope which was left over after the steps were
+tied. Now he's swinging down there."
+
+"Are you going to lower the ship?" asked Jack.
+
+"Of course!" exclaimed the professor. "I only hope he hangs on until
+his feet touch the earth."
+
+"Keep a tight hold!" shouted Mark, from out of the small window.
+
+"That's th' truest thing yo' ever said!" exclaimed Washington. "You
+bet I'm goin' to hold on, and I'm comin' up too," which he proceeded
+to do, hand over hand, like a sailor.
+
+The boys and the professor watched the colored man's upward progress.
+The ship had hardly begun to settle as, in the excitement, not enough
+gas had been let out. Closer and closer came Washington, until he was
+able to grasp the edge of the opening, to which the steps were
+fastened.
+
+"I thought you weren't coming with us," observed the professor, when
+he saw that his helper was safe.
+
+"I changed my mind," said the colored man. "It's jest luck. Seems like
+th' ship done wanted me t' go 'long, an' I'm goin'. I'll take my
+chances on bein' buried alive. I ain't never seen th' centre of th'
+earth, an' I want's to 'fore I die. I'm goin' 'long, Perfessor!"
+
+  CHAPTER IV
+
+ WHAT DID MARK SEE?
+
+"WELL, I'm glad you've decided at last," the professor remarked. "Now
+come inside and we'll see how the ship works."
+
+Once over his fright, Washington made himself at home on the craft he
+had helped build. He went from one room to another and observed the
+engine.
+
+"She certainly am workin'" he observed with pride. "Are we still goin'
+up, Perfessor?"
+
+"Still mounting," replied Mr. Henderson, "We are now three hundred
+feet above the earth," he added as he glanced at a registering gage.
+
+The great air pump was set going and soon from the after tube, a big
+stream of the compressed vapor rushed. It acted on the ship instantly
+and sent the craft ahead at a rapid rate. By elevating or depressing
+the tube the craft could be sent obliquely up or down. Then, by
+forcing the air from the forward tube, the Mermaid was reversed and
+scudded backward.
+
+But it was more with the ship's ability to rise and descend that
+Professor Henderson was concerned, since on that depended their
+safety. So various tests were made, in generating the gas and using
+the negative gravity apparatus.
+
+All worked to perfection. Obeying the slightest turn of the wheels and
+levers the Mermaid rose or fell. She stood still, suspended herself in
+the air, or rushed backward and forward.
+
+Of course the machinery was new and did not operate as smoothly as it
+would later, but the professor and his friends were very well
+satisfied.
+
+"Now we'll try something new," said the scientist to the two boys as
+they stood beside him in the tower. "I only hope this part succeeds,
+and we shall soon be off on our voyage."
+
+He turned several levers. There was a hissing sound as the gas rushed
+from the container, and the ship began to settle down.
+
+"What's th' matter? Are we goin' t' hit th' earth?" yelled Washington,
+rushing from the engine room.
+
+"Keep quiet," ordered the professor. "We are only going down, that's
+all."
+
+"But good land! Perfesser!" exclaimed the colored man. "The ocean's
+right under us! You forgot you sailed sway from the island! We'll be
+drowned suah!"
+
+"Leave it to me," said Mr. Henderson. "The Flying Mermaid is going to
+take a bath!"
+
+"As long as it swims it will be all right," observed Mark in a low
+tone to Jack. "I'm glad I can take care of myself in the water."
+
+Before Jack could reply the Mermaid seemed to take a sudden dive
+through the air. The next instant she struck the water with a splash
+that sent the waves rolling all about. The craft rocked violently to
+and fro on the surface of the sea. For a while there were anxious
+hearts aboard, for there was no certainty but that the ship might not
+sink to the bottom.
+
+But the old professor had not calculated and builded in vain. After
+rocking about like a vessel newly launched, the strange craft rode
+safely and upright on the water. It set down far enough to bring the
+propelling tubes well under, but not so far but that the conning tower
+was well out and there was a small deck available.
+
+"Now to see if we can conquer the water as we did the air!" cried the
+professor. "Mark, start the air pump. Jack, you steer, for I want to
+watch the machinery under the additional strain."
+
+From the rear tube rushed such a volume of air that the ocean near it
+bubbled and foamed. The ship trembled from stem to stern, and then,
+after hanging for an instant as if undecided what to do, it began to
+move forward as easily as though it had never sailed any other element
+than the sea.
+
+"She fits her name!" the professor cried. "She is indeed the Flying
+Mermaid, for she sails the ocean as easily as she navigates in the
+clouds!"
+
+For a mile or two the craft was sent ahead over the waves. Then it was
+reversed and run backwards. Satisfied that his long months of work had
+not gone for naught, the professor after trying several experiments,
+decided to try and raise the ship while in motion.
+
+With Jack and Mark to look after the air pumps, while Washington, Tom
+and Bill busied themselves in the engine room, Mr. Henderson began to
+generate the gas and start the negative gravity apparatus. All the
+while the craft was forging ahead.
+
+There was again the hissing sound that told of the aluminum holder
+being filled. For a few minutes there seemed to be no change, the
+Mermaid plowing forward.
+
+Then like a bird rising from the waves, or like a flying fish leaping
+from the sea to escape some pursuing monster of the deep, the new ship
+shot up diagonally from the surface and winged its way into the upper
+regions of the air.
+
+"Success! Success!" cried the professor. "This proves all I wanted to
+know. Now. we are ready for our great trip!"
+
+Great were the rejoicings in the camp that night. It was like living
+over again the days when they were aboard the diving Porpoise or the
+flying Monarch. To the recollections were added the anticipations of
+what was before them in the trip to the interior of the earth.
+
+Busy days followed, for there was still much to be done to the Flying
+Mermaid. The machinery, which was only partly completed, had to be
+finished. Besides this the professor was working on some apparatus,
+the use of which he did not disclose to any one. It was stored aboard
+the ship at the last minute.
+
+Plenty of provisions had to be taken aboard, and many supplies needed
+to work the Mermaid and insure that it would go to the end of the
+voyage. The materials for generating the gas and negative gravity,
+spare parts, records for the automatic piano and other things were
+stored away.
+
+Some guns and ammunition were taken along as were a few revolvers,
+since old Andy had said it was best to prepare for any thing in the
+shape of enemies or wild beasts that might be met with in the interior
+regions.
+
+It was decided to make the start by sailing along the surface of the
+sea for several days, as in the event of any weakness in the machinery
+being discovered there would be less danger. If, at the end of four
+days, no trouble developed, the professor said he would send the
+Mermaid into the air and make the rest of the voyage through the sky.
+
+The night before the start was to be made the professor, with the
+boys, Washington and the other helpers, went about through the various
+shops and buildings, locking them up securely. For they could not tell
+how long they would be away, and they had to leave behind much
+valuable material.
+
+As there were several things that needed attention they divided the
+work up. Mark had finished his share and was walking back toward the
+living cabin where they were all quartered, when, down at the shore,
+near where the boat was moored, he fancied he saw, in the gathering
+darkness, a moving figure.
+
+"I wonder who that can be," he thought. "All the others are near the
+machine shop, for I just left them there. Perhaps it's some one trying
+to spy out how the Mermaid is built."
+
+Knowing the professor wanted his secret well guarded, Mark walked
+softly toward the little dock that served as a place whence the
+Mermaid could be easily boarded. As he approached he saw the figure
+moving. Something struck the boy as peculiar.
+
+Though the object had some of the characteristics of a man it did not
+walk like a human being, but shuffled along more like a huge ape or
+monkey. It seemed bent over, as if it stooped toward the ground.
+
+"Who are you?" called Mark suddenly.
+
+For an instant the figure halted and then hurried on faster than
+before, with a curious, shuffling walk. It was approaching the ship.
+
+Somehow it struck Mark as if it was an uncanny being; an inhabitant of
+some other world. Then he laughed at his half-fear, and started on a
+run toward the dock.
+
+"If it's some tramp trying to find a place to sleep he'd better not go
+aboard the ship, he might do some damage," the boy thought.
+
+He could hardly see the figure now as it had passed into the shadow
+cast by the boat. He was about to summon the professor to make an
+investigation, when Washington started going the search light which
+was placed just over the door of the living cabin. It was kept there
+as a sort of beacon light, as, near the island was a dangerous ledge
+of rocks.
+
+Then, in the blinding white glare from the big lantern as Washington
+accidentally swung it toward the Mermaid, Mark beheld a strange sight.
+
+The figure he had been watching stood out in bold relief. Though it
+was shaped like a human being it was not like any person the boy had
+ever seen. It seemed covered with a skin twice too large for it; a
+skin, which, in spite of the clothes that concealed it, hung in folds
+about the arms and legs, dropping pendent like from the neck like a
+big garment, and flapping in the wind.
+
+For an instant Mark was so startled he cried out, and the professor
+and the others ran to see what was the matter.
+
+"There-- by the ship! A horrible creature!" exclaimed Mark.
+
+Shouting to Washington to keep the light steady in the direction of
+the dock, Mr. Henderson ran toward the moored Mermaid. Jack, Andy,
+Bill and Tom, with Mark in the rear followed him.
+
+"Nothing here," said the scientist, after a careful search about. "Are
+you sure you saw something, Mark?"
+
+"Positively," replied the lad with a shudder. He described the vision
+of the darkness.
+
+"I guess it was a big otter, or maybe an enormous turtle," the
+professor said.
+
+  CHAPTER V
+
+ ATTACKED BY A WHALE
+
+BUT Mark was certain it was nothing like that, though a careful search
+failed to reveal anything or any person near the ship. It was too dark
+to examine for footprints, and even Mark, after taking a look all
+about, felt he might have been deceived by shadows. Still he was a
+little nervous, and could hardly sleep for imagining what the thing he
+saw could have been.
+
+The next day every one was so busy that no one, not even Mark,
+recalled the little excitement of the night before. Shortly after
+noon, final preparations having been made, they all got aboard the
+Mermaid and started off.
+
+It was a bright sunshiny day, and the craft, speeding away from the
+island where it had been constructed, over the dancing blue waves,
+must have presented a strange sight had there been any spectators. For
+surely no such ship had ever before sailed those waters.
+
+However, there was no other vessel in sight, and the island, as far as
+the professor and his friends knew, had never been inhabited.
+
+"We will not try for any great speed," Mr. Henderson remarked as he,
+with Mark and Jack, stood in the conning tower managing the Mermaid.
+"We don't want to strain any joints at the start or heat any engine
+bearings. There will be time enough for speed later."
+
+"Yes, and we may need it more when we get into the centre of the earth
+than we do now," observed Mark.
+
+"Why so?" asked Jack.
+
+"No telling what we may run up against underneath the ground," went on
+Mark. "We may have to fight strange animals and stranger beings.
+Besides, the atmosphere and water there can't be the same as up here;
+do you think so, Professor?"
+
+For a few minutes the scientist was silent. He seemed to be thinking
+deeply.
+
+"I will tell you what I believe," he said at length. "I have never
+spoken of it before, but now that we are fairly started and may
+eventually have a chance to prove my theory, I will say that I think
+the centre of this earth on which we live is hollow. Inside of it,
+forming a core, so to speak, I believe there is another earth, similar
+to ours in some respects which revolves inside this larger sphere."
+
+They were well out to sea now, as they could observe when they emerged
+on the little deck. Above their heads was the aluminum gas holder,
+which served as a sort of protection from the sun that was quite warm.
+The Mermaid rode with an easy motion, being submerged just enough to
+make her steady, yet not deep enough to encounter much resistance from
+the water. In fact it could not have been arranged better for speed or
+comfort.
+
+"I think we will sail well to the eastward before making our course
+south," Mr. Henderson said. "I do not care to meet too many ships, as
+those aboard will be very curious and I do not want too much news of
+this venture to get out. We will take an unfrequented route and avoid
+delays by being hailed by every passing vessel whose captain will
+wonder what queer craft he had met with."
+
+The boys enjoyed the sail, for the weather could not have been better.
+Even old Andy, who seldom said much, seemed delighted with the
+prospect of having strange adventures. He had his rifle with him, and,
+indeed, he seldom went anywhere that he did not carry it.
+
+"For there's no telling when you may see something you want to shoot
+or that ought to be shot," he used to say, "and it's always the man
+without a gun who needs it most. So I'm taking no chances."
+
+They sailed all that afternoon without meeting with a craft of any
+kind. Straight to the east they went, and when night began to settle
+down Washington got supper. It was decided to run slowly after dark
+until all hands were more familiar with the ship.
+
+Morning found the Mermaid about a hundred miles from the island where
+she had been launched. The night had been uneventful, except that Mark
+told Jack he heard some strange noise near his bunk several times. He
+was nearest the storeroom where spare parts, and the curious cylinder
+the professor had brought aboard, were kept.
+
+"I guess it was rats," said Jack. "They are always in ships."
+
+"Old wooden ships, yes," admitted Mark. "But I'll bet there's not a
+rat aboard the Mermaid."
+
+"Then you were dreaming," said Jack, as if that settled it.
+
+Mark did not speak further of the noise, but he did considerable
+thinking. However, the next night there was no further disturbance.
+
+The fourth day out, when everything had passed off well, the engines
+doing their best, the professor decided to speed them up a bit, since
+he was satisfied they had "found" themselves as mechanics term it.
+
+"We'll see how fast we can go through the water," said Mr. Henderson,
+"and then I think we can safely turn our course south. We are well
+beyond the ordinary lines of travel now."
+
+Having oiled the bearings well, and seen that everything was in place
+and properly adjusted, the professor and the boys took their places in
+the conning tower, while Washington, Tom and Bill remained in the
+engine room. Andy stayed on deck with his gun.
+
+"I might see a big fish, and we could vary our bill of fare," he said
+with a laugh.
+
+"Here we go!" exclaimed the professor as he shifted the levers and
+turned some wheels and valves. "Now we'll see how fast we can travel."
+
+As he spoke the Mermaid responded to the added impulse of the
+compressed air and shot through the water at a terrific speed. The
+sudden increase in momentum almost threw the boys from their feet, and
+they would have fallen had they not grasped some projecting levers.
+
+"I guess that will do," Said the scientist. "I think we have speed
+enough for almost any emergency. I'll let her run at this rate for a
+while, and then we'll slack up."
+
+Looking ahead, the boys could see the green waters parting in front of
+the bow of the Mermaid, as if to make room for her. Two huge waves
+were thrown upon either side.
+
+Suddenly, dead ahead, there loomed up a big black object.
+
+"Look out you'll hit the rock!" cried Mark to the professor, who was
+steering.
+
+With a turn of his wrist Mr. Henderson moved the wheel which
+controlled the tube. It was deflected and sent the boat to larboard.
+
+At that instant from the rock two small fountains of water rose in the
+air, falling back in a shower of spray through which the sun gleamed.
+
+"That's not a rock! It's a big whale!" cried Jack. "And we're going to
+hit him!"
+
+The professor had miscalculated the speed of the craft, or else had
+not thrown her far enough to larboard, for, a second later, the
+Mermaid was almost upon the big leviathan.
+
+With a desperate twirling of the steering wheel the professor veered
+the craft as far as possible. But all he could do did not suffice, for
+the craft hit the whale a glancing blow on the side, and the ship
+careened as if she would turn turtle.
+
+At the same time there rang out from upon deck the sound of a rifle
+shot. Old Andy had taken a chance at the enormous creature of the
+deep.
+
+"Hurrah!" the bays heard him shout. "I give him one plumb in the eye!
+A fine shot! And we hit him besides with the boat. I guess he's a
+goner!"
+
+"I'm afraid not," muttered the professor. "That was a bad blow we
+struck him, but I think it will only ruffle his temper. We'll have to
+look sharp now, boys."
+
+By this time the ship had rushed past the whale, but the boys, looking
+through a window in the rear of the tower could see the huge body. Now
+the fountains of water which the whale spouted were tinged with red.
+
+"He's bleeding!" exclaimed the professor. "I guess Andy hit him in a
+vital spot."
+
+"But not vital enough!" cried Mark. "See! He's coming after us!"
+
+And so it proved. The whale, angered, and, probably half crazed by the
+pain of the bullet and the blow, was coursing after the ship, coming
+on with the speed of an express train. Straight at the Mermaid he
+lunged his huge bulk.
+
+"We must escape him!" cried Mr. Henderson. "If he hits us he'll send
+us to the bottom!"
+
+He had made ready to slow up the Mermaid to see if it had sustained
+any damage from the impact with the whale, but when he saw the monster
+coming after the boat he knew the only safety lay in flight.
+
+"Let us go up into the air and so escape him!" cried Jack, with sudden
+inspiration.
+
+For an instant neither Mark nor the professor grasped what Jack meant.
+Then, with an exclamation, the professor pulled forward the lever that
+generated the gas and set working the gravity neutralizer, which would
+enable the ship to rise.
+
+Faster through the water went the Mermaid, and faster after her came
+the whale. Above the hum of the engines was heard the hiss of the
+powerful gas. The ship trembled more violently.
+
+"We are rising!" exclaimed the professor, as he looked at a gage.
+
+The boys could feel the craft lifting from the waves which clung to
+her as if they hated to lose her. The boys knew the gas was beginning
+to operate.
+
+"If it is not too late!" whispered Mark, half to himself.
+
+For the monster of the seas was coming on, lashing the water to foam
+with his terrible flukes, and sending aloft a bloody spray. His speed
+was awful.
+
+Now he was but ten feet away from the fleeing craft-- now but eight--
+now five! Ten seconds more and the big head, like the blunt stern of a
+battle ship, forced forward by the tons of blubber, flesh, bone and
+fat behind it would strike the Mermaid and crush it like an egg shell.
+
+Now if ever was the need for the Flying Mermaid to prove herself
+worthy of the name. Now, if ever, was the time for her to leave the
+watery element and take to the lighter one.
+
+And she did. With a last tremble, as if to free herself from the hold
+of the waves, the gallant craft soared up into the air, leaving the
+water, which dripped from her keel like a fountain's spray, and
+shooting aloft like a bird, escaped her terrible enemy which passed
+under her, so close that the lower part of the Flying Mermaid scraped
+the whale's back.
+
+"Saved!" exclaimed the professor.
+
+  CHAPTER VI
+
+ THE CYCLONE
+
+IT was only in the nick of time, for a second later and the big mammal
+of the ocean would have struck the ship and split it from stem to
+stern.
+
+Higher and higher into the air mounted the Flying Mermaid, while in
+the water below, the whale, incensed by missing his prey, was lashing
+the waves to foam.
+
+"Well, that was a narrow squeak; as close as I ever care to come to
+it!" exclaimed Andy as he let go of the steel rail to which he was
+clinging and entered the conning tower. "I had no idea of hitting the
+big fish."
+
+"I guess he would have taken after us whether you had fired at him or
+not," said Mr. Henderson. "He was probably looking for trouble, and
+took the first thing that came in his way, which happened to be us.
+Some whales are like that, so I have read; big bull creatures, exiled
+from the school to which they once belonged, they get like mad
+creatures and know neither friend nor foe. Something like rogue
+elephants, I imagine."
+
+Now, having thus unexpectedly risen into the air, the professor
+decided to continue travel in that style for a while at least. It
+would require less force to propel the ship, and the going would be
+more comfortable, since in the upper regions the Mermaid rode on an
+even keel, while in the water there was more or less rolling, due to
+the action of the waves.
+
+Once recovered from their fright caused by the whale, and having lost
+sight of the enormous creature, for they were now far above the ocean,
+the adventurers began to think of something to eat.
+
+Washington lost little time in preparing a meal, and it was eaten with
+a relish. The electric cooking stove worked to perfection, for the
+colored man had learned how to use that aboard the Porpoise and
+Monarch, and could be depended on to turn out appetizing dishes.
+
+"What do you say to traveling through the air at night?" asked Mr.
+Henderson, as he arose from the table.
+
+"Suits me," replied Mark. "There's less danger than in the water, I
+think,"
+
+Bill, Tom and Washington arranged to stand the night watch, and, when
+the professor had examined the engines and given orders about keeping
+the ship on her course through the air, he retired to his bunk. Jack
+and Mark soon followed.
+
+It must have been about midnight when Mark was awakened by a movement
+that seemed to come from the storeroom next to where his sleeping
+place was located. At first he thought he had been dreaming, but, as
+he found he was wide awake, he knew it was no imagination that had
+affected him.
+
+"I certainly heard something," he said to himself. "It sounded just as
+it did the other night. I wonder if I ought to investigate."
+
+He thought over the matter carefully as he sat upright in his bunk in
+the darkness. True the noise might be a natural one, due to the
+vibration of the engine, or to some echo from the machinery. As Mark
+listened he heard it again.
+
+This time he realized it was the slow movement of some heavy body. He
+felt a cold shiver run over him and his hair evinced an uncomfortable
+tendency to stand upright. But he conquered his feelings and resolved
+to keep cool and see if he could discover what had awakened him.
+
+He got up and moved softly about the little room that contained his
+bunk. He could hear better now, and knew it was no echo or vibration
+that had come to his ears.
+
+Once again he heard the strange sound. It was exactly the same as
+before; as if some big creature was pulling itself over the floor.
+
+"Maybe it's a snake; a water snake!" thought Mark. "It may have
+crawled aboard when we did not notice it."
+
+Then he remembered that the ship had not been open in any way that
+would enable a serpent to come on it, since it had been started on its
+ocean trip. Before that, he was sure no snake had entered the Flying
+Mermaid. Still it sounded more like a snake than anything else.
+
+"I'm going to make a search," decided the boy.
+
+He took a small portable electric light, run by a storage battery,
+and, slipping on a pair of shoes and a bath robe, he left his
+stateroom.
+
+He had decided that the noise came from the storage compartment and so
+made for that. The door he knew was not locked, since he had seen Mr.
+Henderson go in late that afternoon, and the professor had used no
+key.
+
+Moving softly, Mark left his room and soon found himself in a
+corridor, on either side of which were located the sleeping quarters
+of the others. He did not want to awaken them, and, perhaps, be
+laughed at for his curiosity.
+
+To get to the storeroom Mark had to go first from the corridor into
+the dining room. He soon reached the door that guarded what he thought
+might be a strange secret. Trying the knob softly he found it giving
+under his fingers.
+
+"I wonder if I had better go in," he thought. "Perhaps, after all, it
+was only rats, as Jack said."
+
+But, even as he listened he again heard the odd sound coming from the
+room. This determined him. He would solve the mystery if possible.
+
+Cautiously he turned the knob. The door was slowly swinging open when
+Mark was startled by a noise from behind him. He turned suddenly to
+see Professor Henderson confronting him.
+
+"What is it, Mark? Is the ship on fire? What's the matter? Is any one
+hurt?"
+
+"I was just going in this room to----" began Mark.
+
+"Don't do it! Don't do it!" exclaimed the professor in an excited
+whisper. "No one must go in that room. I forgot to tell you and Jack
+about it. No one must enter. It contains a secret!"
+
+"I heard a strange noise and----" Mark began again.
+
+"It could make no noise! It would be impossible for it to make a
+noise!" the professor exclaimed.
+
+"I heard something," the boy insisted.
+
+"You were dreaming!" said the professor. "Now go back to bed, Mark,
+and don't let this happen again. Remember, no one must enter that room
+unless I give permission!"
+
+Somewhat crestfallen at the outcome of his investigations, but
+realizing that the professor could do what he wanted to aboard his own
+ship, Mark went back to bed. But he could not sleep. All the rest of
+the night he was wondering whether Mr. Henderson had some strange
+creature hidden aboard the Mermaid. He feared lest the old scientist's
+mind might be affected and, in his wildness he had made some infernal
+machine that would, in time, blow the whole ship apart.
+
+But tired nature asserted itself at last, and, weary with vain
+imaginings, Mark fell into a slumber. The next morning he awoke with a
+start from a dream that he was being devoured by an immense water
+snake.
+
+He said nothing to the others about his night's adventure, for, as it
+transpired, no one else had been awakened by his investigations. The
+professor did not refer to his conversation with Mark.
+
+"There's something queer going on aboard the ship this trip," said
+Mark to himself. "But I guess it's none of my business. Professor
+Henderson seems to know what he is doing and I guess I can trust him."
+
+He resolved to think no more of the strange noises and movements, and,
+for several nights thereafter he was not disturbed by them.
+
+The weather, which, up to this time had been fair, took a sudden turn
+for the worse about the fourth day after Mark's little night
+expedition. One evening the sun sank in a mass of dull lead-colored
+clouds and a sharp wind sprang up.
+
+"We're going to have a storm," said Mr. Henderson. "It's liable to be
+a bad one, too, from the way the barometer is falling."
+
+He looked at the glass, and scanned the various instruments that told
+how high up the Mermaid was and how fast she was traveling.
+
+"We're pretty high up in the air," he said, "and scooting along at
+about fifty miles an hour. We are going against the wind, too, but
+fortunately it is not blowing hard."
+
+At that moment there sounded from without a peculiar howling sound, as
+if a siren whistle was being blown.
+
+"'Pears like there's goin' t' be a tumultuous demonstration of
+sub-maxiliary contortions in th' empherial regions contiguous t' th'
+upper atmosphere!" exclaimed Washington, entering from the engine room
+into the conning tower.
+
+"What's the trouble?" asked Mr. Henderson.
+
+"Terrible big black cloud chasin' us from behind!" exclaimed the
+colored man.
+
+Noting the alarm in Washington's voice the professor glanced from the
+rear window. What he saw caused him to exclaim:
+
+"It's a cyclone! We must drop down to avoid it!"
+
+He sprang to a lever controlling the gas and yanked it toward him.
+There was a shrill hissing sound, and a second later the Mermaid began
+to sink. The boys watching the gages on the wall of the tower, saw
+that the craft was falling rapidly.
+
+But, with a rush and roar, the terrible wind was upon them. It caught
+the craft in its fearful grip and heeled it over as a ship careens to
+the ocean blast.
+
+"It's a storm in the upper regions! We'll find it calm below!" cried
+the professor above the howling of the gale. He opened the gas outlet
+wider and the ship fell more rapidly.
+
+"Are you sure we're over the ocean?" asked Mark.
+
+"Positive!" the professor called back. "We have been traveling
+straight south over the Atlantic for the last week. We will land in
+the midst of the waters and float safely."
+
+Lower and lower went the Mermaid. The wind was now blowing with the
+force of a tornado, and, as the craft had to slant in order to
+descend, it felt the power of the gale more than if it had scudded
+before it. But, by skilful use of the directing tube, the professor
+was able to keep the boat from turning over. As they came further down
+toward the earth the force of the wind was felt less and less, until,
+as they came within two hundred feet of the water which they saw below
+them in the gathering dusk, it died out altogether.
+
+"Now we are free from it," said the professor as the Mermaid came down
+on the waves like an immense swan.
+
+"Are you going ahead or going to stop here?" asked Mark
+
+"We'll keep right on," Mr. Henderson answered. "No telling when the
+storm may strike down here. We'll go as far as we can to-night."
+
+  CHAPTER VII
+
+ A QUEER SAIL
+
+NOW that the fear and worriment was over they all began to feel
+hungry, and, while Mark and Jack took charge of the conning tower
+Washington got breakfast. The professor seemed preoccupied during the
+meal, and several times, when Mark spoke to him, he did not reply.
+
+"I wonder if he is worried about something, or is thinking of
+something which seems to be concealed in the storeroom," the boy
+thought.
+
+But, after a while, the professor seemed to be more like himself. He
+was busy over several maps and charts, and then announced the ship
+would try air-sailing again for a while.
+
+"We can make better time above than we can on the water," he said,
+"and I am anxious to get to the mysterious island and learn what is in
+store for us."
+
+Perhaps if the professor had been able to look ahead, and see what was
+soon going to happen, he would not have been so anxious for it to
+occur.
+
+It was shortly after dinner when, the gas container having been
+filled, the ship rose in the air, and began sailing over the ocean,
+about a mile up. The day was a fine one, and, as they were moving
+south, it was constantly growing warmer. Down on the water, in fact,
+it was quite hot, but in the air it was just right.
+
+Like some immense bird the Mermaid went flying through the air. The
+boys and the professor sat upon the deck in easy chairs. It was like
+being on the top of some tall "sky-scraper" building which, by some
+strange power, was being moved forward. Below them the ocean tumbled
+in long, lazy swells.
+
+Suddenly Mark, who was looking through a telescope at the expanse of
+water stretched out under them, gave a cry.
+
+"There's a ship! She's on fire!"
+
+"Where?" asked the professor, stretching out his hand for the glass.
+
+"Just to the port of the forward tube. See the smoke!" exclaimed Mark.
+
+Mr. Henderson looked. Through the lens he saw a column of black vapor
+rising skyward. Mingled with it were red flames.
+
+"Lower the Mermaid!" he cried. "We must save those on board if we
+can!"
+
+Mark ran to the conning tower, where Washington was, to give the
+order. The colored man, who was looking ahead, intent on guiding the
+ship, did not at first hear what Mark called.
+
+"Lower us! Send the Mermaid down!" Mark cried again.
+
+The sudden shout, and the excited voice of Mark so startled
+Washington, that, fearing some accident had happened, he pulled the
+lever, controlling the gas supply, with more force than necessary.
+
+There was a loud explosion, followed by a crackling sound, a flash of
+light, and the Mermaid came to a sudden stop.
+
+"What's the matter?" cried Mark, feeling that something was wrong.
+
+"I don't know!" Washington replied, as he dashed toward the engine
+room.
+
+The Mermaid, her forward flight checked, hung in the air, suspended,
+neither rising or falling.
+
+"Why don't we go on down?" the professor asked, hurrying to the tower.
+
+"There has been an explosion-- an accident!" exclaimed Mark. "I guess
+we can't go down!"
+
+"But we must!" Mr. Henderson insisted, seizing the lever which should
+have produced a downward motion. The handle swung to and fro. It was
+disconnected from the apparatus it operated.
+
+The ship was now stationary in the air, moving neither forward nor
+backward, neither rising nor falling. Washington had stopped the air
+pumps as soon as he learned something was wrong.
+
+When Mr. Henderson saw the useless lever, which had controlled the
+outlet of gas from the holder, he ran out on deck. One glance told him
+what had happened. One of the electric wires had become
+short-circuited,-- that is, the insulation had worn off and allowed
+the current to escape. This had produced a spark, which had exploded
+the gas which was in the pipe leading from the generator up into the
+aluminum holder. Fortunately there was an automatic cut-off for the
+supply of vapor, or the whole tank would have gone up.
+
+As it was, only a small quantity had blown up, but this was enough to
+break the machinery at the point where the lever in the conning tower
+joined the pipe. If it had not been for the automatic cut-off all the
+gas in the holder would have poured out in a great volume, and the
+ship would have fallen like a shot.
+
+"Can we do nothing to save those on the burning vessel?" asked Mark,
+pointing to where a cloud of smoke hung over the ocean.
+
+"I fear not, now," answered the professor. "We are in a bad plight
+ourselves."
+
+"Are we in any danger?" asked Jack.
+
+"Not specially," Mr. Henderson replied. "But we must find a means of
+lowering ourselves gradually."
+
+"Then it will be too late to save any of those on the ship," observed
+Mark.
+
+"I'm afraid so," the scientist made reply.
+
+The Mermaid rested some distance above the surface of the waters. She
+moved slightly to and fro with the wind, and rocked gently. The
+professor was examining the broken machinery.
+
+"I have a plan!" suddenly cried Mark.
+
+"What is it?" asked Mr. Henderson.
+
+"Can't we bore a hole in the tank, insert a small faucet or tap, and
+let the gas out that way gradually?" asked the boy. "When we get down
+we can rescue those in danger of fire, and, later, can repair the
+break."
+
+"The very thing!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. "I never thought of that!
+Here, Washington! Bring me a drill, and a small stop-cock!"
+
+The drill was obtained from the engine room. Working rapidly Mr.
+Henderson bored a hole in the lower part of the holder. As soon as the
+metal was penetrated the gas, which was under considerable pressure,
+rushed from the tank with a hissing sound. At once the Mermaid began
+to settle rapidly.
+
+But the professor was prepared for this. He thrust the end of the
+stop-cock into the hole. It was screwed fast and the valve turned.
+This stopped the flow of gas and checked the descent of the ship.
+Then, by opening the tap the vapor was allowed to escape gradually,
+bringing the Flying Mermaid gently to the water.
+
+As the adventurers approached they could see that the vessel was now a
+mass of flames. The wind was driving the fire toward the forecastle,
+and the crew had sought refuge aft. But this expedient could not last
+long, for, already the tongues of fire were licking the sides of the
+craft and coming nearer and nearer the seemingly doomed men. The
+vessel was a large one, and heavily laden.
+
+As those in peril caught sight of the Mermaid settling down into the
+water, apparently from the clouds, their fears gave place to
+astonishment. So great was this that they ceased their cries of
+terror. Then, as they saw that the strange craft navigated the ocean,
+for the engines were started aboard the Mermaid, they began to call
+for help.
+
+  CHAPTER VIII
+
+ THE FLYING MERMAID DISABLED
+
+"WE'LL save you!" shouted Mr. Henderson, who was on the deck, while
+Mark was steering the craft. "Hold on a few minutes longer and we'll
+be alongside!"
+
+"They're real! They're real!" some of those aboard the burning ship
+could be heard to shout. Evidently more than one of them had taken the
+Mermaid for a delusion of their fear-crazed brain.
+
+"They are real persons!" they called again and again. "They are coming
+to save us!"
+
+Mr. Henderson ran his ship as near the burning craft as he dared. Then
+he called to the crew to leap into the water and swim to him. He, with
+Washington, Jack, Bill and Tom, stood ready to haul aboard any who
+were too weak to help themselves.
+
+In a few minutes all of those left alive on the sailing vessel--
+fourteen in all-- had come safely aboard the Mermaid. The ship was now
+completely enveloped in flames.
+
+"Are there any more left on her?" asked Mr. Henderson of one who
+appeared to be a mate of the burning craft.
+
+"Not a soul!" was the answer. "The captain and ten men perished in the
+flames. The fire broke out a week ago in the lower hold. We fought it
+as well as we could but it got the best of us. Then it suddenly broke
+through the decks, almost like an explosion, a little while ago, and
+the captain and others were lost, and so were our small boats. We
+managed to get aft but were about to give up when you appeared."
+
+"What ship is it and where are you from?"
+
+"The Good Hope, laden with logwood, hides, jute and other materials
+from South America," the mate answered. "We were bound for New York."
+
+"It is more like the Last Hope instead of the Good Hope," observed Mr.
+Henderson in a quiet voice, as he saw the flames mount higher and
+higher over the ship. A few seconds later the craft seemed rent by an
+internal explosion. It appeared to break in two parts, and, amid a
+shower of sparks and a cloud of black smoke, the vessel sank under the
+water and was seen no more.
+
+The rescued men turned to behold the final end of their ship. They
+betrayed no particular emotion, and some of them even laughed, which
+the professor thought, at the time, was rather strange. But there was
+little opportunity for speculation. The men were in a sad plight. Few
+of them had more than the clothes they stood in, though each one wore
+about his waist a belt, and all of them seemed to guard the leather
+circlets jealously.
+
+The professor and his crew were soon busy supplying remedies for
+burns, since several of the men were seared by the flames. Then, as it
+was learned they had eaten nothing for many hours, it having been
+impossible to use the galley, a meal was prepared and the survivors of
+the wreck were well fed.
+
+The hunger of the newcomers having been appeased, they showed much
+curiosity over the strange craft that had so opportunely come to their
+rescue. Most of the sailors were ignorant men, and the professor had
+little fear of them learning anything concerning his secrets. He
+explained briefly about the Mermaid, but said nothing of whither she
+was bound.
+
+The addition of fourteen men to the rather small accommodations of the
+Mermaid was a serious matter to consider. The ship was able to hold
+them all, and even to sail through the air with them, since Mr.
+Henderson had provided an excess of power. But it was going to be a
+problem to feed so many, and still save enough provisions, for the
+long voyage which lay ahead.
+
+However, Mr. Henderson felt his first duty to be toward his fellowmen,
+even if his voyage must be delayed, or given up for a time, while he
+got more provisions. There would be no sleeping quarters for the
+sailors, but when this was explained to them they cheerfully said they
+would sleep on deck if necessary. In fact some of them had to, but as
+the weather was warm and clear this was no hardship. A few found
+quarters in the engine room and other apartments of the Mermaid.
+
+Finding, after an examination, that his ship was in good order save
+for the broken gas apparatus, Mr. Henderson gave orders to proceed
+along the surface of the ocean. The sailors wanted to see how it felt
+to mount into the air, but Mr. Henderson, refused to attempt a flight
+until he had made complete repairs, and this would take a day or more.
+
+At this there appeared to be some discontent among the survivors, and
+they muttered to each other as they stood in a group on deck. But the
+professor and his assistants were too busy with their preparations for
+fixing the break to notice this.
+
+While the men were gathered in a knot near the after part of the small
+deck, the mate separated from them, and, coming close to where Mark
+was standing, unscrewing some of the broken parts of the pipe said, in
+a low voice.
+
+"Tell the captain to watch out."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Mark quickly.
+
+"Hush! Not so loud!" the mate exclaimed. "If the men hear me talking
+to you, or see me, they may kill me. Tell the captain to look out;
+that's all. Be on guard, and watch the engine room carefully."
+
+"But why-- ?" Mark began, when, turning suddenly, the mate left him.
+It was well he did so, for, at that instant, one of the sailors, who
+had observed the two conversing, strolled in their direction.
+
+Much alarmed, Mark sought Mr. Henderson and told him what he had
+heard.
+
+"I suppose the fire may have turned the poor man's head," the
+scientist said. "I wonder if he thinks the men I rescued would mutiny
+and take possession of my ship? If they did they would not know how to
+work it, so what good would it do?"
+
+"Hadn't we better look out?" asked Mark.
+
+"I'm not afraid," replied the professor. "I will be too busy the next
+few days, repairing the break, to think of anything else. Besides,
+what would they want to harm us for? Didn't we save their lives?"
+
+Seeing the scientist placed no faith in what the mate had said, Mark
+went back to his task.
+
+It soon became too dark to work, and it was decided, after supper, to
+halt the ship until morning as it would be less risky.
+
+Mark did not sleep well, his dreams being disturbed by visions of
+pirates and black flags. But morning came and nothing had developed.
+The men seemed to recover their spirits with daybreak, and mast of the
+crew, after breakfast, greeted Mr. Henderson pleasantly, and asked to
+be allowed to help fix the ship.
+
+It took the skilled labor of the professor, Washington and the boys to
+mend the break, and, even at that, it was four days in the repairing.
+But at last the final bolt was in place, and the Mermaid was able to
+resume her trips through the air.
+
+"We will rise the first thing in the morning," said the professor to
+Mark and Jack that night. "I am anxious to see how the ship behaves
+with a big load aboard."
+
+  CHAPTER IX
+
+ THE MUTINY
+
+MARK was awakened that night by feeling some one trying to turn him
+over. At first he thought it was Jack, and sleepily muttered that he
+wanted to be let alone.
+
+"Sorry I can't oblige ye, my hearty!" exclaimed a rough voice in his
+ear, "but I got particular orders t' tie you up!"
+
+At that Mark tried to sit up, but he found he could not. He discovered
+that he was closely bound with many turns of a rope, while in front of
+his bunk stood one of the rescued sailors.
+
+"There," said the man, with a final tightening of the ropes. "I guess
+you're safe."
+
+"What's the matter? What does it all mean?" asked Mark, much
+bewildered.
+
+"It means that we have possession of the ship," the sailor answered,
+"and, if you're wise you'll not make a fuss. It wouldn't do any good,
+anyhow, as all your friends are in the same condition."
+
+Then, picking Mark up, as if he was a baby, the man slung him over his
+shoulder and carried him to the living room. There Mark saw Jack, the
+professor, Washington, and the others similarly bound.
+
+"Do you realize what you are doing?" asked the professor angrily of
+his captors. "You are mutinying, and are liable to severe punishment."
+
+"If they ever get us," added one of the men. "We've got the ship now,
+and we mean to keep her. You'll have to run her or show us how."
+
+"Never!" cried the professor.
+
+"I guess he will when he feels this," said one of the men, as he
+dragged from a recess two wires. "I happen to know something of
+electricity, and when he feels these perhaps he'll change his mind.
+I'll start the dynamo."
+
+The sailor showed that he was acquainted with machinery, for soon the
+hum of the electric apparatus was heard.
+
+"Now to make him tell!" the man with the wires exclaimed, advancing
+toward the professor, who turned pale.
+
+"Stop! You must not torture the old man!" cried a voice, and the mate
+of the Good Hope stepped in front of the sailor with the electrified
+wires.
+
+"Who's going to stop me?" asked the man.
+
+"I will. It's not necessary," the mate went on quickly. "If we make
+him weak we may kill him, and he can not tell us what we want to know.
+One of the boys can tell us how to run the ship."
+
+The mate came quickly over to where Mark lay, and whispered:
+
+"Consent to tell. It is the only way of saving his life. Tell 'em how
+to raise the craft. Then leave all to me. I will save you all and the
+ship, too, if I can. But consent."
+
+Mark nodded his head, and the mate cried:
+
+"I knew I could fetch 'em. I have hypnotic power. This boy will raise
+the ship for us. Loosen his bonds, some of you."
+
+Satisfied that they were now on the way to experiencing a new
+sensation, the sailors took the ropes off Mark's arms and legs, and he
+was allowed to rise. With a reassuring nod toward the professor he led
+the way to the engine room, followed by half the men. He resolved to
+start the gas machine slowly, so as to make the upward trip last
+longer, thinking before it had gone far, some way of escape from the
+mutineers might be found.
+
+While a crowd of the sailors stood near him, Mark operated the
+machinery in the engine room that started the gas generating, and set
+the negative gravity apparatus working.
+
+"You'd better not try any tricks on us," said one of the men in an
+ugly tone of voice.
+
+"I'm not going to," replied Mark. "If you go out on deck you will soon
+see the ship leaving the water and mounting into the air."
+
+"Some of you go," ordered a man with a big bushy red beard. "See if
+the ship rises. When she begins to go up sing out. I'm going to stay
+here and see how the young cub does it so I can work it myself."
+
+Obeying the red-bearded man, who seemed to be a leader, several of the
+sailors went out on the deck. It was quite dark, but there was a
+phosphorous glow to the water which made the rolling waves visible.
+
+The gas was being generated, as could be told by the hissing sound.
+Mark watched the machinery anxiously, for he knew much depended on
+him, and the professor was not at hand to guide and instruct him. He
+watched the dial of the gage which registered the gas pressure and saw
+it slowly moving. In a little while it would be at the point at which
+the ship ought to rise.
+
+Presently a quiver seemed to run through the Mermaid. Now a shout came
+from the watchers on deck.
+
+"She's going up!"
+
+The ship was indeed rising. The red-bearded man, who was addressed as
+Tony, ran from the engine room to the deck. He saw that the ship was
+now ten feet above the water. Back he came to where Mark stood by the
+gas machine.
+
+"Lucky for you that you didn't fool us, lad," he said with a leer.
+"See that you mind me hereafter. Now show me how the shebang works."
+
+When the ship had risen as far as Tony desired he made Mark send it
+straight ahead. The boy adjusted the air tube to carry the craft
+toward the south, but Tony, seeing by a compass in which direction
+they were headed, ordered Mark to steer due east.
+
+"Fix things so they will stay so, too," added Tony. "I don't want to
+stop until I get a thousand miles away. Then we'll come down, sail to
+some sunny island, and enjoy life."
+
+Mark locked the steering apparatus so as to keep the Mermaid headed
+due east.
+
+"Now you can go back to your friends," Tony said. "When I want you
+I'll send for you."
+
+With a heavy heart Mark rejoined the professor and others. He found
+them with their bonds removed. But to guard against their escape
+several men were on watch outside the door.
+
+"What are they doing?" asked the professor eagerly as Mark entered,
+and the boy told him what had taken place.
+
+"They will ruin my ship and spoil the whole trip," cried the old
+scientist. "Oh, why did I ever go to the rescue of the scoundrels?"
+
+"Never mind," said Jack. "Perhaps we may yet outwit them."
+
+Morning came at last. The ship was still shooting forward at fast
+speed, in an easterly direction. The sailors had learned, in their
+short stay aboard, where the food and stores were kept, and they lost
+little time in getting breakfast. They sent same in to their captives,
+including a big pot of hot coffee, and, after partaking of this the
+professor and his friends felt better.
+
+The mate of the Good Hope came in to help clear away the dishes. As he
+passed Mark he slipped into the boy's hand a note.
+
+"Don't read it until you are alone," he said in a low voice, as he
+hurried from the room.
+
+As soon as the other sailors had left, Mark glanced at the slip of
+paper. It bore these words:
+
+  "Open when you hear three raps, then two, then three, and keep
+  silent."
+
+"What is it?" asked Mr. Henderson.
+
+Mark showed him the paper.
+
+"I wonder what it means," the boy said.
+
+"Do you think he is a friend of ours?" the professor asked.
+
+Mark told him of the mate's conversation the night previous.
+
+"I think we can trust him," the scientist went on. "He must intend to
+pay us a visit when the others are asleep. When we hear the knocks as
+he specifies we must open the door and let him in."
+
+All that day the captives were kept in the living room. Once or twice
+Mark was sent for to make some adjustment to the machinery, but the
+apparatus, for the most part, was automatic, and needed little
+attention. The professor, as well as the others, were all impatience
+for the promised visit of the mate. Still they felt he would not come
+until night.
+
+In fact it was long past midnight before Mark, Jack and the professor,
+who were anxiously listening, heard the three raps, then two, then
+three more. Mark quickly opened the door, and the mate stepped inside,
+holding his finger to his lips as a sign of caution. Old Andy,
+Washington, Bill and Tom had fallen asleep.
+
+"I have only time for a few words," the mate said. "I am closely
+watched. Tony mistrusts me. I will save you if I can."
+
+"Why have they repaid my kindness with such actions?" asked Mr.
+Henderson.
+
+"Because they are desperate men," replied the mate. "They are nothing
+more than pirates. They mutinied on the other ship, killed the captain
+and those of the crew who would not join them, and started off to seek
+their fortunes. I pretended to join them to save my life, but I have
+only been watching for a chance to escape.
+
+"Because of lax discipline the ship was sent on fire. We tried to put
+it out but could not. The rest you know."
+
+"I heard them plan to capture this airship, but could do nothing to
+stop them. Then I resolved to pretend to act with them. They fear
+pursuit for their other mutiny, and are anxious to get as far away as
+possible."
+
+"Do you think they will abandon the ship in a little while?" asked the
+professor hopefully.
+
+"I'm afraid not," answered the mate. "I think they want to get rid of
+all of you, so they can sail about as they please. Tony is a smart
+man. He could soon learn to run this ship, he thinks."
+
+"I doubt it," Mr. Henderson answered. "But how are you going to help
+us?"
+
+"I have not fully made up my plans," the mate answered. "However I
+wanted you to know I would do my best to save you. Now I must go. Be
+on the watch and when I can I will let you know what I have decided
+on. I will hand Mark a note when I bring your meals, just as I did
+to-day. I think----"
+
+"Hark! What was that?" asked the professor.
+
+There was a noise outside the door, as if some one was listening.
+
+"Put out the lights!" whispered the mate, and Jack switched off the
+electric incandescents.
+
+A knock sounded on the door and the voice of Tony called:
+
+"Mark! Come here! I want you to look at the gas machine. It has
+stopped working, and we are falling!"
+
+  CHAPTER X
+
+ FOOLING THEIR ENEMIES
+
+MARK hurried into the corridor, taking care to close the door after
+him, so Tony could get no glimpse of the mate who had risked so much
+to save his friends. But he need not have been alarmed for the leader
+of the mutineers was too excited over the stopping of the gas
+apparatus to give any heed to who was in with the captives.
+
+"Do you think you can fix it?" he asked the boy.
+
+"I guess so," Mark replied confidently. "If I can't there is no
+danger, for we will fall gradually and land in the water."
+
+"But I don't want to do that," Tony objected. "I want to keep on
+through the air."
+
+Mark did not reply. By this time he was at the gas machine. He soon
+saw nothing was the matter save that new material must be placed in
+the retort where the vapor was generated. He refilled it, the gas was
+manufactured once more, and the ship began to rise.
+
+"I will know how to do it next time," Tony said with a grin. Mark
+realized that every time he showed the leader of the mutineers
+something about the ship it was putting the professor and his friends
+more and more into the power of the scoundrels. But there was no help
+for it.
+
+The ship was still plunging ahead, and kept about a mile above the
+earth. As there was no further need of Mark, he was told he could go
+back to his friends. When he reached the room where they were held
+prisoners, he found the mate had gone away, promising again to do all
+he could for them.
+
+The next night, which it seemed would never come, for the day, locked
+as the captives were in their room, seemed endless, finally closed in.
+Mark, Jack and the professor were anxious to know whether the mate
+would pay them another visit. As for Andy, Tom and Bill, while they
+were interested in the ship, and wanted to be free from the power of
+the mutineers, they did not lose any sleep over it.
+
+Shortly after midnight, there came again the peculiar knock, and the
+mate entered the room. He seemed much excited over something, and, as
+soon as the portal was securely closed he said to Professor Henderson:
+
+"Is there an island any where near here where men could live for a
+time?"
+
+"What do you mean?" asked the scientist. "Do you want us to desert the
+ship and leave these scoundrels in charge?"
+
+"Nothing of the sort," replied the mate, who, had said his name was
+Jack Rodgers. "But first answer my question. A great deal may depend
+on it."
+
+Seeing Rodgers was in earnest, the professor looked over some maps and
+charts, and announced that they were within a few hundred miles of a
+group of islands.
+
+"When would we reach them?" was Rodgers's next question.
+
+Mr. Henderson made a few rapid calculations on a piece of paper.
+
+"At the present rate of sailing," he said, "we should be there about
+ten o'clock to-morrow. That is, provided the ship does not slacken
+speed or increase it."
+
+"There is no danger of either of those two things happening," said the
+mate. "Tony is too afraid of the machinery to do anything to it. So
+you may safely figure that our speed will continue the same."
+
+"Then I can guarantee, with all reasonable certainty," the professor
+said, "that about ten o'clock to-morrow we will be less than a mile
+from the islands. They are a group where friendly natives live, and
+where many tropical fruits abound. One could scarcely select a better
+place to be shipwrecked. But I hope the plans of Tony and his friends
+do not include landing us there."
+
+"No, nothing like that," the mate answered. "Quite the contrary. But I
+had better be going. I will try and see Mark some time to-morrow. Tony
+does not mind when I speak to him."
+
+With this Rodgers left the captives, as he heard some of the sailors
+moving about and did not want to be discovered. The professor and the
+boys wondered what the mate's plan might be, but they had to be
+content to wait and see.
+
+The night passed without incident. About nine o'clock the next morning
+the mate came to the door of the room where the professor and his
+friends were prisoners. He made no secret of his approach, but knocked
+boldly.
+
+"Tell Mark I want to see him," he said, as the professor answered.
+"All of you keep quiet," he added in a whisper. "There may be good
+news soon."
+
+Mark slipped from the room. He followed the mate to the upper deck
+which, at that time was deserted as all the sailors were in the dining
+room eating, which practice they indulged in as often as they could.
+
+"I have a plan to get rid of these rough men," the mate said to Mark.
+"It may work, and, again it may not. At any rate it is worth trying,
+It all depends on you with what help I can give you."
+
+"I'm willing to do my share," Mark said, and for the next ten minutes
+the boy and the mate were in earnest conversation.
+
+It was about thirty-five minutes later when there arose a sudden
+commotion in the ship. Mark had returned to his friends and the mate
+had disappeared. The confusion seemed to come from the engine room
+where Tony had posted some of his men.
+
+"We're falling down! We'll all be killed!" shouted the men. "The ship
+is falling into the sea!"
+
+"What is the trouble?" asked the professor as he heard the commotion.
+
+"It is part of the mate's plan," said Mark. "He told me to tell you to
+do nothing. If Tony or any of the other men come to you just refer
+them to me."
+
+Two minutes later Tony came rushing into the apartment where the
+captives were held prisoners.
+
+"Here! Come quickly, Mark!" he exclaimed. "Something has gone wrong
+with the gas machine again, and you must come and fix it before we are
+all dashed to pieces!"
+
+With every appearance of haste Mark rushed from the apartment,
+following Tony. The latter led the way to the engine room.
+
+"Can anything be done?" he asked.
+
+Mark took a survey of the machinery.
+
+"It is too late," he said as though much excited. "The ship is falling
+down toward the sea with terrific force."
+
+It needed but a glance at the height gage to show this. The pointer
+was revolving rapidly about the face of the dial.
+
+"Will the ship stand the blow?" asked Tony.
+
+"Not at the rate it is falling," replied Mark. "She will go all to
+pieces when she strikes the water, and she may explode!"
+
+"What are we to do then?" asked the leader of the mutineers.
+
+"We must save ourselves!" cried the mate, running in at this juncture.
+"Let our prisoners shift for themselves as best they can. Let's all
+leap into the sea. There we at least have a chance for our lives. But
+if we stay on this ship we will all be drowned like cats in a bag."
+
+"What do you propose?" asked Tony, his face white with fear.
+
+"When the ship comes near enough the surface of the water to make it
+safe we should all drop overboard!" the mate exclaimed. "We are near
+some islands, I understand, and we can thus save our lives by swimming
+ashore."
+
+This plan seemed to meet with instant favor, and a little later there
+was a rush for the deck, as each one wished to be the first to escape
+from the boat they believed to be doomed.
+
+Lower and lower fell the Mermaid. She was like a wounded bird which
+the shot of the hunter has crippled. Down and down she fluttered.
+
+By this time all the sailors, save the mate were on deck. He and Mark
+remained in the engine room.
+
+"Don't let her get too low," the mate whispered.
+
+"I'll watch out," Mark replied. "I want to give them a good scare
+while I'm at it."
+
+The ship was now within fifty feet of the water. There was a cry of
+terror from the sailors. Some of them leaped over the rail and started
+to swim ashore, as the ship was by this time close to a group of
+islands.
+
+Suddenly, from the engine room the mate rushed.
+
+"Jump! Jump for your lives!" he exclaimed. "The ship is about to blow
+up!"
+
+  CHAPTER XI
+
+ MYSTERIOUS HAPPENINGS
+
+THE voice of the mate echoed through the Mermaid. Those on deck heard
+it, as did Tony in the engine room, where he was vainly trying to
+understand the complicated machinery.
+
+An instant later there sounded from beneath the ship a series of
+splashes. More sailors were leaping from the deck of the craft to the
+ocean. The distance was not great, particularly as they all landed in
+water.
+
+"Quick!" cried the mate to a group of sailors that hesitated before
+taking the jump. "The ship may blow up any minute now."
+
+The men needed no second urging. As soon as they struck the water they
+began to swim ashore, as it was not far away. One after another they
+jumped over the rail. Tony was the last to go. He urged the captives
+to follow him, but they all refused.
+
+A minute later the only one of the pirate crew left on the ship was
+the mate. The others were all struggling in the sea. Eventually they
+all reached shore in safety.
+
+The airship was now within about twenty feet of the water. It was
+still falling but not so rapidly.
+
+"Better send her up, now," said the mate to Mark, and the boy turned
+the necessary levers to accomplish this.
+
+Dipping into the water as a sea gull does when searching for food on
+the wing, for she had come quite low, the Mermaid mounted once more
+into the air, and was soon sailing along over the heads of Tony and
+his gang.
+
+"What's it all about?" asked Mr. Henderson, who seemed in a sort of
+stupor. "I thought the ship was broken. How, then, can it rise?"
+
+"It was only a trick of mine," Rodgers said. "The gas machine is not
+broken. I had Mark fix it so that only a little vapor would be
+generated. When the supply in the holder was not enough, and no more
+was being made, the ship had to sink. Mark and I pretended it was
+worse than it really was just to scare the scoundrels."
+
+"And you evidently succeeded," observed Mr. Henderson. "They have all
+left us. I am glad you stayed."
+
+"So am I," said Rodgers. "I was just waiting for a chance to escape
+from that crowd. This was the plan I thought of that night. I wanted
+to see the men put on some island where they could manage to live, and
+which was not too far away."
+
+The Mermaid was now mounting upward rapidly, as Mark had adjusted the
+machinery properly. The craft was well rid of the pirate crew, and was
+able to proceed on its way, and enable Mr. Henderson to carry out his
+plans.
+
+When the Mermaid had reached a certain height her prow was turned the
+other way, and she was sent back racing over the ground she had just
+covered. But now the ship was in the hands of friends. Fortunately no
+great damage had been done by the sailors, and the professor was soon
+able to get things in ship-shape. The engines had not been molested
+and were working better than ever.
+
+"Now to make another attempt to reach the big hole in the earth," the
+professor cried. "We will be careful next time, who we rescue from
+ships at sea."
+
+The island was soon left behind, becoming a mere speck on the ocean.
+Those aboard the Mermaid knew no harm could befall the sailors, as
+there were no savage tribes on the little spot of land. Eventually the
+sailors were picked up by a passing vessel and taken to their homes.
+The story of their first mutiny leaked out and they were properly
+punished.
+
+It required several days travel before the airship regained the
+distance she had lost because of the plans of the pirates. Also, there
+were a number of minor repairs to make, and the professor and his
+friends were kept busy.
+
+"How much longer before we come to the big hole?" asked Jack, one day.
+
+"I think we ought to be near it in about two weeks," the professor
+replied. "I only hope we shall not be disappointed, and will be able
+to explore it."
+
+"'Tain't goin' t' be no fun t' be decimated an' expurgitated inter a
+conglomerous aggregation of elements constituting th' exterior portion
+of human anatomy," said Washington in dubious tones.
+
+"You mean you're afraid of being boiled in the steam from the big
+hole?" asked Mark.
+
+"Jest so," replied the colored man.
+
+"You don't need to worry about that," put in the professor. "I will
+not take the ship down if there is any danger, though of course there
+will be some risk."
+
+The ship, having been fully repaired, was now able to be speeded up,
+and was sent scudding along toward her destination. Rodgers proved a
+valuable acquisition toward the crew, for he had sailed many years in
+the waters over which they were flying, and was able to give the
+professor many valuable hints. He had heard vague stories of the
+island with the big hole, but had never been near it. He did not make
+the trip however, as, at his request, he was put off at an inhabited
+island one night.
+
+It was about a week after the sailors were frightened from the ship,
+that a curious experience befell Mark. Washington was on duty in the
+conning tower, attending to the apparatus as the ship flew through the
+air, and all the others had gone to bed. Mark had remained up, later
+than the others as he was interested in reading a book on science.
+
+About ten o'clock he became hungry, and going to the pantry got some
+bread and cold meat. He set these on a table, and then, remembering he
+would need some water to drink, started after some in the cooler,
+which was in a little room near the tower.
+
+Washington heard the boy as he turned the faucet to draw the liquid,
+and spoke to him, as the colored man was rather lonesome at his post.
+Mark did not linger more than a minute or two, but when he returned to
+where he had left the food he was much surprised.
+
+There was not a trace of it to be seen. The dishes were on the table,
+but every vestige of bread and meat had disappeared.
+
+"I wonder if a cat or dog has been here," was Mark's first thought.
+Then he remembered that no such animals were aboard the Mermaid.
+
+Something on the floor caught his eye. He stooped and picked it up. It
+was a slice of bread, but in such shape that the boy stared at it,
+puzzled as to how it could have become so.
+
+It was flattened out quite thin, but the strangest part of it was that
+it bore what seemed to be the marks of thumb and fingers from a very
+large hand. So big, in fact, was the print, that Mark's hand scarce
+covered half of it, and, where the bread had been squeezed into a
+putty like mass (for it was quite fresh) the peculiar markings on the
+skin of the tips of the fingers were visible.
+
+"It looks as if a giant grabbed this slice of bread," Mark observed.
+"There are strange happenings aboard this ship. I wish I knew what
+they meant."
+
+He looked all around for the food, thinking perhaps a rat had dragged
+it off, but there was no trace of it.
+
+Suddenly the boy thought he heard a sound from the big storeroom. He
+was almost sure he heard something moving in there. He started toward
+the door when he was stopped by hearing the professor's voice call:
+
+"Don't open that door, Mark. Have I not told you that place must not
+be entered?"
+
+"I thought I heard some one in there," Mark replied.
+
+"There is nothing in there but some apparatus of mine," Mr. Henderson
+said. "I want no one to see it. What is the matter?"
+
+Mark explained matters to the scientist, who had, as he said later,
+arisen on hearing the boy, moving about.
+
+"Oh, it was a rat that took your stuff," Mr. Henderson said. "I guess
+there are some pretty big ones on the ship. Get some more food and go
+to sleep."
+
+Mark felt it best to obey, though he was by no means satisfied with
+the professor's explanation. He listened intently to see if any more
+noises came from the storeroom, but none did, and he went to bed.
+
+Several times after that Mark tried the experiment of leaving food
+about. On each occasion it was taken.
+
+"It looks as if the ship was haunted," he said. "Of course I know it
+isn't, but it's very queer. They must be strange rats that can get
+food from shelves when there is only the smooth side of the ship to
+climb up," for on some occasions Mark had tried the experiment of
+putting the food as nearly out of reach as possible.
+
+It took several nights to learn all this, and, as he did not want to
+take any one into his confidence, he had to work in secret. But, with
+all his efforts he learned nothing, save that there was something odd
+about the ship that he could not fathom.
+
+At first he believed the professor had some strange animal concealed
+in the storeroom, but he dismissed this idea almost as soon as he
+thought of it. For what could the scientist want with an animal when
+they were going to the interior of the earth? That some beast had
+slipped aboard was out of the question. Mark was much puzzled, but
+finally, deciding the matter did not concern him a great deal, gave up
+trying to solve the mystery, at least for a time.
+
+The ship was now in the neighborhood of the equator and the climate
+had become much warmer. So hot indeed were some nights that they slept
+out on deck, with the Mermaid flying through the air at a moderate
+pace, for it was deemed best not to go at any great speed after dark.
+
+One night the professor, after consulting various charts and maps, and
+making calculations which covered several sheets of paper announced:
+
+"We should sight the mysterious island to-morrow."
+
+"That's good news!" exclaimed Jack. "I'm anxious to see what's below
+inside of that big hole."
+
+"Everybody git ready for their funerals!" exclaimed Washington in a
+deep voice. "I ain't got many----"
+
+"Cheer up," interrupted Jack, poking Washington in the ribs. The
+colored man was very ticklish, and he began to laugh heartily, though,
+perhaps, he did not feel like it.
+
+Suddenly, above the sound of his shouts, there came a crashing,
+grinding noise from the engine room.
+
+  CHAPTER XII
+
+ THE BIG HOLE
+
+"SOMETHING has gone wrong!" exclaimed the professor as he jumped up.
+He reached the engine room ahead of any one else, and when the two
+boys got there they found him busy twisting wheels and shifting
+levers.
+
+"Anything serious?" asked Jack.
+
+"It's the gas machine again," Mr. Henderson replied. "It broke where
+we fixed it. However it doesn't matter. I was going to lower the ship
+anyhow, as I want to approach the island from the water. We will go
+down a little sooner than I counted on."
+
+The disabling of the gas machine caused the vapor to escape slowly
+from the tank, and this made the ship sink gradually. By means of the
+emergency stop-cock the descent could be controlled almost as well as
+though the machinery was in working order. Half an hour later the
+Mermaid rested on the water.
+
+It was a little rough, as there was quite a swell on, and not so
+pleasant as floating in the air on an even keel, but they made the
+best of it.
+
+On account of the little accident, and not being certain of its
+extent, it was deemed best not to send the ship ahead. So they laid to
+until morning.
+
+For the better part of two days all those on board the Mermaid had
+their hands full mending the break and making other repairs found
+necessary. In that time they lay to, floating idly with the currents,
+or blown by the wind, for the professor would not start any of the
+engines or apparatus until the ship was in good condition.
+
+In this time Mark had several times recalled the curious happenings in
+regard to the disappearing food, and the mystery of the storeroom. But
+there were no further manifestations, and no other signs that there
+might be a strange visitor aboard.
+
+"I couldn't have imagined it all," said Mark, "but I guess what did
+happen may have been caused by natural means, only I can't discover
+them."
+
+It was about two days after this, the ship having sailed scores of
+miles on the surface of the water, that Mark, who was in the conning
+tower exclaimed:
+
+"That looks like a waterspout ahead of us."
+
+"That's what it is!" Jack agreed. "What shall we do?"
+
+"Call the professor!" said Mark. "He'll know."
+
+When Mr. Henderson came, he looked for a long time at a cloud of black
+vapor which hung low in the east.
+
+"It may be a waterspout," he said. "We'll rise in the air and see if
+we can avoid it."
+
+The ship was sent up into the air. As it rose higher and higher, the
+professor, making frequent observations from his conning tower, cried
+out:
+
+"That is no waterspout!"
+
+"What is it?" asked Mark.
+
+"It is the steam and vapor rising from the big hole in the earth!
+Boys, we are almost there!"
+
+"Are you sure that's it?" asked Mark.
+
+"Almost positive," Mr. Henderson replied. "You can see how much warmer
+it has become of late, as we approached the equator. We are almost due
+at the island, and I have no doubt we have reached it."
+
+As the ship flew forward the mass of dark vapor became more
+pronounced. Through the glasses it could be noticed to consist of
+rolling masses of clouds. What lay beneath them no one knew. The
+adventurers were going to try to find out.
+
+Now that they had arrived at the beginning of the main part of their
+journey, the travelers felt their spirits sink a little. It was one
+thing to plan to go down into the depths of the earth, but it was
+quite another to make the actual attempt. Still, they were not going
+to give up the project. The professor had confidence in his ship and
+believed it could safely make the trip. Still it was with no little
+apprehension that Mr. Henderson watched the nearer approach of the
+craft to that strange island.
+
+"Perfesser, are yo' really an' truly goin' t' depress this elongated
+spheroid an' its human consignment int' that conglomerous convoluted
+mass of gaseous vapor regardless of th' consequences?" asked
+Washington, as he gazed with wide opened eyes at the sight before him.
+
+"If you mean am I going to let the Mermaid go down into that hole you
+are perfectly correct," the scientist answered, "though you could have
+said it in fewer words, Washington."
+
+"I-- I guess I'll get out an' walk," the colored man made reply.
+
+"This isn't any trolley car," observed Mark. "Don't lose your nerve,
+Wash. Stay with us, and we'll discover a gold or diamond mine, maybe."
+
+"Is there diamonds down there?" asked the colored man, his fright
+seeming to leave him.
+
+"There are all sorts of things inside the earth," the professor
+answered.
+
+"Then I'm goin' along!" Washington declared. "I always did want a
+diamond ring, an' I knows a little colored gal that wants one, too.
+I'm goin' all right! This suttenly am th' most kloslosterous
+conjunctivity of combativeness that I ever sagaciated!" and he began
+to do a sort of impromptu cake-walk.
+
+  CHAPTER XIII
+
+ DOWN INTO THE EARTH
+
+IT was now noon, but the adventurers did not think of dinner in the
+excitement of approaching the mysterious island. The speed of the ship
+was increased that they might the more quickly come to it. As they
+approached they could see the masses of vapor more plainly, and it
+appeared that some great commotion must be going on inside the big
+hole, since clouds of steam arose.
+
+"I only hope it doesn't prove too hot for us," observed the professor.
+"However, I provided a water jacket for the ship, and we may need it,
+as well as the vacuum chambers to keep the heat from us."
+
+It was about three o'clock when the flying ship reached the edge of
+the island. From there it was about a mile to the rim of the big hole,
+over one side of which the waters of the ocean poured with a roar that
+could be heard over half a mile off.
+
+"I think we had better halt and see that everything is in good shape
+before proceeding," said Mr. Henderson. "Jack, you and Mark make a
+thorough inspection of the engine room, and see that all the apparatus
+is in working order,"
+
+The two boys prepared to do as they were told. Mark, who was walking a
+little ahead of Jack, entered the apartment from which the storeroom
+opened. As he did so he saw, or thought he saw, the door of the place
+where the extra supplies were kept, close. Without saying anything to
+Jack he hurried forward, and tried the knob. It would not turn.
+
+"That's funny," said Mark to himself. "I could almost swear I saw some
+one go into that room. Yet I know the professor did not enter, for I
+just left him. And none of the others would dare to. I wonder if I
+will ever solve the mystery."
+
+But he had too much to do to allow him to dwell on that matter.
+Several of the dynamos needed adjusting and for two hours he and Jack
+had all they could do.
+
+In the meanwhile the professor had gone over the other parts of the
+ship, and gotten everything in readiness for the descent. The Mermaid
+was lowered to within a few hundred feet of the sea, and, through a
+hose that was let down, the compartments, provided for this emergency
+were filled with water. These compartments were between the outer and
+inner hulls of the lower part of the craft, and were designed to
+prevent the interior becoming heated in case the travelers found they
+had to pass close to fire. There were also vacuum chambers, and from
+these the air was exhausted, as of course every schoolboy knows a
+vacuum is a non-conductor of either heat or cold.
+
+"Now I think we are ready," the professor announced at length.
+
+"Everything's all right in the engine room," announced Jack.
+
+"Yes, an' everything's all right in th' kitchen," put in Washington.
+"I've got a good meal ready as soon as any one wants to eat."
+
+"It will have to wait a while," Mr. Henderson remarked. "We are going
+to start to make the descent before we dine."
+
+The hose was reeled up, and the ship was sent a few hundred feet
+higher into the air, as Mr. Henderson wanted to take a last good
+observation before he went down into the hole.
+
+But having risen some distance above the masses of rolling vapors he
+found he was at no advantage, since the strongest telescope he could
+bring to bear could not pierce the cloud masses.
+
+"We'll just have to trust to luck," the scientist said. "I judge we're
+about over the centre of the opening. Lower away Mark!"
+
+The boy, who, under the watchful eye of the professor, was
+manipulating the levers and wheels in the conning tower, shifted some
+handles. The gas was expelled from the holder, the negative gravity
+apparatus ceased to work, and the Flying Mermaid sank lower and lower,
+toward the mysterious hole that yawned beneath her.
+
+The hearts of all beat strangely, if not with fear, at least with
+apprehension, for they did not know what they might encounter. Perhaps
+death in some terrible form awaited them. But the desire to discover
+something new and strange had gripped all of them, and not one would
+have voted to turn back.
+
+Even old Andy, who seldom got excited, was in unusual spirits. He took
+down his gun and remarked:
+
+"Maybe I can kill some new kind of animal, and write a book about its
+habits, for surely we will see strange beasts in the under-world."
+
+Lower and lower sank the ship. Now it was amid the first thin masses
+of vapors, those that floated highest and were more like a light fog,
+than anything else. By means of a window in the bottom of the craft,
+which window was closed by a thick piece of plate glass, Professor
+Henderson could look down and see what was beneath them.
+
+"The clouds seem to be getting thicker," he said, as he peered through
+the small casement. "If they would only clear away we could see
+something."
+
+But instead of doing this the vapors accumulated more thickly about
+the ship. It was so dark inside the Mermaid now that the electric
+lights had to be switched on. In the room with the floor-window the
+lights were not used, as had they shone one could not have seen down
+below.
+
+The professor maintained his position. The descent was a perilous one,
+and he wanted to be on the watch to check it at once if the Mermaid
+was liable to dash upon some pointed rock or fall into some fiery pit.
+His hand was on the signal levers.
+
+Suddenly he looked up and glanced at a gage on the wall. The hand of
+it was slowly revolving.
+
+"We are at the earth's surface," the scientist said. "Now we are below
+it. Now we are fairly within the big hole! Boys, we may be on the
+verge of a great discovery!"
+
+An instant later it seemed as if a hot wave had struck the Mermaid, or
+as if the craft had been plunged into boiling water.
+
+"It's going to be hot!" cried the professor. "Lucky I provided the
+water jackets!"
+
+Then the lights in the interior of the ship went out, leaving the
+whole craft in darkness.
+
+"What has happened?" cried Mark.
+
+  CHAPTER XIV
+
+ MANY MILES BELOW
+
+"DON'T be alarmed," spoke the calm voice of the professor. "I have
+only turned off the electrics. I want to switch on the search lights,
+to see if we can learn anything about our position."
+
+As he spoke he turned a switch, and, the gloom below the ship, as the
+boys could see by glimpses from the floor-window, was pierced by a
+dazzling glare. In the bottom of the Mermaid were set a number of
+powerful electric arc lights with reflectors, constructed to throw the
+beams downward. The professor had built them in for just this
+emergency, as he thought that at some time they might want to
+illuminate what was below the craft.
+
+Not that it was of much avail on this occasion, for, though the lights
+were powerful, they could not pierce the miles of gloom that lay below
+them. The beams only served to accentuate the darkness.
+
+"I guess we'll have to trust to luck," the professor said, after a
+vain attempt, by means of powerful glasses, to distinguish something.
+"There is too much fog and vapor."
+
+"What makes it so warm?" asked Mark, removing his coat.
+
+"Well, you must remember you are approaching the interior of the
+earth," the professor answered. "It has been calculated that the heat
+increases one degree for every fifty-five feet you descend. We have
+come down several hundred feet and of course it is getting warmer."
+
+"Then if we go down very far it will get so hot we will not be able to
+stand it," Jack put in.
+
+"I do not believe we will suffer any great inconvenience," Mr.
+Henderson went on. "I believe that after we pass a certain point it
+will become cooler. I think the inner fires of the earth are more or
+less heated gas in a sort of inner chamber between two shells. If we
+can pass the second shell, we will be all right."
+
+"But aren't we liable to hit something, going down into the dark this
+way?" asked Mark.
+
+"We will guard ourselves as far as possible," the scientist answered.
+
+The Mermaid seemed to be going down on a side of the immense shaft a
+good way distant from the strange waterfall. When they had first
+dropped into the hole the travelers could hear the rush of waters, but
+now the noise was not audible.
+
+"I think the hole must widen out the farther down we go," the
+professor said. "We are probably many miles from the fall now."
+
+"I'm sure I hope so," put in Jack. "It would be no fun to have to take
+a shower bath in this place."
+
+After a meal, the boys and the professor took some more observations,
+but with all their efforts nothing could be seen below the ship but a
+vast black void, into which they were steadily descending.
+
+"I wonder when we're going to stop," asked Mark. "It's like playing
+the game 'Going to Jerusalem,' you keep wondering when the music will
+cease and you will have a chance to grab a chair. I only hope we have
+a chair or something else to sit on, in case we go to smash."
+
+"We're not liable to have any accidents with the professor in charge,"
+Jack answered. "Didn't he bring us safe out of some pretty tight holes
+when we went to the north pole in the airship, and again when we found
+the south pole in the submarine?"
+
+"Yes, but this is different," objected Mark.
+
+"Well, I'm not worrying," Jack went on. "It doesn't do any good, and
+only makes you lie awake nights. By the way, I wonder what time it is
+getting to be."
+
+He looked at his watch and found it was close on to eight o'clock in
+the evening. So late had dinner been served, and so varied were the
+happenings of the last few hours, that time had passed quickly.
+
+"Why it's almost bed-time," said Jack. "I wonder if we are to go on
+dropping into the depths of nowhere all night."
+
+At that moment the professor entered the room where the boys were. He
+seemed quite pleased over something, and was smiling.
+
+"Everything is going along famously," he said. "I have just tested the
+air and find it is rich in oxygen. We shall suffer nothing on that
+score. The heat too, seems to have decreased. On the whole, everything
+favors us."
+
+"Are we going on down?" asked Mark.
+
+"As far as we can," Mr. Henderson answered. "Let me see how far we are
+below now."
+
+He went to the gage that indicated the vertical position of the ship.
+Because of the changed conditions, the craft now sinking below the
+surface of the earth instead of rising above it, as was its wont, some
+calculations were necessary. These the scientist made as quickly as he
+could.
+
+"We are now ten miles underground!" he exclaimed. "That is doing very
+well. My theories are working out. I think we shall land somewhere
+before long."
+
+"I hopes so!" exclaimed Washington coming in at this point. "I'm
+mighty skeered shootin' down int' this dark hole, and no time-table t'
+show when we's due t' arrive."
+
+"We ought to land in a couple of days more," the professor answered.
+"Never mind about worrying Washington, I'll take care of you."
+
+"I hopes so, Perfesser," the colored man said. "I got a little girl
+waitin' for me back in Georgia, an' I'd like t' see her 'fore I git
+burned up."
+
+Accompanied by the professor, the boys made a tour of the ship to see
+that all the machinery and apparatus were in working order. Owing to
+the changed conditions the negative gravity engine had to be worked at
+faster speed than usual, since the downward pull of the earth was
+greater the farther they descended into the interior and they did not
+want to fall too swiftly. But this was easily provided for, since the
+professor had made the apparatus capable of standing a great strain.
+
+The ten miles had become fourteen when the professor, finding that
+everything was in good shape, proposed that the boys go to bed. They,
+did not want to, though they were sleepy, and they feared to miss some
+strange sights.
+
+But when the professor had promised to call them in case anything
+unusual developed, they consented to turn in, and Bill and Tom assumed
+their duties, which were light enough, now that the ship was merely
+falling into the immense shaft.
+
+When Mark turned into his bunk he could not go to sleep at once. It
+may have been the excitement over their new position, or because he
+had eaten too hearty a supper, but the fact was he remained awake for
+some time.
+
+While thus tossing restlessly on his bed, wondering what ailed him, he
+thought he heard a noise in the main apartment out of which the
+storeroom opened. He crawled softly from his bed, and looked from his
+stateroom door.
+
+In the light of a shaded electric Mark saw the figure of some one
+glide across the floor and take refuge in the room, which Professor
+Henderson always was so particular about.
+
+"I wonder what or who that was," reasoned Mark. "There is some mystery
+in this. Can the professor have concealed some one on this ship whose
+presence he does not want to admit? It certainly looks so."
+
+Not wanting to awaken the ship's crew, and remembering what Mr.
+Henderson had said about any one entering the storeroom, Mark went
+back to bed, to fall into an uneasy slumber.
+
+"Breakfast!" called Washington breaking in on a fine dream Jack was
+having about being captain of a company of automobile soldiers. "Last
+call for breakfast!"
+
+"Hello! Is it morning?" asked Jack.
+
+"Not so's you could notice it," Washington went on. "It's as dark as a
+stack of black cats and another one throwed in. But breakfast is ready
+jest the same."
+
+The boys were soon at the table, and learned that nothing of
+importance had occurred during the night. The Mermaid had been kept
+going slowly down, and about seven o'clock registered more than fifty
+miles below the earth's surface.
+
+Still there was no change in the outward surroundings. It remained as
+black as the interior of Egypt when that country was at its darkest.
+The powerful electrics could not pierce the gloom. The ship was
+working well, and the travelers were very comfortable.
+
+Down, down, down, went the Mermaid. The temperature, which had risen
+to about ninety went back to sixty-nine, and there seemed to be no
+more danger from the inner fires.
+
+They were now a hundred miles under the surface. But still the
+professor kept the Mermaid sinking. Every now and again he would take
+an observation, but only found the impenetrable darkness surrounded
+them.
+
+"We must arrive somewhere, soon," he muttered.
+
+It was about six o'clock that night that the alarm bell set up a
+sudden ringing. The professor who was making some calculations on a
+piece of paper jumped to his feet, and so did a number of the others.
+
+"We are nearing the bottom!" he cried. "The bell has given us
+warning!"
+
+  CHAPTER XV
+
+ IN THE STRANGE DRAUGHT
+
+THE boys ran to attend to the engines and apparatus to which they had
+been assigned in view of this emergency. The professor, Washington,
+Bill, Tom and Andy, who had kept to themselves since the descent, came
+running out of the small cabin where they usually sat, and wanted to
+know what it was all about.
+
+"We may hit something, in spite of all precautions," Mr. Henderson
+remarked. "Slow down the ship."
+
+The Mermaid was, accordingly checked in her downward flight, by a
+liberal use of the gas and the negative gravity machine.
+
+The bell continued to ring, and the dials pointed to the mark that
+indicated the ship was more than one hundred and fifty miles down.
+
+Mark, who had run to the engine room to check the descent, came back.
+
+"Why didn't you slow her down?" asked the professor.
+
+"I did," replied the boy. "The negative gravity and the gas machines
+are working at full speed."
+
+"Then why are we still descending?" asked the scientist. "For a while
+our speed was checked, but now we are falling faster than before."
+
+"I attended to the apparatus," Mark insisted.
+
+Just then, from without the ship, came a terrible roaring sound, as
+though there was a great cyclone in progress. At the same time, those
+aboard the craft could feel themselves being pulled downward with
+terrific force.
+
+"We are caught in a draught!" Mr. Henderson cried. "We are being
+sucked down into the depths of the earth!"
+
+He ran to the engine room. With the help of the boys he set in motion
+an auxiliary gravity machine, designed to exert a most powerful
+influence against the downward pull of the earth. As they watched the
+great wheels spin around, and heard the hum and whirr of the dynamos,
+the boys watched the pointer which indicated how low they were
+getting.
+
+And, as they watched, they saw that the needle of the dial kept
+moving, moving, moving.
+
+"Our efforts are useless! We can't stop!" the professor cried.
+
+Grave indeed was the plight of the adventurers. In their ship they
+were being sucked down into unknown regions and all their efforts did
+not avail to save them. It was an emergency they could not guard
+against, and which could not have been foreseen.
+
+"What are to do?" asked Mark.
+
+"We can only wait," Mr. Henderson replied. "The terrible suction may
+cease, or it may carry us to some place of safety. Let us hope for the
+best."
+
+Seeing there was no further use in running the engines in an effort to
+check the downward rush the machines were stopped. Then they waited
+for whatever might happen.
+
+Now that they seemed in imminent peril Washington was as cool as any
+one. He went about putting his kitchen in order and getting ready for
+the next meal as if they were sailing comfortably along on the surface
+of the ocean. As for old Andy he was nervous and frightened, and
+plainly showed it. With his gun in readiness he paced back and forth
+as if on the lookout for strange beasts or birds.
+
+Bill and Tom were so alarmed that they were of little use in doing
+anything, and they were not disturbed in their staterooms where they
+went when it became known that the ship was unmanageable.
+
+The boys and the professor, while greatly frightened at the unexpected
+turn of events, decided there was no use in giving way to foolish
+alarm. They realized they could do nothing but await developments.
+
+At the same time they took every precaution. They piled all the
+bedding on the floor of the living room, so that the pillows and
+mattresses might form a sort of pad in case the ship was dashed down
+on the bottom of the big hole.
+
+"Not that it would save us much," Jack observed with a grim smile,
+"but somehow it sort of makes your mind easier."
+
+All this while the ship was being sucked down at a swift pace. The
+pointer of the gage, indicating the depth, kept moving around and soon
+they were several hundreds of miles below the surface of the earth.
+
+The professor tried, by means of several instruments, to discover in
+which direction they were headed, and whether they were going straight
+down or at an angle. But some strange influence seemed to affect the
+gages and other pieces of apparatus, for the pointers and hands would
+swing in all directions, at one time indicating that they were going
+down, and, again, upward.
+
+"There must be a strong current of electricity here," Mr. Henderson
+said, "or else there is, as many suspect, a powerful magnet at the
+center of the earth, which we are nearing."
+
+"What will you do if the ship is pulled apart, or falls and is
+smashed?" asked Mark with much anxiety.
+
+"You take a cheerful view of things," said Jack.
+
+"Well, it's a good thing to prepare for emergencies," Mark added.
+
+"If the ship was to be separated by the magnetic pull, or if it fell
+on sharp rocks and was split in twain, I am afraid none of us could do
+anything to save ourselves," the professor answered. "Still, if we
+were given a little warning of the disaster, I have means at hand
+whereby we might escape with our lives. But it would be a perilous way
+of----"
+
+"I reckon yo' all better come out an' have supper," broke in
+Washington. "Leastways we'll call it supper, though I don't rightly
+know whether it's night or mornin'. Anyhow I've got a meal ready."
+
+"I don't suppose any of us feel much like eating," observed Mr.
+Henderson, "but there is no telling when we will have the chance
+again, so, perhaps, we had better take advantage of it."
+
+For a while they ate in silence, finding that they had better
+appetites than they at first thought. Old Andy in particular did full
+justice to the food Washington had prepared.
+
+"I always found it a good plan to eat as much and as often as you
+can," the hunter remarked. "This is a mighty uncertain world."
+
+"You started to tell us a little while ago, Professor," said Mark,
+"about a plan you had for saving out lives if worst came to worst, and
+there was a chance to put it into operation. What is it?"
+
+"I will tell you," the aged inventor said. "It is something about
+which I have kept silent, as I did not want to frighten any of you. It
+was my latest invention, and I had only perfected it when we started
+off on this voyage. Consequently I had no chance to try it. The
+machine works in theory, but whether it does in practice is another
+question. That is why I say there is a risk. But we may have to take
+this risk. I have placed aboard this ship a----"
+
+The professor was interrupted in what he was about to say by a curious
+tremor that made the whole ship shiver as though it had struck some
+obstruction. Yet there was no sudden jolt or jar such as would have
+been occasioned by that.
+
+At the same time Washington, who was out in the kitchen, came running
+into the dining room, crying:
+
+"We're droppin' into a ragin' fire, Perfesser!"
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Mr. Henderson.
+
+"I jest took a look down through th' hole in th' bottom of the ship!"
+cried Washington. "It's all flames an' smoke below us!"
+
+"I wonder if it is the end," the professor muttered in a low voice.
+
+Followed by the boys, the inventor hastened to the floor-window. The
+lights were turned off to enable a better view to be had of what was
+below them.
+
+Leaning over the glass protected aperture the boys and the professor
+saw, far, far down, a bright light shining. It was as if they were
+miles above a whole town of blast furnaces, the stacks of which were
+belching forth flames and smoke. The rolling clouds of vapor were
+illuminated by a peculiar greenish light, which, at times, turned to
+red, blue, purple and yellowish hues.
+
+The effect was weird and beautiful though it was full of terror for
+the travelers. It seemed as if they were falling into some terrible
+pit of fire, for the reflection of what they feared were flames, could
+plainly be seen.
+
+"I wish I'd never come on this terrible voyage!" wailed Washington.
+"I'd rather freeze to death than be burned up."
+
+"Washington, be quiet!" commanded the professor sternly. "This is no
+time for foolishness. We must work hard to save our lives, for we are
+in dire peril.
+
+"Mark, you and Washington, with Jack, start the engines. Turn on every
+bit of power you can. Fill the gas holder as full as it will hold, and
+use extra heavy pressure. I will see if I can not work the negative
+gravity apparatus to better advantage than we did before. We must
+escape if possible!"
+
+The boys, as was also Washington, were only too glad to have something
+to do to take their mind off their troubles. All three were much
+frightened, but Mark and Jack tried not to show it. As for Washington
+he was almost crying.
+
+Soon the whirr and hum of the machinery in the Mermaid was heard. The
+craft, which was rushing in some direction, either downward, ahead or
+backwards within the unknown depths, shivered from the speed of the
+dynamos and other apparatus. Soon the boys could hear the professor
+starting the negative gravity engine, and then began a struggle
+between the forces of nature and those of mankind.
+
+Once more the adventurers anxiously watched the gages and indicators.
+For a while the ship seemed to be holding out against the terrible
+influence that was sucking her down. She appeared to hesitate. Then,
+as the downward force triumphed over the mechanical energy in the
+craft, she began to settle again, and soon was descending, if that was
+the direction, as fast as before.
+
+"It is of no use," said the professor with a groan. "I must try our
+last resort!"
+
+He started from the engine room where Mark and Jack had gone. As he
+did so, he glanced at a thermometer hanging on the wall near the door.
+
+"Has any one turned on the heat?" he asked.
+
+"It's shut off," replied Mark, looking at the electric stove.
+
+"Then what makes it so hot?" asked the scientist.
+
+He pointed to the little silvery column in the tiny tube of the
+instrument. It registered close to one hundred degrees, though a few
+minutes before it had been but sixty. And the starting of the
+machinery could not account for the rise in temperature, since most of
+the apparatus was run by electricity and developed little heat save in
+the immediate proximity. The thermometer was fully ten feet away from
+any machine.
+
+"It's the fiery furnace that's doing it!" cried Washington. "We're
+falling into th' terrible pit an' we're goin' t' be roasted alive!"
+
+"It certainly is getting warmer," observed Mark, as he took off his
+coat. Soon he had to shed his vest, and Jack and the professor
+followed his example. The others too, also found all superfluous
+garments a burden, and, in a little while they were going about in
+scanty attire.
+
+Still the heat increased, until it was almost torture to remain in the
+engine room. Nor was it much cooler elsewhere. In vain did the
+professor set a score of big electric fans to whirring. He even placed
+cakes of ice, from the small ice machine that was carried, in front of
+the revolving blades, to cool off the air. But the ice was melted
+almost as soon as it was taken from the apparatus.
+
+"Them flames is gittin' worser!" Washington cried a little later.
+"We's comin' nearer!"
+
+From the bottom window the professor and the boys looked down. True
+enough the curious, changing, vari-colored lights seemed brighter.
+They could almost see the tongues of flame shooting upward in
+anticipation of what they were soon to devour.
+
+The heat was increasing every minute. The sides of the ship were hot.
+The heads of the travelers were getting dizzy. They could hardly talk
+or move about.
+
+"I must save our lives! I must trust to the----" The professor, who
+was muttering to himself started toward the storeroom. As in a dream
+Mark watched him. He remembered afterward that he had speculated on
+what might be the outcome of the mystery the professor threw about the
+place. "I will have to use it," he heard the scientist say softly.
+
+Just as Mr. Henderson was about to open the door there came a fiercer
+blast of heat than any that had preceded. At the same instant the
+conditions in the Mermaid became so fearful that each of the travelers
+felt himself fainting away.
+
+"Go to-- storeroom-- get cylinder-- get in----" the professor
+murmured, and then he fell forward in a faint.
+
+  CHAPTER XVI
+
+ THE NEW LAND
+
+"WHAT is it? Tell us!" exclaimed Jack, almost in his last breath, for,
+a few seconds later he too toppled over senseless. Then Washington
+went down, while Andy, Bill and Tom succumbed to the terrible heat.
+
+Mark felt his head swimming. His eyes were almost bulging from their
+sockets. He dimly remembered trying to force himself to go to the
+storeroom and see what was there. He started toward it with that
+intention, but fell half way to it.
+
+As he did so he saw something which impressed itself on his mind, half
+unconscious as he was.
+
+The door of the storeroom suddenly opened, and from it came a giant
+shape, that seemed to expand until it filled the whole of the
+apartment where the stricken ones lay. It was like the form of some
+monster, half human, half beast. Mark shuddered, and then, closing his
+eyes, he felt himself sinking down into some terrible deep and black
+pit. A second later the whole ship was jarred as though it had hit
+something.
+
+How long he and the others remained unconscious Mark did not know. He
+was the first to revive, and his first sensation was one as though he
+had slept hard and long, and did not want to get up. He felt very
+comfortable, although he was lying flat on the floor, with his head
+jammed against the side of a locker. It was so dark that he could not
+distinguish his hand held close to his face.
+
+"I wonder if I'm dead, and if all the others are dead too," he thought
+to himself. "What has happened? Let's see, the last I remember was
+some horrible shape rushing from the storeroom. I wonder what it could
+have been? Surely that was not the secret the professor referred to."
+
+Mark shuddered as he recalled the monster that seemed to have grown
+more terrible as each second passed. Then the boy raised himself up
+from his prostrate position.
+
+"Well, at any rate, some one has turned off the heat," he murmured.
+"It's very comfortable in here now. I wish I could strike a light."
+
+He listened intently, to learn if any of the others were moving about.
+He could hear them breathing, but so faintly as to indicate they were
+insensible. Mark stretched out his hand and felt that some one was
+lying close to him, but who of the adventurers it was he could not
+determine.
+
+"If only the dynamo was working we could have light," he said. "But it
+seems to have stopped," and, indeed there was a lacking of the
+familiar purr and hum of the electrical machine. In fact none of the
+apparatus in the ship was working.
+
+"The storage battery!" exclaimed Mark. "That would give light for a
+while, if I can only find the switch in the dark."
+
+He began crawling about on his hands and knees. It was so intensely
+black that he ran into many things and received severe bruises. At
+last he came to a doorway, and as he did so his hand came in contact
+with an easy chair. It was the only one aboard, and by that he knew he
+had passed into the sitting room. He had his general direction now,
+and knew if he kept straight on he would come to the engine room.
+There he was familiar enough with the apparatus and levers to be able
+to turn the electric switch.
+
+Crawling slowly and cautiously, he reached the room where all the
+engines were. Then he had to feel around the sides to locate the
+switch. At length he found it. There was a click, a little flash of
+greenish fire, and the copper conductors came together, and the ship
+was flooded with the glow from the incandescents.
+
+Mark hurried back to where the others were lying. They were still
+unconscious, but an uneasy, movement on the part of Jack told that he
+was coming out of the stupor. Mark got some ammonia and held it
+beneath his comrade's nose. The strong fumes completed the work that
+nature had started and Jack opened his eyes.
+
+"Where am I? What has happened? Are any of them dead?" he asked
+quickly.
+
+"I hope no one is dead," Mark replied. "As to the other question, I
+can't answer. I don't know whether we are a thousand miles
+underground, or floating on the ocean, though I'm more inclined to the
+former theory. But never mind that now. Help me to bring the others
+back to their senses. I'll work on the professor and you can begin on
+Bill or Tom. Washington seems to be all right," for at that moment the
+colored man opened his eyes, stared about him and then got up.
+
+"I thought I was dead for suah!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Some of the others may be if we don't hurry," said Mark. "Get to
+work, Wash!"
+
+With the colored man to help them the two boys, by the use of the
+ammonia, succeeded in reviving Bill, Tom and old Andy. But the
+professor, probably on account of his advanced age, did not respond so
+readily to the treatment. The boys were getting quite alarmed, as even
+some of the diluted ammonia, forced between his lips, did not cause
+him to open his eyes, or increase his heart action.
+
+"If he should die, and leave us all alone with the ship in this
+terrible place, what would we do?" asked Jack.
+
+"He's not going to die!" exclaimed Mark. "Here I have another plan.
+Washington bring that medical electrical battery from the engine
+room." This was a small machine the professor had brought along for
+experimental purposes.
+
+Quickly adjusting it, Mark placed the handles in the nerveless fingers
+of Mr. Henderson. Then he started the current. In about a minute the
+eyelids of the aged inventor began to quiver, and, in less than five
+minutes he had been revived sufficiently to enable him to sit up. He
+passed his hand across his forehead.
+
+"What has happened?" he asked in a faint voice.
+
+"I don't know; none of us knows," Mark answered. "We all lost our
+senses when it got so hot, and there seemed to be some peculiar vapor
+in the air. The last I remember was seeing some horrible shape rush
+from the storeroom, soon after the ship struck. Then I fainted away.
+When I woke up I managed to turn the lights on, and then I came back
+here."
+
+"I wonder where we are," the old man murmured. "I must find out. We
+must take every precaution. Washington, go and look at the gage
+indicating our depth."
+
+The colored man was gone but a few seconds. When he returned his eyes
+were bulging in terror.
+
+"What is it?" asked Mr. Henderson, who, thanks to the battery, had
+almost completely recovered.
+
+"It ain't possible!" gasped Washington. "I'll never believe it!"
+
+"What is it?" asked Mr. Henderson, while the others waited in anxiety
+for the answer.
+
+"We're five hundred miles down!" declared Washington.
+
+"Five hundred miles!" muttered the inventor. "It does not seem
+possible, but it must be so. We fell very rapidly and the terrible
+draught sucked us down with incredible rapidity. But come, we must see
+what our situation is, and where we are. We are stationary, and are
+evidently on some solid substance."
+
+They all felt much recovered now, and, as the terrible fright of being
+consumed in a fiery furnace had passed, they all were in better
+spirits.
+
+At the suggestion of the professor, the boys and Washington made a
+tour of the ship. They found, for some unaccountable reason, that
+nearly all the engines and apparatuses were out of gear. In some the
+parts had broken, and others were merely stopped, from the failure of
+some other machine, on which they were dependent.
+
+"I'm afraid this is the end of the Mermaid," said Mark, in a sorrowful
+tone.
+
+"Nonsense!" replied Jack, who was of a more cheerful nature. "Things
+are not so bad as they look. The professor can fix everything."
+
+"I'm sure I hope so," Mark went on, not much encouraged, however, by
+Jack's philosophy. "It would be no joke to have to stay five hundred
+miles underground the rest of our lives."
+
+"You don't know," retorted Jack. "Don't judge of a country you've
+never seen. This may be as fine a place as it is on the surface of the
+earth. I want a chance to see it," and Jack began to whistle a
+cheerful tune.
+
+They completed the tour of the ship, and found, that, aside from the
+damage to the machinery, the Mermaid had not sustained any harm. The
+hull was in good order, though of course they could not tell about the
+gas holder. It was not possible to see this except by going into the
+conning tower or out on the small deck, and this they did not venture
+to do. The connections between the holder and the main ship seemed to
+be all right, and there was still a small quantity of gas in the big
+tank, as Mark found on opening a stop-cock.
+
+They went back to the professor and told him what they had observed.
+He seemed somewhat alarmed, the more so as the experience he had just
+passed through had weakened him considerably.
+
+"I hope I shall be able to make the repairs," he said. "It is our only
+hope."
+
+As he spoke he looked up at the electric lights that shone overhead
+from wall brackets.
+
+"Who is shutting down the power?" he asked.
+
+"There is no power on, Professor," replied Mark. "I am running the
+lights from the storage battery. But something is the matter, for they
+are growing dim."
+
+The filaments were now mere dull red wires, and the ship was being
+shrouded in gloom again.
+
+"The battery is failing!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. "We shall be left
+in darkness, and there is no other way to produce light. I ought to
+have brought some lamps or candles along in case of emergency,"
+
+The next instant the Mermaid became as black as Egypt is popularly
+supposed to be, and something like an exclamation of terror came from
+the professor.
+
+For several minutes they all sat there in the blackness and gloom,
+waiting for they knew not what. Then, suddenly, there sounded
+throughout the ship, a creaking as of metal sliding along metal. Some
+big lever creaked, and, a second later the whole place was flooded
+with light.
+
+"What has happened?" cried the professor, starting to his feet in
+alarm.
+
+"We are going to be burned up!" exclaimed old Andy.
+
+"It's all right! It's all right!" yelled Washington from the engine
+room where the boys had left him. "Don't git skeered! I done it! I
+opened the port holes, by yanking on the lever. Golly, but we's
+arrived at the new land! Look out, everybody!"
+
+  CHAPTER XVII
+
+ A STRANGE COUNTRY
+
+THEY all ran to the port holes, which were openings in the side of the
+ship. They were fitted with thick, double glass, and covered on the
+outside with steel shutters. These shutters were worked by a single
+lever from the engine room, so that one person could open or close
+them in a second or two. Washington, by accident, it appeared later,
+had slid back the protecting pieces of steel, and the rest followed.
+
+As the adventurers looked from the glass ports they saw that the light
+which had flooded the ship came from without. They were in the midst
+of a beautiful glow, which seemed to be diffused about them like rays
+from a sun.
+
+Only, in place of being a yellow or white light, such as the sun gives
+off at varying times, the glow was of violet hue. And, as they
+watched, they saw the light change color, becoming a beautiful red,
+then blue, and again green.
+
+"Well, this is certainly remarkable!" the professor said. "I wonder
+what causes that."
+
+"We've arrived! We're here, anyhow!" Washington cried, coming into the
+room. "See the country!"
+
+Then, for the first time, the travelers, taking their attention from
+the curious light that was all around them, saw that they had indeed
+arrived. They were on a vast plain, one, seemingly, boundless in
+extent, though off to the left there was a range of lofty mountains,
+while to the right there was the glimmer of what might be a big lake
+or inland sea.
+
+"See, we are resting on the ground!" exclaimed Jack. He pointed out of
+the window, and the others, looking close at hand, noted that the
+Mermaid had settled down in the midst of what seemed to be a field of
+flowers. Big red and yellow blossoms were all in front, and some grew
+so tall as to almost be up to the edge of the port.
+
+"I wonder if we can be seeing aright," the professor muttered. "Is
+this really the interior of the earth; such a beautiful place as
+this?"
+
+There could be little doubt of it. The ship had descended through the
+big shaft, had been sucked down by the terrible air current, and had
+really landed in a strange country.
+
+Of its size, shape and general conditions the adventurers, as yet,
+could but guess. They could see it was a pleasant place, and one where
+there might be the means to sustain life. For, as the professor said
+afterward, he felt that where there were flowers there would be
+fruits, and where both of these provisions of nature were to be found
+there would likely be animal life, and even, perhaps, human beings.
+
+But, for the time, they were content to look from the port on the
+beautiful scene that lay stretched out before them. The ship rested on
+an even keel and had landed so softly that none of the plates were
+strained.
+
+"We have plenty of air, at all events," said the professor as he took
+a deep breath. "I was afraid of that, but it seems there was no need.
+The air appears to be as good and fresh as that on the surface of the
+earth, only there is a curious property to it. It makes one feel
+larger. I imagine it must be thinner than the air of the earth, which
+is a rather strange thing, since the higher one goes the more rarefied
+the air becomes, and the lower, the more dense. Still we can not apply
+natural philosophy to conditions under the earth. All the usual
+theories may be upset. However, we should be content to take things as
+we find them, and be glad we were not dashed to pieces when the ship
+was caught in the terrible current."
+
+"What do you suppose caused the awful heat, and then made it go away
+again?" asked Jack.
+
+"I can only make a guess at it," Mr. Henderson answered. "There are
+many strange things we will come across if we stay here long, I
+believe. As for the fire I think we must have passed a sort of
+interior volcano."
+
+"But what sort of a place do you think we have come to, Professor?"
+asked Mark.
+
+"It is hard to say," the scientist replied. "We are certainly
+somewhere within the earth. Our gage tells us it is five hundred
+miles. That may or may not be correct, but I believe we are several
+hundred miles under the crust, at all events. As to what sort of a
+place it is, you can see for yourselves."
+
+"But how is it we can breathe here, and things can grow?" asked Bill,
+who was beginning to lose his fright at the thought of being
+practically buried alive.
+
+"I do not know what makes such things possible," Mr. Henderson
+replied, "but that there is air here is a certainty. I can hardly
+believe it is drawn from the surface of the earth, down the big hole,
+and I am inclined to think this place of the under-world has an
+atmosphere of its own, and one which produces different effects than
+does our own."
+
+"They certainly have larger flowers than we have," said Mark. "See how
+big they grow, and what strong colors they have."
+
+He pointed to the port, against which some of the blooms were nodding
+in the wind that had sprung up, for, in spite of the many differences,
+the under-world was in some respects like the upper one.
+
+"Probably the difference in the atmosphere accounts for that," the
+professor said. "It enables things to grow larger. And, by the way,
+Mark, that reminds me of something you said about seeing some horrible
+monster fleeing from the ship. Did you dream that?"
+
+"I did see something horrible, Professor," he answered. "I'm not
+positive what it was, but I'll tell you as nearly as I can what it was
+like."
+
+Thereupon Mark detailed what he had seen.
+
+"But how could anything, least of all some big monster, be concealed
+in the storeroom, and we not know anything about it?" asked Mr.
+Henderson.
+
+"I thought you did know something of it," replied Mark.
+
+"Who, me? My dear boy, you must be dreaming again. Why should I want
+to conceal any being in the storeroom? Come, there is something back
+of this. Tell me all you know of it. I can't imagine why you think I
+was hiding something in the apartment."
+
+"I thought so because you were always so anxious not to have me go
+near it," answered the boy. "Don't you remember when you saw me going
+toward it, several times, you warned me away?"
+
+"So I did!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson, a light breaking over his face.
+"But, Mark, it was not because I had hidden some human being or animal
+there. I can't tell you what it is yet, save that I can say it is
+merely a machine of mine that I have invented. For reasons of my own I
+don't want any one to see it yet. Perhaps it may never be seen. I
+thought, not long ago, that we might have to undertake a terrible risk
+in escaping from this place. I directed you to go to the storeroom--
+but there, I can't say any more, my friends. Sufficient that I had
+nothing in the animal line concealed there."
+
+"But I am certain there was some beast or human being in there,"
+insisted Mark. "I heard curious noises in there. Besides, how do you
+account for the food disappearing and the door being open at times?"
+
+"It might have been rats," said Jack.
+
+"I don't believe there are rats in the ship," put in the professor.
+"More likely it was one of us who got up hungry and took the
+victuals."
+
+"I'm sorry I can't agree with you," Mark added respectfully. "I am
+sure some strange being was on board this ship, and I believe it has
+now escaped. Who or what it was I can't say, but you'll find I'm
+right, some day."
+
+"All right," spoke Mr. Henderson with a laugh. "I like to see any one
+brave enough to stick up for his opinion, but, at the same time, I
+can't very well imagine any person or thing being concealed in that
+storeroom ever since we started. How could it get in?"
+
+Mark did not; answer, but there came to him the recollection of that
+night, previous to the sailing of the Flying Mermaid, when he had
+observed some strange shadow that seemed to glide aboard the craft.
+
+"Now let's forget all about such things," the professor went on. "We
+are in a strange country, and there are many things to see and do.
+Let's explore a little. Then we must see what we can do with the ship.
+We are dependent on it, and it will not do to allow it to remain in a
+damaged state. We expect to travel many miles in the interior of the
+earth if it is possible, and we have only our craft to go in."
+
+"I reckon we'd all better assimilate into our interior progression
+some molecules and atoms of partly disentegrated matter in order to
+supply combustion for the carbonaceous elements and assist in the
+manufacture of red corpuscles," said Washington, appearing in the
+door, with a broad grin on his good-natured face.
+
+"Which, being interpreted," the professor said, "means, I suppose,
+that we had better eat something to keep our digestive apparatus in
+good working order?"
+
+"Yo' done guessed it!" exclaimed the colored man, relapsing into his
+ordinary speech. "I'se got a meal all ready."
+
+They agreed that they might not have another opportunity soon to
+partake of food, so they all gathered about the table, on which
+Washington had spread a good meal.
+
+"Come on, let's go outside and view this new and strange land at
+closer quarters," the professor said, when they had satisfied their
+appetites. "We can't see much from inside the ship."
+
+Accordingly the heavy door in the side of the Mermaid was slid back,
+and, for the first time the travelers stepped out on the surface of
+the land in the interior of the earth.
+
+At first it seemed no different than the ordinary land to which they
+were accustomed. But they soon found it had many strange attributes.
+The queer shifting and changing light, with the myriad of hues was one
+of them, but to this the adventurers had, by this time, become
+accustomed, though it was, none the less, a marvel to them. It was odd
+enough to see the landscape blood red one instant, and a pale green
+the next, as it does when you look through differently colored
+glasses.
+
+Then, too, they noticed that the grass and flowers grew much more
+abundantly than in the outer part of the world. They saw clover six
+feet high, and blades of grass even taller. In some places the growth
+of grass was so big that they were in danger of getting lost in it.
+
+"If the grass is like this, what will the trees be?" asked Mark.
+
+"There are some away over there," Jack replied. "We'll have to take a
+sail over. They must be several hundred feet high."
+
+"Well, at any rate, here's a little brook, and the water looks good to
+drink," went on Mark. "I'm thirsty, so here goes."
+
+He hurried to where a stream was flowing sluggishly between grassy
+banks. The water was as clear as crystal, and Mark got down on his
+face and prepared to sip some of the liquid up.
+
+But, no sooner had his lips touched it, than he sprang up with a cry
+and stood gazing at the water.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Jack. "Hot?"
+
+"No, it isn't hot," Mark replied, "but it isn't water. It's white
+molasses!"
+
+"White molasses?" repeated the professor, coming up at that moment.
+"What are you talking about?"
+
+He stooped down and dipped his finger into the stream. He drew it up
+quickly, and there ran from it big drops that flowed as slowly as the
+extract of the sugarcane does in cold weather.
+
+"You're about right, Mark," he said. "It's water but it's almost as
+thick as molasses." He touched his finger to his tongue. "It's good to
+drink, all right," he went on, "only it will be a little slow going
+down."
+
+Then he dipped up a palm full, and let it trickle down his throat.
+
+"It is the strangest water I ever saw," he added. "It must be that the
+lack of some peculiar property of air, which we have on the surface,
+has caused this. I must make some notes on it," and he drew out pencil
+and paper. He was about to jot down some facts when he was interrupted
+by a cry from Washington.
+
+"Come and see what's the matter with this stone!" he cried.
+
+  CHAPTER XVIII
+
+ CAUGHT BY A STRANGE PLANT
+
+"WASHINGTON is in trouble!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. Followed by the
+two boys he ran to where the colored man stood in a stooping position
+over a small pile of stones.
+
+"What is it? Has something bit you?" asked the scientist, as he came
+up on the run.
+
+"No, but I can't git this stone up!" Washington said. "Look at what a
+little stone it is, but I can't lift it. Something must have happened
+to me. Maybe some one put th' evil eye on me! Maybe I'm bewitched!"
+
+"Nonsense!" exclaimed the professor, "what did you want the stone
+for?"
+
+"Nothin' in particular," replied Washington, still tugging away at the
+stone, which was the size of his head. "I was just goin' t' throw it
+at a big bird, but when I went to lift it this little stone 'peared t'
+be glued fast."
+
+Washington moved aside to give Mr. Henderson a chance to try to pick
+up the piece of rock. As the scientist grasped it a look of surprise
+came over his features:
+
+"This is most remarkable!" he exclaimed. "I can't budge it. I wonder
+if a giant magnet is holding it down."
+
+He tugged and tugged until he was red in the face. Then he beckoned to
+the two boys, and they came to his aid. There was barely room for them
+all to each get one hand on the rock, and then, only after a powerful
+tug did it come up. Almost instantly it dropped back to the earth.
+
+"This is remarkable!" the professor said. "I wonder if the other
+stones are the same."
+
+He tried several others, and one and all resisted his efforts. It was
+only the small stones he was able to lift alone, and these, he said,
+were so weighty that it would have been a task to throw them any
+distance.
+
+"The water and the stones are strangely heavy in this land," he said.
+"I wonder what other queer things we shall see."
+
+"I saw a bird a little while ago, when I went to pick up that stone,"
+observed Washington.
+
+"What kind was it?" asked the inventor.
+
+"I don't know, only it was about as big as an eagle."
+
+The travelers wandered about a quarter of a mile from the ship. They
+avoided the tall grass and the lofty nodding flowers that seemed to
+grow in regular groves, and kept to places where they could walk with
+comparative freedom.
+
+"Have you formed any idea, Professor, as to the nature of this
+country?" asked Mark, who liked to get at the bottom of things.
+
+"I have, but it is only a theory," Mr. Henderson answered. "I believe
+we are on a sort of small earth that is inside the larger one we live
+on. This sphere floats in space, just as our earth does, and we have
+passed through the void that lies between our globe and this interior
+one. I think this new earth is about a quarter the size of ours and in
+some respects the same. In others it is vastly different.
+
+"But we will not think of those things now. We must see what our
+situation is, whether we are in any danger, and must look to repairing
+our ship. There will be time enough for other matters later."
+
+The travelers were walking slowly along, noting the strange things on
+every side. As they advanced the vegetation seemed to become more
+luxuriant, as if nature had tried to out-do herself in providing
+beautiful flowers and plants. The changing lights added to the beauty
+and weirdness of the scene.
+
+The plain was a rolling one, and here and there were small hills and
+hollows. As the travelers topped a rise Jack, who was in advance,
+called out:
+
+"Oh what queer plants! They are giant Jacks-in-the-pulpit!"
+
+The others hastened forward to see what the boy had discovered. Jack
+was too eager to wait, and pressed on. The hill which sloped away from
+the top of the little plateau on which he stood, was steeper than he
+had counted on. As he leaned forward he lost his balance and toppled,
+head foremost, down the declivity, rolling over.
+
+"Look out!" cried Mark, who had almost reached his comrade's side.
+
+The scene that confronted the travelers was a strange one. Before them
+in a sort of hollow, were scores of big plants, shaped somewhat like a
+Jack-in-the-pulpit, or a big lily, with a curved top or flap to it.
+
+The plants were about eight feet tall, three feet across the top, and
+the flap or covering was raised about two feet. They were nodding and
+swaying in the wind on their short stems.
+
+"He's headed right for one of them!" Mr. Henderson exclaimed. "I hope
+he'll not fall into one of the openings."
+
+"Is there any danger?" asked Mark.
+
+"I'm afraid there is," the inventor added. "Those plants are a variety
+of the well-known pitcher plant, or fly-trap, as they are sometimes
+called. In tropical countries they grow to a large size, but nothing
+like these. They are filled, in the cup, with a sort of sticky, sweet
+mixture, and this attracts insects. When one enters the cup the top
+flap folds over, and the hapless insect is caught there. The plant
+actually devours it, nature providing a sort of vegetable digestive
+apparatus. These giant plants are the same, and they seem large enough
+to take in a man, to say nothing of Jack!"
+
+With anxious faces the adventurers turned to watch the fate of their
+comrade. Jack was slipping, sliding and rolling down the hill. He
+could not seem to stop, though he was making desperate efforts to do
+so. He was headed straight for one of the largest of the terrible
+plants.
+
+In vain, as he saw what was in front of him, did he try to change the
+course of his involuntary voyage. Over and over he rolled, until, at
+length, he struck a little grassy hummock, bounced into the air, and
+right into the opening of a monster pitcher plant.
+
+"It has him!" cried Mark. "We must save him! Come on everyone!"
+
+He raced down the hill, while the others came closely after him. They
+reached the plant into which Jack had bounced. The flap, or top piece,
+had closed down, tightly over the unfortunate boy.
+
+"Quick! We must save him or he will be smothered to death or drowned
+in the liquid the cup contains!" Mr. Henderson exclaimed. "Attack the
+plant with anything you can find!"
+
+"Let's cut through the side of the flower-cup!" suggested Mark. "That
+seems softer than the stem."
+
+His idea was quickly put into operation. Andy's long hunting knife
+came in very handy. While the sides of the long natural cup were
+tough, the knife made an impression on them, and, soon, a small door
+or opening had been cut in the side of the pitcher plant, large enough
+to enable a human body to pass through.
+
+When the last fibre had been severed by Andy, who was chosen to wield
+the knife because of his long practice as a hunter, there was a sudden
+commotion within the plant. Then a dark object, dripping water, made a
+spring and landed almost at the feet of the professor.
+
+It was Jack, and a sorry sight he presented. He was covered from head
+to foot with some sticky substance, which dripped from all over him.
+
+With hasty movements he cleared the stuff from his eyes and mouth, and
+spluttered:
+
+"It's a good thing you cut me out when you did. I couldn't have held
+on much longer!"
+
+  CHAPTER XIX
+
+ THE BIG PEACH
+
+JACK soon recovered from his remarkable experience. The terrible plant
+that had nearly eaten him alive was a mass of cut-up vegetable matter
+which attracted a swarm of insects. Most of them were ants, but such
+large ones the boys had never seen before, and the professor said they
+exceeded in size anything he had read about. Some of them were as
+large as big rats. They bit off large pieces of the fallen plant and
+carried them to holes in the ground which were big enough for
+Washington to slip his foot into, and he wore a No. 11 shoe.
+
+But the adventurers felt there were more important things for them to
+look at than ants, so they started away again, the professor telling
+them all to be careful and avoid accidents.
+
+It was while they were strolling through a little glade, which they
+came upon unexpectedly, that Washington, who was in the lead called
+out:
+
+"Gracious goodness! It must be Thanksgivin'!"
+
+"Why so?" asked Jack.
+
+"'Cause here's th' remarkablest extraordinary and expansionist of a
+pumpkin that ever I laid eyes on!" the colored man cried.
+
+They all hurried to where Washington had come to a halt. There, on the
+ground in front of him, was a big round object, about the size of a
+hogshead. It was yellow in color, and was not unlike the golden
+vegetable from which mothers make such delicious pies.
+
+"I allers was fond of pumpkins," said Washington, placing his hand on
+the thing, which was almost as tall as he was, "but I never thought
+I'd come across such a one as this."
+
+The professor and the two boys went closer to the monstrosity. Mr.
+Henderson passed his hand over it and then, bending closer, smelled of
+it.
+
+"That's not a pumpkin!" he exclaimed.
+
+"What is it then?" asked Washington.
+
+"It's a giant peach," the inventor remarked. "Can't you see the fuzz,
+and smell it? Of course it's a peach."
+
+"Well I'll be horn-swoggled!" cried Washington, leaning against the
+big fruit, which easily, supported him.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Jack, drawing his knife from his pocket and opening
+the largest blade. "I always did like peaches. Now I can have all I
+want," and he drove the steel into the object, cutting off a big slice
+which he began to eat.
+
+"It may be poisonous!" exclaimed Mark.
+
+"Too late now," responded Jack, the juice running down from his mouth.
+"Taste's good, anyhow."
+
+They all watched Jack while he devoured his slice of fruit. Washington
+acted as if he expected his friend to topple over unconscious, but
+Jack showed no bad symptoms.
+
+"You'd better all have some," the boy said. "It's the best I ever
+tasted."
+
+Encouraged by Jack's example, Mark thought he, too, would have some of
+the fruit. He opened his knife and was about to take off some of the
+peach when suddenly the thing began to roll forward, almost upon him.
+
+"Hi! Stop your shoving!" he exclaimed. "Do you want to have the thing
+roll over me, Jack?"
+
+"I'm not shoving!" replied Jack.
+
+"Some one is!" Mark went on. He dodged around the far side of the
+immense fruit and what he saw made him cry out in astonishment.
+
+Two grasshoppers, each one standing about three feet high, were
+standing on their hind legs, and with their fore feet were pushing the
+peach along the ground. They had been attracted to the fruit by some
+juice which escaped from a bruise on that side, which was the ripest,
+and, being fond of sweets had, evidently decided to take their find to
+some safe place where they could eat it at their leisure. Or perhaps
+they wanted to provide for their families if grasshoppers have them.
+
+"Did you ever see such monsters?" asked Jack. "They're as big as
+dogs!"
+
+At the sound of his voice the two grasshoppers, becoming alarmed,
+ceased their endeavors to roll the peach along, and, assuming a
+crouching attitude seemed to be waiting.
+
+"They certainly are remarkable specimens," Mr. Henderson said. "If the
+other animals are in proportion, and if there are persons in this new
+world, we are likely to have a hard time of it."
+
+This time the immense insects concluded the strangers were not to
+their liking. With a snapping of their big muscular legs and a whirr
+of their wings that was like the starting of an automobile, the
+grasshoppers rose into the air and sailed away over the heads of the
+adventurers. Their flight was more than an eighth of a mile in extent,
+and they came down in a patch of the very tall grass.
+
+"Let's go after them!" exclaimed old Andy. "I was so excited I forgot
+to take a shot at them. Come on!"
+
+"I think we'd better not," counseled the professor. "In the first
+place we don't need them. They would be no good for food. Then we
+don't know but what they might attack us, and it would be no joke to
+be bitten by a grasshopper of that size. Let them alone. We may find
+other game which will need your attention, Andy. Better save your
+ammunition."
+
+Somewhat against his will, Andy had to submit to the professor's
+ruling. The old hunter consoled himself with the reflection that if
+insects grew to that size he would have some excellent sport hunting
+even the birds of the inner world.
+
+"I wonder what sort of a tree that peach grew on," Jack remarked, as
+he cut off another slice, when the excitement caused by the discovery
+of the grasshoppers had subsided. "It must be taller than a church
+steeple. I wonder how the fruit got here, for there are no trees
+around."
+
+"I fancy those insects rolled it along for a good distance," Mr.
+Henderson put in. "You can see the marks on the ground, where they
+pushed it. They are wonderful creatures."
+
+"Are we going any farther?" asked Mark. "Perhaps we can find the peach
+tree, and, likely there are other fruit trees near it."
+
+At the professor's suggestion they strolled along for some distance.
+They were now about three miles from the airship, and found that what
+they had supposed was a rather level plain, was becoming a succession
+of hills and hollows. It was while descending into a rather deep
+valley that Jack pointed ahead and exclaimed:
+
+"I guess there's our peach orchard, but I never saw one like it
+before."
+
+Nor had any of the others. Instead of trees the peaches were attached
+to vines growing along the ground. They covered a large part of the
+valley, and the peaches, some bigger than the one they first
+discovered, some small and green, rose up amid the vines, just as
+pumpkins do in a corn field.
+
+"Stranger and stranger," the professor murmured. "Peaches grow on
+vines. I suppose potatoes will grow on trees. Everything seems to be
+reversed here."
+
+They made their way down toward the peach "orchard" as Jack called it,
+though "patch" would have been a better name. Besides peaches they
+found plums, apples, and pears growing in the same way, and all of a
+size proportionate to the first-named fruit.
+
+"Well, one thing is evident," Mr. Henderson remarked, "we shall not
+starve here. There is plenty to eat, even if we have to turn
+vegetarians."
+
+"I wonder what time it is getting to be," Jack remarked. "My watch
+says twelve o'clock but whether it's noon or midnight I can't tell,
+with this colored light coming and going. I wonder if it ever sets as
+the sun does."
+
+"That is something we'll have to get used to," the professor said.
+"But I think we had better go back to the ship now. We have many
+things to do to get it in order again. Besides, I am a little afraid
+to leave it unguarded so long. No telling but what some strange
+beast-- or persons, for that matter-- might injure it."
+
+"I'm going to take back some slices of peaches with me, anyhow," Mark
+said, and he and Jack cut off enough to make several meals, while
+Bill, Tom and Washington took along all they could carry.
+
+As they walked back toward the ship the strange lights seemed to be
+dying out. At first they hardly noticed this, but as they continued on
+it became quite gloomy, and an odd sort of gloom it was too, first
+green, then yellow, then red and then blue.
+
+"I believe whatever serves as a sun down here is setting," the
+professor observed. "We must hurry. I don't want to be caught out here
+after dark."
+
+They hurried on, the lights dying out more and more, until, as they
+came in sight of their ship, it was so black they could hardly see.
+
+Mark who was in the rear turned around, glancing behind him. As he did
+so he caught sight of a gigantic shadow moving along on top of the
+nearest hill. The shadow was not unlike that of a man in shape, but of
+such gigantic stature that Mark knew it could be like no human being
+he had ever seen. At the same time it bore a curious resemblance to
+the weird shadow he had seen slip into the Mermaid that night before
+they sailed.
+
+"I wonder if it can be the same-- the same thing-- grown larger, just
+as the peach grows larger than those in our world," Mark thought,
+while a shiver of fear seemed to go over him. "I wonder if that-- that
+thing could have been on the ship----"
+
+Then the last rays of light died away and there was total darkness.
+
+  CHAPTER XX
+
+ OVERHAULING THE SHIP
+
+"KEEP together!" shouted the professor. "It will not do to become lost
+now. We are close to the ship, and will soon be there. Come after me."
+
+It was more by following the sound of the scientist's voice, than by
+any sight which the others could get of him, that they managed to
+trail along behind. They reached the ship in safety, however, and
+entered. There was no sound as of beasts or insects within, and,
+though Mark felt a little apprehensive on account of what he had seen,
+he and the others as well, were glad to be again in something that
+seemed like home.
+
+"I wish we had some candles, or some sort of a light to see by," the
+professor remarked. "We can do nothing in the dark, and there is no
+telling how long this night is going to last once it has set in. If I
+could have a little illumination, I might be able to fix the dynamo,
+and then we could turn on the incandescents. That portable light we
+had is broken.
+
+"By cracky!" exclaimed Andy. "I believe I have the very thing!"
+
+"You don't mean to say you have a torch or a candle with you, do you?"
+asked Mr. Henderson.
+
+"No, but I have my patent pipe lighting apparatus," the hunter said.
+"I always carry it. It gives a little light, but not much, though it
+may be enough to work by."
+
+Not until after several hours work, handicapped as they were by lack
+of light, were the repairs to the ship completed.
+
+"Now we'll start the engine and see how we will come out," the
+inventor exclaimed, as he wiped his hands on some waste.
+
+It did not take long to generate enough power to turn the dynamo. Soon
+the familiar hum and whirr was heard, and, a few seconds later the
+filaments in the lamps began to glow a dull red, which gradually
+brightened until they were shining in all their usual brilliancy.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried the boys. "Now we can see!"
+
+They all felt in better spirits with the restoration of the lights,
+and, washing off the grease and dirt of their labors in the engine
+room, they prepared to sit down to the meal which Washington prepared.
+
+As soon as the dynamo was working well, care had to be taken not to
+speed it too much on account of a mended belt. The professor turned
+off part of the lights and switched some of the current into the
+storage batteries, to provide for emergencies. For there was no
+telling how long the night might last.
+
+Jack was the first one to finish the meal-- they did not know whether
+to call it dinner, supper or breakfast. He went into the conning
+tower, and, as soon as he reached it he called out:
+
+"Come on up here, professor! There's something strange going on!"
+
+Mr. Henderson, followed by Mark, hurried to the tower. As he reached
+it and looked out of the forward window, a beautiful white glow
+illuminated the whole scene, and then, from below the horizon, there
+arose seven luminous disks. One was in the centre, while about it
+circled the other six, like some immense pin-wheel.
+
+"It's the moon!" cried Mark.
+
+"It's seven moons!" Jack exclaimed. "Why it's almost as light as day!"
+
+And so it was, for the seven moons, if that is what they were, gave an
+illumination not unlike the sun in brilliancy though it was like the
+beams from the pale moon of the earth.
+
+"I guess we need not have worried about the darkness," the professor
+remarked. "Still it is a good thing I fixed the dynamo."
+
+For some time he and the other adventurers watched the odd sight of
+the moons, as they rose higher and higher overhead. The scene was a
+beautiful, if weird one, for the whole plain was bathed in the soft
+light.
+
+"I guess we can turn off the incandescents, and use all the power for
+the storage batteries," Mr. Henderson went on, as he descended into
+the ship, and opened the port shutters which had been closed when they
+started off on their exploring tour. The interior of the Mermaid was
+almost as light as when the odd colored beams had been playing over
+the new earth to which they had come.
+
+"I think we had better continue with our work of making repairs," Mr.
+Henderson said. "We can't count on these moons remaining here any
+length of time, and I want to take advantage of them. So though some
+of us perhaps need sleep, we will forego it and fix up the Mermaid. I
+want to take a trip and see what other wonders await us."
+
+They all agreed that they would rather work than sleep, and soon the
+entire force was busy in the engine room. There was much to be done,
+and the most important things were attended to first. The motive power
+was overhauled and found to be in need of several new parts. These
+were put in and then the gas generator, and the negative gravity
+machine, were put in shape.
+
+It would have taken something very substantial to have awakened any
+one on board the Mermaid that night. They all slept soundly and awoke
+to find the strange colored lights shining in through the glass
+covered port holes.
+
+"Well, the sun, or what corresponds to it, is up," observed Jack, "and
+I guess we had better do as the little boy in the school reader did,
+and get up, too, Mark."
+
+Soon all the travelers were aroused, and the sound of Washington
+bustling about in the kitchen, whence came the smell of coffee, bacon
+and eggs, told the hungry ones that breakfast was under way.
+
+After the meal work was again started on repairing the ship, and by
+noon the professor remarked:
+
+"I think we shall try a little flight after dinner. That is, if one
+thing doesn't prevent us."
+
+"What is that?" asked Jack.
+
+"We may be held down, as were those stones," was the grave answer.
+
+  CHAPTER XXI
+
+ THE FISH THAT WALKED
+
+IT was with no little apprehension that the professor prepared to take
+his first flight aboard the ship in the realms of the new world. He
+knew little or nothing of the conditions he might meet with, the
+density of the atmosphere, or how the Mermaid would behave under
+another environment than that to which she was accustomed.
+
+Yet he felt it was necessary to make a start. They would have to
+attempt a flight sooner or later, and Mr. Henderson was not the one to
+delay matters. So, the last adjustment having been made to the
+repaired machinery, they all took their places in the ship.
+
+The boys and the professor went to the conning tower to direct
+matters, while Washington and the others were in the engine room to
+see that the machinery worked properly. Mark gave a last look outside
+as he closed the big steel cover over the hole through which admission
+was had to the craft. He thought he might catch a glimpse of the queer
+shadow, but nothing was in sight. It was like a beautiful summer's
+day, save for the strange lights, shifting and changing. But the
+travelers had become somewhat used to them by this time.
+
+The professor turned the valve that allowed the gas to enter the
+holder. There was a hissing sound and a sort of trembling throughout
+the entire ship. The dynamos were whizzing away and the negative
+gravity machine was all ready to start.
+
+For several minutes the travelers waited until the big lifting tank
+was filled with the strong vapor. They watched the gages which
+indicated the pressure to be several hundred pounds.
+
+"I think we can chance it now," remarked Mr. Henderson, as he threw
+over several levers. "We'll try, at any rate."
+
+With a tremor the Mermaid left the surface of the inner earth and went
+sailing upward toward the-- well it wasn't exactly the sky, but it was
+what corresponded to it in the new world, though there were no clouds
+and no blue depths such as the boys were used to. At all events the
+Mermaid was flying again, and, as the adventurers felt themselves
+being lifted up they gave a spontaneous cheer at the success which had
+crowned their efforts.
+
+The ship went up several hundred feet, and then, the professor, having
+brought her to a stop, sent her ahead at a slow pace. He wanted to be
+sure all the apparatus was in good working order before he tried any
+speed.
+
+The Mermaid responded readily. Straight as an arrow through the air
+she flew.
+
+"Well, this is almost as good as being on the regular earth!"
+exclaimed Jack.
+
+"It's better," put in Mark. "We haven't seen half the wonders yet.
+Let's open the floor shutter, and see how it looks down below."
+
+He and Jack went to the room where there was an opening in the floor
+of the ship, covered by heavy glass. They slid back the steel shutter
+and there, down below them, was the strange new, world they had come
+to, stretched out like some big map.
+
+They could see mountains, forests, plains, and rivers, the water
+sparkling in the colored light. Over green fields they flew, then
+across some stretches where only sand and rocks were to be seen.
+Faster and faster the ship went, as the professor found the machinery
+was once more in perfect order. Jack was idly watching the play of
+tinted lights over the surface of the ground.
+
+"I wonder what makes it," he said.
+
+"I have tried to account for it in several ways," said the professor,
+who had called Washington to the conning tower and come to join the
+boys. "I have had first one theory and then another, but the one I am
+almost sure is correct is that hidden volcanic fires cause the
+illumination.
+
+"I think they flare up and die away, and have become so regular that
+they produce the same effect as night and day with us. Probably the
+fires go out for lack of fuel, and when it is supplied they start up
+again. Perhaps it is a sort of gas that they burn."
+
+"Well, it's queer enough, whatever it is," Jack remarked. "What
+strikes me as funny, though, is that we haven't seen a single person
+since we came here. Surely this place must be inhabited."
+
+Mark thought of the strange shadow he had seen, but said nothing.
+
+"I believe it is," the professor answered. "We will probably come upon
+the inhabitants soon. I only hope they are a people who will do us no
+harm."
+
+"If they tried any of their tricks we could mount up in our ship and
+escape them," said Andy.
+
+"Provided they gave us the chance," Mr. Henderson put in. "Well, we'll
+not worry about that now."
+
+For several hours the ship traveled on, until it had come to a
+different sort of country. It was wilder and not so level, and there
+were a number of streams and small lakes to be seen.
+
+"Are you going to sail all night?" asked Jack.
+
+"No," replied the professor. "I think we'll descend very soon now, and
+camp out for a while. That lake just ahead seems to offer a good
+place," and he pointed to a large sheet of water that sparkled in the
+distance, for by this time they had all gone back to the conning
+tower.
+
+The lake was in the midst of a wood that extended for some distance on
+all sides, and was down in a sort of valley. The ship headed toward
+it, and in a short time a landing was made close to shore.
+
+"Maybe we can have some fresh fish for supper," exclaimed Jack as he
+ran from the ship as soon as the sliding door in the side was opened.
+"Looks as if that lake had some in it. It is not thick water like in
+that stream we stopped at," he added.
+
+"I believe you're right," old Andy put in, as he turned back to look
+for some lines and hooks among his traps. He soon found what he
+wanted, and gave them to the boys, taking his trusty gun along for
+himself.
+
+While the professor, Washington, Tom and Bill remained behind to make
+some adjustments to the machinery, and to get things in shape for the
+night, which, they calculated would soon be upon them, Jack, Mark and
+Andy went down to the shore of the lake. The boys cut some poles from
+the trees, and baiting the hooks with some fat worms found under the
+bark, threw in.
+
+"Let's see who'll get the first bite," spoke Jack. "I'm pretty
+generally lucky at fishing."
+
+"Well, while you're waiting to decide that there contest, I think I'll
+take a stroll along shore and see if I can see anything to shoot,"
+Andy remarked.
+
+For several minutes the boys sat in silence on the bank of the lake,
+watching the play of the vari-colored lights on the water. Suddenly
+Jack felt a quiver on his line, and his pole began to shake.
+
+"I've got something!" he cried. Then his pole bent almost double and
+he began to pull for all he was worth. "It's a whopper!" he cried.
+"Come and help me, Mark!"
+
+Mark ran to his friend's aid. Whatever was on the other end of the
+line was strong enough to tax the muscles of both boys. They could
+hear the pole beginning to break. But for the excellent quality of
+Andy's line that would have parted some time before.
+
+All at once there came a sudden slacking of the pull from whatever was
+in the water. And so quickly did it cease that both boys went over
+backward in a heap.
+
+"He's got away!" cried Jack, getting up and brushing some of the dirt
+from his clothes.
+
+"There's something that didn't get away!" cried Mark, who had risen to
+his knees, and was pointing at the lake. Jack looked and what he saw
+made him almost believe he was dreaming.
+
+For, emerging from the water, dragging the pole and line the boys had
+dropped along with it, was a most curious creature. It was a big fish,
+but a fish with four short legs on which it was walking, or rather
+waddling along as much as a duck, with a double supply of feet, might
+do.
+
+"Say, do I see that or is there something the matter with my eyes?"
+sung out Jack, making ready to run away.
+
+"It's there all right!" exclaimed Mark. "Hi! Andy! Here's something to
+shoot!" he yelled, for indeed the creature was big enough to warrant
+attack with a gun. It was about five feet long and two feet through.
+
+On and on it came, straight at the boys, as if to have revenge for the
+pain the fish hook must have caused it, for the barb could be seen
+dangling from its lip. On and on it came, waddling forward, the water
+dripping from it at every step. It had the body and general shape of a
+fish, save that the tail was rather large in proportion. As it came
+nearer the boys noted that the feet were webbed, like those of a water
+fowl.
+
+"Come on!" cried Jack. "It may attack us!"
+
+At that moment the creature opened its mouth, showing a triple row of
+formidable teeth, and gave utterance to a sort of groan and grunt
+combined.
+
+This was enough to send Jack and Mark off on a run up the bank, and
+did they stop until they heard Andy's voice hailing them.
+
+"What's the matter, boys?"
+
+"Come here! Quick!" answered Jack.
+
+The fish-animal had halted and seemed to be taking an observation. To
+do this, as it could not turn its neck, it had to shift its whole
+body. Old Andy came up on the run, his gun held in readiness.
+
+"Where is it?" he asked, and the boys pointed silently.
+
+The hunter could not repress a start of astonishment as he saw the
+strange creature. But he did not hesitate a second. There was a crack
+of the rifle, and the thing, whatever it was, toppled over, dead.
+
+Andy hurried up to it, to get a closer view.
+
+"Well, this is the limit!" he exclaimed. "First we have grasshoppers
+that can roll peaches as big as hogsheads, and now we come across fish
+that walk. I wonder what we will see next."
+
+"I don't want to go fishing in this lake any more," spoke Jack, as he
+looked at the repulsive creature. "I never want to eat fish any more."
+
+"Same here," agreed Mark, and old Andy was of the opinion that the
+thing killed would not make a wholesome dish for the table.
+
+"There don't seem to be any game in this section," he remarked. "Not a
+sign could I see, nor have I since we have been here, unless you count
+those grasshoppers. But the fruit is good, I'll say that."
+
+"Come on, we'd better be getting back," Mark said, as he noticed it
+was getting dark. "I'm hungry."
+
+  CHAPTER XXII
+
+ THE SNAKE-TREE
+
+THEY managed to make a good meal of the food supplies they had brought
+along, and as a dessert Washington made some peach short-cake from the
+slices of the giant fruit they had found, the day before. Just as they
+finished supper it got very dark, but, in about an hour, the
+moon-beams, as the travelers called them, came up, and illuminated the
+lake with a weird light.
+
+As the machinery of the Mermaid was now in working order there was no
+further alarm because of the darkness. The ship rested on a level keel
+about a hundred yards back from the lake, and, seeing that all was
+snug, and the fastenings secure, the travelers went to bed.
+
+Though they had to forego fish for breakfast the travelers made a good
+meal. After seeing that the ship was in readiness for a quick start,
+the professor suggested they take a walk around and see what sort of
+country they might be in now.
+
+They tramped on for several miles, meeting with no adventures, and
+seeing nothing out of the ordinary. It was a pleasant day, just warm
+enough to be comfortable, and a little wind was blowing through the
+trees.
+
+"It would be almost like home if it wasn't for the strange lights, and
+the memory of the queer things here," said Jack. "I feel fine. Let's
+see if you can hit that dead tree over there, Mark."
+
+Jack stooped to grab up a stone, but no sooner had his fingers touched
+it than he called out:
+
+"There! I forgot all about the stones here being heavier than lead.
+Guess we can't throw any of 'em. But come on. I'll race you to the
+dead tree!"
+
+Mark was willing, so the two boys set off at a fast pace.
+
+"Look out where you're going!" the professor called after them. "No
+telling what may be in those woods," for the boys were approaching a
+little glade, on the edge of which the dead tree stood.
+
+Jack reached the goal first, and stood leaning against the trunk,
+waiting for Mark.
+
+"You'd better practice sprinting!" exclaimed the victor.
+
+Mark was about to excuse himself for his poor showing, on the plea of
+having eaten too much breakfast, when to his horror he saw what seemed
+to be a long thin snake spring out from the branches of a nearby tree
+and twine itself about Jack.
+
+"Help me! Save me!" cried the unfortunate boy, as he was lifted high
+into the air and pulled within the shadow of the wood.
+
+For an instant Mark was too horror-stricken to move. Then with a shout
+that alarmed the others, who were coming along more slowly, he made a
+dash for the place he had last seen Jack.
+
+Had old Andy not been on the watch, with those keen eyes of his, there
+might have been a double tragedy. He had seen from afar the sudden
+snatching up of Jack, and noted Mark's rush to save his chum.
+
+"Stand still! Don't go in there for your life!" yelled the hunter, at
+the same time running forward with gun ready.
+
+His example was followed by the professor, Washington and the other
+two men.
+
+"A snake has Jack!" called Mark, when Andy was at his side.
+
+"No! It's not a snake!" replied the hunter. "It's worse. It's the
+snake-tree!"
+
+"What's that?" asked Mr. Henderson, hurrying up.
+
+"The snake-tree has Jack," the hunter went on. "It is a plant, half
+animal, half-vegetable. It has long branches, not unlike a snake in
+shape. They can move about and grab things."
+
+"One of them got a grip on Jack as he leaned against the dead tree
+trunk. I just caught a glimpse of it, and called to prevent Mark from
+running into danger."
+
+"Can't we save him?" asked Mr. Henderson.
+
+"I'm going to try!" replied Andy. "Quick! Gather up some pieces of dry
+wood. I have some paper, and my pipe lighter. We must fight the
+snake-tree with fire!"
+
+  CHAPTER XXIII
+
+ THE DESERTED VILLAGE
+
+JACK'S Cries were growing fainter and fainter. Peering in through the
+branches of the dead tree the professor could see the whip-like limbs
+winding closer and closer about the boy.
+
+"I am afraid we will be too late!" he said.
+
+Andy had twisted some paper into a rude torch. He set fire to it with
+his pocket lighter, and, when Bill and Mark brought him some little
+pieces of dead wood the old hunter added them to his bundle, which was
+now blazing brightly.
+
+"How are you going to do it?" asked the professor.
+
+"I'll show you," replied Andy. He bound the sticks and paper together
+with wisps of grass and then, when it was so hot he could hardly hold
+it longer, he ran as close as he dared to the snake-tree and tossed
+the torch at the foot of it.
+
+The blazing bundle fell among some damp leaves and grass, as Andy had
+intended it should, and soon a dense smoke arose, pouring straight up
+through the branches of the animal-tree, the limbs of which were
+gathered in a knot about the half-unconscious form of the boy.
+
+For a few minutes they all waited anxiously. Would Andy's trick
+succeed? Had the terrible tree not already squeezed the life from
+Jack?
+
+But, while they watched, there seemed to come a change over the tree.
+The snake-like arms waved less and less. They seemed to straighten
+out, as though deprived of power by the smoke which was now so dense
+as to hide Jack from sight. Then the arms suddenly relaxed and
+something rolled from them and fell to the ground. With a quick
+movement Andy darted in, crawling on his hands and knees beneath the
+limbs, and brought Jack out. The boy was white and his eyes were
+closed.
+
+"Get some water!" cried the old hunter.
+
+Mark ran toward a stream a little distance away. He brought some of
+the curiously thick liquid in his hat, and while Andy held the boy the
+professor sprinkled some of the drops on his face, and forced some
+between his lips. In a little while Jack's eyes slowly opened.
+
+"Don't let it eat me!" he begged.
+
+"You're all right now," said Andy heartily. "Not a bit harmed, Jack.
+But," he added in a low tone, "it was a close call."
+
+A few whiffs from a bottle of ammonia the professor carried soon
+brought Jack's color back.
+
+"Do you feel better now?" asked Mark.
+
+"I guess so. Yes, I'm all right," replied Jack, struggling to his
+feet. "What happened? Feels as if I had been tied up with a lot of
+rope."
+
+"That's about what you were," Andy replied, "only it was the worst
+kind of rope I ever saw. Those snake-trees are terrible things. I've
+read of 'em, but I never saw one before. The book that told of them
+says they squeeze their victims to death just as a snake does. The
+only way to do is to make some smoke and fire at the bottom. This sort
+of kills the branches or makes them stupid and they let go. The trees
+are half animal, and awful things. I hope we don't meet with any
+more."
+
+"Same here," added Jack fervently, as he grasped Andy's hand, and
+thanked him for saving his life.
+
+"Do you think you can go on, or shall we return to the ship'?" the
+professor asked.
+
+"Oh I can trail along, if you move a little slowly," Jack replied.
+"I'm a bit stiff, that's all."
+
+So they resumed their journey. They had gone, perhaps, three miles
+when Washington, who was in the lead, suddenly stopped and called:
+
+"Sounds like thunder."
+
+The others listened. Sure enough there was a dull rumble and roar
+audible. It seemed off to the left, but they could see no clouds in
+the sky, nor any signs of a storm.
+
+"Let's take a walk over that way and see what it is," Mr. Henderson
+suggested.
+
+As they walked on the noise became louder, until in about half an hour
+it was like the sound from a blast furnace.
+
+"What do you suppose it can be?" asked Mark.
+
+"Perhaps some new freak of nature," the professor replied. "We seem to
+have a good many of them here."
+
+They were all on their guard now, for there was no telling into what
+danger they might run. As they went up a little hill the noise became
+much louder. The professor and Andy, who had taken the lead, kept a
+sharp lookout ahead, that they might not unexpectedly fall into some
+hidden stream or lake. As they topped the hill they saw before them a
+deep valley, and in the midst of it was that which was causing the
+roaring sound.
+
+From the centre of an immense mound of rock and earth there spouted up
+a great column of water, three hundred feet or more, as straight as a
+flag staff. It was about ten feet in diameter, and at the top it broke
+into a rosette of sparkling liquid, which as the vari-colored lights
+played on it, resembled some wonderful flower.
+
+"It's a great geyser!" the professor exclaimed. "We have come to a
+place like Yellowstone Park. We must be very careful. The crust may be
+very thin here, and let us down into some boiling spring."
+
+The others gathered around the professor, and, from a safe distance
+watched the ever rising and falling shaft of water.
+
+It was not regular in motion. Sometimes it would shoot up to a great
+distance, nearly a thousand feet, the professor estimated. Again it
+would sink down, as the power sending it out lessened, until it was
+only a few hundred feet above the rounded top of the mound from which
+it spurted. But it never fell below this. All the while there was the
+constant roaring sound, as though the forces of nature below the
+surface were calling to be let out.
+
+"I hope there are not many of those about," Mr. Henderson remarked
+after a pause. "If the ship should hit one during the night it would
+be all up with us. We must keep a careful look-out."
+
+The spouting column had a fascination which held them to the spot for
+some time. From the hill they had a good view of the surrounding
+country, but did not see any more geysers.
+
+"Do you think it is hot water?" asked Mark.
+
+"There is no vapor," the professor answered, "but most of the geysers
+are produced by the action of steam in the interior of the earth.
+However we'll not take any chances by investigating. I fear it would
+not be safe to go into that valley."
+
+"Look there!" cried Andy. "I guess we're better off here!" He pointed
+a little to the right of where the water spouted. The others looked,
+and saw, coming from a hole in the ground, some shaggy black object.
+
+"What is it?" asked Jack.
+
+"It looks like a bear," replied the hunter, "but I never saw one like
+it before."
+
+Nor had any of the others, for the creature was a terrible one. It had
+the body of a bear, but the feet and legs were those of an alligator,
+while the tail trailed out behind like a snake, and the head had a
+long snout, not unlike the trunk of an elephant. The creature was
+about ten feet long and five feet in height.
+
+"Let me try a shot at it!" exclaimed Andy. "That is something worth
+shooting," and he cocked his rifle.
+
+"Don't!" exclaimed the professor shortly. "You might only wound it,
+and it would pursue us. We are not ready to fight such creatures as
+that, and you are the only one armed."
+
+"I never missed anything I aimed at yet," said Andy, a little hurt
+that any one should doubt his ability to kill at the first shot.
+
+"Perhaps not, but how do you know but what this creature has a bullet
+proof armor under its hide. This is a strange world, Andy. It is
+better to take no chances."
+
+"I hate to see him get away," the hunter said.
+
+But, as it happened, the beast was not to get away. As they watched
+they saw the horrible animal approach the mound from which the water
+spurted. Up the sides it climbed.
+
+"I guess he's going to get a drink," said Mark.
+
+That was evidently the beast's intention. It went close to the
+spouting column of water, and thrust its head out so that its tongue
+could lap from the side. It seemed to have been in the habit of doing
+this.
+
+For once, and for the last time, however, it made a mistake. The water
+seemed to veer to one side. In its eagerness to get a drink the animal
+took another step forward. At that moment the direction of the column
+changed again, and it tilted over toward the beast.
+
+Suddenly, as the travelers watched, the full force of the big column
+caught the beast just under the fore shoulders. Up into the air the
+creature shot, propelled by thousands of pounds pressure. Right up to
+the top of the column it went, and this time the water rose a thousand
+feet into the air.
+
+Up and up went the animal, struggling to get away from the remorseless
+grip. Then, when the water had reached its height, it shot the beast
+off to one side. Then the brute began to fall, twisting, turning,
+wiggling and struggling. Down it came with a thud that could be heard
+above the noise of the geyser.
+
+"I reckon that finishes him," observed Andy. And it had, for there was
+not a sign of life from the creature.
+
+"I guess we have seen enough for one morning," the professor said,
+"Let's go back to the airship. It must be nearly dinner time."
+
+They started away. Mark gave a last look at the queer column of water
+and the dead body of the strange animal. As he passed down the hill he
+thought he saw the creature move, and stayed to see if this was so.
+But a second glance convinced him he was mistaken.
+
+The others had gone on and were some distance ahead. Mark hurried on
+to join them. As he got a last glance at the top of the column, over
+the brow of the hill, he happened to look off to the left. There was
+another hill, about the size of the one they had been on.
+
+And, as Mark looked he saw something move. At first he thought it was
+another beast. But, to his terror he saw that the creature had only
+two legs, and that it stood upright like a man, but such a man as Mark
+had never seen before, for he was nearly twelve feet tall.
+
+He was about to cry out and warn the others, when the thing, whatever
+it was, sunk down, apparently behind some tall bushes, and disappeared
+as if the earth had opened and swallowed it.
+
+"I wonder if I had better tell them," thought Mark. "I can't show them
+anything. I wonder if I really saw it, or if it was only a shadow. I
+guess I'll say nothing. But it is very strange."
+
+Then he hurried on to join the others.
+
+"What makes you so pale?" asked Jack of his chum.
+
+"Nothing," said Mark, somewhat confused. "I guess I'm a little tired,
+that's all."
+
+They reached the ship in safety, and, having dinner started the
+machinery and took the Mermaid up into the air.
+
+"We'll travel on and see if we can't find some human beings," the
+professor said.
+
+All that afternoon they sailed, the country below them unfolding like
+a panorama. They passed over big lakes, sailing on the surface of
+some, and over rivers, and vast stretches of forest and dreary plains.
+But they never saw a sign of human inhabitants.
+
+It was getting on to five o'clock, the hour when the brilliant lights
+usually disappeared, when Mark, who was steering in the conning tower,
+gave a cry.
+
+"What is it?" asked the professor, looking up from a rude map he was
+making of the land they had just traversed.
+
+"It looks like a town before us," said the boy.
+
+Mr. Henderson and Jack looked to where Mark pointed. A few miles ahead
+and below them were great mounds, not unlike that from which the
+geyser had spouted. But they were arranged in regular form, like
+houses on a street, row after row of them. And, as they approached
+nearer, they could see that the mounds had doors and windows to them.
+Some of the mounds wer rger than others, and some were of double and
+triple formation.
+
+"It's a city! The first city of the new world!" cried Jack.
+
+"It is a deserted village!" said the professor. "We have found where
+the people live, but we have not found them." And he was right, for
+there was not a sign of life about the place, over which the airship
+was now suspended.
+
+  CHAPTER XXIV
+
+ THE GIANTS
+
+"LET'S go down and investigate," suggested Jack.
+
+"Better wait," counseled the professor. "It will soon be dark, and,
+though we will have moonlight, we can not see to advantage. I think it
+will be best to keep the ship in the air to-night, and descend in the
+morning. Then we can look about and decide on what to do."
+
+They all agreed this was the best plan, and, after making a circle
+above the deserted village, and noting no signs of life, the Mermaid
+was brought to a halt over the centre of the town, and about three
+hundred feet above it. There the travelers would be comparatively
+safe.
+
+It was deemed best to keep watch that night, and so, Mark, Jack, Bill
+and Tom took turns, though there was nothing for them to do, as not a
+thing happened. With the first appearance of dawn Mr. Henderson gave
+orders to have the ship lowered, and it came to rest in the middle of
+what corresponded to a street in the queer mound village.
+
+"Now to see what kind of people have lived here!" cried Jack. "They
+must have been a queer lot. Something like the Esquimaux, only they
+probably had more trouble keeping cool than the chaps up at the north
+pole do."
+
+Now that they were down among the mound houses, they saw that the
+dwellings were much larger than they had supposed. They towered high
+above the boys' heads, and some of them were large enough in area to
+have accomodated a company of soldiers.
+
+"Say, the chaps who lived in these must have been some pumpkins," said
+Jack. "Why the ceilings are about fifteen feet high, and the doors
+almost the same! Talk about giants! I guess we've struck where they
+used to hang out, at any rate."
+
+The houses were a curious mixture of clay and soft stone. There were
+doors, with big skins from animals as curtains, and the windows were
+devoid of glass. Instead of stairs there were rude ladders, and the
+furniture in the mound houses was of the roughest kind.
+
+There were fire-places in some of the houses, and the blackened and
+smoked walls showed that they must have been used. In one or two of
+the houses clay dishes, most of them broken, were scattered about, and
+the size of them, in keeping with everything else, indicated that
+those who used them were of no small stature.
+
+"Some of the bowls would do for bath tubs," said Jack, as he came
+across one or two large ones.
+
+By this time the professor, Bill and Tom had joined the boys, and the
+five went on with the exploring tour, while Washington and Andy
+remained in the ship to get breakfast.
+
+"The inhabitants are evidently of a half-civilized race," the
+professor said. "Their houses, and the manner in which they live, show
+them to be allied to the Aztecs, though of course they are much larger
+than that race."
+
+"What's bothering me," Bill said, "is not so much what race they
+belong to, as what chance we'd stand in a race with them if they took
+it into their heads to chase after us. I've read that them there
+Azhandled races----"
+
+"You mean the Aztecs," interrupted the professor.
+
+"Well the Aztecs, then. But I've read they used to place their enemies
+on a stone altar and cut their hearts out. Now I'm not hankerin' after
+anything like that."
+
+"Don't be foolish," spoke Mr. Henderson. "Wait until you meet some of
+the giants, if that is what they are, and then you can decide what to
+do."
+
+"It may be too late then," remarked Bill in a low tone, and the boys
+were somewhat inclined to agree with him.
+
+However, there seemed to be no immediate danger, as there was no sign
+of any of the big people about the village. The adventurers walked
+about for some time, but made no discoveries that would throw any
+light on the reason for the place being left uninhabited. It seemed as
+if there had been a sudden departure from the place, for in a number
+of the houses the remains of half-cooked meals were seen.
+
+"Well, I think we have noted enough for the time being," the professor
+remarked, after they had traversed almost half the length of what
+seemed to be the principal street. "Let's go back to the ship and have
+something to eat. Washington may have become alarmed at our absence."
+
+They made a circle in order to take in another part of the town on
+their way back. While passing through a sort of alley, though it was
+only narrow by comparison with the other thoroughfares that were very
+wide, Mark came to a place where there was a circular slab of stone,
+resting on the ground. In the centre was a big iron ring.
+
+"Hello! Here's something new!" he exclaimed. "Maybe it leads to a
+secret passage, or covers some hidden treasure."
+
+"I guess it will have to continue to cover it then," Jack spoke. "That
+probably weighs several tons. None of us could move it."
+
+They made their way back to the ship, where they found Washington and
+Andy discussing the advisability of going off in search of them.
+
+"Breakfast is mighty near spoiled," said the colored man with an
+injured air.
+
+But the travelers did full justice to the meal, notwithstanding this.
+Deciding there was nothing to be gained by staying in that vicinity,
+the professor started the ship off again.
+
+They traveled several hundred miles in the air, and, as the afternoon
+was coming to a close, Jack, who was in charge of the conning tower,
+spied, just ahead of them, another village.
+
+"We will descend there for the night," the professor said. "Does there
+seem to be any sign of life about?"
+
+"None," replied Mark, who was observing through a telescope the town
+they were approaching. "It's as dead as the other one."
+
+The airship settled down in a field back of some of the mound houses.
+
+"Now for supper!" cried Jack. "I'm as hungry as----"
+
+He stopped short, for, seeming to rise from the very ground, all about
+the ship, there appeared a throng of men. And such men as they were!
+For not one was less than ten feet tall, and some were nearly fifteen!
+
+"The giants have us!" cried Bill, as he saw the horde of creatures
+surrounding the ship.
+
+  CHAPTER XXV
+
+ HELD BY THE ENEMY
+
+"KEEP the doors closed!" cried the professor. "It is our only hope! I
+will send the ship up again!"
+
+But it was too late. Washington, who had obeyed the signal from the
+conning tower to shut off the engines, had disconnected most of them
+so they could not be started again save from the main room. At the
+same time there came a yell of dismay from the colored man, who had
+slid back the steel covering of the main side entrance to the Mermaid.
+
+"I'm caught!" cried Washington.
+
+As the professor and the boys hurried from the tower, they could hear
+a struggle from where Washington was, and his voice calling:
+
+"Let me go! Let me go!"
+
+Reaching the engine room, which opened directly on the side entrance,
+the professor saw a pair of enormous hands and arms dragging poor
+Washington, feet first, out of the ship. Bill and Tom were crouched in
+one corner, pale with fright.
+
+"Wait until I get my gun!" cried Andy, as he ran for his rifle.
+
+"Hold on!" called the professor in a loud voice. "It will be folly to
+shoot them! We must try strategy!"
+
+Washington's cries ceased as he was drawn entirely from the ship, the
+giant hands disappearing at the same time.
+
+"Follow me!" yelled Mr. Henderson, running out of the door.
+
+Hardly knowing what they did, the boys went after him, and their
+hearts almost stopped beating in fright as they saw the terrible
+things, which, in the glare of the changing lights, were on every side
+of them.
+
+For the men were very repulsive looking. They there attired in
+clothes, very similar in cut to those worn by the travelers, and which
+seemed to be made of some sort of cloth. But they were loose and baggy
+and only added to the queer appearance of the giants. Veritable giants
+they were too. Their faces seemed as large as kegs, and they were so
+clumsy in shape that Mark, even, frightened as he was, exclaimed:
+
+"They look like men made of putty!" At the same time he saw they bore
+a resemblance to the creature he had observed on the hill top.
+
+"What shall we do?" asked Andy of the professor. "They are really
+carrying Washington away!"
+
+Three of the giants were dragging the colored man along the ground,
+while the other terrible beings stood about as if waiting to see the
+outcome of the first sally.
+
+"I will try to speak to them," Mr. Henderson said. "I know several
+languages. They may understand one."
+
+But before he could start on his parley a surprising thing happened.
+There was a struggle in the little group about Washington. The colored
+man seemed to be fighting, though the odds, it would appear, were too
+great to enable him to accomplish anything. But, making a desperate
+effort to escape, Washington quickly wrenched himself free from the
+giants' hands and then, striking out with his fists, knocked the three
+down, one after another.
+
+"I never knew Washington was so strong!" exclaimed Jack.
+
+"Nor I," put in Mark. "Why I should think the men could carry him in
+one arm as if he was a baby."
+
+The three giants rose slowly to their feet. They uttered strange
+cries, and motioned with their hands toward the professor, the boys,
+and the others in the crowd.
+
+"Look out! They're goin' t' grab yo'!" cried Washington.
+
+Three of the giants approached Mark, and a like number closed in on
+Jack.
+
+"Back to the ship!" cried the professor. "We must defend ourselves!"
+
+But by this time the big men had grabbed the two boys. Then a strange
+thing took place. Mark and Jack, though they felt that the giants must
+overcome them in a test of strength, struggled with all their might
+against being captured. They fought, as a cornered rat will fight,
+though it knows the odds to be overwhelming. But in this case the
+unexpected happened.
+
+Both boys found they could easily break the holds of the giants, and
+Mark, by a vigorous effort, pushed the three men away from him, one at
+a time violently so that they fell in a heap, one on top of the other.
+
+"Hurrah! We can fight 'em!" cried Mark. "Don't be afraid. They're like
+mush! They're putty men!"
+
+And, so it seemed, the giants were. Though big in size they were
+flabby and had nothing like the muscle they should have had in
+proportion to their build. They went down like meal sacks and were
+slow to rise.
+
+Jack, seeing how successful his comrade was, attacked the three giants
+who were striving to make him a captive. He succeeded in disposing of
+them, knocking one down so hard that the man was unable to rise until
+his companions helped him.
+
+"That's the way!" cried Washington. "They're soft as snow men!"
+
+The vanquished giants set up a sort of roar, which was answered by
+their fellows, and soon there was a terrible din.
+
+"All get together!" called the professor. "They are evidently going to
+make a rush for us. If we stand by one another we may fight them off,
+though they outnumber us a hundred to one. Besides it will soon be
+dark, and we may be able to escape!"
+
+Washington, Jack and Mark retreated toward the ship, in the direction
+of which the others had also made their way. The big men had gathered
+in a compact mass and were advancing on the adventurers.
+
+"What do you suppose makes them so soft?" asked Mark. "I believe I
+could manage half a dozen."
+
+"It must be the effect of the climate and conditions here," the
+professor replied. "Probably they have to be big to stand the pressure
+of the thick water, and the increased attraction of gravitation. Then
+too, being without the weight of the atmosphere to which we are
+accustomed, they have probably expanded. If they were to go up to
+earth, they might shrink to our size."
+
+"Do you think that possible?"
+
+"Of course. Why do you ask?"
+
+"Nothing in particular," replied Mark. But to himself, he added: "That
+would explain it all."
+
+It was getting dusk now. The travelers had reached their ship, and
+rushed inside and tried to close the doors in the face of the
+advancing horde. But, by this time the giants were so close that one
+or two of them thrust their big feet in, and prevented this movement.
+At the same time they set up a great howling.
+
+"Quick!" cried the professor. "We must start the ship and get away!"
+
+"I can't close the door!" yelled Washington, who had been the last to
+enter.
+
+"Never mind that! Go up with it open! Drag them along if they won't
+let go!" answered Mr. Henderson, as he ran toward the engine room.
+
+There was a sudden rush among the giants, and a sound as if something
+was being thrown over the top and ends of the ship. Mark turned the
+gas machine on, while Jack worked the negative gravity apparatus. They
+waited for the ship to rise.
+
+"Why don't we go up?" asked the professor.
+
+"'Cause they've caught us!" called out Washington.
+
+"Caught us? How?"
+
+"They've thrown ropes over the top and ends of the ship, and fastened
+them to their big houses!"
+
+Running to a side window the professor saw that the Mermaid was
+fastened down by a score of cables, each one six inches thick. They
+were held captives by the enemy.
+
+  CHAPTER XXVI
+
+ A FRIEND INDEED
+
+THOUGH the giants, man for man, were no match for the travelers,
+collectively the horde proved too much. They had swarmed about the
+ship, and, by passing the big cables over her, effectively held her
+down.
+
+"Let me get out and I'll cut 'em!" cried Andy. "We must get away from
+these savages!"
+
+"No, no, don't go out!" exclaimed the professor. "They would
+eventually kill you, though you might fight them off for a time. We
+must wait and see what develops. They can have no object in harming
+us, as we have not injured them."
+
+"I'd rather fight 'em," insisted the old hunter.
+
+But the professor had his way and Andy was forced to obey. The giants
+had withdrawn their big feet from the side door and Washington had
+closed it. But nothing else had been accomplished, and the ship could
+not rise. The gas and negative gravity machines were stopped, as they
+were only under a useless strain.
+
+Suddenly, the colored lights which had been growing dimmer and dimmer,
+with the approach of night, went out altogether. Almost as suddenly,
+Mark, who was watching the giants from the conning tower, as they made
+fast the loose ends of the cables, saw them make a dash for the mound
+houses.
+
+"They're afraid of the dark!" he cried. "Come on! We can go out now
+and loosen the ropes!"
+
+He hurried to tell the professor what he had noticed.
+
+"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. "Perhaps we can escape now!"
+
+They waited a few minutes, listening to the sound of many big feet
+running away from the ship, and then, Bill cautiously opened the side
+door. The others were behind him, waiting, with knives and hatchets in
+their hands, to rush out and cut the restraining cables.
+
+"All ready!" called Bill. "There doesn't seem to be a one in sight!"
+
+He stepped out but no sooner had he set foot on the ground than there
+came a thud, and Bill went down as if some one had knocked his feet
+from under him.
+
+"Go back! Go back!" he cried. "They hit me with something. I'm being
+smothered!"
+
+"Bring a light!" cried the professor, for the sally had been started
+in the dark.
+
+Jack brought the portable electric it having been repaired and flashed
+it out of the door. In the gleam of it, Bill was seen lying prostrate,
+half covered by an orange, about half as big as himself. The fruit was
+as soft and mushy as some of the giants themselves, or Bill would not
+have fared so easily.
+
+Then, as the others stood watching, and while Bill arose and wiped
+some of the juice from his face, there came a regular shower of the
+monstrous oranges.
+
+"Get inside quick! We'll be smothered under them!" Mr. Henderson
+cried.
+
+Pausing only to rescue Bill, the adventurers retreated inside the
+ship, and made fast the door. Outside they could hear the thud as the
+oranges were thrown, some hitting the Flying Mermaid and many dropping
+all about her.
+
+"I guess they are going to have things their own way," observed Bill,
+as he gazed down on his clothes, which were covered with juice from
+the fruit.
+
+The night was one of anxiety. The travelers took turns standing guard,
+but nothing more occurred. The giants remained in their houses, and
+the heavy ropes still held the ship fast.
+
+"We must hold a council of war," the professor decided as they
+gathered at breakfast, which was far from a cheerful meal.
+
+With the return of the colored lights the giants again made their
+appearance. They came swarming from the mound houses, and a great
+crowd they proved to be. Several thousand at least, Jack estimated,
+and when he went up into the conning tower and took a survey he could
+see the strange and terrible creatures pouring in from the surrounding
+country.
+
+"I'm afraid there will be trouble," he said, as he came down and
+reported what he had seen.
+
+"We must hold a council of war," repeated the professor. "Has any one
+anything to suggest?"
+
+"Get a lot of powder and blow 'em up!" cried Andy.
+
+"Arrange electric wires and shock 'em to death!" was Bill's plan.
+
+"Can't we slip the ropes in some way and escape?" asked Jack. "I don't
+believe we can successfully fight the giants. They are too many, even
+if they are weak, individually."
+
+"I think you're right there," Mr. Henderson said. "We must try some
+sort of strategy, but what? That is the question."
+
+For a few minutes no one spoke. They were all thinking deeply, for
+their lives might hang in the balance.
+
+"I think I have a plan," said Mark, at length. "Did we bring any
+diving suits with us?"
+
+"There may be one or two," the professor replied. "But what good will
+they do?"
+
+"Two of us could put them on," continued Mark, "and, as they afford
+good protection from any missiles like fruit, we could crawl out on
+the deck of the ship. From there, armed with hatchets or knives we
+could cut the ropes. Then the ship could rise."
+
+"That's a good plan!" cried the scientist. "We'll try it at once."
+
+Search revealed that two diving suits were among the stores of the
+Mermaid. Jack and Mark wanted to be the ones to don them, but as the
+suits were rather large, and as the professor thought it would take
+more strength than the boys had to do the work, it was decided that
+Andy and Washington should make the attempt to cut the ropes.
+
+The hunter and colored man lost little time in getting into the modern
+armor. In the meanwhile Jack, who had been posted as a lookout,
+reported that there seemed to be some activity among the giants. They
+were running here and there, and some seemed to be going off toward
+the woods, that were not far away.
+
+"Now work quickly," urged the professor. "We will be on the watch, and
+as soon as the last rope is cut we will start the machinery and send
+the ship up. We will not wait for you to come back inside, so hold
+fast as best you can when the Mermaid rises."
+
+"We will," answered Andy, just before the big copper helmet was
+fastened on his head, and Washington nodded to show he understood.
+
+The two who were to attempt the rescue of their comrades were soon on
+deck. In the conning tower Jack and the professor kept anxious watch,
+while Mark, Bill and Tom were at the various machines, ready, at the
+signal, to start the engines.
+
+The giants had now become so interested in whatever plan they had
+afoot, that they paid little attention to the ship. Consequently
+Washington and Andy, crawling along the deck in their diving suits,
+did not, at first attract any attention.
+
+In fact they had cut several of the big ropes, and it began to look as
+if the plan would succeed, particularly as they were partly hidden
+from view by the upper gas holder. They were working with feverish
+haste, sawing away at the big cables with keen knives.
+
+"I guess we'll beat 'em yet!" cried Jack.
+
+"I hope so," replied the professor. "It looks----"
+
+He stopped short, for at that moment a cry arose from the midst of the
+giants, and one of them pointed toward the ship. An instant later the
+air was darkened with a flight of big oranges, which the queer
+creatures seemed to favor as missiles. Probably they found stones too
+heavy.
+
+"Well, those things can't hurt 'em much with those heavy suits on,"
+observed Mr. Henderson. "There, Washington got one right on the head
+that time, and it didn't bother him a bit."
+
+Jack had seen the fruit strike the big copper helmet and observed that
+the colored man only moved his head slightly in order to get rid of
+the orange.
+
+In fact the giants, seeing for themselves that this mode of warfare
+was not going to answer, since the two men on the ship continued to
+cut the restraining cables, gave it up. There was a good deal of
+shouting among them, and a number ran here and there, seemingly
+gathering up long poles.
+
+"I wonder if they are going to try the flailing method, and beat poor
+Andy and Washington," said Mr. Henderson. "It looks so."
+
+The two rescuers were now about a quarter through their hard task. The
+throwing of the oranges had ceased. But the giants were up to a new
+trick. They divided into two sections, one taking up a position on one
+side of the ship, and the other on the opposite. There were about two
+hundred in each crowd, while the others in the horde drew some
+distance back.
+
+"They're up to some queer dodge," observed Jack. "What are they
+placing those sticks to their mouths for?"
+
+The professor observed the throng curiously for a few seconds. Then he
+exclaimed:
+
+"They are using blow-guns! They are going to shoot arrows at
+Washington and Andy! We must get them in at once!"
+
+He darted toward a door that opened from the conning tower out on the
+deck.
+
+"Don't go!" cried Jack. "It's too late! They are beginning to blow!"
+
+He pointed to the throng of giants. The professor could see their
+cheeks puffed out as the big creatures filled their lungs with air and
+prepared to expel it through the hollow tubes.
+
+Then there came a sound as if a great wind was blowing. It howled and
+roared over the ship, not unlike a hurricane in its fury. But there
+was no flight of arrows through the air, such as would have come from
+regular blow guns.
+
+"That is strange," said the professor. He thought for a moment. "I
+have it!" he cried. "They are trying to blow Washington and Andy, off
+the ship by the power of their breaths! They are not blowing arrows at
+them! My, but they must have strong lungs!"
+
+And, in truth, that was the plan of the giants. The hollow tubes, made
+from some sort of big weed, sent a blast of air at the two men on the
+ship's deck, that made them lie flat and cling with both hands to
+avoid being sent flying into the midst of the giants, on one side or
+the other. But the giants had reckoned without the weight of the
+diving suits, and it was those, with the big lead soles of the shoes,
+that helped to hold Washington and Andy in place.
+
+"Come back! Came back!" cried the professor, opening the conning tower
+door and calling to the two brave men. "Come back, both of you! Do you
+hear?"
+
+As the portal slid back the rush of air was almost like that of a
+cyclone. Then it suddenly ceased, as the giants saw their plan was not
+likely to succeed.
+
+But now there arose from the outer circle of the horde a shout of
+triumph. It was caused by the return of those who had, a little while
+before, hurried off to the woods. They came back bearing big trees,
+tall and slender, stripped of their branches, so that they resembled
+flag staffs. It took a dozen giants to carry each one.
+
+The whole throng was soon busy laying the poles in a row in front of
+the ship.
+
+"What can they be up to now?" asked Jack.
+
+"It looks as if they were going to slide the ship along on rollers,"
+the professor replied.
+
+Sure enough this was the giant's plan. A few minutes later those in
+the Mermaid felt her moving forward, as the giants, massed behind,
+shoved. On to the poles she slid. The ropes were loosened to permit
+this, but not enough to enable the boat to rise.
+
+Then the travelers felt the ship being lifted up.
+
+"They are going to carry us away, with the poles for a big stretcher!"
+cried the professor.
+
+Looking from the side windows the boys saw that a great crowd of the
+big men were on either side of the Mermaid, each giant grasping a
+pole, and lifting. Farther out were others, holding the ends of the
+cables which Washington and Andy had not succeeded in cutting.
+
+The ship was being carried along by a thousand or more giants, as the
+ancient warriors, slain in battle, were carried home on the spears of
+their comrades.
+
+"This is the end of the Mermaid!" murmured Mr. Henderson in sorrowful
+tones.
+
+As they looked from the conning tower the professor and the two boys
+observed a commotion among the leaders of the giants. They seemed to
+be wavering. Suddenly the forward part of the ship sank, as those
+ahead laid their poles down on the ground. Then those behind did the
+same, and the Mermaid, came to a stop, and once more rested on the
+earth.
+
+"What does this mean?" asked the scientist in wonder.
+
+All at once the entire crowd of giants threw themselves down on their
+faces, and there, standing at the bow of the ship, was a giant, half
+again as large as any of the others. He was clad in a complete suit of
+golden armor on which the changing lights played with beautiful
+effect, and in his hand he held an immense golden sword. He pointed
+the weapon at the ship as if he had raised it in protection, and his
+hand was stretched in commanding gesture over the prostrate giants.
+
+"Perhaps he has come to save us!" cried Mark.
+
+  CHAPTER XXVII
+
+ A GREAT JOURNEY
+
+SUCH indeed, seemed to be the case. The golden-armored giant, after
+standing for a few moments in an attitude of command, waved his sword
+three times about his head, and uttered a command, in a voice that
+sounded like thunder. Then the prostrate ones arose, and, making low
+bows hurried away in all directions.
+
+Watching them disappear, the golden one sheathed his weapon and
+approached the ship. He caught sight of the professor and the two boys
+in the conning tower, for Mark had gone there when he found the ship
+being transported, and held up his two hands, the palms outward.
+
+"It is the sign of peace in the language all natives employ," said the
+professor. "I think I shall trust him."
+
+Followed by the boys he descended from the little platform in the
+tower, and to the door that opened on the deck.
+
+"Shall we go out?" he asked.
+
+"We can't be much worse off," replied Mark. "Let's chance it."
+
+So, not without many misgivings, they slid back the portal and stepped
+out to face the strange and terrible being who had so suddenly come to
+their rescue.
+
+The giant in the golden armor did not seem surprised to see them. In
+fact he acted as though he rather expected them. He continued to hold
+up one hand, with the palm, outward, while, with the other, he removed
+his helmet and bowed low. Then he cast his sword on the ground and
+advanced toward the ship. When within ten feet he sat down on the
+ground, and this brought his head nearer the earth, so that his
+auditors could both see and hear him to better advantage.
+
+As soon as the giant saw the travelers were outside their ship he
+began to speak to them in a voice, which, though he might have meant
+it to be low and gentle, was like the bellowing of a bull. At the same
+time he made many gestures, pointing to the ship, to himself and to
+Mark.
+
+"What is he saying, professor?" asked Jack.
+
+"I can't understand all he says," Mr. Henderson replied. "He uses some
+words derived from the Latin and some from the Greek. But by piecing
+it out here and there, and by interpreting his motions I am able to
+get at something."
+
+"And what is it all about?"
+
+"It is a strange story," the scientist replied. "He has only gone
+about half way through it. Wait until he finishes and I will tell
+you."
+
+The golden-armored giant, who had stopped in his narrative while Jack
+was speaking, resumed. His gestures became more rapid, and his words
+came faster. Several times Mr. Henderson held up his hand for him to
+cease, while he puzzled out what was meant.
+
+At one point, the professor seemed much startled, and motioned for the
+strange being to repeat the last part of his discourse. When this had
+been done Mr. Henderson shook his head as though in doubt.
+
+At length the story was finished, and the lone giant, for there were
+no others in sight now, folded his arms and seemed to await what the
+professor's answer might be. Mr. Henderson turned to the boys, and to
+the others of the Mermaid's company, who, by this time, had joined
+him, and said:
+
+"Friends, I have just listened to a strange story. It is so strange
+that, but for the fact that our own adventures are verging on the
+marvelous, I could hardly believe it. In the first place, this man
+here is the king of this country. That is why all the other natives
+obeyed him.
+
+"In the second place it seems he has been a passenger in our boat, and
+came here from the earth's surface with us!"
+
+"What's that?" cried Jack.
+
+"That explains the strange happenings!" ejaculated Mark. "No wonder I
+could never solve the secret of the storeroom."
+
+"You are right, it does," replied Mr. Henderson. "I will not go into
+all the details of how it happened, but it seems the big hole through
+which we came is only one of two entrances to this inner world. Rather
+it is the entrance, and there is another, close to it, which is the
+exit. Through the latter a big stream of water spouts up, just as one
+pours down through the opening we used.
+
+"Hankos, which is the name of the king, was for many years a student
+of science. He longed to see where the big stream of upward spurting
+water went, and wanted to know whence came the down-pouring one. So he
+undertook a daring experiment.
+
+"He constructed a great cylinder, and, keeping his plans a secret,
+conveyed it to the spouting water, entered it, and, by means of
+pulleys and levers, after he had shut himself inside, cast himself
+into the up-shooting column. He took along compressed air cylinders to
+supply an atmosphere he could breathe, and some food to eat, for it
+appears our giant friends are something of inventors in their way. The
+current of water bore him to the surface of the earth, and he was cast
+up on the ocean, in what was probably taken for a waterspout if any
+one saw it.
+
+"Then a strange thing happened. No sooner did Hankos open his
+cylinder, which served him as a boat, than he lost his gigantic size,
+owing to the difference of the two atmospheres. He became almost of
+the same size as ourselves, except that his skin hung in great folds
+on him, and he seemed like a wrinkled old man. His clothes too, were a
+world too large.
+
+"He had a terrible time before he reached shore, and a hard one after
+it, for his strange appearance turned almost every one against him. He
+was sorry he had ventured to solve the mystery of the up-shooting
+stream of water, for he was worse than an outcast.
+
+"Then he began to plan to get back to his own inner world. But he
+could not find the downward stream, and, not knowing the language of
+the countries where he landed, he had no means of ascertaining. He
+traveled from place to place, always seeking for something that would
+lead him back to his own country.
+
+"Finally he heard of us, and of our ship, though how I do not know, as
+I thought I had kept it a great secret. By almost superhuman struggles
+he made his way to our island. He says he concealed himself aboard the
+Mermaid the night before we sailed, but I hardly believe it possible.
+It seems----"
+
+"He did it, for I saw him!" interrupted Mark.
+
+"You saw him!" cried Mr. Henderson.
+
+Then Mark told of the many things that had puzzled him so, how he had
+seen the queer figure slinking aboard the boat, of the disappearance
+of food from time to time, and of the strange noises in the storeroom.
+
+"That bears out what he told me," the professor said. "Hankos says he
+used to steal out nights and take what food he could get, and he also
+mentions some one, answering to Mark's description, who nearly
+discovered him once as he hurried back into the apartment.
+
+"However, it seems to be true, since Mark confirms it. At any rate
+Hankos stayed in hiding, and made the entire trip with us, and, just
+as we all became overcome with the strange gas he escaped, having
+begun to expand to his original giant size, and being unable to remain
+any longer in his cramped quarters."
+
+"That's so, he did!" cried Mark. "I saw him come out of the place just
+before I lost my senses. It was a terrible sight, and none of you
+would believe me when I told you some of the occurrences afterward."
+
+"You must forgive us for that," the professor said. "We have learned
+much since then."
+
+"What did Hankos do after he left the ship when it landed in this
+country?" asked Jack.
+
+"He traveled until he came to this village, which is the chief one of
+this country," replied the professor. "Part of the time he followed us
+at a distance, being able to travel very fast."
+
+Mark remembered the strange figure of a giant he had seen on the hill
+tops several times, and knew that he had been observing the being who
+had played such a queer part in their lives.
+
+"When he came back among his own people," went on Mr. Henderson, "they
+would not receive him at first, believing him to be an impostor. But
+Hankos convinced them of his identity and was allowed to don the
+golden armor, which is the badge of kingship. He had only been in
+office for a little while when he heard of the arrival of the strange
+thing, which turned out to be our ship. He recognized it from the
+description, and, learning that we were likely to be sacrificed to the
+fury and ignorance of the giants, he hurried here and saved our lives.
+
+"He says he can never thank us enough for being the means whereby he
+was able to get back to his own country, and says the freedom of this
+whole inner world is ours. He has given orders that we are to go
+wherever we like, and none will molest us. He tells me the land is a
+wonderful one, compared to our own, and urges us to make a long
+journey. He would like to go with us, only, now that he has resumed
+his natural size, he can not get inside the ship."
+
+"Hurrah for King Hankos!" cried Jack and the others joined him in a
+hearty cheer.
+
+The giant in the golden armor evidently understood the compliment
+which was paid him, for he waved his helmet in the air and responded
+with a shout of welcome that made the ground tremble.
+
+Hankos waited until the professor had translated all of the story to
+the other travelers. Then the genial giant began to talk some more,
+and the professor listened intently.
+
+"He says," spoke Mr. Henderson to his friends, "that we will be
+supplied with all the fruit we want, and with the best of the houses
+to sleep in on our journey. He also tells me he has great stores of
+shining stones and piles of the metal of which his armor is made, and
+that we are welcome to as much as we want. If this means unlimited
+gold and diamonds, we may make our fortunes."
+
+"Jest let me git ma' hand on a few sparklers an' I'll quit work!"
+exclaimed Washington.
+
+"I have told him," the scientist went on, "that we will take advantage
+of his kind offer. We will start on our trip in a day or so, after we
+have looked over the ship to see if it is not damaged. He tells me the
+gold and sparkling stones are several thousand miles away, on top of a
+high mountain. We will make that our objective point."
+
+The interview between the king and Mr. Henderson having ended, the
+former waved his sword in the air and the swarm of big men came back.
+They had been hiding back in the woods. Now their manner was very
+different. They carefully removed the rollers and ropes, and soon
+there was brought to the adventurers an immense pile of fine fruits.
+If our friends had stayed there a year they could not have eaten it
+all. The giants were judging the appetites of the travelers by their
+own.
+
+That night the adventurers slept more soundly than they had since
+entering the strange world. They felt they had nothing to fear from
+the giants. In the morning they were not molested, though big crowds
+gathered to look at the ship. But they kept back a good distance. The
+machinery was found to be in good shape, save for a few repairs, and
+when these were made, the professor announced he would start on a long
+journey.
+
+For several weeks after that the travelers swung about in their ship,
+sometimes sailing in the air and again on big seas and lakes viewing
+the wonders of the inner world. They were many and varied, and the
+professor collected enough material for a score of books which he said
+he would write when he got back to the outer world once more.
+
+One afternoon, as they were sailing over a vast stretch of woodland,
+which did not seem to be inhabited, Mr. Henderson, looking at one of
+the gages on the wall, asked:
+
+"Boys do you know how far you have traveled underground?"
+
+"How far?" asked Jack, who hated to guess riddles.
+
+"More than four thousand miles," was the answer.
+
+"But we haven't come to that mountain of gold and diamonds," said
+Mark. "I am anxious to see that."
+
+"Have patience," replied the professor. "I have not steered toward it
+yet. There are other things to see."
+
+Just then Washington's voice could be heard calling from the conning
+tower:
+
+"We're coming to a big mountain!"
+
+  CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+ THE TEMPLE OF TREASURE
+
+"WHAT'S that?" fairly yelled the professor.
+
+"We am propelling ourselves in a contiguous direction an' in close
+proximity to an elevated portion of th' earth's surface which rises in
+antiguous proximity t' th' forward part of our present means of
+locomotion!" said the colored man in a loud voice.
+
+"Which means there may be a collision," the professor said, as he and
+the boys hurried toward the tower,
+
+"Jest what I said," retorted Washington. "What'll I do?"
+
+"Send the ship a little higher," answered Mr. Henderson. "We mustn't
+hit any mountains."
+
+Washington forced more gas into the holder, and speeded the negative
+gravity machine up some, so that the Mermaid, which was flying rather
+low, ascended until it was in no danger of colliding with the peak
+which reared its lofty height just ahead of them.
+
+As the ship sailed slowly over the mountain, Mark gazed down and
+exclaimed:
+
+"Doesn't that look like the ruins of some building?"
+
+The professor took a pair of field glasses from a rack in the wall and
+took a long view.
+
+"It must be the place," he said in a low voice.
+
+"What place?" asked Jack.
+
+"The temple of treasure," was the answer. "Hankos told me it was on
+top of the highest mountain in the land, and this must be it, for it
+is the loftiest place we have seen. But we must be careful, for there
+is danger down there."
+
+"What kind?" asked Mark.
+
+"The place was long ago deserted by the giants," Mr. Henderson went
+on. "Ages ago it was one of their storehouses for treasure, but there
+were wars among themselves, Hankos said, and this part of the country
+was laid waste. Savage beasts took up their abode in the temple, and
+since then, in spite of the great size of the giants, they have not
+dared to venture here. If we brave the animals we may have all the
+gold and diamonds we can take away."
+
+"Then for one, I'm willin' t' go down an' begin th' extermination at
+once," put in Andy. "I've always wanted t' be rich."
+
+"We must proceed cautiously," the professor said. "We are ill prepared
+to fight any such beasts as we saw at the big geyser. At the same time
+they may have deserted this place. I think we will lower the ship down
+over the temple, and spend several hours in observation. Then, if
+nothing develops, we can enter and see if the treasure is there."
+
+This plan was voted a good one, and the Mermaid after having been
+steered directly over the ruined temple, was brought to a halt, and
+enough gas let out so that it fell to about fifty feet in the air
+above it.
+
+The adventurers began their watch. The afternoon waned and there were
+no signs of any beasts in or about the temple.
+
+"I reckon we can take a chance," said Andy, who was anxious to get his
+hands on some diamonds.
+
+"Better wait until morning," counseled Mr. Henderson. "It will soon be
+dark, and it doesn't look like a nice place to go stumbling about in
+by moonlight."
+
+So, though all but the scientist were anxious, they had to wait until
+the night had passed. Several times Washington got up to see if the
+temple had, by any chance, taken wings during the long hours of
+darkness, but each time he found it was still in place.
+
+"Seems laik it'll never come mornin'." he said.
+
+But dawn came at length, and, after a hasty breakfast, preparations to
+enter the temple were made. Andy loaded his gun for "bear" as he
+expressed it, and the boys each took a revolver.
+
+The ship was lowered to as level a place as could be found, and then,
+seeing that everything was in readiness for a quick departure, the
+professor led the way out of the Mermaid.
+
+The entrance to the temple was through a big arched gateway. Some of
+the stones had fallen down, and the whole structure looked as if it
+might topple over at any moment.
+
+"Go carefully," cautioned Mr. Henderson, "Watch on all sides and up
+above. Better let Andy and me go ahead."
+
+The scientist and the old hunter led the way. Through the arch they
+went, and emerged into what must at one time have been a magnificent
+courtyard. Before them was the temple proper, a vast structure, with
+an opening through which fifty men might have marched abreast. But the
+doors were gone, and the portal was but a black hole.
+
+"I hope there ain't any ghosts in there," said Washington, with a
+shiver.
+
+"Nonsense!" exclaimed the professor. "There may be things as bad, but
+there are no such things as ghosts. Have your gun ready, Andy."
+
+With every sense on the alert, the old hunter advanced. Every one was
+a bit nervous, and, as Mark and Jack afterward admitted, they half
+expected some terrible beast to rush out at them. But nothing of the
+kind happened, and they went into the interior of the temple.
+
+At first it was so dark they could see nothing. There were vast dim
+shapes on every side, and from the hollow echo of their footsteps they
+judged the roof must be very high and the structure big in every way.
+
+Then, as their eyes became used to the darkness, they could make out,
+up front, something like an altar or pulpit.
+
+"Perhaps that's where they offered up the gold and diamonds as a
+sacrifice to their gods," spoke Mark in a whisper.
+
+"Sacrifice to their gods!" came back a hundred echoes and the sound
+made every one shudder.
+
+"Oh!" said Washington, in a low voice.
+
+"Oh! Oh! Oh!" repeated the echoes in voices of thunder.
+
+"Well, this is pleasant," spoke Andy, in his natural tones, and, to
+the surprise of all there was no echo. It was only when a person
+whispered or spoke low that the sound was heard. After that they
+talked naturally.
+
+"You stay here, and Andy and I will go up front and see what there
+is," said Mr. Henderson. "Be on your guard, and if you hear us coming
+back in a hurry, run!"
+
+It was with no little feeling of nervousness that the boys, Bill, Tom
+and Washington watched the two men move off in the darkness. They
+could hear their footsteps on the stone flags and could dimly see
+them.
+
+"They must be almost to the altar by this time," said Mark, after a
+long pause.
+
+Hardly had he spoken than there came a loud, sound from where Mr.
+Henderson and Andy had gone. It was as if some giant wings were
+beating the air. Then came shrill cries and the voice of the old
+hunter could be heard calling:
+
+"Kneel down, Professor! Let me get a shot at the brute!"
+
+Those waiting in the rear of the temple huddled closer together. What
+terrible beast could have been aroused?
+
+The next instant the place seemed illuminated as if by a lightning
+flash, and a sound as of a thousand thunder claps resounded.
+
+"I think I winged him!" cried Andy's voice, and the boys knew he had
+fired at something.
+
+Then there came a crash, and from the roof of the old temple a dozen
+stones toppled off to one side, letting in a flood of colored light.
+
+By this illumination could be seen, flapping through the big space
+overhead, an enormous bat, as large as three eagles. And, as it flew
+about in a circle it gave utterance to shrill cries.
+
+"Bang!" Andy's gun spoke again, and the bat with a louder cry than
+before, darted through the hole in the roof made by the falling
+stones, which had been loosened by the concussion from the rifle.
+
+"Come on!" cried the old hunter. "That was the guardian of the
+treasure! We are safe now!"
+
+Then, in the light which streamed through the broken roof, the
+adventurers could see, heaped up on a great altar, behind which sat a
+horrible graven image, piles of yellow metal, and sparkling stones. In
+little heaps they were, arranged as if offerings to the terrible god
+of the giants. There were bars and rings of gold, dishes of odd shape,
+and even weapons. As for the sparkling stones, they were of many
+colors, but the white ones were more plentiful than all the others.
+
+"Gold and diamonds! Diamonds and gold!" murmured the professor. "There
+is the ransom of many kings in this ancient temple."
+
+"Wish I had a big bag!" exclaimed Washington, as he began filling all
+his pockets with the precious metal and gems. "If I had a-thought I'd
+have brought a dress-suit case!"
+
+"A dress-suit case full of diamonds!" exclaimed Mark.
+
+Then he too, as did all the others, fell to filling his pockets with
+the wealth spread so lavishly before them. There was the riches of a
+whole world in one place and no one but themselves to take it.
+
+For several minutes no one spoke. The only sound was the rattle of the
+stones and the clink of gold, and when some of the diamonds dropped on
+the floor they did not bother to gather them up. There were too many
+on the altar.
+
+"We will be rich for life!" gasped old Andy, who had been poor all his
+years.
+
+"I can't carry any more!" gasped Washington. "I'm goin' back for----"
+
+What he was going back for he never said, for, at that instant,
+happening to look up at the hole in the roof, he gave a startled try:
+
+"Here come the terrible bats!"
+
+They all gazed upward. Through the opening they could see a great
+flock of the awful birds, headed for the temple, and they were led by
+one which seemed to fly with difficulty. It was the guardian of the
+treasure that Andy had wounded.
+
+"Quick! We must get out of here!" shouted the old hunter. "They are
+big enough and strong enough to tear us all to pieces. Hurry!"
+
+Down the centre of the temple they rushed, and not a moment too soon,
+for, ere they had passed half way to the entrance, the opening in the
+roof was darkened by the coming of the bats, and soon the flapping of
+their wings awoke the thundering echoes in the ruined structure, while
+their shrill cries struck terror to the hearts of the travelers.
+
+Up to the altar circled the bats, and then wheeling they flapped down
+the dim aisles toward the adventurers.
+
+"Hurry! Hurry!" shouted Andy, who was in the rear.
+
+He raised his rifle and fired several shots into the midst of the
+terrible creatures.
+
+A number of the bats were wounded, and the others were so frightened
+by the sound of the shots and the flashes of fire that they turned
+back. This enabled the fleeing ones to gain the entrance to the
+temple, and soon they were outside.
+
+"To the ship!" yelled Bill.
+
+"There's little danger now!" called Andy, panting, for the run had
+winded him. "They will hardly attack us in the light!"
+
+And he was right, for, though they could hear the bats flying about
+inside the temple, and uttering their cries, none came outside.
+
+But no one felt like staying near the uncanny structure, and little
+time was lost in reaching the Mermaid. Then the doors were fastened,
+and the ship was sent high up into the air.
+
+"Which way?" asked Jack, when Mr. Henderson told him to go to the
+conning tower and steer.
+
+"Back to where we first met the giants," replied the professor. "We
+must prepare to start for our own earth again soon."
+
+"I've almost forgotten how real sunlight looks," thought Jack, as he
+headed the ship around the other way. As he turned the levers a big
+diamond dropped from his pocket and rolled on the floor.
+
+"This will be a good reminder of our trip though," he added.
+
+The travelers, even including Mr. Henderson, were so taken up with
+their suddenly acquired riches that they hardly thought of meals. At
+the professor's suggestion they tied their gold and stones up in small
+packages convenient to carry.
+
+"Better place them where you can grab them in a hurry in case of
+accident," the old scientist went on. "Of course if there should be
+too bad an accident they would never be of any use to us down here,
+but we'll look on the bright side of things."
+
+"Do you anticipate any accident?" asked Jack anxiously.
+
+"No, Oh no," replied Mr. Henderson, but Jack thought the aged man had
+something weighing on his mind.
+
+  CHAPTER XXIX
+
+ BACK HOME-- CONCLUSION
+
+ON and on sped the Mermaid. Now that the travelers felt their journey
+accomplished they were anxious to begin the homeward trip. They made a
+straight course for the village where they had so nearly met with
+disaster, and where the king of the giants had saved them. They went
+in a direct line, and did not travel here and there, as they had after
+they left the town. Consequently they shortened the route by a great
+distance. Yet it was long enough, and when they finally came in sight
+of the place the dial registered a trip of five thousand miles
+underground.
+
+It was one evening when they landed almost at the spot whence they had
+taken flight eventually to reach the temple of the treasure. Most of
+the giants had betaken themselves to their mound houses, but Hankos
+was walking in the fields, and, when he caught sight of the airship
+hovering above him he waved his great sword in welcome.
+
+He rushed up to shake hands with the travelers when they came out of
+the ship, though to greet him it was only possible for the adventurers
+to grasp one of his immense fingers.
+
+As soon as the greetings were over Hankos began to speak rapidly to
+the professor, at the same time going through many strange motions.
+
+"It is as I feared!" suddenly exclaimed the scientist.
+
+"What is the matter?" asked Mark.
+
+"The worst has happened!" went on Mr. Henderson. "The great hole by
+which we came into this place has been closed by an earthquake shock!"
+
+"The hole closed?" repeated Jack.
+
+"An earthquake shock!" murmured Mark.
+
+"Then how are we going to get back to earth?" asked old Andy.
+
+A terrible fear entered the hearts of the travelers. The closing of
+the opening by which they had come to the strange world meant, in all
+probability that they would have to spend the rest of their lives in
+this underground place.
+
+"What good did it do us to get all those diamonds and that gold?"
+asked Mark in a sorrowful tone.
+
+Hankos began to speak again, using his gestures which were almost as
+eloquent as words. The professor watched and listened intently. Then
+there seemed to come a more hopeful look to his face. He nodded
+vigorously as Hankos went on with what seemed to be an explanation.
+
+"It's worth trying, at all events!" the scientist exclaimed. "It is
+our only hope!"
+
+"What is?" asked Jack.
+
+"Friends," began the professor in solemn tones. "I must admit our
+plight is desperate. At the same time there is a bare chance of our
+getting back to our own earth. As you remember, Hankos went from this
+place to the upper regions through the upward spouting column of
+water."
+
+"If we had our submarine we might also," interrupted Jack. "But the
+Mermaid isn't built to sail in that fashion."
+
+"Nor would the Porpoise have served us in this emergency," said the
+professor. "It would prove too heavy. But, nevertheless, I think I
+have a plan. Now, Mark, you are about to learn the secret of the
+storeroom. The real one, not the hiding of Hankos in there, which you
+imagined to be the cause of my desire to keep something hidden. When
+we planned a trip to this underground world I had a dim idea that we
+might meet with trouble. So I planned and made a cylinder lifeboat."
+
+"A cylinder lifeboat?" repeated Mark.
+
+"Yes," replied Mr. Henderson. "I have it in the storeroom. I did not
+want any of you to see it for fear you would have faint hearts. I
+thought there might be no necessity of using it. But, since there is,
+we must do our best. I will admit it may be a fearful ordeal, but we
+will have to risk something in order to escape.
+
+"I have in the storeroom a large cylinder, capable of holding us all.
+It will also contain food and drink for a month, but we will all have
+to go, packed almost like sardines in a box. My plan is to take the
+Mermaid to the place where the column of water shoots up. There we
+will get into the cylinder, close it, and trust ourselves to the
+terrible force that may bring us back to the upper world. What do you
+say? Shall we attempt it?"
+
+For a few seconds no one spoke. Then Jack said slowly:
+
+"I don't see that we can do anything else. I don't want to stay here
+all my life."
+
+"I wants a chance t' wear some of them sparklers," put in Washington.
+
+"Then we will make the attempt," the professor added. "Now all aboard
+for the place where the water shoots up!"
+
+Questioning Hankos, the professor learned how to reach the strange
+place. It was in the midst of a desolate country where none of the
+giants ever went, so afraid were they of the strange phenomenon.
+
+It was a week's journey. Sometimes the Mermaid flew through the air,
+and again it sailed on vast lakes or inland seas. On the trip they met
+with big waterfalls and terrible geysers that spouted a mile or more
+into the air. They traveled by night as well as day, though it was
+necessary to keep a sharp watch.
+
+Sometimes the ship passed through great flocks of birds that
+surrounded her and sought to pierce the aluminum hull with their sharp
+beaks and talons. Over the mountains and valleys the ship sailed
+until, one evening, there sounded through the air a strange rumbling
+sound.
+
+"It is thunder," said Old Andy.
+
+"It is the water column," replied the scientist. "We are at the end of
+our trip. May the remainder be as successful!"
+
+The ship was lowered to the surface, as it was deemed best to approach
+the column when the lights were shining. No one slept much that night,
+for the roaring and rumbling never ceased.
+
+In the morning the ship was sent forward slowly. Ever and ever the
+terrific sound increased, until it was almost deafening. They had to
+call to each other to be heard.
+
+Then, as the Mermaid passed over a mountain, the adventurers saw, in a
+valley below them, the up-shooting water.
+
+It was a vast column, nearly three hundred feet in thickness, and as
+solid and white as a shaft of marble. Up, up, up, it went, until it
+was lost to sight, but there were no falling drops, and not even a
+spray came from the watery shafts.
+
+"There is a terrible power to it," the professor said. "May it prove
+our salvation!"
+
+The ship was lowered about a hundred feet away from the waterspout.
+All around them the ground was vibrating with the force of the fluid.
+
+"To think that connects with the world above!" exclaimed Jack.
+
+"It's a good thing for us that it does," Mark answered.
+
+"We must lose no time," the professor put in. "If the earthquake
+destroyed the downward shaft, it may effect this one in time. We must
+escape while we can."
+
+Then, for the first time, he opened the storeroom and the big cylinder
+was disclosed to view. It was made of aluminum, and shaped like an
+immense cigar. The hull was double, and it was strongly braced. Inside
+were padded berths for the occupants, and there was just room enough
+for the seven adventurers. Once they had entered they could not move
+about, but must stay in their little compartment.
+
+Compressed air in strong cylinders furnished a means of breathing, and
+there were tiny electric lights operated by a storage battery. There
+was also a chamber to be filled with the lifting gas. The cylinder was
+so arranged that it would float on it's long axis if thrown into the
+water. A trap door hermetically sealed gave access to the interior. A
+small propeller, worked by compressed air, furnished motive power.
+
+The food supply consisted of compressed capsules on which a man could
+subsist for several days. There was also some water, but not much,
+since that can not be compressed and would, therefore, take
+considerable room.
+
+"The only thing for us to do," said the professor, "is to get into the
+cylinder, seal it up, and trust to Providence. This is what I intended
+to use when we were caught in the draught."
+
+"How can we get into the column of water after we shut ourselves into
+the cylinder?" asked Mark.
+
+"The cylinder fits into a sort of improvised cannon," said Mr.
+Henderson. "It is fired by electricity and compressed air. "We will
+aim it at the column, press the button and be projected into the midst
+of the water. Then----" He did not finish the sentence, but the others
+knew what he meant.
+
+"When are we to start?" asked Mark.
+
+"As soon as possible," replied the professor. "I must arrange the
+cylinder, compress the air and lay out the food supply."
+
+It took the rest of the day to do this, as the inventor found it would
+be advisable to attach a weight to the end of the cylinder, to hold it
+upright in the column of water. The weight could be detached
+automatically when they were shot up into the midst of the ocean,
+where, as Hankos had told them, the column spurted forth.
+
+Then some food was stored in the tiny ship that was destined to be
+their last hope, and some tanks of water were placed in it.
+
+"I think we are almost ready," Mr. Henderson said about noon the next
+day.
+
+"What about our gold and diamonds?" asked Jack suddenly. "Can we take
+them with us in the cylinder?"
+
+"That's so!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. "I forgot about them. I'm afraid
+we'll have to leave the riches behind. We will not be able to carry
+them and the food we need, for it may be a week or more before we can
+leave the cylinder. Gold and diamonds will be a poor substitute for
+something to eat."
+
+"I'm goin' t' take mine!" said Washington with much conviction. "I
+might as well starve rich as starve poor!"
+
+"We may be able to take a few diamonds," the professor answered. "The
+gold will be too heavy. Let each one select the largest of the
+diamonds he has and put them in his pockets."
+
+Then began a sorting of the wealth. It was strange, as they recalled
+afterward, throwing away riches that would have made millionaires
+envious, but it had to be done. All the wealth in the world would not
+equal a beef capsule when they were starving, and they realized it. So
+they only saved a few pieces of gold as souvenirs, and took the best
+of the diamonds. But even then they had a vast fortune with them.
+
+At last all was in readiness. The cylinder had been placed in the tube
+from which it was to be shot gently forth by compressed air, so that
+it would fall into the upward spouting column of water. The charge of
+compressed air was put in and the electric wires arranged.
+
+"Are we all ready?" asked Mr. Henderson.
+
+"I think so," said Jack, in what sounded like a whisper, but which was
+loud, only the noise of the water muffled it.
+
+"Then we had better enter the cylinder," spoke the inventor. "Take a
+last look at the Flying Mermaid, boys, for you will never see again
+the ship that has borne us many thousand miles. She served us well,
+and might again, but for the freak of nature that has placed us in
+this position."
+
+For the first time the adventurers realized that they must abandon the
+craft in which they had reached the new world. So it was with no
+little feeling of sadness that they climbed up the ladder that had
+been arranged and slid down into the cylinder. One by one they took
+their places in the padded berths arranged for them. It was a snug
+fit, for the professor knew if there was too much room he and the
+others might be so tossed about as to be killed.
+
+Mr. Henderson was the last to enter. Standing at the manhole he took a
+final look at his pet creation, the Mermaid. Through the opened
+windows the colored lights came, shifting here and there. Outside the
+terrible column of water was roaring as if anxious to devour them.
+
+"Good-bye, Mermaid!" said the professor softly.
+
+Then he closed down the manhole cover and tightened the screws that
+held it in place. He touched a button that turned on the electric
+lights and the interior of the cylinder was illuminated with a soft
+glow.
+
+"Are you all ready?" he asked.
+
+"Jest as much as I ever will be," replied Washington, who, as the
+crisis approached, seemed more light-hearted than any of the others.
+
+"Then here we go!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson.
+
+His fingers touched the button that connected with the electric
+machine, which operated the compressed air.
+
+There sounded a muffled report. Then it seemed to those in the
+cylinder that the end of the world had come. They shot upward and
+outward, through the top of the conning tower which had been removed.
+The cylinder, launched straight at the column of water struck it
+squarely and, an instant later was caught in the grasp of the giant
+force and hurled toward the upper world.
+
+Up and up and up the mass of metal with its human freight went. Now it
+was spinning like a top, again it shot toward the earth's crust like
+an arrow from the archer's bow.
+
+It was moving with the velocity of a meteor, yet because of being
+surrounded with water, and traveling with the same velocity as the
+column, there was no friction. Had there been, the heat generated
+would have melted the case in an instant.
+
+For the first few seconds those in the cylinder were dazed by the
+sudden rush. Then as it became greater and greater there came a
+curious dull feeling, and, one after another lost consciousness. The
+terror of the water column, and the frightful speed, had made them
+senseless.
+                               _______
+
+It seemed like a month later, though, of course, it could have been
+only a few hours or a day at most when Jack opened his eyes. He saw
+his companions, white and senseless all around him, and at first
+thought they were dead. Then he saw Mark looking at him, and
+Washington asked:
+
+"Is any one livin' 'sides me?"
+
+"I am," replied Jack decidedly.
+
+Then, one after another they regained their senses. But they were in a
+strange daze, for they were being carried along like a shooting star,
+only, as they went at the same rate as did the element carrying them,
+they did not realize this.
+
+"I think I'm hungry," said Bill, who had the best appetite of any of
+the travelers.
+
+"You'll find a beef capsule in the little compartment over your head,"
+spoke the professor.
+
+Bill was about to reach for it, when they were all startled by a
+sudden side motion of the cylinder. Then came a violent shock, and a
+sound as of splashing water. Next the cylinder seemed to be falling,
+and, a few minutes later to be shooting upward. Following this there
+was another splash and the cylinder began to bob about like a cork on
+a mill pond.
+
+"We have reached the sea! We are afloat on the ocean!" cried the
+professor.
+
+Hurriedly he disengaged himself from the straps that held him to his
+bunk. He pushed back the lever that opened the manhole. Into the
+opening glowed the glorious sunlight, while to the occupants came the
+breath of salt air.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Jack. "We are safe at last!"
+
+"Safe at last!" the professor answered, and then they all gave a
+cheer.
+
+For their cylinder, which might now be termed a boat, was floating on
+the great Atlantic. The blue sky was overhead and the air of the sea
+fanned their cheeks.
+
+They had shot up from the underground earth, in the column of water,
+had been tossed high into the air, had fallen back when the liquid
+shaft broke into spray, had descended into the ocean, gone down a
+hundred feet or more, and then had shot up like a cork to bob about
+the surface.
+
+For a week they were afloat, and then they were picked up by a passing
+vessel, rather weak and very much cramped, but otherwise in good
+shape. They said nothing of their adventures, save to explain that
+they were experimenting in a new kind of boat. About a month later,
+for the ship that had rescued them was a slow sailer, they were back
+on the island whence that wonderful voyage was begun.
+                               _______
+
+"Well, we solved the mystery of the center of the earth," remarked
+Jack, one evening, when they were gathered in the old shack where so
+many wonderful adventures had been planned.
+
+"Yes, we did," said Mr. Henderson. "And no one else is ever likely to
+go there."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because the only way of getting there was destroyed by the
+earthquake, and no one could ever force his way down through that
+upward-shooting column of water."
+
+"That's so. Well, we have the diamonds, anyway," spoke Mark. "They
+ought to make us rich."
+
+And the jewels did, for the stones proved to be of great value, even
+though the adventurers had saved only a few of the many they found in
+the ruined temple.
+
+But there was money enough so that they all could live in comfort; the
+rest of their lives. As the professor was getting quite old, and
+incapable of making any more wonderful inventions, he closed up his
+workshop and settled down to a quiet life. As for Washington, Andy,
+and Bill and Tom, they invested their money received from the sale of
+the diamonds in different business ventures, and each one did well.
+
+"I am going in for a good education," said Jack to Mark.
+
+"Just what I am going to do," answered his chum. "And after we've got
+that----" He paused suggestively.
+
+"We'll go in for inventing airships, or something like that, eh?"
+
+"Yes. We've learned a great deal from Mr. Henderson, and in the course
+of time we ought to be able to turn out something even more wonderful
+than the Electric Monarch, the Porpoise, or the Flying Mermaid."
+
+"Yes, and when we've invented something better----"
+
+"We'll take another trip."
+
+"Right you are!"
+
+And then the two chums shook hands warmly; and here we will say
+good-bye.
+
+ THE END.
+
+
+
+
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