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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/7473-8.txt b/7473-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..43473f6 --- /dev/null +++ b/7473-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6766 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lost on the Moon, by Roy Rockwood + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lost on the Moon + or In Quest of the Field of Diamonds + +Author: Roy Rockwood + +Posting Date: August 29, 2012 [EBook #7473] +Release Date: February, 2005 +First Posted: May 6, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOST ON THE MOON *** + + + + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Tiffany Vergon, Joshua Hutchinson +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + +LOST ON THE MOON OR IN QUEST OF THE FIELD OF DIAMONDS + +BY ROY ROCKWOOD + + + + +CHAPTER + + + I. A WONDERFUL STORY + II. SOMETHING ABOUT OUR HEROES + III. PREPARING FOR A VOYAGE + IV. AN ACCIDENT + V. THE WORK OF AN ENEMY + VI. ON THE TRACK + VII. MARK IS CAPTURED + VIII. JACK IS PUZZLED + IX. A DARING PLOT + X. "HOW STRANGE MARK ACTS" + XI. READY FOR THE MOON + XII. MARK'S ESCAPE + XIII. A DIREFUL THREAT + XIV. OFF AT LAST + XV. THE SHANGHAI MAKES TROUBLE + XVI. "WILL IT HIT US?" + XVII. TURNING TURTLE + XVIII. AT THE MOON + XIX. TORCHES OF LIFE + XX. ON THE EDGE OF A CRATER + XXI. WASHINGTON SEES A GHOST + XXII. A BREAKDOWN + XXIII. LOST ON THE MOON + XXIV. DESOLATE WANDERINGS + XXV. THE PETRIFIED CITY + XXVI. SEEKING FOOD + XXVII. THE BLACK POOL +XXVIII. THE SIGNAL FAILS + XXIX. THE FIELD OF DIAMONDS + XXX. BACK TO EARTH--CONCLUSION + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A WONDERFUL STORY + + +"Well, what do you think of it, Mark?" asked Jack Darrow, as he laid +aside a portion of a newspaper, covered with strange printed +characters. "Great; isn't it?" + +"You don't mean to tell me that you believe that preposterous story, do +you, Jack?" And Mark Sampson looked across the table at his companion +in some astonishment. + +"Oh, I don't know; it may be true," went on Jack, again picking up the +paper and gazing thoughtfully at it. "I wish it was." + +"But think of it!" exclaimed Mark. "Why, if such a thing exists, and if +we, or some one else, should attempt to bring all those precious stones +to this earth, it would revolutionize the diamond industry of the +world. It can't be true!" + +"Well, here It is, in plain print. You can read it for yourself, as you +know the Martian language as well as I do. It states that a large field +of 'Reonaris' was discovered on the moon near Mare Tranquilitatis (or +Tranquil Ocean, I suppose that could be translated), and that the men +of Mars brought back some of the Reonaris with them. Here, read it, if +you don't believe me." + +"Oh, I believe you, all right--that is, I think you have translated +that article as well as you can. But suppose you have made some error? +We didn't have much time to study the language of Mars while we were +there, and we might make some mistake in the words. That article might +be an account of a dog-fight on the red planet, instead of an account +of a trip to the moon and the discovery of a field of Reonaris; eh, +Jack?" + +"Of course, I'm likely to have made an error, for it isn't easy to +translate this stuff." And Jack gazed intently at the strangely printed +page, which was covered with characters not unlike Greek. "I may be +wrong," went on the lad, "but you must remember that I translated some +other articles in this paper, and Professor Henderson also translated +them substantially as I did, and Professor Roumann agreed with him. +There _is_ Reonaris on the moon, and I wish we could go there and get +some." + +"But maybe after you got the Reonaris it would turn out to be only +common crystals," objected Mark. + +"No!" exclaimed Jack. "Reonaris is what the Martians call it in their +language, and that means diamonds. I'm sure of it!" + +"Well, I don't agree with you," declared the other lad. + +"Don't be cranky and contrary," begged Jack. + +"I'm not; but what's the use of believing anything so wild and weird as +that? It's a crazy yarn!" + +"It's nothing of the sort! There are diamonds on the moon; and I can +prove it!" + +"Well, don't get excited," suggested Mark calmly. "I don't believe it; +that's all. You're mistaken about what Reonaris is; that's what you +are." + +"I am not!" Jack had arisen from his chair, and seemed much elated. In +his hand he held clinched the paper which had caused the lively +discussion. It was as near to a disagreement as Jack Darrow and Mark +Sampson had come in some time. + +"Sit down," begged Mark. + +"I'll not!" retorted Jack. "I'm going to prove to you that I'm right." + +"How are you going to do it?" + +"I'm going to get Professor Henderson and Professor Roumann to +translate this article for you, and then you can ask them what Reonaris +is. Guess that'll convince you; won't it?" + +"Maybe; but why don't you ask Andy Sudds or Washington White to give +their opinion?" + +"Don't get funny," advised the other lad sharply, and then, seeing that +his chum was smiling, Jack laughed, cooled down a bit, looked at the +paper which he had crumpled in his hand, and said: + +"I guess I _was_ getting a little too excited. But I'm sure I'm right. +Here's the paper I brought from Mars to prove it, and the only thing +there's any doubt about is whether or not Reonaris means diamonds. I'll +ask----" + +At that moment the door of the library, in which Jack and Mark were +seated, was cautiously opened, and a black, woolly head was thrust in. +Then two widely-opened eyes gazed at the boys. + +"What's the matter, Washington?" asked Jack, with a laugh. + +"'Scuse me, Massa Jack," answered the colored man, "but did I done heah +you' to promulgate some conversationess regarding de +transmigatorability ob diamonds?" + +"Do you mean, were we talking about diamonds?" inquired Mark. + +"Dat's what I done said, Massa Mark." + +"No, you _didn't_ say it, but you meant it, I guess," went on Jack. +"Yes, we _were_ talking about diamonds, Washington. I know a place +that's full of them." + +"Where?" inquired the colored man, thrusting his head farther into the +room, and opening his eyes to their fullest extent. "Ef it ain't +violatin' no confidences, Massa Jack, would yo' jest kindly mention it +to yo's truly," and Professor Henderson's faithful servant, who had +followed him into many dangers, looked at the two boys, who, of late +years, had shared the labors of the well-known scientist. "Where am +dose diamonds, Massa Jack?" + +"On the moon," was the answer. + +"On de moon? Ha! Ha! Dat's a joke!" And Washington began to laugh. "On +de moon! Ha! Ho!" + +"Well, you can read it for yourself," went on the lad, tossing the +paper over to the colored man. The latter picked it up, gazed at it, +first from one side, and then from the other. Next he turned it upside +down, but, as this did not make the article any clearer, he turned the +paper back again. Then he remarked, with a puzzled air: + +"Well, I neber could read without mah glasses, Massa Jack, so I guess +I'll hab t' let it go until annoder time. Diamonds on de moon, eh? +Dat's wonderful! I wonder what dey'll be doin' next? But I'se got t' +go. Diamonds on de moon, eh? Diamonds on de moon!" + +As Washington turned to leave the room, for he had entered it when Jack +and Mark were talking to aim, the latter lad asked: + +"Did you want to see us about anything particular, Wash?" + +"Why, I suah did," was the reply, "I did come t' tell yo' dat Perfesser +Henderson would be pleased to hold some conversations wid yo', but when +Massa Jack done mentioned about dem diamonds, I clean fo'got it. +Diamonds on de moon, eh?" + +"Well, if the professor wants us we'd better go," suggested Mark. "Come +on, Jack, and stop dreaming about Reonaris and the moonbeams. Get back +to earth." + +"All right; laugh if you want to," said Jack sturdily, "but the time +will come, Mark, when you'll find out that I'm right." + +"How?" asked Mark. + +"I don't know, but I'm sure I can prove what I say." + +The two boys were to have the wonderful diamond story demonstrated to +them sooner than either expected. Following the colored man, the lads, +Jack carrying the paper, made their way to the laboratory of Professor +Henderson. His door was open, and the aged man, whose hair and beard +were now white with age, was bending over a table covered with papers, +chemical apparatus, test tubes, alembecs, Bunsen burners, globes, and +various pieces of apparatus. Another man, not quite so old as was Mr. +Henderson, was on the point of leaving the apartment. + +"Ah, boys," remarked the older professor, as he caught sight of them, +"I hope I didn't disturb you by sending for you." + +"No; Jack and I were only having a red-hot discussion about diamonds on +the moon," said Mark, with a laugh. + +"Diamonds on the moon!" exclaimed Professor Henderson. + +"Diamonds on the moon?" repeated his friend, Prof. Santell Roumann. "Is +this a joke, boys?" + +"Mark thinks so, but I don't!" cried Jack, enthusiastically. "Look +here, Professor Henderson, and also Mr. Roumann. Here is one of the +newspapers that we brought back with us in our projectile, the +_Annihilator_, after our trip to Mars. I have been translating some of +the articles in it, and to-night I came across one that told of a trip +made by some of the inhabitants of Mars to the moon, in a sort of +projectile, like ours, only more on the design of an aeroplane. + +"They landed on the moon, the article states, and found a big field, or +deposit, of Reonaris, which I claim are diamonds. Mark says I'm wrong, +but, Professor Henderson, isn't Reonaris to the Martians what diamonds +are to us?" + +"It certainly is," agreed the older scientist, and he looked for +confirmation to his scholarly companion. + +"Reonaris is substantially a diamond," said Professor Roumann. "It has +the same chemical constitution, and also the diamond's hardness and +brilliancy. But I don't understand how any diamonds can be on the moon." + +"You can read this for yourself," suggested Jack, passing over the +paper, which was one of some souvenirs brought back from what was the +longest journey on record, ever taken by human beings. + +Mr. Roumann adjusted his glasses, and carefully read the article that +was printed in such strange characters. As he perused it, he nodded his +head thoughtfully from time to time. Then he passed the paper to +Professor Henderson. + +The older scientist was somewhat longer in going over the article, but +when he had finished, he looked at the two boys, and said: "Jack is +right! This is an account of a trip made to the moon by some of the +Martians, who have advanced much further in the art of air navigation +than have we. Some of the words I am not altogether familiar with, but +in the main, that is what the paper states." + +"And doesn't it tell about them finding a field of Reonaris?" asked +Jack eagerly, for he was anxious to prove to his chum that he was right. + +"Yes, it does," replied Mr. Henderson. + +"And Reonaris is diamonds, isn't it?" asked Jack. + +"It is," answered Professor Roumann gravely. + +"Then," cried Jack, "what's to hinder us from going to the moon, and +getting some of those diamonds? The Martians must have left some! Let's +go to the moon and get them! We can do it in the projectile with which +we made the journey to Mars. Let's start for the moon!" + +For a moment there was silence in the laboratory of the scientist. It +was broken by Washington White, who remarked: + +"Good land a' massy! Annodder ob dem trips through de air! Well, I +ain't goin' to no moon--no sah!! Ef I went dere, I'd suah get looney, +an' I has troubles enough now wid'out dat, I suah has!" And, shaking +his head dubiously, the colored man shuffled from the room. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SOMETHING ABOUT OUR HEROES + + +"Are you in earnest in proposing this trip?" asked Professor Henderson +of Jack. The lad, with flushed face and bright eyes, stood in the +centre of the apartment, holding the paper which the aged scientist had +returned to him. + +"I certainly am," was the reply. "It ought not to be a difficult +undertaking, after our trip to the North Pole through the air, the one +to the South Pole under water, our journey to the centre of the earth, +and our flight to Mars. Why, a trip to the moon ought to be a little +pleasure jaunt, like an automobile tour. Can't we go, Professor?" + +"From the standpoint of possibility, I presume we could make a trip to +the moon," the scientist admitted. "It would not take so long, nor +would it be as dangerous, as was our trip to Mars. And yet, I don't +know that I care to go. I am getting along in years, and I have money +enough to live on. Even a field of diamonds hardly sounds attractive to +me." Jack's face showed the disappointment he felt. + +"And yet," went on the aged scientist with a smile, "there are certain +attractions about another trip through space. I had hoped to settle +down in life now, and devote my time to scientific study and the +writing of books. But this is something new. We never have been to the +moon, and----" + +"There are lots of problems about it that are still unsolved!" cried +Jack eagerly. "You will be able to discover if the moon has an +atmosphere and moisture; and also what the other side--the one that is +always turned away from us--looks like." + +"It does sound tempting," went on the aged scientist slowly. "And we +could do it in our projectile, the _Annihilator_. It is in good working +order; isn't it, Professor Roumann?" + +"Couldn't be better. If you ask me, I, for one, would like to make a +trip to the moon. It would give me a better chance to test the powers +of Cardite, that wonderful red substance we brought from Mars. I can +use that in the Etherium motor. If you left it to me, I'd say, 'go to +the moon.'" + +"Well, perhaps we will," spoke Mr. Henderson thoughtfully. + +"You'll go, too, won't you, Mark?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, I'm not going to be left behind. I'll go if the rest do, but I +don't believe you'll find any diamonds on the moon. If there ever were +any, the Martians took them." For Mark had been partly convinced after +the confirmation by the two professors of Jack's translation. + +"I'll take a chance on the sparklers," said his chum. "But now, let's +go into details, and figure out when we can start. It ought not to take +very long to get ready." + +As has been explained in detail in the other books of this series, +Professor Amos Henderson and the two lads, Mark Sampson and Jack +Darrow, had undertaken many strange voyages together. Sometimes they +were accompanied by friends and assistants, while Washington White, a +sort of servant, helper, and man-of-all-work, and Andy Sudds, an old +hunter, always went with them. + +Mark and Jack were orphans, who had been adopted by Professor +Henderson, who spent all his time making wonderful machines for +transportation, or conducting strange experiments. + +The two boys had been rescued by Professor Henderson and Washington +White from a train wreck. Although both boys were badly hurt, they were +nursed back to health by the eminent scientist, who soon learned to +care for the lads as though they had been his own sons. + +They aided the professor, as soon as they were able, in constructing an +airship, called the _Electric Monarch_, in which Professor Henderson +hoped to be able to reach the North Pole. The boys thoroughly enjoyed +the trip through the air, and had many thrills fighting the savage +Eskimos. Finally, they succeeded in passing over the exact spot of the +North Pole during a violent snowstorm. + +Not satisfied with their experiences after conquering the North, the +adventurers set out for the Antarctic regions in a submarine boat. This +trip, even more remarkable than the first, took them to many strange +places in the South Atlantic. They were trapped for a time in the +Sargasso Sea, and they walked on the ocean floor in new diving suits, +one of the professor's marvelous inventions. + +It was on the voyage to the south that, coming to the surface one day, +the adventurers saw a strange island in the Atlantic Ocean, far from +the coast of South America. On it was a great whirlpool, into which the +_Porpoise_, their submarine boat, was nearly drawn by the powerful +suction. + +The chasm might lead to the center of the earth, it was suggested, and, +after thinking the matter over, on their return from the Antarctic, +Professor Henderson decided to build a craft in which they might solve +the mystery. + +The details of the voyage they took in the _Flying Mermaid_, are told +of in the third volume, entitled "Five Thousand Miles Underground." The +_Mermaid_ could sail on the water, or float in the air like a balloon. +In this craft the travellers descended into the centre of the earth, +and had many wonderful adventures. They nearly lost their lives, and +had to escape, after running through danger of the spouting water, +leaving their craft behind. + +For some time they undertook no further voyages, and the two boys, who +lived with Professor Henderson in a small town on the coast of Maine, +were sent to attend the Universal Electrical and Chemical College. +Washington remained at home to minister to the wants of the old +professor, and Andy Sudds went off on occasional hunting trips. + +But the spirit of adventure was still strong in the hearts of the boys +and the professor. One day, in the midst of some risky experiments at +college, Jack and Mark, as related in "Through Space to Mars," received +a telegram from Professor Henderson, calling them home. + +There they found their friend entertaining as a guest Professor Santell +Roumann, who was almost as celebrated as was Mr. Henderson, in the +matter of inventions. + +Professor Roumann made a strange proposition. He said if the old +scientist and his young friends would build the proper kind of a +projectile, they could make a trip to the planet Mars, by means of a +wonderful motor, operated by a power called Etherium, of which Mr. +Roumann held the secret. + +After some discussion, the projectile, called the _Annihilator_, from +the fact that it annihilated space, was begun. It was two hundred feet +long, ten feet in diameter in the middle, and shaped like a cigar. It +consisted of a double shell of strong metal, with a non-conducting gas +between the two sides. + +Within it were various machines, besides the Etherium motor, which +would send the projectile along at the rate of one hundred miles a +second. This great speed was necessary in order to reach the planet +Mars, which, at the time our friends started for it, was about +thirty-five millions of miles away from this earth. It has since +receded some distance farther than this. + +Finally all was in readiness for the start to Mars. Professor Roumann +wanted to prove that the planet was inhabited, and he also wanted to +get some of a peculiar substance, which he believed gave the planet its +rosy hue. He had an idea that it would prove of great value. + +But, though every precaution was taken, the adventurers were not to get +away from the earth safely. Almost at the last minute, a crazy +machinist, named Fred Axtell, who was refused work on the projectile, +tried to blow it up with a bomb. He partly succeeded, but the damage +was repaired, and the start made. + +Inside the projectile our friends shut themselves up, and the powerful +motors were started. Off it shot, at the rate of one hundred miles a +second, but the travellers were as comfortable as in a Pullman car. +They had plenty to eat and drink, they manufactured their own air and +water, and they slept when they so desired. + +But Axtell, the crazy machinist, had hidden himself aboard, and, in +mid-air, he tried to wreck the projectile. He was caught, and locked up +in a spare room, but, when Mars was reached, he escaped. + +The book tells how our friends were welcomed by the Martians, how they +learned the language, saw many strange sights, and finally got on the +track of the Cardite, or red substance, which the German professor, Mr. +Roumann, had come so far to seek. This Cardite was capable of great +force, and, properly controlled, could move great weights and operate +powerful machinery. + +Our friends wanted to take some back to earth with them, but when they +attempted to store it in their projectile, they met with objections, +for the Martians did not want them to take any. They had considerable +trouble, and the crazy machinist led an attack of the soldiers of the +red planet against our friends, the adventurers in the projectile. + +Among the other curiosities brought away by our friends, was a +newspaper printed in Mars, for the inhabitants of that place where much +further advanced along certain lines than we are on this earth, but in +the matter of newspapers they had little to boast of, save that the +sheets were printed by wireless electricity, no presses being needed. + +As told at the opening of this story, Jack had noticed on one of the +sheets they brought back, an account of how some of the Martians made a +trip to the moon, and discovered a field of Reonaris. This trip was +made shortly before our friends made their hasty departure, and it was +undertaken by some Martian adventurers on another part of the red +planet than where the projectile landed, and so Professor Henderson and +his friends did not hear of it at the time. + +"Well, then, suppose we make the attempt to go to the moon," said +Professor Roumann, after a long discussion in the laboratory. "It will +not take long to get ready." + +"I'd like to go," said Jack. "How about you, Professor Henderson? Oh, +by the way, Washington said you wanted to see Mark and me, but I was so +interested in this news item, that I forgot to ask what it as about." + +"I merely wanted to inquire when you and Mark thought of resuming your +studies at college," said the aged man, "but, since this matter has +come up, it will be just as well if you do not arrange to resume your +lessons right away." + +"We can study while making the trip to the moon," suggested Mark. + +"Not much," declared Jack, with a laugh. "There'll be too much to see." + +"Well, we'll discuss that later," went on Mr. Henderson. "Practically +speaking, I think the voyage can be made, and, the more I think of it, +the better I like the idea. We will look over the projectile in the +morning, and see what needs to be done to it to get it ready for +another trip through space." + +"Not much will have to be done, I fancy," remarked the German +scientist. "But I want to make a few improvements in the Cardite motor, +which I will use in place of the Etherium one, that took us to Mars." + +A little later there came a knock on the rear door of the rambling old +house where the professor lived and did much of his experimental work. + +"I'll go," volunteered Jack, and when he opened the portal there stood +on the threshold a small boy, Dick Johnson, one of the village lads. + +"What is it you want, Dick?" asked Mark. + +"Here's a note for you," went on the boy, passing over a slip of paper. +"I met a man down the road, and he gave me a quarter to bring it here. +He said it was very important, and he's waiting for you down by the +white bridge over the creek." + +"Waiting for who?" asked Jack. + +"For Mark, I guess; but I don't know. Anyhow, the note's for him." + +"Hum! This is rather strange," mused Mark. + +"What is it?" asked Jack. + +"Why, this note. It says: 'It is important that I see you. I will wait +for you at the white bridge.' That's all there is to it." + +"No name signed?" asked Jack. + +"Not a name. But I'll just take a run down and see what it is. I'll not +be long. Much obliged, Dick." + +The boy who had brought the note turned to leave the house, and Mark +prepared to follow. Jack said: + +"Let me see that note." + +He scanned it closely, and, as Mark was getting on his hat and coat, +for the night was chilly, his chum went on: + +"Mark, if I didn't know, that we had left Axtell, the crazy machinist, +up on Mars, I'd say that this was his writing. But, of course, it's +impossible." + +"Of course--impossible," agreed Mark. + +"But, there's one thing, though," continued Jack. + +"What's that?" asked Mark. + +"I don't like the idea of you going off alone in the dark, to meet a +man who doesn't sign his name to the note he wrote. So, if you have no +objections, I'll go with you. No use taking any chances." + +"I don't believe I run any risk," said Mark, "but I'll be glad of your +company. Come along. Maybe it's only a joke." And the two lads started +off together in the darkness toward the white bridge. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +PREPARING FOR A VOYAGE + + +"Seems like rather an odd thing; doesn't it?" remarked Jack, as he and +his chum walked along. + +"What?" + +"This note." + +"Oh, yes. But what made you think the writing looked like that of the +crazy machinist who tried to wreck the projectile?" + +"Because I once saw some of the crazy letters he sent us, and he wrote +just like the man who gave Dick this note. But come on, let's hustle, +and see what's up." + +In a few minutes they came in sight of the white bridge, which was +about a quarter of a mile down the road from the professor's house. The +two boys kept well together, and they were watching for a first sight +of the man in waiting. + +"See anything?" asked Jack. + +"No; do you?" + +"Not a thing. Wait until we get closer. He may be in the shadow. It's +dark now." + +Almost as Jack spoke, the moon, which had been hidden behind a bank of +clouds, peeped out, making the scene comparatively bright. The boys +peered once more toward the bridge, and, as they did so, they saw a +figure step from the shadows, stand revealed for an instant in the +middle of the structure, and then, seemingly after a swift glance +toward the approaching chums, the person darted off in the darkness. + +"Did you see that?" cried Jack. + +"Sure," assented Mark. "Guess he didn't want to wait for us. Why, he's +running to beat the band!" + +"Let's take after him," suggested Jack, and, nothing loath, Mark +assented. The two lads broke into a run, but, as they leaped forward, +the man also increased his pace, and they could hear his feet pounding +out a tattoo on the hard road. + +The two youths reached the bridge, and sped across it. They glanced +hastily on either side, thinking possibly the man might have had some +companions, but no one was in sight, and the stranger himself was now +out of view around a bend in the highway. + +"No use going any farther," suggested Jack, pulling up at the far side +of the bridge. "There are two roads around the bend, and we couldn't +tell which one he'd take. Besides, it might not be altogether safe to +risk it." + +Mark and Jack, on their return, told Professor Henderson and the German +scientist something of their little excursion. + +"But who could he have been?" asked Mr. Roumann. "Perhaps if you ask +the boy who brought the note he can tell you." + +"We'll do it in the morning," decided Mark. + +"It's peculiar that he wanted Mark to meet him," spoke Amos Henderson. +"Have you any enemies that you know of, Mark?" + +"Not a one. But what makes you think this man was an enemy, Professor?" + +"From the fact that he ran when he saw you and Jack together. Evidently +he expected to get Mark out alone." + +They discussed the matter for some time, and then the boys and the +scientists retired to bed, ready to begin active preparations on the +morrow, for their trip to the moon. + +There was much to be done, but their experience in making other +wonderful trips, particularly the one to Mars, stood the travellers in +good stead. They knew just how to go to work. + +To Washington was entrusted the task of preparing the food supply, +since he was to act as cook. Andy Sudds was instructed to look after +the clothing and other supplies, except those of a scientific nature, +while the two young men were to act as general helpers to the two +professors. + +As the _Annihilator_ has been fully described in the volume entitled, +"Through Space to Mars," there is no need to dwell at any length on the +construction of the projectile in which our friends hoped to travel to +the moon. Sufficient to say that it was a sort of enclosed airship, +capable of travelling through space--that is, air or ether--at enormous +speed, that there were contained within it many complicated machines, +some for operating the projectile, some for offence or defence against +enemies, such as electric guns, apparatus for making air or water, and +scores of scientific instruments. + +The _Annihilator_ was controlled either from the engine room, or from a +pilot house forward. As for the motive power it was, for the trip to +the moon, to be of that wonderful Martian substance, Cardite, which +would operate the motors. + +The projectile moved through space by the throwing off of waves of +energy, similar to wireless vibrations, from large plates of metal, and +these plates were the invention of Professor Roumann. + +Perhaps to some of my readers it may seem strange to speak so casually +of a trip to the moon, but it must be remembered that our friends had +already accomplished a much more difficult journey, namely, that to +Mars. So the moon voyage was not to daunt them. + +Mars, as I have said, was thirty-five millions of miles away from the +earth when the _Annihilator_ was headed toward it. To reach the moon, +however, but 252,972 miles, at the most, must be traversed--a little +more than a quarter of a million miles. As the distance from the earth +to the moon varies, being between the figures I have named, and 221,614 +miles, with the average distance computed as being 238,840 miles, it +can readily be seen that at no time was the voyage to be considered as +comparing in distance with the one to Mars. + +But there were other matters to be taken into consideration, and our +friends began to ponder on them in the days during which they made +their preparations. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +AN ACCIDENT + + +Washington White was kept busy getting together the food for the +voyage, and he had about completed his task, while Andy Sudds announced +one morning that his department was ready for inspection, and that he +thought he would go hunting until the projectile was ready to start. + +"Well, if you see anything of that queer man who sent me the note, just +ask him what he meant by it," suggested Mark, for inquiry from the boy +who had brought the message, developed the fact that Dick did not know +the man, nor had he ever seen him before. He was a stranger in the +neighborhood. But, as nothing more resulted from it, the two lads gave +the matter no further thought. + +"How soon before we will be ready to start?" asked Jack one day, while +he and his chum, with the two professors, were working over the +projectile, which was soon to be shot through space. + +"In about two weeks," replied Mr. Roumann. "I want to make a few +changes in the Cardite plates, which will replace the ones used on the +Etherium motor. Then I want to test them, and, if I find that they work +all right, as I hope, we will seal ourselves up in the _Annihilator_, +and start for the moon." + +"Are you going to try to go around it, and land on the side turned away +from us?" asked Mark, who had been studying astronomy lately. + +"What do you mean by that?" asked Jack. "Doesn't the moon turn around?" + +"Not as the earth does," replied his chum; "or, rather, to be more +exact, it rotates exactly as the earth does, on its axis; but, in doing +this it occupies precisely the same time that it takes to make a +revolution about our planet. So that, in the long run, to quote from my +astronomy, it keeps the same side always toward the earth; and today, +or, to be more correct, each night that the moon is visible, we see the +same face and aspect that Galileo did when he first looked at it +through his telescope, and, unless something happens, the same thing +will continue for thousands of years." + +"Then we've never seen the other side of the moon?" asked Jack. + +"Never; and that's why I wondered if the professor was going to attempt +to reach it. Perhaps there are people there, and air and water, for it +is practically certain that there is neither moisture nor atmosphere on +this side of Luna." + +"Wow! Then maybe we'd better not go," said Jack, with a shiver. "What +will we do, if we get thirsty?" + +"Oh, I guess we can manage, with all the apparatus we have, to distill +enough water," said Professor Henderson, with a smile. "Then, too, we +will take plenty with us, and, of course, tanks of oxygen to breathe. +But it will be interesting to see if there are people on the moon." + +"If there are any, they must have a queer time," went on Mark. + +"Why?" asked Jack, who wasn't very fond of study. + +"Why? Because the moon is only about one forty-ninth the size of the +earth. Its diameter is 2,163 miles--only a quarter of the earth's--and, +comparing the force of gravity, ours is much greater. A body that +weighs six pounds on the earth, would weigh only one pound on the moon, +and a man on the moon could jump six times as high as he can on this +earth, and throw a stone six times as far." + +"What's dat?" inquired Washington White quickly, nearly dropping some +packages he was carrying into the projectile. "What was yo' pleased t' +saggasiate, in remarkin' concernin' de untranquility ob the densityness +ob stones jumpin' ober a man what is six times high?" he asked. + +"Do you mean what did I say?" asked Mark solemnly. + +"Dat's what I done asked yo'," spoke the colored man gravely. + +"Well, you didn't, but perhaps you meant to," went on the youth, and he +repeated his remarks. + +"'Scuse me, I guess I'd better not go on dish yeah trip after all," +came from Washington. + +"Why not?" demanded Professor Henderson. + +"'Cause I ain't goin' t' no place whar ef yo' wants t' take a little +jump yo' has t' go six times as far as yo' does when yo' is on dis yeah +earth. An' s'posin' some ob dem moon men takes a notion t' throw a +stone at me? Whar'll I be, when a stone goes six times as far as it +does on heah? No, sah, I ain't goin'!" + +"But perhaps there are no men on the moon," said Mark quickly. "It is +only a theory of astronomers that I'm talking about." + +"Oh, only a theory; eh?" asked Washington quickly. + +"That's all." + +"Oh, if it's only a theory, den I reckons it's all right," came from +the colored man. "I didn't know it were a theory. Dat makes it all +right. It's jest in theory, am it, Massa Mark, dat a stone goes six +times as far?" + +"That's all." + +"Oh, well, den, why didn't yo' say so fust, dat it was only a theory? I +don't mind theories. I--I used t' eat 'em boiled an' roasted befo' de +wah." And, with a contented smile on his face, Washington went into the +projectile, to finish stowing things away in his kitchen lockers. + +The big projectile was housed in the shed where it had been +constructed, and the professor and the boys were working over it there, +carefully guarded from curious eyes, for the German inventor did not +want the secret of his Cardite motor to become known. + +The work went on from day to day, good progress being made. The boys +were of great assistance, for they were practical mechanics, and had +had considerable experience. + +"Well, I shall try the Cardite motor to-morrow," announced Professor +Roumann one night, after a hard day's work on the projectile. + +"Do you think it will work?" asked Mr. Henderson. + +"I think so, yes. My experiments have made me hopeful." + +"And if it does work, when can we start?" asked Jack. + +"Two days later; that is, if everything else is in readiness, the food +and other, supplies on board." + +"They are all ready to be stowed away," said Andy Sudds, who had been +hunting all day. + +It was an anxious assemblage that gathered inside the big shed the next +day, to watch Professor Roumann try the Cardite motor. Would it work as +well as had the Etherium one? Would it send them along through space at +enormous speed? True, they would not have to travel so far, nor so +fast, but more power would be needed, since, as it was feared no food, +water, nor air could be had on the moon, many more supplies were to be +taken along than on the trip to Mars, and this made the projectile +heavier. + +"We will test the Cardite in this small motor first," said Mr. Roumann, +as he pointed to a machine in the projectile used for winding a cable +around a windlass when there was necessity for hauling the +_Annihilator_ about, without sending it into the air. + +Into the receptacle of the motor, the German professor placed some of +the wonderful red substance he had secured from Mars. Then he closed +the heavy metal box that held it, and, looking about to see if all was +in readiness, he motioned to those watching him that he was about to +shift the lever that would start the motor. + +"If it works as well as I hope it will," he said, "it ought to pull the +projectile slowly across the shop--a task that would be impossible in a +motor of this size, if operated by electricity, gasoline, or any other +force at present in use. And, if this small motor will do that, I know +the large ones will send us through space to the moon. All ready, now." + +Slowly the professor shoved over the lever, while Jack, Mark and the +others watched him carefully. They were standing back of him, in the +engine room of the projectile. + +There was a clicking sound as the lever snapped into place. This was +succeeded by a buzzing hum, as the motor began to absorb the great +power from the red substance, which was not unlike radium in its +action. There was a trembling to the great projectile. + +"She's moving!" cried Jack. + +Hardly had he spoken when there was a flash of red fire, a sound as of +a bursting bomb, and everyone was knocked from his feet, over backward, +while Professor Roumann was hurled the entire length of the engine room. + +"The Cardite motor has exploded!" cried Mark. "Professor Roumann is +killed!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE WORK OF AN ENEMY + + +Jack's first act, on arising from amid a mass of tools, into which he +had been tossed by the explosion, was to run to where Professor Roumann +lay in a semi-conscious condition. An instant later Mark slowly arose, +and made his way to where Professor Henderson was rubbing his forehead +in a dazed fashion. + +"Are you hurt?" asked Mark, of his aged friend. + +"I think not," answered Mr. Henderson slowly, "but I fear Mr. Roumann +is. See to him; I'm all right." + +"He's breathing," cried Jack, who had bent over the German. "He isn't +dead, at any rate." + +"But he may be, unless he gets attention," said Professor Henderson. +"Get my medicine chest, Mark, and we'll see what we can do for him." + +Jack had raised the head of the injured man on his arm, and was giving +him some water from a glass. This partially revived the German, and he +opened his eyes. He looked around, into the faces of his friends, as if +scarcely comprehending what had happened, and then, as his gaze +wandered toward the disabled Cardite motor, he exclaimed: + +"Some enemy has done this! The motor was tampered with. The resistance +block was loosened, and that caused the force of the Cardite to shoot +out at the rear. We must watch out for the work of this enemy!" + +"Don't distress yourself about that now," urged Mr. Henderson. "Are you +badly hurt? Do you need a doctor?" + +The German slowly drank the rest of the water which Jack gave him, and +then gradually arose to a standing position. + +"I am all right," he said faintly, "except that I feel a trifle dizzy. +Something hit me on the head, and the fumes from the Cardite took away +my breath for a moment. I think I shall be all right soon." + +"Here is the medicine chest!" exclaimed Mark, coming back into the +engine room. Mr. Henderson poured out some aromatic spirits of ammonia +into a graduated glass, added a little water, and gave it to his +fellow, inventor, who, after drinking it, declared that he felt much +better. There was a cut on his forehead, where a piece of the broken +motor had struck him, but, otherwise, he did not seem injured +externally. + +As for the boys, they were only stunned, nor was Mr. Henderson more +than momentarily shocked. In a few minutes the German professor was +almost himself again. + +"We must try to discover who our enemy is," he said earnestly, as he +looked over the disabled motor. "He might have blown up the whole +projectile by tampering as he did with the machinery. Had I been +testing the large, instead of the small motor, there would have been +nothing left of the _Annihilator_, or us, either. Who could have done +this? If that crazy machinist is around again----" + +"I don't believe he could get here from Mars," interrupted Jack, with a +smile. + +"Hardly," added Mark. + +"No, I guess he is still on the Red Planet, so it couldn't have been +him," went on Mr. Roumann. "But it was some one." + +Jack and Mark at once thought of the odd man who had sent Mark the +note, and then had run away. + +"Could it have been him?" suggested Jack. + +"It's possible," remarked Professor Henderson. "We must be on our +guard. I wonder if Washington----" + +At that moment there sounded a violent pounding on the exterior of the +projectile, and the voice of the colored man could be heard calling: + +"Am anything de mattah? Andy Sudds an' I is out heah, an' we heard +suffin goin' on in dere. Am anybody hurted?" + +"It's all over now, Wash," replied Jack, for the two boys, and the two +professors, had shut themselves up in the projectile while they +conducted the experiment. Jack opened the door of the _Annihilator_ and +stepped out, being met by the colored man and the old hunter. + +"You haven't seen any suspicious characters around, have you, Wash?" +asked Mark. "Some one has been tampering with a motor, and it exploded." + +"Nobody's been around since I've been here," announced Andy Sudds, with +a significant glance at his gun. + +"Maybe it's some ob dem moon-men, what don't laik de idea ob us goin' +dere arter dere diamonds," volunteered the colored man. + +"Perhaps," admitted Jack, with a smile. "But certainly some one has +been around here who had no business to be, and we must find out who it +was. Better take a look around, Wash." + +"I'll help him," said Andy, and, with his rifle in readiness for any +intruders, the old hunter followed the colored man outside the big shed. + +Meanwhile Professor Roumann and Mr. Henderson were carefully examining +the exploded motor. + +"I should have looked at the breech plug before turning on the power," +said the German, "but I had no reason to suspect that anything was +wrong." He went on to explain that the explosion was something like +that which occurs when the breech-block of a big navy gun is not +properly in place. The force of the Cardite, instead of being directed +against the piston-heads of the motor, shot out backward, and almost +into the face of the professor, who was operating the machine. + +"But what could be their object?" asked Mark. "Who would want to injure +us, or damage the projectile?" + +"Some enemy, of course," declared Jack. "But who? The crazy machinist +is out of it, and as for that man who sent the note to you, he seemed +too big a coward to attempt anything like this." + +"Some one evidently sneaked in here and loosened the breech-plug," went +on Mark, "and it was evidently done with the idea of delaying us. The +enemy could not have desired to utterly disable the projectile, or else +he would have tampered with the large motor, instead of the small one." + +"Yes, the object seems to have been to delay us," admitted Professor +Henderson; "yet, I can't understand why. Whoever did it evidently knows +something about machinery." + +"I hope they did not discover the secret of my Cardite motor," said +Professor Roumann quickly. + +"They hardly had time," declared Mark. "We have been in or around the +projectile nearly every minute of the day, and whoever it was, must +have watched his chance, slipped in, stayed a few seconds, and then +slipped out again." + +They went carefully over the entire projectile, but could find no +further damage done. Nor were there any traces of the person who had so +nearly caused a tragedy. Washington and Andy, after a careful search +outside the shed, had to admit that they had no clews. + +"Well, the only thing to do is to go to work and build a new small +motor," announced Professor Roumann, after once more looking over the +_debris_ of the one that had exploded. + +"Will it take long?" asked Jack. + +"About two weeks. Fortunately, I can use some of the parts of this one, +or we would be delayed longer." + +"Still two weeks is quite a while," suggested Mark. "Perhaps there'll +be no diamonds left on the moon when we get there, Jack," and he smiled +jokingly. + +"Oh, I fancy there will. The article in the paper from Mars says there +was a whole field of them." + +"This brings up another matter," said Professor Henderson. "What will +happen if we bring back bushels and bushels of diamonds?--which, in +view of what the paper says, may be possible. We will swamp the market, +and the value of diamonds will drop." + +"Then we must not throw them upon the market," decided Professor +Roumann. "The scarcity of an article determines its value. If we do +find plenty of diamonds, it will give me a chance to conduct some +experiments I have long postponed because of a lack of the precious +stones. We can use them for laboratory purposes, and need not sell +them. In fact, with the Cardite we brought back from Mars, we have no +lack of money, so we really do not need the diamonds." + +It was decided, in view of the shock and upset caused by the explosion, +that no further work would be done that day, and so, after carefully +locking the shed, and posting Andy on guard with his gun, the boys and +the professor went into the house to discuss matters, and plan for work +the next day. + +"Mark," said Jack in a low voice, as they followed the two scientists, +"I think it's up to us to try to find that mysterious man who sent the +note. I think he did this mean trick!" + +"So do I, and we'll have a hunt for him. Let's go now." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ON THE TRACK + + +The two boys gazed after Professors Henderson and Roumann. The +scientists were deep in a discussion of various technical matters, +which discussion, it was evident, made them oblivious to everything +else. + +"Shall we ask them?" inquired Jack in a whisper. + +"No; what's the use?" queried Mark. "Let's go off by ourselves, and +perhaps we can discover something. If we could once get on the trail of +the man who wrote the note, I think we could put our hands on the +person responsible for the blowing up of the motor." + +"I agree with you. We won't bother them about our plans," and he waved +his hand toward the scientists, who had, by this time, entered the +house. + +"In the first place," said Mark, as he and his chum turned from the +yard, and walked along a quiet country road, "I think our best plan +will be to find Dick Johnson, and ask him just where it was he met the +man who gave him a quarter to bring the note to me." + +"What for?" asked Jack. + +"Why, then, we can tell where to start from. Perhaps Dick can give us a +description of the man, or tell from what direction he came. Then we'll +know how to begin on the trail." + +"That's a good idea, I guess. We know where he disappeared to, or, +rather, in nearly what direction, so that will help some." + +"Sure. Well, then, let's find Dick." + +To the inquiries of the two lads from the projectile, Dick Johnson +replied that, as he had asserted once before, that the man was a +stranger to him. + +"He was tall, and had a big black mustache," Dick described, "but he +kept his hat pulled down over his eyes, so I couldn't see his face very +well. Anyhow, it was dark when I met him." + +"Where did you meet him?" asked Mark. + +"Not far from your house. He was standing on the corner, where you turn +down to go to the woollen mill, and, as I passed him, he asked me if I +wanted to earn a quarter." + +"Of course you said you did," suggested Jack. + +"Sure," replied Dick. "Then he gave me the note, and told me where to +take it, and I did. That wasn't wrong, was it?" + +"No; only there seems to be something queer about the man, and we want +to find out what it is," replied Mark. + +"What was the man doing when you saw him?" asked Jack. + +"Standing, and sort of looking toward your house." + +"Looking toward our house?" repeated Jack. "Was he anywhere near the +big shed where we build the machines?" + +"Well, I couldn't say. Maybe he might have been." + +"I guess that's all you can tell us," put in Mark, with a glance at his +chum, to warn him not to go too much into details with Dick, for they +did not want it known that some enemy had tried to wreck the projectile. + +"Yes, I can't tell you any more," admitted the small lad. + +"Well, here's a quarter for what you did tell us," said Jack, "and if +you see that man again, and he gives you a note for us, just keep your +eye on him, watch where he goes, and tell us. Then you will get a +half-dollar." + +"Gee! I'll be on the watch," promised Dick, his eyes shining at the +prospect of so much money. + +"Come on," suggested Jack to his chum, after the small chap had +departed. "Let's go down by the white bridge and make some inquiries of +people living in that vicinity. They may have seen a stranger hanging +around, and, perhaps we can get on his trail that way." + +"All right," agreed Mark, and they walked on together. + +They had gone quite a distance away from the bridge, and had made +several inquiries, but had met with no success, and they were about to +give up and go back home. + +"I know one person we haven't inquired of yet," said Mark, as they +tramped along. + +"Who's that?" + +"Old Bascomb, who lives alone in a shack on the edge of the creek. You +know the old codger who traps muskrats." + +"Oh, sure; but I don't believe he'd know anything. If he did, he's so +cranky he wouldn't tell you." + +"Maybe he would, if we gave him a little money for some smoking +tobacco. It's worth trying, anyhow. Bascomb goes around a great deal, +and he may have met a strange man in his travels." + +"Well, go ahead; we'll ask him." + +The muskrat trapper did not prove to be in a very pleasant frame of +mind, but, after Mark had given him a quarter, Bascomb consented to +answer a few questions. The boys told him about looking for a strange +man, describing him as best they could, though they did not tell why +they wanted to find him. + +"Wa'al, now, I shouldn't be surprised but what I know the very fellow +you want," said the trapper. "I met him a couple of days back, an' I +think he's still hanging around. Fust I thought he was after some of my +traps, but when I found he wa'ant, I didn't pay no more attention to +him. He looked jest like you say." + +"Where was he?" asked Jack eagerly. + +"Walkin' along the creek, sort of absent-minded like." + +"You don't know where he lives, or whether he is staying in this +vicinity, do you?" inquired Mark. + +"Ya'as, I think I do," replied the trapper. + +"Where?" cried Jack eagerly. + +"Wa'al, you know the old Preakness homestead, down by the bend of the +creek, about four mile below here?" + +"Sure we know it," answered Mark. "We used to go in swimming not far +from there." + +"Wa'al, the old house has been deserted now for quite a spell," went on +the trapper, "and there ain't nobody lived in it but tramps. But the +other night, when I was comin' past, with a lot of rats I'd jest taken +out of my traps, I see a light in the old house. Thinks I, to myself, +that there's more tramps snoozin' in there, and I didn't reckon it was +none of my business, so I kept on. But jest as I was walking past the +main gate, some one come out of the house and hurried away. I had a +good look at him, an'----" + +"Who was it?" asked Mark impatiently, for the old trapper was a slow +talker. + +"It was the same man you're lookin' for," declared Bascomb. "I'm sure +of it, an' he's hangin' out in the old Preakness house. If you want t' +see him, why don't you go there?" + +"We will!" cried Jack. "Come on, Mark. I think we're on the trail at +last." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MARK IS CAPTURED + + +Eagerly the boys hurried forward, intent on making the best time +possible to the old Preakness homestead, which was a landmark for miles +around, and which, in its day, had been a handsome house and estate. +Now it was fallen into ruins, for there was a dispute among the heirs, +and the property was in the Chancery Court. + +"Do you think we'll find him there?" asked Mark, as they made their way +along the dusty highway. "Hard to tell. Yet, if he's hanging out in +this neighborhood, that would be as good a place as any, for him to +hide in." + +"I wonder who he can be, anyhow? And how he knows me?" + +"Give it up. Evidently he isn't a tramp, though he stays in a place +where there are plenty of the Knights of the Road." + +The boys increased their pace, and were soon on the main road leading +to the Preakness house, and about a mile away from it. "We'll soon be +there now," remarked Jack. "Then we'll see if we can find that man." + +As he spoke, the lad put his hand in his pocket, and, a moment later, +he uttered a startled cry. + +"What's the matter?" asked Mark, in some alarm. + +"Matter? Why, gee whiz! If I haven't forgotten to send that telegram +Professor Henderson gave me! It's to order some special tools to take +along on our trip to the moon. They didn't come, and the professor +wrote out a message urging the factory to hurry the shipment. He gave +it to me to send, just before the accident to the motor, but when that +happened it knocked it out of my mind, I guess. I stuck the telegram in +my pocket, and here it is yet," and Jack drew forth a crumpled paper. +"Wouldn't that make you tired?" he asked. "It's important, and ought to +go at once. The professor won't like it." + +"I'll tell you what to do," suggested Mark, after a moment's thought. +"The telegraph office isn't so far away from here. You can cut across +lots, and be there in fifteen or twenty minutes. Tell 'em to rush the +message, and it may be in time yet. Anyhow, we're going to be delayed +because of the accident to the motor, so it won't make so much +difference. But come on, let's start, and we can hurry back." + +"I guess that's the best plan," remarked Jack dubiously, for he did not +fancy a half-hour's tramp across the fields and back again. Then, as he +thought of something else, he called out: + +"Say, Mark, there's no use of both of us going to the telegraph office. +I'll go alone, as it's my fault, and you can stay here, and watch to +see if that strange man appears on the scene. I'll not be long, and you +can wait for me here." + +"How would it be if I went on a little nearer to the Preakness house?" +asked Mark. "I can meet you there just as well as here, and something +may develop." + +"Good idea! You go on, and when I come back, I'll take the road that +leads through the old slate quarry, and save some time that way. I'll +meet you right near the old barn that stands on the Gilbert property, +just before you reach the Preakness grounds." + +"All right; I'll be there, but don't run your legs off. We're out for +all day, and there isn't anything that needs to be done at home, or +around the projectile, so take your time." + +"Oh, I'll not go to sleep," declared Jack. "I want to see if we can't +solve the mystery of the man who writes such queer notes." + +Jack started off across the fields at a swift pace, while Mark strolled +on down the road, in the direction of the old Preakness house. He was +thinking of many things, chiefly of the wonderful journey that lay +before them, and he was wondering what the moon would look like when +they got to it. + +That it would be a wild, desolate place, he had no doubt, for the +evidences of the telescopes of astronomers pointed that way, and, as is +well known, the most powerful instruments can now bring the moon to +within an apparent distance of one hundred miles of the earth. This is +true of the Lick telescope, which has a magnifying power of 2,500 and +an object lens a yard across. + +But, with this powerful telescope, it has been impossible to +distinguish any such objects as forests, cities, or any evidences of +life on the moon--that is, on the side that has always been turned +toward us. + +Almost unconsciously, Mark went on faster than he intended, and, before +he knew it, he had arrived at the barn where he had promised to wait +for his chum. Mark looked at his watch, and found that he would still +have some time to linger before he could expect Jack to return. He sat +down on a stone beside the fence, and looked about him. The day was +warm for fall, and the last of the crickets were chirping away, while, +in distant fields, men could be seen husking corn, or drawing in loads +of yellow pumpkins. + +"I wonder if we'll have pumpkin pie on the moon," thought Mark. +"Though, of course, we won't. I guess all we'll have to eat will be +what Washington takes along in the projectile--that is, unless we find +people on the other side of the place." + +He sat on the stone for some minutes longer, and then, tiring of the +inactivity, he arose and strolled about. Something seemed to draw him +in the direction of the old house, which he knew was just around the +bend in the road. + +"I guess there wouldn't be any harm in my going along and taking a peep +at it," mused the lad. "It will be some time before Jack returns, and I +may be able to catch a glimpse of our man. I think I'll go up where I +can see the place, and I can come back in time to meet Jack. I'll do +it. Maybe the fellow might escape while I'm waiting." + +Mark thus tried to justify himself for his action in not keeping to his +agreement with his chum. Of course it was not an important matter, Mark +thought, though the results of his simple action were destined to be +more far-reaching than he imagined. He thought he would be back in time +to meet Jack, and so he strolled on, going more cautiously now, for, in +a few minutes he would come in sight of the old, deserted house, and he +did not know what he might find there. + +Mark's first sight of the Preakness homestead was of two old stone +posts, that had once formed a fine gateway. The posts were in ruins, +now, and half fallen down, being covered with Virginia creeper, the +leaves of which were now a vivid red, mingled with green. + +"Nothing very alarming there," said Mark, half aloud. He could just +catch a glimpse of the roof of the house over the tops of the trees, +which had not yet shed all their leaves. "Guess I'll go on a little +farther. Maybe our friend, the enemy, is sitting on the front porch, +sunning himself." + +Past the old gateway Mark continued, intending to proceed along the +highway until he got directly in front of the old mansion. There, he +knew, he would have a good view, unobstructed by trees or shrubbery. + +When the lad got to this place in the road, he paused, and stooped +over, as if tying the lace of his shoe, for it was his intention to +pass himself off, if possible, as a casual passer-by, so that in case +the mysterious man should be in the house, his suspicions would not be +aroused by seeing the youth to whom he had written the note staring in +at him. + +And, while he was apparently fussing with his shoe, Mark was narrowly +eying the old house. + +"Not a very inviting place," thought Mark. "I don't see why any man who +could afford anything better, would stay there--unless he has some +strong motive for lingering in this section. And that's probably what +this fellow has, and I'd like to discover it. Well, I don't see any +signs of him, so I guess I might as well go back, and wait for Jack. +He'll be along soon." + +He stood up, took a good look at the house, and was about to retrace +his steps down the highway, when he saw the sagging front door of the +old mansion slowly open. It creaked on the rusty hinges, and Mark +stared with all his might as he saw a man emerge, a man who did not +look like a tramp, for his clothes were of good material and cut, and +fit him well. Nor did he wear a stubbly growth of beard, but, on the +contrary, his face was clean shaven. The man was about Mark's size, +perhaps a little taller, and nearly as stout. He stood on the sagging +porch, and gazed off toward the road. + +"Well, if that's the man Dick Johnson got the note from he's changed +mightily in appearance," thought Mark, as he looked at the fellow. "He +isn't very tall, and he hasn't any black mustache. But of course he may +have shaved that off, and I suppose in the dark, and when one is in a +hurry to earn a quarter, it's hard to say whether a man is tall or +short. I wonder if this can be the person we're looking for?" + +Mark hardly knew what to do. He stood in the road, undecided, and +fairly stared at the man, who had left the porch, and was walking down +the weed-grown path. He was looking straight at Mark, but if the +stranger was the person who had written the note, and if he recognized +the lad, he gave no sign to that effect. + +"Good afternoon," said the man, as he paused at the gap in the front +wall, where once a gate had been. "Pleasant day, isn't it." + +"Ye--yes," stammered Mark, wondering what to say next. + +"Live around here?" went on the man. + +"Not very far off." + +"Ah, then you know this old shack?" + +"Well, I don't get over here, very often. Do you live here?" ventured +Mark boldly, determining to do some questioning on his own account. + +"Me live here?" cried the man, as if indignant "Well, hardly! I was +just passing, and, happening to see the old place, and having a +fondness for antiques, I stepped in. But it is in bad shape. I should +say tramps make it their hangout." + +"It has that name," said Mark. + +There was a pause for a moment, and the lad was a trifle embarrassed. +The man was gazing boldly at him. + +"I guess I've made a mistake," thought Mark. "This can't be the man we +want. He doesn't live here, and he doesn't look like him. I'd better be +getting back to meet Jack." + +"Are you engaged at anything in particular?" questioned the man taking +a few steps nearer the youth. + +"No, I'm not working, but I expect to take a trip, shortly, with some +friends of mine," answered Mark. + +"Ah, is that so?" and there was polite inquiry in the man's voice. "Are +you going far?" + +"Quite a distance." Mark wondered what the man would say if he told him +he was going to the moon. + +"I wonder if you would do me a favor?" went on the man. "As I was +passing through this old house I saw, on one of the outer doors, an +old-fashioned knocker. I am a collector of antiques, and I would very +much like to have that. But I need help in getting it off. I do not +intend to steal it, but if it is left here some tramp may destroy it, +and that would be too bad. I intend to remove it, and then hunt up the +owners of this place, and purchase it from them." + +"It will be hard to discover who are the owners," replied Mark, "as the +title is in dispute." + +"So much the better for me. Will you help me remove the knocker? I will +pay you for your time." + +Mark hesitated. He did not like the man's manner, and there was a +shifty, uneasy look about his eyes. Still he might be all right. But +Mark did not like the idea of going into the old house with him alone. +It might be safe, and, again, it might not. But the knocker was on an +outside door. There could be no harm in helping him, as long as it was +outside. The man saw the hesitation in the lad's manner. + +"It will not take us long," the stranger said. "I want you to help me +pry off the knocker, as I have no screw-driver to remove it. I will pay +you well." + +As he spoke he came nearer to Mark, and the lad noticed that the man's +right hand was held behind his back. This struck Mark as rather +suspicious. Suddenly he became aware of a peculiar odor in the air--a +sweet, sickish odor. He started back in alarm, all his former +suspicions aroused. The man seemed to leap toward him. + +"Look out!" suddenly cried the fellow. "Look behind you!" + +Involuntarily Mark turned. He saw nothing alarming. The next instant he +felt himself grasped in the strong arms of the man, and a cloth that +smelled strongly of the strange, sweetly sickish odor was pressed over +the lad's face. + +"Here! Stop! Let me go! Help! Help!" cried Mark. Then his voice died +out. He felt weak and sick, and sank back, an inert mass in the man's +arms. + +"I guess I've got you this time," whispered the fellow, as he gazed +down on Mark's white face. "I'll put you where you won't get away, +either," and, picking up the youth, he carried him a prisoner into the +deserted house. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +JACK IS PUZZLED + + +Whistling merrily, with his mind as much on the big field of diamonds +he expected to discover on the moon, as it was on anything else, Jack +Darrow crossed over the meadows toward the telegraph office. + +"By Jinks! It certainly will be great to fly through space once more," +he mused. "Of course it isn't much of a trip, only a quarter of a +million miles at most, but it will be a little outing for us, and then +those diamonds!" + +A trip of a quarter of a million miles only a little outing! But then +what can be expected of lads who had gone to Mars and back again? + +Jack lost no time in reaching the telegraph office, where he left the +message to be sent, urging the operator to "rush" it, which that +official promised to do. + +"'Twon't be no great hardship on me, neither," he said with a cheerful +grin, "seein' as how this is the only one I've had to send to-day. I'll +get it right off for you, Jack." + +Jack meant to hurry back, but, just as he was turning out of the main +village street, to cut across lots, and join Mark at the place agreed +upon, Jack saw two dogs fighting. It was with the best intentions in +the world that he ran toward them, for he wanted to separate them. +However a man was ahead of him, and soon had the two beasts apart. But +Jack lingered several moments to see if there would be a renewal of the +hostilities. There wasn't, and he hurried on. In a short time he was +within sight of the barn, where his chum had agreed to meet him. + +"Mark!" cried Jack, when he came within hailing distance. + +There was no response. + +"Maybe he's hiding to fool me," thought the lad, "I'll give him another +call." + +Neither was there a reply to this shout, and Jack, with a vague feeling +of fear in his heart, hurried forward, climbed the fence that separated +the field from the highway, and fairly ran toward the barn. + +A glance sufficed to show that Mark was not in sight, and, thinking +that his chum might be on the other side, Jack went around the +structure. + +"Oh, you Mark!" he called. "I'm back! Let's get a move on and go to the +old house." + +Silence was the only answer. + +"That's queer," murmured Jack, when he had made a circuit of the place, +and had seen no sight of his friend. "I wonder if anything could have +happened to him? Perhaps he went inside, and has fallen down the hay +mow. I'll take a look." + +He made a thorough inspection of the ramshackle old structure, but +there was no evidence that Mark had entered it, and Jack was soon quite +assured that no harm had befallen his friend in there. Then a sudden +thought came to him. + +"Why, of course!" he exclaimed aloud. "I should have thought of that +before. Mark got tired of waiting, and went on to the Preakness house. +I might have known. I'll go on and catch up to him there." + +Jack had reasoned correctly, but he could not know, what had taken +place with only the old, grim, deserted mansion for a witness. With a +lighter heart he set off down the road. + +It did not take him long, at the pace he kept up, to come within sight +of the old gateway, with the creeper twining over the pillars. Then he +caught a glimpse of the house, and he at once slackened his footsteps. + +"No use rushing into this thing," he reasoned in a whisper. "Mark may +be in hiding, taking an observation of the mysterious man, and I don't +want to spoil it, by butting in. Guess I'll lie low for a while, and +see what develops." + +Crouching down beside some bushes that lined the roadway Jack looked +toward the silent, tumbled-down house and waited. All was still. +Occasionally a shutter flapped in the wind, the hinges creaking +dismally, or some of the loose window-panes rattled as the sash was +blown to and fro. It was not a pleasant aspect, and as the afternoon +was waning, and the sun was going down, while a cool wind sprang up, +Jack was anything but comfortable in his place of observation. + +And the one objection to it was that there was nothing to observe. Not +a sign of life was to be seen about the place, and the broken windows, +like so many unblinking eyes, stared out on the fields and road. + +"Oh pshaw!" exclaimed Jack at length, "I'm not going to sit here this +way! I'm going up and take a look. It can't bite me, and if that man's +in there I can give him some sort of a talk that will make it look all +right. I'm going closer. Maybe Mark's inside there, waiting for me, +though it's queer why he didn't keep his agreement and wait for me at +the barn. Well, here goes." + +Though he spoke bravely, it was not without a little feeling of +apprehension that Jack started toward the old mansion. He kept a close +watch for the advent of any person or persons who might be in the +house, but, when he reached the front porch, and had seen no one, he +felt more at ease. + +"Hello, Mark!" he cried boldly. "Are you inside?" + +He paused for an answer. None came. + +"This is getting rather strange," murmured Jack, who was now quite +puzzled as to what to make of the whole matter. "Mark must be here, yet +why doesn't he answer me? Oh, you Mark!" he shouted at the top of his +voice. + +There was only silence, and, after waiting a few moments Jack made up +his mind that the best plan would be to enter the house and look around. + +He made a hasty search through the lower rooms, but saw no sign of +Mark. It was the same upstairs, and on the third floor there was no +evidence of his chum. Jack called again, but got no reply. + +"The garret next, and then the cellar," he told himself, and these two +places, darker and more dismal than any other parts of the old mansion, +were soon explored. + +"Well, if Mark came here he's not here now," thought Jack, "and there's +no use in my staying any longer. Maybe something happened that he had +to go back home. Perhaps he's trailing the man. We should have made up +some plan to be followed in case anything like that happened." + +Deciding that the best thing he could do would be to go back home Jack +came out of the old house. As he did so he gave a final call: + +"Mark! Oh, you Mark! Are you anywhere about?" + +What was that? Was it an answer, or merely the echo of his own voice? +Jack started, and then, as he heard another sound, he said: + +"Only the wind squeaking a shutter. Mark isn't here." + +If Jack had only known! + +Through the quickly-gathering darkness Jack turned his steps toward +home. On the way along the country road he kept a sharp lookout for any +sign of his chum, and, also, he looked to see if he could catch a +glimpse of any person who might answer the description of the man they +suspected of tampering with the Cardite motor. + +But the road was deserted, save for an occasional farmer urging his +horses along, that he might the more quickly get home to supper. + +"It's mighty strange," mused Jack, as he kept on. "I don't think Mark +did just right, and yet, perhaps, when it's all explained, he may have +good reasons for what he did. Maybe I'm wrong to worry about him, and, +just as likely as not, he's safe home, wondering what kept me. But he +might have known that I'd come back to the barn where I said I'd meet +him. Of course that dog-fight delayed me a little, but not much." + +It was quite dark when Jack reached the house where he and his chum +lived with the two professors. There was a cheerful light glowing from +many windows, and Jack also noticed an illumination in the shed where +the projectile was housed. + +"Guess they're working on it, to get it in shape for the trip, sooner +than they expected," he mused. + +Jack was met at the door by Washington White. + +"Hello, Wash!" greeted the lad. + +"Good land a' massy! Where hab yo' been transmigatorying yo'se'f during +de period when the conglomeration of carbohydrates and protoids hab +been projected on to de interplanetary plane ob de rectangle?" + +"Do you mean where have I been while supper was getting ready?" asked +Jack. + +"Dat's 'zackly what I means, Massa Jack." + +"Then why don't you say it?" + +"I done did. Dat's what I done. Supper's cold. But where am Massa Mark?" + +"What! Isn't Mark home?" cried Jack, starting back in alarm. + +"No, Massa Jack, we ain't seed him sence yo' two went off togedder. +Where yo' all been?" + +"Mark not home!" gasped Mark. "Where is Professor Henderson, Wash? I +must speak to him at once." + +"He am out in de shed wif Massa Roumann." + +With fear in his heart Jack dashed out toward the big shed. + +"Ain't yo' goin' t' hab some supper?" called Washington. + +"I don't want any supper--yet," flung back Jack over his shoulder. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A DARING PLOT + + +Mark Sampson lay an inert mass in the arms of the man who had attacked +him. Through the sagging door of the old, deserted house the captive +lad was carried, and up creaking stairs. + +"I guess no one saw me," whispered the man. "I'm safe, so far, and I +can work my scheme to perfection. Everything turned out well for me. I +was just wondering how I could get this youth in my power, and he +fairly walked into my hands! Now to keep him safe until I can take his +place in the projectile, and have my revenge. I have waited a long time +for it, but it has come at last!" + +Pausing at the head of the creaking stairs the man looked behind him, +to make sure that he was not being followed, but not a sound broke the +stillness of the old house, save the rattle and bang of the ruined +shutters. + +"I'm safe! Safe!" exulted the man, with a cruel chuckle. "Now to bind +him, and hide him in the secret chamber." + +He laid Mark down on a pile of bagging in a corner of a room at the +head of the stairs. Then, still glancing behind him, as if fearful of +being observed, the man walked over to a mantlepiece, fumbled about a +bit of carving that adorned the centre, and pressed on a certain spot. +A moment later the mantle seemed to swing out, and there was revealed a +secret room, the existence of which would never have been suspected by +the casual observer. + +Taking some of the bags from the pile where the unconscious lad was, +the man made a rude bed in the secret room. Then he carried Mark in, +and placed him in a fairly comfortable position, first taking the +precaution, however, of binding his hands and feet. + +"There," whispered the man, when he had finished, "I guess you'll not +get away in a hurry. Now I'll wait until dark, and then I'll give you +something to eat, for I don't want you to starve. But I must keep in +hiding, for, very likely, there'll be a search made for him. Guess I'd +better stay here, and see what happens," and the mysterious man pressed +the spring that sent the mantle back into place again, hiding all +traces of the secret room. + +"It's a good thing I stumbled upon this hiding place," he said to +himself. "It couldn't be better for what I want. Now to see what +happens next." + +He did not have long to wait, for in a short time Jack, as we have +seen, appeared on the scene, and began his search. At the sound of his +voice, calling for Mark, the man started in his hiding place, and +glanced uneasily at Mark. + +"He may hear, and wake up," he whispered. + +Jack came upstairs in the deserted house, and continued his search +there, calling from time to time. He gave one loud shout at the head of +the stairs, and the very thing that the man feared would happen came to +pass. + +The effect of the drug having worn off, Mark stirred uneasily, and +started up. He heard Jack's cry, and uttered a half-articulate answer. +In an instant the man was at his side, and had quickly gagged him. This +had the further effect of awakening the unfortunate lad; and he +struggled to loosen his bonds, but they were too strongly tied. He +endeavored to answer Jack, but only a meaningless mumble resulted, for +the gag was effective. + +"All you have to do is to keep quiet," urged the man, as he knelt +beside Mark in the darkness. "As soon as your chum goes, I'll take that +thing out of your mouth, and give you something to eat." + +Jack's voice died away, and presently, as the ears of the man told him, +the boy left the old house. Waiting some time, to make sure that he +would not return, the man removed the knot of rags from Mark's mouth, +and slightly loosened his bonds, first warning him, however, that if he +attempted to escape he would be harshly dealt with. + +"But what right have you to keep me here?" demanded the youth. "Who are +you, and what have I done to you, that you should treat me this way? +Are you crazy? Don't you know that you are liable to arrest for this?" + +"No one can arrest me," boasted the fellow. + +"But why have you made me a prisoner?" demanded Mark. + +"For reasons of my own. You'll see very soon." + +"But what have I done to you?" persisted the lad. "I never saw you +before, that I know of, unless you are the man who sent me the note, +and who ran when my chum and I came to the bridge to meet you." + +"I'm the man," was the answer, with a chuckle. + +"Then you must be the one who tried to wreck our projectile," went on +Mark. + +"Yes, I did that, and now I am sorry for it, for I have thought of a +much better scheme for getting even, and having my revenge on you." + +"But why do you want to be revenged on us?" + +"Because of what you have done!" and the man's voice took on an ugly +tone. + +"But what did we do?" begged Mark. + +"You'll know soon enough," was the answer, with a cunning laugh, and +then Mark was sure he had to deal with a lunatic. He ceased his +struggles to loosen the bonds, and resolved to meet cunning with +cunning. He would bide his time. + +"Will you promise to be quiet, and not kick up a fuss if I get you +something to eat?" asked the man. + +"Yes; but I'd rather have a drink of water first. I feel sick." + +"Very well, you shall have some water. I'll have to go out and get it, +but I must first blindfold you, so that you will not discover the +secret of this room." + +Mark could not help himself, for he was bound, and when the man had +tied a handkerchief over his eyes, Mark heard his captor moving about. + +Next there came a sound as of some heavy body, or object, being pushed +across the room. Mark felt a draught of wind on his face, but it ceased +instantly, and he knew that he was alone. He tried to work the bandage +from over his eyes, and he endeavored to loosen his bonds, for he did +not consider that this violated his promise. But it was of no effect. + +Presently he heard the moving, shoving sound again, and once more felt +the wind on his face. Then he heard the voice of his captor speaking. + +"Here is food and drink. I'm going to untie your hands so you can eat, +but mind, no fighting, for I'm a desperate man, and I won't stand any +nonsense!" + +He fumbled about the bonds, and soon Mark was free to stand up and use +his hands. The bandage was taken from his eyes, and he was able to peer +about his prison by the light of a candle which his captor had brought. + +Mark's first glance was at the man. He was the same one who had emerged +from the house to attack and drug him, but as for recognizing in him +the person who had been at the bridge, this was impossible. As far as +Mark could tell he had never seen the man before, nor did he answer the +description given by Dick Johnson. + +There was little danger that Mark would attempt violence. He was too +weak, and his jailer seemed a powerful fellow. Then, too, the lad felt +ill from the effects of the drug. + +"Drink some water, and eat a bit, and you'll feel better," urged the +man, which advice Mark followed, though, his appetite was not of the +best, and he was much worried as to what his friends would think about +his strange disappearance. + +"What do you intend to do with me?" asked Mark, when he felt a little +better from the effects of the food and drink. The man had sat on an +old soap box, and watched his captive while he ate. + +"Do with you? Why, I'm going to keep you here until your friends have +left in the projectile," was the answer. + +"But why don't you want me to go with them?" + +"Oh, I have my reasons. You'll find out soon enough. You can't go, +that's all." + +"But why do you take such an interest in me? Why didn't you capture my +chum Jack, too, while you were about it?" + +"Two reasons. One was that Jack wouldn't answer my purpose, and the +other was that I didn't have a chance to get him. You walked right into +my trap, just when I was doing my best to think of another plan to get +hold of you, since my first one failed." + +"But what is your purpose?" insisted the lad. "What do you want with +me?" He thought perhaps if he questioned the man closely enough he +might discover something that would give him a clew, or might aid him +to escape. + +"You'll learn soon enough," was the answer. + +"Will you tell me your name?" asked Marie quietly. + +"No--why should I?" was the quick reply. "If I told you who I was you +would at once know why I have made you a captive here. No; you shall +hear all in good time, but that will not be until I am ready. + +"Now," went on his captor, after a period of silence, "I shall have to +bind and blindfold you again." + +"Why?" asked Mark, in some alarm. + +"Because I don't want you to see how I get in and out of this room, and +that's the only way I can guard my secret. Though if you promise not to +remove the bandage from your eyes within five minutes from the time I +leave you, I will not have to tie your hands and feet. After I am gone +you may take the handkerchief off, but when you hear me rap on the +wall, ready to come back again, you must once more blindfold yourself. +Otherwise I shall have to tie you up." + +Mark considered a moment. It was not pleasant to be tied with the cruel +ropes, and he felt that in time he could penetrate the mystery of how +the room opened, even if he did not see his jailer enter and leave. + +"I promise," he said finally. + +"That's good. It simplifies matters. Now you can blindfold yourself, +and I trust to your honor. You may remove the bandage in five minutes, +but when you hear me knock, you must replace it until I am in the +apartment. Then you can take it off again." + +There was little choice but to obey, and Mark tied the handkerchief +over his eyes. He listened intently, heard the man moving about the +room, felt the wind on his cheeks, and then came silence. + +He waited until he thought five minutes had passed, and then took off +the bandage. The candle was burning where the man had set it, but the +fellow himself was gone. He had taken with him the broken dishes, and +remains of the food Mark had not eaten. The glass and a pitcher of +water stood on a broken table, and Mark took a big drink. + +"Now to see if I can't get out of this place," he murmured to himself. + +Mark had invented many pieces of apparatus, and he was considered a +good mechanician. Consequently he went about his task in a systematic +manner. He examined the walls carefully by the candle, which he carried +in his hand, but no opening was apparent. + +"Of course, there must be some secret spring to press," said the lad. +"That's how he gets in and out. A section of the wall moves, but where +it is I can't see. It will take time. I must look at every inch." + +He was in the midst of his investigations when there sounded on the +wall back of him three raps. + +"Ha! At least, that tells me where the opening is," thought the lad. +"It's on that side, but now I have to put that blamed bandage on. Well, +I may be able to escape yet." + +True to his promise, he blindfolded himself well, and presently he +heard a noise, felt a draught of air, and he knew his captor was in the +room. + +"You can now take off the handkerchief," said the man. "I have brought +you some more bags for bed clothing. It isn't much, but it is all I +have. They will keep you warm tonight." + +"Are you going to imprison me over night?" asked Mark. + +"Yes, and I'll stay here with you. No one can find us here. The secret +room is well hidden. But first I have another matter that needs +attention. I am going to ask you a question." + +"What?" asked the captive, wondering what strange request the mentally +unbalanced man would make now. + +The man leaned forward and whispered something in Mark's ear, as if he +was afraid the very walls would hear. + +"I'll not do it!" cried the youth. "I'll never aid you to deceive my +friends, for that is your object. I'll never do it!" + +"Then I shall have to use force," was the determined response. "You may +take your choice!" + +Poor Mark did not know what to do, yet there was little he could choose +between. The man had him in his power, yet the lad was terribly afraid +of the result of the daring scheme which he knew was in the mind of the +lunatic, for such he believed the man to be. + +"Will you not give up this plan?" begged Mark. "I know Professor +Henderson will pay you any sum in reason to let me go. You can become a +rich man." + +"I don't want riches--I want revenge!" exclaimed the man. And he glared +at Mark, while throughout the dismal, deserted house there sounded the +rattle and bang of the flapping shutters. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MARK'S STRANGE ACTIONS + + +Jack Darrow fairly burst into the big shed where the two scientists +were at work over the ruined motor. They looked up at his excitable +entrance, and Mr. Henderson called out: + +"Why, Jack, what's the matter?" + +"Quite a lot, I'm afraid," answered the lad, and there was that in his +voice which alarmed the professors. + +"What do you mean?" inquired Mr. Roumann, laying aside some of the +damaged motor plates. + +"Mark's gone!" gasped Jack. + +"Gone! Where?" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. + +"I don't know, but he went to the deserted house, where we thought the +mysterious man was hiding, and since then I can't find him." + +Then the frightened lad proceeded to explain what he and Mark had +undertaken, and the outcome of it; how his chum had failed to meet him +at the rendezvous, and how Jack had searched through the old house +without result. + +"There's but one thing to do," declared Professor Henderson, when he +had listened to the story. "We must go back there and make a more +thorough search." + +"What--to-night?" exclaimed the German. + +"Surely. Why not? We can't leave Mark there all alone. He may be hurt, +or in trouble." + +"That's what I think," said Jack. "I'll tell Washington and Andy, and +we'll go back and hunt for him. Poor Mark! If he had only waited for +me, perhaps this would never have happened, and if I hadn't stopped at +the dog-fight maybe Mark would have waited for me. Well, it's too late +to worry about that now. The thing is to find him; and I guess we can." + +Jack would not stop longer than to snatch a hasty bite of supper before +he joined the searching party. Washington and he carried lanterns, +while Andy Sudds had his trusty rifle, and the two professors brought +up in the rear, armed with stout clubs, for Jack's account of the +affair made them think that perhaps they might have to deal with a +violent man. + +"Hadn't you better notify the police?" suggested Andy. "A couple of +constables would be some help." + +"Not very much," declared Jack. "Besides, there are only two in +Bayside, and it's hard to locate either one when you want them. I guess +we can manage alone." + +"Yes, I would rather not notify the police if it can be avoided," said +Professor Henderson. + +The searching party hurried along the country highway, which was now +deserted, as it was quite dark. Their lanterns flashed from side to +side, but they had no hope of getting any trace of Mark until they came +to the old barn, at least, though Jack wished several times that he +might meet his chum running toward them along the road. + +They reached the barn in due course, and while Washington, Jack and +Andy began a search of it, the two scientists went up to the house of +the man who owned it and enlisted his aid. They asked him if he had +seen Mark around that afternoon, but the farmer had not. + +"But me an' my hired man'll come out and help you hunt through the +barn," he said. "I remember once, when I was a lad, that my brother +fell off the hay mow and lay unconscious in a manger for five hours +before we found him. Maybe that's what's happened to this young man," +suggested Mr. Hampton, which was the farmer's name. + +"I looked around pretty well this afternoon," explained Jack, when the +farmer and his man had reached the barn, "but, of course, I didn't know +all the nooks and corners." + +A thorough search of the structure, however, failed to reveal the +presence of Mark, and then the farmer volunteered to accompany the +party on to the old Preakness house. His offer was received with +thanks, and, bringing two more lanterns with them, Mr. Hampton and his +man added considerable to the illumination. + +They went through the old mansion from garret to cellar, and called +repeatedly, but there was no answer. And good reason, for in the secret +room, with his captive, the mysterious man heard the first approach of +the searching party; and he quickly bound Mark and gagged him, so that +he could not answer. + +There was nothing to do but to leave, and it was with sad hearts that +Jack and his friends departed, their search having been unavailing. +They turned toward home, which they reached quite late, but found +nothing disturbed. + +No one in Professor Henderson's house slept much that night, and in the +morning pale and wan faces looked at each other, all asking the same +question: "Where is Mark?" + +But no one could answer. + +They talked over the matter, and decided that Jack, with Andy and +Washington, should form a searching party to scour the surrounding +country. The two scientists were too old for such work, and, as the aid +of the police was not desired, it was felt that the three could do all +that was necessary. + +Accordingly, while Professor Henderson and his German friend went to +work on the damaged motor, which did not need as much repairing as at +first was thought to put it in working shape again, Jack and the two +men started off to hunt for Mark. + +They were gone all that day, returning very much discouraged at dusk, +saying that they could get no trace of him. + +"I don't see where he can be!" exclaimed Jack desperately, for, though +the two lads were not related, they had been friends so long, and had +shared so many pleasures and dangers together, that they were like +brothers. "You won't start for the moon until you find him, will you, +Professor?" asked Jack. + +"No, indeed; though we could start to-morrow if he was here," replied +the aged scientist. "The special tools came to-day, and the motor has +been repaired. We have tested it, and the Cardite power works even +better than did the Etherium apparatus." + +"Then we can start as soon as Mark is found?" asked Andy Sudds. + +"Yes, for everything has been put inside the projectile, and all that +remains is to haul it out of the shed, point it at the moon, and start +the motor." + +"Then I guess I'll give my gun a final cleaning, and get ready. There +may be good hunting on the moon," said the old hunter. + +Jack was tired from his long tramp that day, searching for his missing +chum, but before he went to bed he wanted to go out and take a look at +the big projectile, which was now ready to start for the moon. + +As he turned around the corner of the immense shed to enter the door, +he was startled by seeing a figure coming toward him. Jack started, +rubbed his eyes, and peered again. + +"Is it possible? Can I be mistaken?" he whispered. + +The figure came nearer. Jack, who had come to a halt, broke into a run. + +"Mark! Mark!" he cried joyously. "Oh, you've come back! Where have you +been?" + +Jack was about to clasp his chum in his arms when he saw that Mark's +arm was in a sling, and that his face was all bandaged up, so that +scarcely any of his features showed. Had it not been for the clothes, +and a certain stoutness of which Mark never could seem to get rid, Jack +would scarcely have known his friend. + +"Why, Mark, what happened?" cried Jack. "Have you met with an accident? +Where have you been? In a hospital? What became of you? Why didn't you +wait for me?" + +"I can't answer all those questions at once," was the reply, and Jack +thought Mark's voice was curiously muffled and hoarse, entirely unlike +his usual tones. But he ascribed that to the bandages around the mouth. + +"Well, answer one at a time then," said Jack, and there was an +undefinable, strange air about his chum which cooled Jack's first +impulse of gladness. "Whatever happened to you, Mark? Are you hurt?" + +"I was--yes," came the reply, in short, jerky tones. "I had an +accident, and I've been in a hospital. That's why I couldn't send you +word. But I'm all right now. When does the projectile start?" + +"To-morrow, now that you're here. But tell me more about it. Where were +you hurt?" + +"On my head and arm." + +"No; I mean where did the accident occur?" + +"Oh, in the old house where I went to--to look for that man." + +"Did you find him?" asked Jack eagerly. + +"No. He's not there now." + +"Well, never mind. We won't bother about him. Come on to the house. My, +but I'm glad to see you again! And so will the others be." + +In his enthusiasm at seeing his chum again Jack wanted to hug him. He +approached Mark, but the latter cried out: + +"Look out! Don't come too close!" + +"Why not? Have you caught some disease?" + +"No, but you might hurt my broken arm!" + +"Oh, is it broken? That's tough luck. Did you fall?" + +"Yes--in the old house. I fell down stairs." + +"And your head is all bandaged up, too," went on Jack, trying to peer +into his friend's face through the roll of bandages. + +"Look out! Don't come too near!" again warned the other. "You might +jostle against me, and knock off some of the bandages." + +"Did you lose some of your teeth, the reason your voice sounds so +funny?" asked Jack. + +"Yes, I did knock out a few when I tumbled. But don't bother about me. +I'll be all right soon. Let's go in the house. I want to go to bed." + +"But they'll all want to see you, and hear about the accident, Mark," +insisted Jack. "My, but we've been all worked up about you. How did you +happen to be taken to a hospital?" + +"A farmer came along, and I hailed him. Then I lost consciousness, and +couldn't let you know where I was. But never mind the details. I'm +anxious to get started on the trip to the moon. Couldn't we start +to-night?" + +"I don't believe so. You need rest. But come on in the house." Then +Jack hurried on ahead, calling: "Mark's found! Mark is back!" + +His cries brought all of the others out on the porch, and at first they +could scarcely believe the good news, but soon Jack and the new arrival +came in sight. As Jack had been, the two professors and the others were +startled when they saw how Mark was bundled up in bandages. + +"He fell down stairs," explained Jack. + +"Come over here where it's light, so I can see you," suggested +Professor Henderson. "Perhaps some of the bandages have slipped off +since you came from the hospital. Why did you come alone? Why didn't +you send us word where you were as soon as you were conscious, and we +would have come for you." + +"Oh, I didn't want to bother you," explained the bundled-up figure. "I +managed to walk it all right." + +"But your injuries may need attention," insisted Mr. Henderson. "I know +something about doctoring. Come here where I can see." + +"No--no--the--light hurts my eyes," was the hasty reply. "I guess I'll +go to bed, so as to be all ready to start in the morning. Why don't you +leave for the moon to-night, professor?" + +"There are still a few little details to look after. But are you sure +you are well enough to go with us? We may meet with hardships up on the +moon." + +"Oh, I'm all ready to go," was the answer. "I'd start to-night if I +could. But now I must get to bed." + +"Don't you want supper?" asked Jack. + +"No, I had some just before I left the hospital." + +"What hospital was it?" inquired Andy Sudds. "I was in one once, and I +didn't like it. There wa'nt enough air for me." + +"I forget the name of the place," came the reply. "I can't think +clearly. I need sleep." + +The newcomer kept in the shadows of the room, as if the light hurt his +eyes, and appeared restless and ill at ease. With the hand that was not +in a sling he pulled the bandages closer about his face. + +"Can't you tell us more about what happened?" asked Jack, for Mark was +not usually so reticent, and his chum noticed it. + +"There isn't much to tell," was the response. "I went to the old house, +and I was looking around when I happened to tumble down stairs. I must +have been knocked unconscious, but when I came to I crawled outside. A +farmer was driving past, and I asked him to take me to a hospital." + +"Why didn't you come home?" asked Mr. Henderson. + +"Oh, I didn't want to make any trouble and delay work on the +projectile. I figured that I could be with you in a few hours, and you +wouldn't worry. But they insisted that I must stay in the hospital when +they got me there. Then I lost consciousness again, and couldn't manage +to let you know where I was. But I'm all right now." + +"Why didn't you wait for me at the barn, when I went to send the +telegram, as you promised you would?" asked Jack, who felt a little +hurt at his chum's neglect. + +"Did I promise to wait for you at some barn?" + +"Yes; don't you remember?" and Jack gazed at the bandaged figure in +surprise. + +"Oh, yes--I--I guess I do. But I want to go to bed now," and pulling +the cloths closer about his face the injured one started from the +apartment. + +"Here. That's not the way up to your room. The stairs are over here," +called Jack, for he saw the newcomer taking the wrong direction. + +"Oh, yes. Guess my mind must be wandering," and with an uneasy laugh +the injured one turned about. They heard him going up stairs, and a +little later Jack followed. He found that Mark's room was not occupied. + +"Hi, Mark! Where are you?" he called, in some alarm. + +"Here," was the answer, and the voice came from Jack's own apartment. + +"Well, you're in the wrong bunk." + +"Am I? Well, I must have made another mistake. My head can't be right," +and with that the other came out and hastily went into the adjoining +apartment. + +For a moment Jack stood in the hall. He looked at the door that had +closed behind the bandaged figure. + +"There's something wrong," said Jack in a low voice. "How strange Mark +acts! I wonder what can be the matter?" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +READY FOR THE MOON + + +There were busy times for the moon-voyagers the next day. They were up +early, for at the last moment many little details needed to be settled. +The Cardite motor had been thoroughly repaired, for the damage caused +by the unknown enemy had done no permanent harm. + +When the injured one appeared the bandage on his head seemed larger +than ever, and his features were almost hidden. He still wore his arm +in a sling. + +"Well, how do you feel?" asked Jack, looking narrowly at the figure. He +could not get rid of a suspicion that something was wrong with Mark. + +"Oh, I'm feeling pretty fair," was the mumbled answer. "I didn't sleep +much, though." + +"Well, take care of yourself," advised Jack. "We are about ready to +start. We'll get off about noon, Professor Henderson says. Don't try to +do anything and injure your broken arm. You certainly had a tough time +of it." + +"Yes, I guess I did. I can't do much to help you." + +"You don't need to. We're all but finished. Just hang around and watch +me work. There isn't much to do." + +But though Jack gave an invitation to remain near him, the other seemed +to prefer being off by himself. He wandered in and out of the +projectile, now and then helping Andy or Washington to carry light +objects into the _Annihilator_. But all the while he was careful not to +disturb the bandage on his face, and several times he stopped to +readjust it. Nor did he talk much, which Jack ascribed to his statement +that his teeth hurt him. And when the bandaged figure did speak, it was +in mumbling tones, very different from Mark's usually cheerful ones. + +"Well," remarked Professor Roumann, after a final inspection of the big +Cardite motor--the one that was to be depended on to carry them to the +moon--"I think we are about ready to leave this earth. How about it, +Professor Henderson?" + +"Yes, I think so. Have you made any calculation as to speed?" + +"Yes, we will not have to move nearly as fast as we did when we went to +Mars. We only have to cover a quarter of a million of miles at the +most, and probably less than that. The motor will send us along at the +rate of about a mile a second, which is three thousand six hundred +miles an hour, or eighty-six thousand four hundred miles a--day. At +that rate we would be at the moon in less than three days. + +"But I don't want to travel as fast as that," the German went on. "I +want time to make some scientific observations on the way, and so I +have reduced the speed of the Cardite motor by half, though should we +need to hasten our trip we can do so." + +"Then we'll be about a week on the way?" asked Jack. + +"About that, yes," assented Mr. Roumann. + +"And could we go farther than to the moon if we wanted to?" inquired +the bandaged figure mumblingly. + +"Farther? What do you mean?" asked Professor Henderson quickly. + +"I mean could we go to Mars if we wanted to?" + +"You don't mean to say you want to go back there, and run the chance of +being attacked by the savage Martians, do you?" asked Jack. + +"No, I was only asking," and the other seemed confused. + +"Well, of course, we _could_ go there, as we have plenty of supplies +and enough of the Cardite," said Mr. Roumann. "But I think the moon +will be the limit of our trip this time." + +The work went on, the last things to be put aboard the projectile being +a number of scientific instruments. The injured one wandered in and +out, now being in the house and again in the big shed. He seemed +restless and ill at ease, and frequently he walked to the front gate +and gazed down the road. + +"You seem to be looking for some one," spoke Jack. "Are you expecting +your girl to come along and bid you good-by, Mark?" + +"Who--me? No, I--I was just looking to see if--if it was going to rain." + +"Rain? Well, rain won't make much difference to us soon. We will be +outside of the earth's atmosphere in a jiffy after we have started, and +then rain won't worry us. Is your stateroom all fixed up?" + +"No, I didn't think of that. Guess I'd better look after it." + +The two started together for the projectile. The stout one entered +first, and made his way through the engine room and main cabin to the +compartment off which the staterooms opened. He entered one. + +"Here, that's not yours," cried Jack. "That's where Professor Henderson +sleeps. Yours is next to mine." + +"That's right; I forgot," mumbled the other. "I must be getting absent +minded since my accident. But I'll be all right soon. I'll get my room +to rights, and then probably we'll start." + +"I guess so," answered Jack, but he shook his head as he gazed after +his chum. "Mark has certainly changed," he murmured. "I wish he'd take +those bandages off, so I could get a look at his face." + +The last details were completed. The big _Annihilator_ had been run out +on trucks into the yard surrounding the shed, ready to be hurled +through the air. The shop, shed and house had been locked up and given +in charge of a caretaker, who would remain on guard until our friends +returned. + +"Are we all ready?" asked Professor Henderson, as he stood ready to +close the main entrance door and seal it hermetically. + +"All ready, I guess," answered Jack. The stout one had gone to his +stateroom, where he could be heard moving about. + +"I'm ready," announced Professor Roumann. "Say the word and I'll start +the motor." He was in the engine room, looking over the machinery. At +that moment there came a loud yell from the galley where Washington +White was. + +"Heah, heah! Come back!" cried the colored man. "My Shanghai rooster is +got loose!" he yelled, and, an instant later, the fowl came sailing out +of the projectile, with Washington in full chase after him. + +"I'll help you catch him," volunteered Jack, springing to the cook's +aid, while Professor Henderson laughed, and a bandaged figure, looking +from a stateroom port, wondered at the delay in starting the projectile. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +MARK'S ESCAPE + + +Mark Sampson was alone in the deserted house. Bound hand and foot, +stripped of his clothing, and attired in some old garments that the +tramps who made a hanging-out place of the old mansion had cast aside, +the unfortunate lad was stretched on a pile of bagging, his heart +beating partly with fear and partly with rage over a desire to escape +and punish the scoundrel responsible for his plight. + +The man who had captured him, after taking away Mark's clothes, had +chuckled, as though at some joke. + +"You may think this is funny," spoke the lad bitterly, "but you won't +be so pleased when my friends get after you." + +"They'll never get after me," boasted the man. "This is a good joke. To +think that I can pass myself off as you; that I can join them in the +projectile, and they never will be the wiser!" + +"They'll soon discover that you are disguised as me," declared Mark, +"and when they do they'll have you arrested." + +"Yes, but they'll not discover it until we have left the earth, and are +on our way to the moon. Then it will be too late to turn back, and my +object will have been accomplished. I will be with them in the +_Annihilator_, and I'll have my revenge! The projectile is due to sail +to-morrow, and I'll be on hand. I'm going to leave you now. I have left +orders with a friend of mine that you are to be released to-morrow +night. In the meanwhile you will have to be as comfortable as you can. +I wish you no harm, but I must keep you here. + +"I will feed you well before I go, and put some water where you can get +it. But I must leave you tied. I'll not gag you, for, no matter how you +yell, no one will hear you. I have posted a notice in front of this +place that it is under the watch of the police, so no tramps will +venture in, and your friends will not come back. + +"Now, just make yourself comfortable here, and I'll go to the moon in +your place. I think I shall enjoy the trip. As I said, you will be +released to-morrow night, several hours after the projectile has left +the earth." + +"How do you know it is to start to-morrow morning?" asked Mark. + +"Oh, I have been spying around, and I overheard the professors talking. +I know a thing or two, and I'll be on hand, on time, in your place! +Now, I have to leave you. I've left ten dollars to pay for your suit, +which I need to disguise myself with." + +Then the man was gone, and Mark was left with his bitter thoughts to +keep him company. The whole daring scheme of the man had been revealed. +He did look something like Mark, and, attired in the lad's clothes, and +by keeping his face concealed, he might pass himself off as Jack's +chum; at least, until after the projectile had started. + +"And then, as he says, it will be too late to return to earth and get +me," thought Mark bitterly. "Oh, why did I ever try to learn this man's +secret? Who is he, anyhow? Why didn't I wait for Jack at the barn, as I +promised? It's all my fault. I wonder if I can't get loose?" + +Mark struggled several hours desperately and at last he felt the ropes +giving slightly. He redoubled his efforts. Strand by strand the cords +parted. He put all his efforts into one last attempt, and to his great +joy he felt his hands separate. He was partly free! + +But scarcely half his task was accomplished. He had yet to discover the +secret of the hidden room--a room, as he afterward learned, which had +been built during slavery days to conceal the poor black men who were +escaping from the South. + +"But now I have my hands to work with!" exulted Mark. + +Resting a bit after his strenuous labors, he took a long drink of water +and attacked the ropes on his feet. They were comparatively easy to +loosen, and soon he stood up unbound. + +"Now for the secret panel!" he exclaimed, for he was convinced that it +was by some such means that his captor had entered and left. As has +already been explained, Mark knew on which side of his prison the +opening was likely to be--it would be where the warning knocks had +sounded. He began a minute inspection of that wall. + +But if Mark hoped to speedily discover the secret he was doomed to +disappointment. He went over every inch of the surface, seemingly, and +pressed on every depression or projection that met his eye, as he +passed the candle flame along the wall. + +Success did not reward him, and, as hour after hour passed, and the +candle burned lower and lower, Mark began to despair. + +"I must escape before the projectile leaves," he murmured. "It will +never do to let them take that man with them under the impression that +they have me. I must escape! I will!" + +Once more he began the tiresome task of seeking the secret spring. The +candle was spluttering in the socket now. It would burn hardly another +minute. Desperately Mark sought. + +At last, just as the candle gave a dying gasp and flared brightly up +prior to going out, the lad saw a small screw head he had not noticed +before. It was sunk deep in a board. + +"I'll press that and see what happens!" he exclaimed. + +With a suddenness that was startling, he found himself in total +darkness. The candle had burned out, but he had his finger on the +screw. He pressed it with all his force. + +There was a rumbling sound in the darkness, a movement as if some heavy +body had slid out of the way, and Mark felt a breath of air on his +cheeks. Then he saw a dim light. + +"Oh, I'm out! I'm out!" he cried joyously, breathing a prayer of +thankfulness at his deliverance. "I'm free! I pushed on the right +spring, and the panel slid back!" + +He fairly leaped forward. The morning light was streaming in through +the broken windows. He saw himself in the old hall of the mansion, at +the head of the stairs, in a sort of anteroom, the mantle of which +apartment had swung aside to give him egress from the secret chamber +through a hole in the wall. He was free! + +"But am I in time?" he cried. "It is morning--and about ten o'clock, I +should judge. I've been working to get free all night. Will I be in +time?" + +He gave one last look behind at his prison and sprang down the rickety +stairs. He had but one thought--to reach home in time to unmask the +villain who was impersonating him--to be in time to make the journey to +the moon. + +"But it's several miles, and I can't walk very fast," murmured Mark. +"I'm too stiff and weak. How can I do it?" + +He thought of making his way to the nearest farm house, and asking for +the loan of a horse and carriage, but he looked so much like a tramp +that no farmer would lend him a horse. + +"And I need to make speed," he murmured. + +At that moment he heard a noise down the road. It was a steady +"chug-chug," like some distant motor-boat, but there was no water near +at hand. + +"A motorcycle!" exclaimed Mark. "Some one is coming on a motorcycle. +Oh, if I could only borrow it!" + +He ran down into the road. He could see the rider now. To his joy it +was Dick Johnson--the lad who had brought him the mysterious note. + +"Hi Dick! Dick! hold on!" cried Mark. + +The lad on the motor gave one glance at the ragged figure that had +hailed him. Then he turned on more power to escape from what he thought +was a savage tramp. + +"Wait! Stop! I want that motorcycle!" cried Mark. + +"Well, you're not going to get it!" yelled back Dick. "I'll send the +police after you." + +Mark couldn't understand. Then a glance down at his ragged garments +showed him what was the matter. + +"Wait! Hold on, Dick!" he cried, running forward. "I'm Mark Sampson! +I've had a terrible time! I was captured by that mysterious man, and +he's got my clothes. I must get home quick!" + +Dick heard, but scarcely understood. However, he comprehended that his +friend was in trouble, and he wanted to help him. He slowed up, and +Mark reached him. + +"Lend me your motorcycle, Dick," begged Mark. "I must get home in a +hurry to unmask a scoundrel. I'll leave your machine for you at our +house. I won't hurt it. I'm in a hurry! Get off!" + +Somewhat dazed, Dick dismounted, and Mark climbed into the saddle. He +began to pedal, and then threw in the gasolene and spark. The cycle +chugged off. + +"I'll leave it for you at our house," Mark called back. "I'm going on a +trip to the moon, and I don't want to be late." + +He was fast disappearing in a cloud of dust, while Dick, gazing after +him, remarked: + +"Well, I always thought those fellows were crazy to go off in +projectiles and things like that, and now I'm sure of it. Going to the +moon! Well, I only hope he doesn't take my motorcycle there!" + +Mark sped on, turning the handle levers to get the last notch of speed +out of the cycle. Would he be in time? + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A DIREFUL THREAT + + +Perhaps Washington White's Shanghai rooster did not care to make the +trip to the moon, or perhaps the fowl had not yet seen enough of this +earth. At any rate, when he flew from the projectile, uttering loud +crows, and landed some distance away, he began to run back toward the +coop in the rear of the yard. + +"Cotch him, cotch him!" yelled the colored man. "Dat's a valuable bird!" + +"We'll get him when he goes in the coop," said Jack, who found it +difficult to run and laugh at the same time. + +"Shall I fire my rifle off and scare him?" asked Andy Sudds. + +"No, you might kill him or scare him t' death," objected Washington. + +"Come on, Mark, and help," cried Jack, looking toward the projectile, +where a figure was peering from the glass-covered port of the main +cabin. + +But the figure, whose hand was done up in voluminous bandages, did not +come out, and Jack wondered the more at what he thought was a growing +strangeness on the part of his chum. + +Jack, followed by Andy and Washington, raced off after the rooster, +while the two professors, somewhat amused, rather chaffed at the delay. +But afterward they were glad of it. + +"Just my luck!" muttered the bandaged one. "This delay comes at the +wrong time. Why don't they go on without that confounded rooster? If we +stay here too long, that fellow Mark may get loose and spoil the whole +thing, or Jenkins may go and release him before the time set. It would +be just like Jenkins! I've a good notion to start the projectile +myself. I know how to operate the Cardite motor. Only I suppose those +two professors are on guard in the engine room. I'll have to wait until +they catch that rooster, I guess, but I'd like to wring his neck!" + +The chase after the fowl was kept up. + +"I've got him now!" cried Jack a little later, as the fowl, evidently +now much exhausted, ran into another fence corner, where Jack caught +him, and shut him up in the coop in the projectile. + +"Yo' suttinly am de mos' contrary-minded specimen ob de chicken fambly +dat I eber seed," observed Washington, breathing heavily, for his run +had winded him. + +"Well, are we all ready to start now?" asked Professor Henderson. "No +more live stock loose, is there, Jack?" + +"I think not." + +"Where's Mark? Wasn't he helping you catch the rooster?" + +"No, he's inside. Shall I seal the door?" + +"Yes, and I'll tell Professor Roumann that we're about to start. All +ready for the moon trip!" + +Jack was pulling the steel portal toward him. An eager face, peering +from a port, waited anxiously for the tremor which would indicate that +the projectile had left the earth. In another moment they would be off. + +But what was that sound coming from down the highway. A steady +chug-chug--a sort of roar, as of a battery of rapid-fire guns going off +in double relays! And, mingled with the explosions, there was a voice +shouting: + +"Wait! Hold on! Don't go without me! I'm Mark Sampson! Don't start the +projectile!" + +"Somebody must be in a mighty hurry on a motorcycle," thought Jack, as +he paused a moment before fastening the door. Then the shouts came to +his ears. + +"Mark Sampson!" he cried. + +Again came the cry: "Wait! Wait! Don't go without me! You've got that +mysterious man on board!" + +"Mark Sampson!" murmured Jack again. "That's his voice sure enough! I +wonder--can it be possible--that man--with his head all bandaged +up--his queer actions--I--I----" + +Words failed the youth. Throwing wide open the door, he sprang out of +the projectile. A moment later there dashed into the yard, where the +great projectile rested, a strange figure astride of a puffing +motorcycle. The figure was torn and, ragged, and the nondescript +garments were covered with dust, for Mark had had a fall. But there was +no mistaking the face that peered eagerly forward. + +"Jack!" cried the youth on the machine. + +"Mark!" ejaculated the lad who had sprung from the projectile. "What +has happened? Who is the fellow who has been masquerading as you?" + +"A scoundrel and a villain! Let me get at him!" and, slamming on the +brakes, as he shut off the power, Mark leaped from the motorcycle, +stood it up against the projectile, and clasped his chum by the hand. + +"What's the matter?" asked Professor Henderson, as he, too, ran out of +the _Annihilator_. "What does that tramp want, Jack? Give him some +money, and get back in here; we ought to have started long ago." He +looked at the ragged figure. + +"This isn't a tramp," cried Jack. "It's Mark!" + +"Mark! I thought----" + +"There have been strange doings," gasped the lad in tramp's garments. +"I have just escaped from being kept a prisoner. Where is the +mysterious man? Oh, I'm glad I arrived in time! Were you about to +start?" + +"That's what we were," replied Jack. "Oh, Mark, but I'm glad to see you +again! I didn't know what to think. You acted so strange--or, rather, +the fellow we thought was you had me guessing!" + +"Good land a' massy!" exclaimed Washington White, as he stood in the +doorway, with Andy Sudds behind him. "Am dere two Marks? What's up, +anyhow?" + +"Don't let that fellow get away--the fellow who passed himself off as +me!" shouted Mark. "Lock him up! There's some mystery about him that +must be explained. He's a dangerous man to be at large." + +Professor Henderson turned back to enter the projectile. Jack advised +Andy to get his gun ready, with which to threaten the scoundrel in case +of necessity. + +At that instant there sounded a crash of glass, and the whole front of +the big observation window in the side of the _Annihilator_ was smashed +to atoms. A figure leaped--a figure which no longer had its head +bandaged, and whose arm was no longer in a sling--the figure of a +man--the mysterious man who had held Mark a prisoner! + +"There he goes!" shouted Jack. "Catch him, somebody! Andy, where's your +gun?" + +"I'll have it in a jiffy!" cried the hunter, as he dashed back to get +it. + +But the man did not linger. Scrambling to his feet after his fall, +caused by his leap from the broken window, which he had smashed with a +sledge hammer as soon as he understood that his game was up, he raced +out of the yard. He turned long enough to shake his fist at the group +assembled around the projectile, and then leaped away, calling out some +words which they could not hear. + +"Let's take after him," proposed Mark. + +"Come on," seconded Jack. + +"No, let him go; he's a desperate man, and you came just in time to +unmask him," said Professor Henderson. "He might harm you if you took +after him. Let him go. He has not done much damage. We can easily +replace the broken window. But I can't understand what his object was +in disguising himself as Mark. He certainly looked like you, Mark, +especially when he kept his face concealed. Why did he do it?" + +"He wanted to go to the moon in my place," answered the former prisoner +of the deserted house. + +"But why?" insisted Jack. + +"Because, I think, he's crazy, and he didn't really know what he did +want. But he certainly had me well concealed," spoke Mark. "I'm free +now, however, and as soon as I get some decent clothes on I'll go with +you to the moon. I wouldn't want the moon people to see me dressed this +way." + +"How did it happen?" asked Jack. "Tell us all about it. My! but I +certainly have been puzzled since you--or rather since the person we +thought was you--came back last night all bunged up. Give us the story." + +"I will; give me a chance. I guess that villain is gone for good." Andy +Sudds came out with his gun, and insisted on taking a look down the +road and around the premises. The man was nowhere in sight. + +"Now we're in for another delay," remarked Jack ruefully, as he gazed +at the smashed window. "It seems as if we'd never get started for the +moon." + +"Oh, yes, we will," declared Professor Henderson. "We have some extra +heavy plate glass in the shop, and we can soon put in another +observation window." + +"Let's get right to work then," proposed Jack. "That man may come back. +Did you learn who he was, Mark?" + +"No, he wouldn't tell his name, and he said he was doing this to get +revenge on us for some fancied wrong. I can't imagine who he is. But +let's work and talk at the same time. I'll tell you all that happened +to me," which he did briefly. + +Mark soon got rid of the tramp clothes, and donned an extra suit which +had been packed in his trunk in the projectile. Then he helped replace +the broken window, which, in spite of their haste, took nearly all the +rest of the day to put in place. + +"Shall we wait and start to-morrow?" asked Jack, when four o'clock +came. "It will soon be dark." + +"Darkness will make no difference to us," announced Professor Roumann. +"Our Cardite motor will soon take us out of the shadow of the earth, +and we will be in perpetual sunshine until we reach the moon. As we are +all ready, we might as well start now." + +They all agreed with this, and, after a final inspection of the +projectile, the travellers entered it, and Jack was once more about to +seal the big door. + +Before he could do so there came riding into the yard, on his +motorcycle, which he had claimed that afternoon, Dick Johnson. + +"Wait a minute," he cried. "I've got a letter for you. It's from that +man!" + +"What--another thing to delay us?" cried Jack, but he called to +Professor Roumann not to start the motor, and ran to take from Dick the +letter which the lad held out. + +"That same man who gave me the one for Mark gave me this, and he paid +me a half a dollar to bring it here," said the boy. + +"All right," answered Jack impatiently. + +He looked at the note. It was addressed to the "Moon Travellers," and, +considering that he was one, the youth tore open the envelope. In the +dim light of the fading day he read the bold handwriting. + +"I have fixed you," the letter began. "You will never get to the moon. +I shall have my revenge. You took my brother Fred Axtell to Mars and +left him there. I determined to get him back, and to that end I +disguised myself as one of the boys, and got aboard. When we were +safely away from the earth, I would have compelled you to go to Mars +and rescue my brother. But my plan has failed. I will have my revenge, +though. You will never reach the moon, even if you do get started. +Beware! George, the brother of Fred Axtell, will avenge his fate!" + +"The brother of the crazy machinist!" gasped Jack. "Now I understand +his strange actions. He's crazy, too--he wanted to go to Mars--he says +we will never reach the moon! Say, look here!" cried Jack, raising his +voice. "Here's bad news! That scoundrel has put some game up on us! +Maybe he's tampered with the machinery! It won't be safe to start for +the moon until we've looked over everything carefully! He says he's +fixed us, and perhaps he has!" + +From the projectile came hurrying the would-be moon travellers, a vague +fear in their hearts. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +OFF AT LAST + + +In the gathering twilight Professor Henderson read slowly the note Dick +had brought. Then he passed it to Professor Roumann. The latter shook +his shaggy gray hair, and murmured something in German. + +"Where did you meet the man?" asked Jack of the young motorcyclist. + +"About two miles down the road. He was walking along, sort of talking +to himself, and I was afraid of him. He called to me, and offered me a +half a dollar to deliver this message. I didn't want to at first, but +he said if I didn't he'd hurt me, so I took it. Is it anything bad?" + +"We don't know yet," replied Mark. + +"No, that is the worst of it," added Professor Roumann. "He has made a +threat, but we can't tell whether or not he will accomplish it. We are +in the dark. He may have done some secret damage to our machinery, and +it will take a careful inspection to show it." + +"And will the inspection have to be made now?" asked Jack. + +"I think so," answered Professor Henderson gravely. "It would not be +safe to start for the moon and have a breakdown before we got there. We +must wait until morning to begin our trip." + +"It will be the safest," spoke the German, and the boys, in spite of +the fact that they were anxious to get under way, were forced to the +same conclusion. + +"Then if we're going to camp here for the night," proposed old Andy, +"what's the matter with me and the boys having a hunt for that man? +We've put up with enough from him, and it's time he was punished. If we +let him go on, he'll annoy us all the while, if not now, then after we +get back from the moon. I'm for giving him a chase and having him +arrested." + +"He certainly deserves some punishment, if only for the way he treated +Mark," was Jack's opinion, his chum having related how he was drugged +and kept a prisoner in the secret room, and how he escaped in time to +unmask the villain. + +"Well," said Professor Henderson, after some thought, "it might not be +a bad plan to see if you could get that scoundrel put in some safe +place, where he could make no more trouble for us. I guess the lunatic +asylum is where he belongs, though I can sympathize with him on account +of his brother. But it was not our fault that the crazy machinist went +with us to Mars. He was a stowaway, and went against our wishes, and +when he got there he tried to injure us." + +"Then may Mark, Andy and I see if we can find this man?" asked Jack. + +"Yes, but be careful not to get separated; and don't run any risks," +cautioned the professor. "Mr. Roumann and I, with the help of +Washington, will go carefully over all the machinery, and every part of +the projectile, to see if any hidden damage has been done. But don't +stay out too late. You had better notify the police. They may be able +to give you some aid, and I don't mind letting them know about it now, +as we will soon be away from here, because, no matter if they do send +detectives or constables spying about now, they can learn none of our +secrets." + +Waiting only to partake of a hasty meal, the two boys and the veteran +hunter set out, Andy with his gun over his shoulder and his sharp eyes +on the lookout for any sign of Axtell, though they hardly expected to +find him in the vicinity of the projectile. + +Taking the road, on which Dick Johnson said he had encountered the man, +the two lads and Andy proceeded, making inquiries from time to time of +persons they met. But no one had seen Axtell, and the insane man, for +such he seemed to be, appeared to have dropped out of sight. + +On into the village the searchers went, and there they reported matters +to the chief of police, telling him only so much as was necessary to +give him an understanding of the situation. + +"I'll send a couple of my best constables right out on the case," said +the chief. "We've just appointed two new ones, and I guess they'll be +glad to arrest somebody." + +"Let them look out that this fellow doesn't drug them and carry them +away," cautioned Mark. + +"Oh, I guess my constables can look out for theirselves," spoke the +chief proudly. + +Once more the trailers sallied forth to renew their search. They +thought perhaps they might find their man lingering in the town, but a +search through the principal streets did not disclose him, and Mark +proposed that they return to their home for the night, as he was tired +and weary from his experience in the deserted house. + +As they were turning out of the town, their attention was attracted by +a disturbance on the street just ahead of them. A woman screamed, and +men's voices were heard. Then came cries of: "Police! Police!" + +"Some one's in trouble!" exclaimed Jack. "Let's go see what it is." + +They broke into a run, and, as they approached, they saw a crowd +quickly collect. It seemed to center about a man who was being held by +two others, though he struggled to get away. + +"Here, what's the trouble?" the boys heard a constable ask as he +shouldered his way into the throng. + +"This fellow tried to snatch this lady's purse and run away with it," +explained one of the men who had grabbed the scoundrel. "Stand still, +you brute!" he shouted at him, "or I'll shake you to pieces! Such +fellows as you ought to go to the whipping-post!" + +"I'll take charge of him," announced the officer. "Who is he? Does any +one know?" + +"Stranger in town, I guess," volunteered the other man, who had helped +capture him. "Need any help, officer?" + +"No, I guess I can manage him. Come along now, and behave yourself, or +I'll use my club. It hasn't been tried on any one yet." + +"That's one of the new constables, I guess," said Mark, and Jack nodded. + +The crowd separated to allow the officer to take out his prisoner. As +the latter walked forward in the grip of the constable, he remarked in +a mild voice totally at variance with his bold act: + +"Why, I only wanted a little change to pay my fare to the moon. I'm +going there to look for my brother." + +"Crazy as a loon," said one of the men. + +"Or pretending that he is," added the officer. + +"Mark!" cried Jack, pointing at the prisoner, "look!" + +"The man who held me captive!" gasped Mark. "And he's wearing my +clothes yet! But he's in custody now, and we needn't fear any more from +him." + +"Unless he gets away," said Jack. + +"We'll go tell the chief who he is, and he'll keep him safe," suggested +Mark, and they hurried to headquarters, reaching there just before the +prisoner was brought in. The boys were assured by the chief that the +man, who was evidently a dangerous lunatic, would be kept where he +could do no harm. He would be arraigned later on the serious charge of +attempted highway robbery, as well as of being a dangerous lunatic at +large. When the boys and Andy got back, they found the two professors +and Washington still going over the machinery in detail. + +"Find anything wrong?" asked Jack, after they had told of the arrest of +Axtell. + +"No, but we will have another look in the morning," said Mr. Henderson. +"Then, if we find nothing out of order, I think we will take a chance +and start." + +A thorough inspection by all hands the next day did not disclose +anything wrong, and, a test of the motors and other machinery having +shown that it was in good working shape, it was decided to leave the +earth. + +"At last, I think, we are really going to get under way to the moon," +said Jack, as he closed the big main door. This time it was not +reopened. All the stores and supplies were in place. The two professors +were in the engine room. Washington White was in his galley, getting +ready to serve the first meal in the air. Jack and Mark were in the +pilot house, ready to do whatever was necessary and anxious to feel the +thrill that would tell them the projectile had left the earth. + +"All ready?" asked Professor Henderson. + +"All ready," replied his German assistant. + +"Then here we go!" announced the aged scientist. + +He pulled toward him the main starting lever of the Cardite motor, +while Professor Roumann opened the valve which admitted to the plates +and cylinders the mysterious force that was to send them on their way. + +"Elevate the bow!" called Professor Henderson. + +"Elevated it is," answered the German, as he turned a wheel which +directed the negative gravity force against the surface of the ground +and tilted up the nose of the _Annihilator_, as a skyrocket is slanted +in a trough before the fuse is ignited. + +"Throw over the switch," directed Mr. Henderson, and the other +scientist, with a quick motion, snapped it into place, amid a shower of +vicious electric sparks that hissed as when hot iron is thrust into +water. + +"Steer straight ahead!" called Professor Henderson to Mark and Jack, +who were in the pilot house. "We'll head for the moon later." + +"Straight ahead it is," answered Jack. + +There was a trembling to the great projectile. Up rose her +sharp-pointed bow. She swayed slightly in the air. The trembling +increased. The great Cardite motor hummed and throbbed. There was a +crackling as from a wireless apparatus. + +Then, with a rush and a roar, the big steel car, resembling an enormous +cigar, soared away from the earth, like some gigantic piece of +fireworks, and shot toward the sky. + +"We're off!" shouted Mark. + +"For the moon!" added Jack. + +And the _Annihilator_ soared upward and onward, while those in her +never dreamed of the fearful adventures that were to befall them ere +they would again be headed toward the earth. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SHANGHAI MAKES TROUBLE + + +Remaining in the engine room long enough to see that all the motors and +apparatus were working smoothly, Professor Henderson made his way to +the pilot house forward, where Mark and Jack were in charge of the +steering gears. The projectile could be started and stopped from there, +as well as from the engine room, once the motor was set going. + +"Well, boys, how does it feel to be in space once more?" asked the +scientist. + +"Fine," answered Mark. "But while I was shut up in that old house I +feared I'd never have this chance again." + +"It seems like old times again, to be flying through space," remarked +Jack. "My! but we aren't making half the speed of which the projectile +is capable. Why, we're only going about twenty miles a second," and he +spoke as if that was a mere nothing. + +"Twenty miles is some speed," observed Mark. + +"The earth goes around the sun at the rate of nineteen miles a second, +or about seventy-five times as fast as the swiftest cannon-ball, so you +see, Jack, you are 'going some,' as the boys say." + +"Yes, but we went much faster when we went to Mars. Still, no matter +how fast we travel, you'd never realize it inside here." + +This was true. So well balanced was the projectile, and so delicately +poised was the machinery, that the terrifically fast rate of travel, +rivalling that of the earth, was no more noticed than we, on this +globe, notice our pace of nineteen miles a second around the sun. + +"Everything seems to be all right," observed Professor Henderson, as he +looked out of the plate-glass window of the pilot house into a sea of +rolling mist, which represented the ether, for they had soon passed +through the atmosphere of the earth, which scientists estimate to be +two hundred miles in thickness. + +"Are we going to move any faster than this?" asked Jack, who seemed +possessed of a speed mania. + +"Not right away," replied Mr. Henderson. "Professor Roumann wants to +thoroughly test the Cardite motor first. Then, when he finds that it +works all right, we may go faster. But we will be at the moon soon +enough as it is. It is time we headed more directly on our proper way, +though, so I think I will ask Mr. Roumann to step here and aid me in +getting the projectile on the right course. You boys had better remain +also and learn how it is done. You may need to know some time." + +"I'll call the professor here, if he can leave the engine room," said +Mark, and he found the German bending over some complicated apparatus. +The scientist announced that the machines would run themselves +automatically for a while, so he accompanied the lad back to the +pilot-house. + +There, consulting big charts of the heavens, and by making some +intricate calculations, which the boys partly understood, the German +and Mr. Henderson were able to locate the exact position of the moon, +though that body was not then in sight, being behind the earth. + +"That ought to bring us there inside of a week," announced Mr. +Henderson, as he fastened the automatic steering apparatus in place. +"The projectile will now be held on a straight course, and I hope we +shall not have to change it." + +"Could anything cause us to swerve to one side?" asked Jack. + +"Sure," replied Mark. "Don't you remember how, in the trip to Mars, we +nearly collided with the comet? If we are in danger of hitting another +one of those things, or even a meteor, we'll steer out of the way, +won't we?" + +"Of course. I forgot about that," admitted Jack. + +"Yes," declared Professor Roumann, "we'll have to be on the lookout for +wandering meteors or other stray heavenly bodies. But our instruments +will give us timely warning of them. Now, I think we can leave the +projectile to herself while I make sure that all the machinery is +running smoothly. You boys may stay here if you like, though there +isn't much to see." + +There wasn't. It was totally unlike taking a trip on earth, where the +ever-varying scenery makes a journey pleasant. There was no landscape +to greet the eye now. It was even unlike a trip in a balloon, for in +that sort of air-craft, at least for a time, a glimpse of the earth can +be had. Now there was nothing but a white blanket of mist to be seen, +which rolled this way and that. Occasionally it was dispelled, and the +full, golden sunlight bathed the projectile. The earth had long since +dropped out of sight, for it required only a few seconds to put the +_Annihilator_ high up in a position where even the most intrepid +balloonist had never ventured. + +Mark and Jack sat for a few minutes in the pilot-house, looking out +into the ether. But they soon tired of seeing absolutely nothing. + +"I wonder what we'll do when we get to the moon?" asked Jack of his +chum. + +"Why, I suppose you'll make a dive for a hatful of diamonds, won't you? +That is, if you still believe that Martian newspaper account." + +"I sure do." + +The boys found the two professors busy adjusting some of the delicate +scientific instruments with which they expected to make observations on +the trip, and after they reached the moon. + +"What is your opinion, Professor Roumann, of the temperature at the +moon's surface?" asked Mr. Henderson. + +"I am in two minds about it," was the reply. "A few years ago, I see by +an astronomy, Lord Rosse inferred from his observations that the +temperature rose at its maximum (or about three days after full moon) +far above that of boiling water." + +"Boiling water!" ejaculated Mark. "Wow! That won't be very nice. I +don't want to be boiled like a lobster!" + +"Wait a moment," cautioned Mr. Roumann, with a smile. "Later, Lord +Rosse's own investigations, and those of Langley, threw some doubts on +this. There is said to be no air blanket about the moon, as there is +about the earth, so that the moon loses heat as fast as it receives it; +and it now seems more probable that the temperature never rises above +the freezing point of water, just as is the case on our highest +mountains." + +"That's better," came from Jack. "We can stand a low temperature more +easily than we can to be boiled; eh, Jack?" + +"Sure. But I don't want to be frozen or boiled either, if I can help +it. Guess I'll wear my fur suit that we brought back from the North +Pole with us." + +"I agree with you, Professor Roumann, about the temperature," announced +Mr. Henderson, "so we must make up our minds to shiver, rather than +melt. But we are prepared for that." + +"What about there being no air on the moon?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, we can manufacture our own oxygen," said Mark. "We can walk around +with an air tank on our shoulders, as we did when we went beneath the +surface of the ocean. Now, I guess----" + +"Dinner am served in de dining car!" interrupted Washington White, his +black face grinning cheerfully. He used to be a waiter in a Pullman, +and he was proud of it. "First call fo' dinner!" he went on. "Part ob +it am boiled, part am roasted, laik I done heah yo' talkin' 'bout jest +now, an' part am frozed--dat's de ice cream," he added hastily, lest +there be a mistake about it. + +"Well, that sounds good," observed Mark. "Come on, everybody," and he +led the way to the dining cabin. + +They had not been at the table more than a few minutes, and had begun +on the "boiled" part of the meal, which was the soup, when from the +engine room there came a curious, whining noise, as when an electric +motor slows up. + +"What's that?" cried Professor Henderson, jumping up from his seat in +alarm. + +"Something wrong in the engine room," cried Mr. Roumann. + +The two scientists, followed by the boys, hurried to where the various +pieces of apparatus were sending the projectile forward through space. +Already there was an appreciable slackening of speed. + +"The Cardite motor has stopped!" cried Mr. Roumann. "Something has +happened to it!" + +"Can it be the result of the damage which that lunatic did?" asked Mr. +Henderson. + +"Perhaps," spoke Jack. "If I had him here----" + +"We are falling!" shouted Mark, looking at an indicator which marked +their speed and motion. + +"Can't we start some other motor?" asked Jack. + +At that instant from beneath the now silent Cardite machine there came +a prolonged crow. + +"My Shanghai rooster!" shouted Washington. "He am in dar!" + +A second later the rooster scrambled out, scratching vigorously. Grains +of corn were scattered about. The motor started up again, and the +projectile resumed its onward way. + +"The rooster stopped it!" cried Jack. "He went under it to get some +corn, and he must have deranged one of the levers. Oh, you old +Shanghai, you nearly gave us all heart disease!" + +And the rooster crowed louder than before, while his colored owner +"shooed" him out of the engine room. The trouble was over speedily, and +the _Annihilator_ was once more speeding toward the moon. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"WILL IT HIT US?" + + +"Well, for a trouble-maker, give me a rooster every time," spoke Jack, +as, after an examination of the machinery, it was found that nothing +was out of order. "How do you think it happened, Professor Henderson?" + +"It never could have happened except in just that way," was the reply +of Mr. Roumann. "Underneath the motor, where they are supposed to be +out of all reach, are several self-adjusting levers. They control the +speed, and also, by being moved in a certain direction, they will shut +down the apparatus. The rooster crawled beneath the machine, an act +that I never figured on, for I knew it was too small for any of us to +reach with our hands or arms, even had we so desired. But the +Shanghai's feathers must have brushed against the levers, and that +stopped the action of the Cardite motor. However, I'm glad it was no +worse." + +"Yes, let's finish dinner now, if everything is all right," proposed +Mark. + +"How did the rooster get in here?" asked Jack. + +"I 'spects dat's my fault," answered Washington. "I took him out ob his +coop fo' a little exercise dis mawnin', an' he run in heah." + +"That explains it, I think," said Mr. Roumann. "Well, Washington, don't +let it happen again. We don't want to be dashed downward through space +all on account of a rooster." + +"No, indeedy; I'll lock him up good an' tight arter dis," promised the +colored man. + +They resumed the interrupted dinner, discussing the possibility of what +might have happened, and congratulating themselves that it did not take +place. + +"It certainly seems like old times to be eating while travelling along +like a cannon-ball," remarked Jack. "I declare, it gives me an +appetite!" + +"You didn't need any," retorted his chum. "But say! maybe things don't +taste good to me, after what I got while that fellow Axtell had me a +prisoner! Jack, I'll have a little more of that cocoanut pie, if you +don't mind." + +Jack passed over the pastry, and Mark took a liberal piece. Then +Washington brought in the ice cream, which was frozen on board by means +of an ammonia gas apparatus, the invention of Professor Henderson. The +novelty of dining as comfortably as at home, yet being thousands of +miles above the earth, and, at the same time, speeding along like a +cannon-ball, did not impress our friends as much as it had during their +trip to Mars. + +"Well, we're making a little better time now," observed Mark, as he and +the others rose from the table and went to the engine room. "The gauge +shows that we're making twenty-five miles a second." + +"We will soon go much faster," announced Professor Roumann. "I have not +yet had a chance to test my Cardite motor to its fullest speed, and I +think I will do so. I wish to see if it will equal my Etherium machine. +I'll turn on the power gradually now, and we'll see what happens." + +"How fast do you think it ought to send us along?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, perhaps one hundred and twenty-five miles a second. You know we +went a hundred miles a second when we headed for Mars. I would not be +surprised if we made even one hundred and thirty miles a second with +the Cardite." + +"Whew! If we ever hit anything going like that!" exclaimed old Andy +Sudds. + +"We'd go right through it," finished Jack fervently. The professor was +soon ready for the test. Slowly he shoved over the controlling lever. +The Cardite motor hummed more loudly, like some great cat purring. +Louder snapped the electrical waves. The air vibrated with the enormous +speed of the valve wheels, and there was a prickling sensation as the +power flowed into the positive and negative plates, by which the +projectile was moved through space. + +"Watch the hand of the speed indicator, boys," directed Professor +Roumann, "while Professor Henderson and I manipulate the motor. Call +out the figures to us, for we must keep our eyes on the valves." Slowly +the speed indicator hand, which was like that of an automobile +speedometer, swept over the dial. + +"Fifty miles a second," read off Mark. The two professors shoved the +levers over still more. + +"Seventy-five," called Jack. + +"Give it a little more of the positive current," directed Mr. Roumann. + +"Ninety miles a second," read Mark a few moments later. + +"We are creeping up, but we have not yet equalled our former speed," +spoke Mr. Henderson. The motor was fairly whining now, as if in protest. + +"One hundred and five miles," announced Jack. + +"Ha! That's some better!" ejaculated the German. "I think we shall do +it." Once more he advanced the speed lever a notch. + +"One hundred and thirty!" fairly shouted Mark. "We are beating all +records!" + +"And we will go still farther beyond them!" cried Mr. Roumann. "Watch +the gauge, boys!" + +To the last notch went the speed handle. There was a sharp crackling, +snapping sound, as if the metal of which the motor was composed was +strained to the utmost. Yet it held together. + +The hand of the dial quivered. It hung on the one hundred and thirty +mark for a second, as if not wanting to leave it, and then the steel +pointer swept slowly on in a circle, past point after point. + +"One hundred and thirty-five--one hundred and forty," whispered Jack, +as if afraid to speak aloud. The two professors did not look up from +the motor. They looked at the oil and lubricating cups. Already the +main shaft was smoking with the heat of friction. + +"Look! look!" whispered Mark hoarsely. + +"One hundred and fifty-three miles a second!" exclaimed Jack. "You've +done it, Professor Roumann!" + +"Yes, I have," spoke the German, with a sigh of satisfaction. "That is +faster than mortal man ever travelled before, and I think no one will +ever equal our speed. We have broken all records--even our own. Now I +will slow down, but we must do it gradually, so as not to strain the +machinery." + +He slipped back the speed lever, notch by notch. The hand of the dial +began receding, but it still marked one hundred and twenty miles a +second. + +Suddenly, above the roar and hum of the motor, there sounded the voice +of Andy. + +"Professor!" he shouted. "We're heading right toward a big, black +stone! Is that the moon?" + +"The moon? No, we are not half way there," said Mr. Henderson. "Are you +sure, Andy?" + +"Sure? Yes! I saw it from the window in the pilot-house. We are +shooting right toward it." + +"Look to the motor, and I'll see what it is," directed Mr. Henderson to +his friend. Followed by the boys, he hurried to the steering tower. His +worst fears were confirmed. + +Speeding along with a swiftness unrivalled even by some stars, the +projectile was lurching toward a great, black heavenly body. "It's a +meteor! An immense meteor!" cried Professor Henderson, "and it's coming +right toward us." + +"Will it hit us?" gasped Mark and Jack together. + +"I don't know. We must try to avoid it. Boys, notify Professor Roumann +at once. We are in grave danger!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +TURNING TURTLE + + +Together Mark and Jack leaped for the engine room. Their faces showed +the fear they felt. Even before they reached it, they realized that, at +the awful speed at which they were travelling, and the fearful velocity +of the meteor, there might be a crash in mid-air which would destroy +the projectile and end their lives. + +"I wonder if we can steer clear of it?" gasped Jack. + +"If it's possible the professor will do it," responded his chum. + +The next instant they were in the engine room, where Mr. Roumann was +bending over the Cardite motor. + +"Shut off the power!" yelled Jack. + +"We are going to hit a meteor!" gasped Mark. + +The German looked up with a startled glance. + +"Slow down?" he repeated. "It is impossible to slow down at once! We +are going ninety miles a second!" He pointed to the speed gauge. + +"Then there's going to be a fearful collision!" cried Jack, and he +blurted out the fact of the nearness of the heavenly wanderer. + +"So!" exclaimed Professor Roumann. "Dot is bat! ferry bat!" and he +lapsed into the broken language that seldom marked his almost perfect +English. Then, murmuring something in his own tongue, he leaped away +from the motor, calling to the boys: + +"Slow it down gradually! Keep pulling the speed lever toward you! I +will set in motion the repelling apparatus and go to help Professor +Henderson steer out of the way. It is our only chance!" + +Mark and Jack took their places beside the Cardite motor, which was +still keeping up a fearful speed, though not so fast as at first. To +stop it suddenly would mean that the cessation of strain could not all +be diffused at once, and serious damage might result. + +The only way was to come gradually down to the former speed, and, while +Mark kept his eyes on the indicator, Jack pulled the lever toward him, +notch by notch. + +"She's down to seventy-five miles a second," whispered Mark. They were +as anxious now to reduce speed as they had been before to increase it. + +Meanwhile Professor Roumann had set in motion a curious bit of +apparatus, designed to repel stray meteors or detached bits of comets. +As is well known, bodies floating in space, away from the attraction of +gravitation, attract or repel each other as does a magnet or an +electrically charged object. + +Acting on this law of nature, Professor Roumann had, with the aid of +Mr. Henderson, constructed a machine which, when a negative current of +electricity was sent into it, would force away any object that was +approaching the _Annihilator_. In a few moments the boys at the Cardite +motor heard the hum, the throb and crackling that told them that the +repelling apparatus was at work. + +But would it act in time? Or would the meteor prove too powerful for +it? And, if it did, would the two scientists be able to steer the +swiftly moving projectile out of the way of the big, black stone, as +the old hunter called it? + +These were questions that showed on the faces of the two lads as they +bent over the motor. + +"We're only going fifty miles a second now," whispered Jack. + +Mark nodded his head. "Can't you pull the lever over faster?" he asked. + +"I don't dare," replied his chum. There was nothing to do but to wait +and gradually slow up the projectile as much as possible. The boys +could hear the professors in the pilothouse shifting gears, valves and +levers to change the course of the projectile. Andy Sudds and +Washington White, with fear on their faces, looked into the engine +room, waiting anxiously for the outcome. + +"Hab--hab we hit it yet?" asked Washington, moving his hands nervously. + +"I reckon not, or we'd know it," said the hunter. + +"No, not yet," answered Jack, in a low voice. "How much are we making +now, Mark?" + +"Only thirty a second." + +"Good! She's coming down." + +Hardly had he spoken than there sounded a noise like thunder, or the +rushing of some mighty wind. The projectile, which was trembling +throughout her length from the force of the motor, shivered as though +she had plunged into the unknown depths of some mighty sea. The roaring +increased. Mark and Jack looked at each other. Washington White fell +upon his knees and began praying in a loud voice. Old Andy grasped his +gun, as though to say that, even though on the brink of eternity, he +was ready. + +Then, with a scream as of some gigantic shell from a thousand-inch +rifle, something passed over the _Annihilator_; something that shook +the great projectile like a leaf in the wind. And then the scream died +away, and there was silence. For a moment no one spoke, and then Jack +whispered hoarsely: + +"We've passed it." + +"Yes," added Mark, "we're safe now." + +"By golly! I knowed we would!" fairly yelled Washington, leaping to his +feet. "I knowed dat no old meteor could kerflumox us! Perfesser +Henderson he done jumped our boat ober it laik a hunter jumps his boss +ober a fence. Golly! I'se feelin' better now!" + +"How did you avoid it?" asked Mark of the professor. + +"With the help of the repelling machine and by changing our course. But +we did it only just in time. It was an immense meteor, much larger than +at first appeared, and it was blazing hot. Had it struck us, there +would have been nothing left of us or the projectile either but star +dust. But we managed to pass beneath it, and now we are safe." + +They congratulated each other on their lucky escape, and then busied +themselves about various duties aboard the air-craft. The rest of the +day was spent in making minor adjustments to some of the machines, +oiling others, and in planning what they would do when they reached the +moon. + +In this way three days and nights passed, mainly without incident. They +slept well on board the _Annihilator_, which was speeding so swiftly +through space--slept as comfortably as they had on earth. Each hour +brought them nearer the moon, and they figured on landing on the +surface of that wonderful and weird body in about three days more. + +It was on the morning of the fourth day when, as Mark and Jack were +taking their shift in the engine room, that Jack happened to glance +from the side observation window, which was near the Cardite motor. +What he saw caused him to cry out in surprise. + +"I say, Mark, look here! There's the moon over there. We're not heading +for it at all!" + +"By Jove! You're right!" agreed his chum. "We're off our course!" + +"We must tell Professor Henderson!" cried Jack. "I'll do it. You stay +here and watch things." + +A few seconds later a very much alarmed youth was rapidly talking to +the two scientists, who were in the pilot-house. + +"Some unknown force must have pulled us off our course," Jack was +saying. "The moon is away off to one side of us." + +To his surprise, instead of being alarmed, Mr. Roumann only smiled. + +"It's true," insisted Jack. + +"Of course, it is," agreed Mr. Henderson. "We can see it from here, +Jack," and he pointed to the observation window, from which could be +noticed the moon floating in the sky at the same time the sun was +shining, a phenomenon which is often visible on the earth early in the +morning at certain of the moon's phases. + +"Will we ever get there?" asked Jack. + +"Of course," replied Mr. Roumann. "You must remember, Jack, that the +moon is moving at the same time we are. Had I headed the projectile for +Luna, and kept it on that course, she would, by the time we reached +her, been in another part of the firmament, and we would have overshot +our mark. So, instead, I aimed the _Annihilator_ at a spot in the +heavens where I calculated the moon would be when we arrived there. +And, if I am not mistaken, we will reach there at the same time, and +drop gently down on Luna." + +"Oh, is that it?" asked the lad, much relieved. + +"That's it," replied Mr. Henderson. "And that's why we seem to be +headed away from the moon. Her motion will bring her into the right +position for us to land on when the time comes." + +"Then I'd better go tell Mark," said the lad. "He's quite worried." He +soon explained matters to his chum, and together they discussed the +many things necessary to keep in mind when one navigates the heavens. + +That day saw several thousand more miles reeled off on the journey to +the moon, and that evening (or rather what corresponded to evening, for +it was perpetual daylight) they began to make their preparations for +landing. Their wonderful journey through space was nearing an end. + +"I guess that crazy Axtell fellow was only joking when he said we'd +never reach the moon," ventured Jack. "Nothing has happened yet." + +"Only the meteor," said Mark, "and he couldn't know about that. I guess +he didn't get a chance to damage any of the machinery." + +"No, we seem to be making good time," went on his chum. "I think I'll +go and----" + +Jack did not finish his sentence. Instead he stared at one of the +instruments hanging from the walls of the engine room. It was a sort of +barometer to tell their distance from the earth, and it swung to and +fro like a pendulum. Now the instrument was swinging out away from the +wall to which it was attached. Further and further over it inclined. +Jack felt a curious sensation. Mark put his hand to his head. + +"I feel--feel dizzy!" he exclaimed. "What is the matter?" + +"Something has happened," cried Jack. + +The instrument swung over still more. Some tools fell from a work +bench, and landed on the steel floor with a crash. The boys were +staggering about the engine room, unable to maintain their balance. + +There came cries of fear from the galley, where Washington White was +rattling away amid his pots and pans. Andy Sudds was calling to some +one, and from the pilot-house came the excited exclamations of +Professors Henderson and Roumann. + +"We're turning turtle!" suddenly yelled Jack. "The projectile is +turning over in the air! Something has gone wrong! Perhaps this is the +revenge of that crazy man!" and, as he spoke, he fell over backward, +Mark following him, while the _Annihilator_ was turned completely over +and seemed to be falling down into unfathomable depths. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +AT THE MOON + + +Confusion reigned aboard the _Annihilator_. It had turned completely +over, and was now moving through space apparently bottom side up. Of +course, being cigar shaped, this did not make any difference as far as +the exterior was concerned, but it did make a great difference to those +within. + +The occupants of the great shell had fallen and slid down the rounded +sides of the projectile, and were now standing on what had been the +ceiling. Objects that were not fast had also followed them, scattering +all about, some narrowly missing hitting our friends. Of course, the +machinery was now in the air, over the heads of the travellers. + +This was one of the most serious phases of the accident, for the great +Cardite motor was built to run while in the other position, and when it +was turned upside down it immediately stopped, and the projectile, +deprived of its motive power, at once began falling through space. + +"What has happened? What caused it?" cried Mark, as he crawled over to +where Jack sat on the ceiling, with a dazed look on his face. + +"I don't know. Something went wrong. Here comes Professor Henderson and +Mr. Roumann. We'll ask them." + +The two scientists were observed approaching from the pilot-house. They +walked along what had been the ceiling, and when they came to the +engine room they had to climb over the top part of the door frame. + +"What's wrong?" asked Jack. + +"Our center of gravity has become displaced," answered Mr. Henderson. +"The gravity machine has either broken, or some one has been tampering +with it. Did either of you boys touch it?" + +"No, indeed!" cried Mark, and his chum echoed his words. + +"I wonder if Washington could have meddled with it?" went on the +scientist. + +At that moment the colored cook came along, making his way cautiously +into the engine room. He was an odd sight. Bits of carrots, turnips and +potatoes were in his hair, while from one ear dangled a bunch of +macaroni, and his clothes were dripping wet. + +"My kitchen done turned upside down on me!" wailed Washington, "an' a +whole kettle ob soup emptied on my head! Oh, golly! What happened?" + +The aged scientist looked toward the German. The latter was gazing up +at the motionless Cardite motor over his head. + +"There is but one way," he answered. "We must restore our centre of +gravity to where it was before. Then the projectile will right herself." + +"Can it be done?" asked Mark. + +"It will be quite an undertaking, but we must attempt it. Bring some +tables and chairs, so I can stand up and reach the equilibrium machine." + +From where they had fallen to the ceiling, which was now the floor, +Jack and Mark brought tables and chairs, and made a sort of stepladder. +On this Professor Roumann mounted, and at once began the readjusting of +the centre of gravity. + +It was hard work, for he had to labor with his arms stretched up in the +air, and any one who has even put up pictures knows what that means. +The muscles are unaccustomed to the strain. The German scientist, +though a strong man, had to rest at frequent intervals. + +"We're falling rapidly," announced Jack, in a low voice, as he looked +at the height gauge. + +"I am doing all I can," answered Mr. Roumann. "I think I will soon be +able to right the craft." + +He labored desperately, but he was at a disadvantage, for the +_Annihilator_ was not now moving smoothly through space. With the +stopping of the motor she was falling like some wobbly balloon, swaying +hither and thither in the ether currents. + +But Professor Roumann was not one to give up easily. He kept at his +task, aided occasionally by Professor Henderson and by the boys +whenever they could do anything. + +Finally the German cried out: + +"Ah, I have discovered the trouble. It is that scoundrel Axtell! See!" +And reaching into the interior of the machine he pulled out a small +magnet. To it was attached a card, on which was written: + +"I told you I would have my revenge!" It was signed with Axtell's name. + +"This was the dastardly plot he evolved," said Professor Roumann. "He +slipped this magnet into the equilibrium machine, knowing that in time +it would cause a deflection of the delicate needles, and so shift the +centre of gravity. He must have done this as a last resort, and to +provide for his revenge in case we discovered him on board after we +started. It was a cruel revenge, for had I not discovered it we would +soon all be killed." + +"Is the machine all right now?" asked Jack. + +"It will be in a few minutes. Here, take this magnet and put it as far +away from the engine room as possible." + +It was the work of but a few minutes, now that the disturbing element +was removed, to readjust the gravity machine, and Mr. Roumann called: + +"Look out, now, everybody! We're going to turn right side up again!" + +As he spoke he turned a small valve wheel. There was a clanging of +heavy ballast weights, which slid down their rods to the proper places. +Then, like some great fish turning over in the water, the _Annihilator_ +turned over in the ether, and was once more on her proper keel, if such +a shaped craft can be said to have a keel. + +Of course, the occupants of the space ship went slipping and sliding +back, even as they had fallen ceilingward before, but they were +prepared for it, and no one was hurt. From the galley came a chorus of +cries, as pots and pans once more scattered about Washington, but there +was no more soup to spill. + +As soon as the _Annihilator_ was righted, the Cardite motor began to +work automatically, and once more the projectile, with the seekers of +the moon, was shooting through space at their former speed. They had +lost considerable distance, but it was easy to make it up. + +"Well, that _was_ an experience," remarked Jack, as he and his chum +began picking up the tools and other objects that were scattered all +about by the change in equilibrium. + +"I should say yes," agreed Mark. "I'm glad it didn't happen at dinner +time. That fellow Axtell is a fiend to think of such a thing." + +"Indeed, he is! But we're all right now, though it did feel funny to be +turned upside down." + +An inspection of the projectile was made, but they could discover no +particular damage done. She seemed to be moving along the same as +before, and, except for the upsetting of things in the store-room, it +would hardly have been known, an hour later, that a dreadful accident +was narrowly averted. + +Washington made more soup, and soon had a fine meal ready, over which +the travellers discussed their recent experience. + +"And when do you think we will arrive?" asked Jack of Mr. Henderson. + +"We ought to be at the moon inside of two days now. We have not made +quite the speed we calculated on, but that does not matter. I think we +will go even more slowly on the remainder of the trip, as I wish to +take some scientific observations." + +"Yes, and so do I," added Mr. Roumann. "I think if we make fifteen +miles a second from now on we will be moving fast enough." + +Accordingly the Cardite motor was slowed down, and the projectile shot +through space at slightly reduced speed, while the two scientists made +several observations, and did some intricate calculating about ether +pressure, the distance of heavenly bodies and other matters of interest +only to themselves. + +It was on the afternoon of the third day following the turning turtle +of the _Annihilator_ that Mark, who was looking through a telescope in +the pilot-house, called out: "I say, Jack, look here!" + +"What's the matter?" asked his chum. + +"Why, we're rushing right at the moon! I can see the mountains and +craters on it as plain as though we were but five miles away!" + +"Then we must be nearly there," observed Jack. "Let's tell the others, +Mark." + +They hurried to inform the two professors, who at once left their +tables of figures and entered the steering chamber. Then, after gazing +through the glass, Mr. Henderson announced: "Friends, we will land on +the moon in half an hour. Get ready." + +"Are we really going to be walking around the moon inside of thirty +minutes?" asked Mark. + +"I don't know about walking around on it," answered the German. "We +first have to see if there is an atmosphere there for us to breathe, +and whether the temperature is such as we can stand. But the +Annihilator will soon be there." + +The speed of the Cardite motor was increased, and so rapidly did the +projectile approach Luna that glasses were no longer needed to +distinguish the surface of the moon. + +There she floated in space, a great, silent ball, but not like the +earth, pleasantly green, with lakes and rivers scattered about in +verdant forests. No, for the moon presented a desolate surface to the +gaze of the travellers. Great, rugged mountain peaks arose all about +immense caverns that seemed hundreds of miles deep. The surface was +cracked and seamed, as if by a moonquake. Silence and terrible +loneliness seemed to confront them. + +"Maybe it's better on some other part of the surface," said Jack, in a +low voice. + +"Perhaps," agreed Mark. "It's certainly not inviting there." + +Nearer and nearer they came to the moon. It no longer looked like a +great sphere, for they were so close that their vision could only take +in part of the surface, and it began to flatten out, as the earth does +to a balloonist. + +And the nearer they came to it the more rugged, the more terrible, the +more desolate did it appear. Would they be able to find a place to +land, or would they go hurtling down into some awful crater, or be +dashed upon the sharp peak of some mountain of the moon? + +It was a momentous question, and anxious were the faces of the two +professors. + +"Mr. Henderson, if you will undertake to steer to some level place, I +will take charge of the motor," suggested Mr. Roumann. "I will +gradually reduce the speed, and get the repelling machine in readiness, +so as to render our landing gentle." + +"Very well," responded the aged scientist, as he grasped the steering +wheel. + +The progress of the _Annihilator_ was gradually checked. More and more +slowly it approached the moon. The mountains seemed even higher now, +and the craters deeper. + +"What a terrible place," murmured Jack. "I shouldn't want to live +there." + +"Me either," said Mark. + +"Can you see a place to land?" called Professor Roumann through the +speaking-tube from the engine room to the steering tower. + +"Yes, we seem to be approaching a fairly level plateau," was Mr. +Henderson's reply. + +"Very well, then, I'll start the repelling machine." + +The Cardite motor was stopped. The projectile was now being drawn +toward the moon by the gravity force of the dead ball that once had +been a world like ours. Slowly and more slowly moved the great +projectile. + +There was a moment of suspense. Mr. Henderson threw over the steering +wheel. The _Annihilator_ moved more slowly. Then came a gentle shock. +The dishes in the galley rattled, and there was the clank of machinery. +The Shanghai rooster crowed. + +"We're on the moon at last!" cried jack, peering from an observation +window at the rugged surface outside. + +"Yes; and now to see what it's like," added Mark. "We'll go outside, +and----" + +"Wait," cautioned Professor Roumann. "First we must see if we can +breathe on the moon, and whether the temperature will support life. I +must make some tests before we venture out of the projectile." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +TORCHES OF LIFE + + +The natural inclination of the boys to rush out on the surface of the +moon to see what it was like was checked by the words of caution from +Professor Roumann. + +"Do you think it would be dangerous to venture outside the projectile?" +asked Jack, as he looked from the window and noted the rugged, uneven +surface of the moon. + +"Very much so," was the answer. "According to most astronomers, there +is absolutely no air on the moon, also no moisture, and the temperature +is either very high or around the freezing point. We must find out what +it is." + +"How can we?" inquired Mark. + +"I'll soon show you," went on the German. "Professor Henderson, will +you kindly assist me." + +When it had been decided to come to the moon in quest for the field of +diamonds, certain changes had been made in the _Annihilator_ to fit it +for new conditions that might be met. One of these consisted of an +aperture in the two sides of the projectile permitting certain delicate +instruments to be thrust out, so that the conditions they indicated +could be read on dials or graduated scales from within. + +"We will first make a test of the temperature," said Mr. Roumann, "as +that will be the easiest." Accordingly a thermometer was put outside, +and those in the air-craft anxiously watched the red column of spirits. +The temperature was marked as seventy-five inside the _Annihilator_, +but the thermometer had not been outside more than a second before it +began falling. + +"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson, as he noted it. "The temperature is +going down. I'd rather have it too cold than too hot. We can stand a +minus fifty of cold better than two hundred and twelve of heat. We have +fur garments with us." + +"It is still going down," remarked Jack, as he saw the red column drop +down past the thirty mark. + +"Below freezing," added Mark. + +The spirits fell in the tube until they touched twenty-eight degrees, +and there they remained. + +"Twenty-eight degrees," remarked Professor Henderson. "That isn't so +bad. At least, we can stand that if we are warmly clad." + +"Yes, but it will be colder to-night," said Jack. For they had landed +on the moon in bright sunlight. + +"To-night?" questioned the German scientist, with a smile. + +"Yes, it's always colder when the sun goes down," went on the lad. + +"You have forgotten one thing," said Mr. Henderson, with a smile at his +young protégé. "You must remember, Jack, that the nights and days here +are each fourteen days long--that is, fourteen of our days." + +"How's that?" asked Jack. + +"Why," broke in Mark, who was a trifle better student than was his +chum, "don't you remember that the moon rotates on its axis once a +month, or in about twenty-eight days, to be exact, and so half of that +time is day and half night, just as on our earth, when it revolves on +its axis in twenty-four hours, half the time is day and half the time +is night." + +"Sure, I ought to have remembered," declared Jack. + +"Mark is right," added Mr. Henderson. "And, as we have most fortunately +arrived on the moon at the beginning of the long day, we will have +fourteen days of sunshine, during which we may expect the temperature +to remain at about twenty-eight degrees. But now about the atmosphere." +"We will test that directly," went on the German. "It will take some +time longer, though." + +Various instruments were brought forth and thrust out of the opening in +the side of the projectile, which opening was so arranged that it was +closed hermetically while the instruments were put forth. Then the +readings of the dials or scales were taken, and computations made. In +fact, some of what corresponded to the moon's atmosphere was secured in +a hollow steel cup and brought inside the _Annihilator_ for analysis. + +"Well," remarked Professor Roumann, as he bent over a test tube, the +contents of which he had put through several processes, "I am afraid we +cannot breathe on the moon." + +"Can't breathe on it?" gasped Jack. "Then we can't go out and walk +around it." + +"I didn't say that," resumed the German, with a smile. "I said we +couldn't breathe the moon's atmosphere. In fact there is nothing there +that we would call atmosphere. There is absolutely no oxygen, and there +are a number of poisonous gases that would instantly cause death if +inhaled." + +"Then how are we to get out and hunt for those diamonds, Professor?" +went on Jack. "Gee whiz! if I'd known that, I wouldn't have come. This +is tough luck!" + +"Maybe the professor can suggest a way out of the difficulty, boys," +spoke Mr. Henderson. "It certainly would be too bad if, after our +perilous trip, we couldn't get out of our cage and walk around the +moon." + +"I think perhaps I can discover a way so that it will be safe to +venture forth," said Mr. Roumann. "But I must first conduct some +further experiments. In the meanwhile suppose you boys get out some +fur-lined garments, for, though it is only twenty-eight degrees, we +will need to be well clad after the time spent inside this warm +projectile." + +"It does look as if he expected to get us out," remarked Jack, as he +and his chum went to where Andy Sudds was. + +"Yes, you'll get a chance to pick up diamonds after all, Jack. That is, +if there are any here." + +"Of course there are diamonds. You wait and see," and then, with the +help of the old hunter, they took from the store-room their fur +garments. + +It was half an hour before the warm clothes were sorted out, and then +the boys went back to where the two professors were. + +"Well," asked Jack cautiously, "can we go outside?" + +"I think so," answered the German cheerfully. "But you must always be +careful to carry one of these with you," and he handed to each of the +boys a steel rod about two feet long, at the end of which was a small +iron box, with perforations in the sides and top. + +"What is this?" asked Jack. "It looks like a magician's wand." + +"And that is exactly what it is," said Mr. Henderson. "As there is no +atmosphere fit to breathe on the moon, we have been forced to make our +own, boys. You each hold what may be called torches of life. To venture +out without them would mean instant death by suffocation or poison." + +"And will these save our lives?" asked Mark. + +"Yes," said Mr. Roumann. "In the iron boxes on those rods are certain +chemicals, rich in oxygen and other elements, which, when brought in +contact with the gases on the moon, will dispel a cloud of air about +whoever carries them--air such as we find on our earth. So, boys, be +careful never to venture out without the torches of life. I had them +prepared in anticipation of some such emergency as this, and all that +was necessary was to put in the chemicals. This I have done, and now, +if you wish, you may go out and stroll about the moon." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ON THE EDGE OF A CRATER + + +There was a little hesitation after Professor Roumann had spoken. Even +though he assured them all that it would be safe to venture out on the +surface of the moon, with its chilling temperature and its poisonous +"atmosphere" (if such it can be termed), there was an uncanny feeling +about stepping forth into the midst of the desolation that was on every +side. + +For it was desolate--terribly so! Not a sound broke the stillness. +There was no life--no motion--as far as could be seen. Not a tree or +shrub relieved the rugged monotony of the landscape. It was like a dead +world. + +"And to think that people may have once lived here," observed Jack, in +a low voice. + +"Yes, and to think that there may be people on the other side of the +moon even now," added Mark. "We must take a look if it's possible." + +"Well," remarked Mr. Henderson, after a while, "are we going out and +see what it's like or not." + +"Of course, we are," said Jack. "Come on, Mark, I'm not afraid." + +"Me either. Do we have to do anything to the torches to make them +operate, Professor Roumann?" + +"Merely press this lever," and the scientist showed them where there +was one in the handle of the steel rod. "As soon as that is pressed, it +admits a liquid to the chemicals and the oxygen gas is formed, rising +all around you, like a protecting vapor. After that it is automatic." + +"How long will the supply of chemical last?" inquired Jack. + +"Each one is calculated to give out gas for nearly two weeks," was the +reply; "possibly for a little longer. But come, I want to see how they +work. Here is your life-torch, Professor Henderson, and there is one +for you, too, Andy, and Washington." + +"'Scuse me!" exclaimed the colored man hastily, as he started back +toward the kitchen. + +"Why, what's the matter?" asked Jack. "Don't you want to go out, and +walk around the moon, and pick up diamonds?" + +"Diamonds am all right," answered Washington, "but I jest done fo'got +dat I ain't fed my Shanghai rooster to-day, an' I 'spects he's mighty +hungry. You folks go on out an' pick up a few obde sparklers, an' when +I gits de Shanghai fed I'll prognosticate myse'f inter conjunction wif +yo' all." + +"You mean you'll join us?" asked Mark. + +"Dat's what I means, suah." + +"Why, I do believe Washington's afraid!" cried Jack jokingly. + +"Askeered! Who's afraid?" retorted the colored man boldly. "Didn't I +done tole yo' dat I got t' feed my rooster? Heah him crowin' now? Yo' +all go 'long, an' I'll meet yo' later," and with that Washington +disappeared quickly. + +"Well, he'll soon pluck up courage and come out," declared Professor +Henderson. "Let him go now, and we'll go out and see what it is like on +the moon." + +"I hope we find those diamonds," murmured Jack, and Mark smiled. + +In order not to admit the poisonous gases into the projectile, it was +decided to leave the Annihilator and return to it by means of a double +door, forming a sort of air lock. It was similar to the water lock used +on the submarine. That is, the adventurers entered a chamber built in +between the two steel walls of their craft. The interior door was then +sealed shut automatically. Next the outer door was opened, and they +could step directly to the surface of the moon and into the deadly +atmosphere. + +"Well, are we all ready?" asked Mr. Roumann, as he picked up one of the +chemical torches. + +"I guess so," responded Andy Sudds, who had his gun with him. "I hope I +see some game. I haven't had a shot in a long while." + +"You're not likely to up here," spoke Mr. Henderson. "Game is scarce on +the moon, unless it's some of that green cheese Washington talked +about." + +They entered the air lock and fastened the door behind them. Then +Professor Roumann pressed on the lever that swung open the outer portal. + +"Hold your torches close to your head," he called. "The moon atmosphere +may be too strong for us at first until we create a mist of oxygen +about us." + +Out upon the surface of the moon they stepped, probably the first earth +beings so to do, though they had evidence that the inhabitants of Mars +had preceded them. + +For a moment they all gasped for breath, but only for a moment. Then +the gas began to flow from the life-torches, and they could breathe as +well as they had done while in the projectile, or while on the earth. + +"Well, if this isn't great!" cried Jack, gazing about him. + +"It certainly beats anything I ever saw," came from Mark. + +"Wonderful, wonderful," murmured Professor Henderson. "We will be able +to gain much valuable scientific knowledge here, Professor Roumann. We +must at once begin our observations." + +"I agree with you," spoke the German. + +Andy Sudds said nothing. He was looking around for a sight of game, +with his rifle in readiness. But not a sign of life met his eager eyes. + +Once they were outside the projectile it was even more desolate than it +had seemed when they looked from the observation windows. It was +absolutely still. Not a breath of wind fanned their cheeks, for where +there is no air to be heated and cooled there could be no wind which is +caused by the differences of temperature of the air, the cold rushing +in to fill the vacuum caused by the rising of the hot vapors. Clad in +their fur-lined garments, which effectually defied the cold, the +adventurers stepped out. + +Over the rugged ground they went, gazing curiously about them. It was +like being in the wildest part of the Canadian Rocky Mountains of our +earth, and, in fact, the surface of the moon was not unlike the +mountainous and hilly sections of the earth. There were no long ranges +of rugged peaks, though, but rather scattered pinnacles and deep +hollows, great craters adjoining immense, towering steeples of rocks, +with comparatively level ground in between. + +The life-torches worked to perfection. As our friends carried them, +there arose about their bodies a cloud of invisible vapor, which, +however, was as great a protection from the poisonous gases as a coat +of mail would have been. + +"This is great!" exclaimed Jack. "It's much better than to have to put +on a diving-suit and carry a cylinder of oxygen or compressed air about +on our shoulders." + +They strolled away from the projectile and gazed back at it. Nothing +moved--not a sound broke the stillness. There was only the blazing +sunlight, which, however, did not seem to warm the atmosphere much, for +it was very chilly. On every side were great rocks, rugged and broken, +with here and there immense fissures in the surface of the moon, +fissures that seemed miles and miles long. + +"Well, here's where I look for diamonds," called Jack, as he stepped +boldly out, followed by Mark. "Let's see who'll find the first +sparkler." + +"All right," agreed his chum, and they strolled away together, slightly +in advance of the two professors and Andy, who remained together, the +scientist discussing the phenomena on every side and the hunter looking +in vain for something to shoot. But he had come to a dead world. + +Almost before they knew it Jack and Mark had gone on quite some +distance. Though they were not aware of it at that moment, it was much +easier to walk on the moon than it was on the earth, for they weighed +only one sixth as much, and the attraction of gravitation was so much +less. + +But suddenly Jack remembered that curious fact, and, stooping, he +picked up a stone. He cast it from him, at the same time uttering a +yell. + +"What's the matter?" called Mark. + +"Look how far I fired that rock!" shouted Jack. "Talk about it being +easy! why, I believe I could throw a mile if I tried hard!" + +"It goes six times as far as it would on the earth," spoke his chum, +"and we can also jump six times as far." + +"Then let's try that!" proposed Jack. "There's a nice level place over +there. Come on, I'll wager that I can beat you." + +"Done!" agreed Mark, and they hurried to the spot, their very walking +being much faster than usual. + +"I'll go first," proposed Jack, "and you see if you can come up to me." +He poised himself on a little hummock of rock, balanced himself for a +moment, and then hurled himself through space. + +Prepared as he was, in a measure, for something strange, he never +bargained for what happened. It was as if he had been fired from some +catapult of the ancient Romans. Through the air he hurtled, like some +great flying animal, covering fifty feet from a standing jump. + +"Say, that's great!" yelled Mark. "Here I come, and I'll beat----" + +He did not finish, for a cry of horror came from Jack. + +"I'm going to fall into a crater--a bottomless pit! I'm on the edge of +it!" yelled the lad who had jumped. + +And, with horror-stricken eyes, Mark saw his chum disappear from sight +beyond a pile of rugged rocks, toward which he had leaped. The last +glimpse Mark had was of the life-torch, which Jack held up in the air, +close to his head. + +"Jack--in a crater!" gasped Mark, as he ran forward, holding his own +life-torch close to his mouth and nose. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +WASHINGTON SEES A GHOST + + +Advancing by leaps and bounds, and getting over the ground in a manner +most surprising, Mark soon found himself on the edge of the great, +yawning crater, into which his chum Jack had started to slide. I say +started, for, fortunately, the lad had been saved from death but by a +narrow margin. + +As Mark gazed down into the depths, which seemed fathomless, and which +were as black as night, he saw his friend clinging to a rocky +projection on the side of the extinct volcano. Jack had managed to +grasp a part of the rough surface as he slid down it after his reckless +jump. He looked up and saw Mark. + +"Oh, Mark, can't you save me?" he gasped. "Call Professor Henderson!" + +"I'll get you up, don't worry!" called Mark, as confidently as he +could. "Hold tight, Jack. What has become of your life-torch?" + +"I have it here by me. I didn't drop it, and it's on a piece of the +rock near my head. Otherwise I couldn't breathe. Oh, this place is +fearfully deep. I guess it hasn't any bottom." + +"Now, keep still, and don't think about that. Save your strength, hold +fast, and I'll get you up." + +But, having said that much, Mark was not so sure how next to proceed. +It was going to be no easy task to haul up Jack, and that without ropes +or other apparatus. Another matter that added to the danger was the +necessity of keeping the life-torch close to one's face in order to +prevent death by the poisonous gases. + +Mark's first impulse was to hasten back and call the two professors, +but he looked over the desolate landscape, and could not see them, and +he feared that if he went away Jack might slip and fall into the +unknown depths of the crater. + +"I've got to get him out alone," decided Mark. "But how can I do it?" + +He crawled cautiously nearer to the edge of the extinct volcano and +looked down. A few loose stones, dislodged by his weight, rattled down +the sides. + +"Look out!" cried Jack quickly, "or you'll fall, too!" + +"I'll be careful," answered Mark, and then he drew away out of danger, +with a queer feeling about his heart, which was beating furiously. Mark +had hoped to be able to make his way down the side of the crater to +where his chum was and help him up. But a look at the steep sides and +the uncertain footing afforded by the loose rocks of lava-like +formation showed that this could not be done. + +"I've got to think of a different scheme," decided Mark, and, spurred +on by the necessity of acting quickly if he was to save Jack, he fairly +forced his brain to work. For he saw by the strained look on his chum's +face that Jack could not hold out much longer. + +"I have it!" cried Mark at length. "My fur coat! I can cut it into +strips of hide and make a rope. Then I can lower it down to Jack and +haul him up." + +He did not think, for the moment, of the cold he would feel when he +stripped off the fur garment, and when it did come to him in a flash he +never hesitated. + +"After all, I've often been out without an overcoat on cold days," he +said to himself. "I guess I can stand it for a while, and when Jack is +up I can run back to the projectile and keep warm that way." + +To think was to act, and Mark laid down his life-torch to take off the +big fur coat. The next instant he had toppled over, almost in a faint, +and, had he not fallen so that his head was near the small perforated +box on the end of the steel rod, whence came the life-giving gas, the +lad might have died. + +He had forgotten, for the instant, the necessity of always keeping the +torch close to his face to prevent the poisonous gases of the moon from +overpowering him. Mark soon revived while lying on the ground, and, +rising, with his torch in his hand, he looked about him. + +"I've got to have my two hands to work with," he mused, "and yet I've +got to hold this torch close to my face. Say, a fellow ought to have +three hands if he's going to visit the moon. What can I do?" + +In an instant a plan came to him. He thrust the pointed end of the +steel rod in the crevice of some rocks, and it stood upright, so that +the perforated box of chemicals was on a level with his face. + +"There," said Mark aloud, "I guess that will work. I can use both my +hands now." The plan was a good one. Next, taking off his coat, the lad +proceeded to cut it into strips, working rapidly. He called to Jack +occasionally, bidding him keep up his courage. "I'll soon have you +out," he said cheeringly. + +In a few minutes Mark had a long, stout strip of hide, and, taking his +life-torch with him, he advanced once more to the edge of the crater. +He stuck the torch in between some rocks, as before, and looked down at +Jack. + +"I--I can't hold on much longer," gasped the unfortunate lad. "Hurry, +Mark!" + +"All right. I'm going to haul you up now. Can you hold on with one hand +long enough to slip the loop of this rope over your shoulders?" + +"I guess so. But where did you get a rope?" + +"I made it--cut up my fur coat." + +"But you'll freeze!" + +"Oh, I guess not. Here it comes, Jack. Get ready!" + +Mark lowered the hide rope to his chum. The latter, who managed to get +one toe on a small, projecting rock, while he held on with his right +hand, used his left to adjust the loop over his shoulders and under his +arms. + +"Are you all ready?" asked Mark. + +"Yes, but can you pull me up?" + +"Sure. I'm six times as strong as when on the earth. Hold steady now, +and keep the torch close to your face." + +Mark had placed some pieces of his fur coat under the rope where it +passed over the edge of the mouth of the crater to prevent the jagged +rocks from cutting the strips of hide. + +"Here you come!" he cried to Jack, and he began to haul, taking care to +keep his own head near his torch, which was stuck upright. Mark had +spoken truly when he said he possessed much more than his usual +strength. Any one who has tried to haul up a person with a rope from a +hole, and with no pulleys to adjust the strain of the cable, knows what +a task it is. But to Mark, on the moon, it was comparatively easy. + +Hand over hand he pulled on the hide rope until, with a final heave, he +had Jack out of his perilous position. He had pulled him up from the +mouth of the crater, and the thick fur coat Jack wore had prevented the +sharp rocks from injuring him. In another moment he stood beside Mark, +a trifle weak and shaky from his experience, but otherwise unhurt. + +"How did you happen to go down there?" asked Mark. + +"Not from choice, I assure you," answered Jack. "I couldn't see the +crater when I jumped, as it was hidden by some rocks, and I was into it +before I knew it. But don't stand talking here. Put on my coat. I don't +need it. I'm warm." + +"I will not. I'm not a bit cold. But we may as well get back to the +projectile, for they'll be worrying about us." Thereupon Mark broke +into a run, for, now that the exertion of hauling up Jack was over, he +began to feel cool, and the chilling atmosphere of the moon struck +through to his bones. + +In a short time the two lads were back at the _Annihilator_, where they +found Professors Roumann and Henderson getting a bit anxious about +them. Their adventure was quickly related, and the boys were cautioned +to be more careful in the future. + +"This moon is a curious, desolate place," said Mr. Henderson, "and you +can't behave on it as you would on the earth. We have discovered some +curious facts regarding it, and when we get back I am going to write a +book on them. But I think we have seen enough for the present, so we'll +stay in the rest of the day and plan for farther trips." + +"Aren't we going to look for those diamonds?" asked Jack, who had +almost fully recovered from his recent experience. + +"Oh, yes, we will look around for them," assented Mr. Roumann. "I +think, after a day or so, we will move our projectile to another part +of the moon. We want to see as much of it as possible." + +They sat discussing various matters, and, while doing so, Washington +White peered into the living cabin. + +"Has yo' got one ob dem torch-light processions t' spare?" he asked. + +"Torch-light processions?" queried Mark. "What do you think this is, an +election, Wash?" + +"I guess he means a life-torch," suggested Jack. "Are you going out, +Wash?" + +"Yais, sah, I did think I'd take a stroll around. Maybe I kin find a +diamond fo' my tie." + +Laughing, Jack provided the colored man with one of the torches, +instructing him how to use it, and presently Washington was seen +outside, walking gingerly around, as though he expected to go through +the crust of the moon any moment. Pretty soon, however, he got more +courage and tramped boldly along, peering about on the ground for all +the world, as Mark said, as if he was looking for chestnuts. + +They paid no attention to the cook for some little time until, when the +boys and the two professors were in the midst of a discussion as to +where would be the best place to move the projectile next, they heard +him running along the corridor toward the cabin. + +"Wash is in a hurry," observed Jack. + +The next instant they sprang to their feet at the sight of the +frightened face of the colored man peering in on them. He was as near +white as a negro can ever be, which is a sort of chalk color, and his +eyes were wide open with fear. + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack. + +"A ghost! I done seen de ghost ob a dead man!" gasped the colored man. + +"A ghost?" repeated Mark. + +"Yais, sah, right out yeah! He's lyin' down in a hole--a dead man. +Golly! but I'se a scared coon, I is!" and Washington looked over his +shoulder as though he feared the "ghost" had followed him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A BREAKDOWN + + +At first they were inclined to regard the announcement of Washington +lightly, but the too evident fright of the colored man showed that +there was some basis for his fear. + +"Tell us just what you saw, and where it was," said Mr. Henderson. "Was +the man alive, Washington?" + +"No, sah. How could a ghost be alive? Dey is all dead ones, ghosts am!" + +"There are no such things as ghosts," said Mr. Henderson sternly. + +"Den how could I see one?" demanded the cook triumphantly, as if there +was no further argument. + +"Well, tell us about it," suggested Jack. + +"It were jest dis way," began Washington earnestly, and with occasional +glances over his shoulder, "I were walkin' along, sort ob lookin' fer +dem sparklin' diamonds, an' I didn't see none, when all on a suddint I +looked down in a hole, and dere I seen HIM!" and he brought out the +word with a jerk. + +"Saw what--who?" asked Mr. Roumann. + +"De ghost--de dead man. He were lyin' all curled up, laik he were +asleep, an' when I seed him, I didn't stop t' call him t' dinner, yo' +can make up yo' minds t' dat all." + +"Can you show us the place?" inquired Jack. + +"Yais, sah, massa Jack, dat's what I kin. I'll point it out from dish +yeah winder, but I ain't g'wine dar ag'in; no, sah, 'scuse me!" + +"Well, show us then," suggested Mark. "I wonder what it can be?" he +went on. + +"Maybe one of the people who came from Mars after the diamonds, who was +forgotten and left here, and who died," said Jack. + +"It's possible," murmured Mr. Henderson. "However, we'll go take a +look. Get on your fur coats, boys, and take the life-torches. Will you +come, Andy?" + +"Sure. It's got to be more than a ghost to scare me," said the hunter. + +They emerged from the projectile and walked in the direction Washington +had pointed, holding their gas torches near their heads and talking of +what they might see. + +"This will be evidence in favor of my diamond theory," declared Jack. +"It shows that the Martians were here." + +"Wait and see what it is," suggested his chum. + +They walked along a short distance farther, and then Mark spoke. + +"That ought to be the place over there," he said, pointing to a +depression between two tall pinnacles of black rock. + +Jack sprang forward, and a moment later uttered a cry of astonishment. + +"Here it is!" he called. "A dead man!" + +"A dead man?" echoed Professor Henderson. + +"A petrified man," added Jack, in awe-struck tones. "He's turned to +stone." + +A few seconds later they were all grouped around the strange object--it +was a man no longer, but had once been one. It was a petrified human +being, a full-grown man, to judge by the size, and it was a solid image +in stone, even the garments with which he had been clothed being turned +to rock. + +For a moment no one spoke, and they gazed in silence at what was an +evidence of former life on the moon. The man was huddled up, with the +knees drawn toward the stomach and the arms bent around the body, as if +the man had died in agony. The features were scarcely distinguishable. + +"That man was never an inhabitant of Mars," spoke Professor Henderson, +in a low voice. "He is much too large, and he has none of the +characteristics of the Martians." + +"I agree with you," came from Mr. Roumann. + +"Then who is he?" asked Jack. + +"I think," said the aged scientist, "that we are now gazing on all that +was once mortal of one of the inhabitants of the moon." + +"An inhabitant of the moon?" gasped Mark. + +"Yes; why not?" went on Mr. Henderson. "I believe the moon was once a +planet like our earth--perhaps even a part of it, and I think that it +was inhabited. In time it cooled so that life could no longer be +supported, or, at least, this side of the moon presents that +indication. The people were killed--frozen to death, and by reason of +the chemical action of the gases, or perhaps from the moon being +covered with water in which was a large percentage of lime, they were +turned to stone. That is what happened to this poor man." + +"Such a thing is possible," admitted Professor Roumann gravely. + +And, indeed, it is, as the writer can testify, for in the Metropolitan +Museum in New York there are the remains of an ancient South American +miner, whose body has been turned into solid copper. The corpse, of +which the features are partly distinguishable, was found four hundred +feet down in an old copper mine, where the dripping from hidden +springs, the waters of which were rich in copper sulphate, had +converted the man's body into a block of metal, retaining its natural +shape. The body is drawn up in agony, and there is every indication +that the man was killed by a cave-in of the mine. Some of his tools +were found near him. + +They remained gazing at the weird sight of the petrified man for some +time. + +"Then the moon was once inhabited?" asked Jack at length. + +"I believe so--yes," answered Professor Henderson. + +"Then where are the other people?" asked Mark. "There must be more than +one left. Why was this man off here alone?" + +"We don't know," responded the German scientist. "Perhaps he was off +alone in the mountains when death overtook him, or perhaps all his +companions were buried under an upheaval of rock. We can only theorize." + +"It will be something else to put in the book I am to write," said Mr. +Henderson. "But, now that we have evidence of former life on the moon, +we must investigate further. We will make an attempt to go to the other +side of the country, and to that end I suggest that we set our +projectile in motion and travel a bit. There is little more to see +here." + +This plan met with general approval, and, after some photographs had +been taken of the petrified man, and the professors had made notes, and +set down data regarding him, and had tried to guess how long he had +been dead, they went back to the _Annihilator_. + +"Well, did yo' all see him?" asked Washington. + +"We sure did," answered Jack. "You weren't mistaken that time." + +They got ready to move the projectile, but decided to remain over night +where they were. "Over night" being the way they spoke of it, though, +as I have said, there was perpetual daylight for fourteen days at a +time on the moon. + +Professors Roumann and Henderson made a few more observations for +scientific purposes. They found traces of some vegetation, but it was +of little value for food, even to the lower forms of animal life, they +decided. There was also a little moisture; noticed at certain hours of +the day. But, in the main, the place where they had landed was most +desolate. + +"I hope we get to a better place soon," said Jack, just before they +sealed themselves up in the projectile to travel to a new spot. + +As distance was comparatively small on the moon, for her diameter is +only a little over two thousand miles and the circumference only about +six thousand six hundred miles, the _Annihilator_ could not be speeded +up. If it went too fast, it would soon be off the moon and into space +again. + +Accordingly the Cardite motor was geared to send the big craft along at +about forty miles an hour, and at times they went even slower than +that, when they were passing over some part of the surface which the +professors wished to photograph or observe closely. + +They did not rise high into the air, but flew along at an elevation of +about two hundred feet, steering in and out to avoid the towering peaks +scattered here and there. Occasionally they found themselves over +immense craters that seemed to have no bottom. + +For two days they moved here and there, finding no further signs of +life, neither petrified nor natural, though they saw many strange +sights, and some valuable pictures and scientific data was obtained. + +It was on the third day, when they were approaching the side of the +moon which from time immemorial has been hidden from view of the +inhabitants of the earth, that Jack, who was with Mark in the engine +room, while the two professors were in the pilot-house, remarked to his +chum: "Mark, doesn't it strike you that the water pump and the air +apparatus aren't working just right?" + +"They don't seem to be operating very smoothly," admitted Mark, after +an examination. + +"That's what I thought. Let's call Mr. Henderson. The machinery may +need adjusting." + +Jack started from the engine room to do this, and as he paused on the +threshold there was a sudden crash. Part of the air pump seemed to fly +off at a tangent, and a second later had smashed down on the Cardite +motor. This stopped in an instant, and the projectile began falling. +Fortunately it was but a short distance above the moon's surface, and +came down with a jar, which did not injure the travellers. + +But there was sufficient damage done to the machinery, for with the +breaking of the air pump the water apparatus also went out of +commission, and together with the breakdown of the Cardite motor had +fairly stalled the _Annihilator_. + +"What's the matter?" cried Professor Henderson, running in from the +pilot-house, for an automatic signal there had apprised him that +something was wrong. + +"There's a bad break," said Jack ruefully. + +"A bad break! I should say there was," remarked the scientist. "I think +we'll have to lay up for repairs." And he called Mr. Roumann. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +LOST ON THE MOON + + +Notwithstanding that they were somewhat accustomed to having accidents +happen, it was not with the most pleasant feelings in the world that +the moon travellers contemplated this one. It meant a delay, and a +delay was the one thing they did not want just now. + +They desired to get to the other side of the moon while the long period +of sunshine gave them an opportunity for observation. True there was +some time yet ere the long night of fourteen days would settle down, +but they felt that they would need every hour of sunshine. + +"Well, it's tough luck, but it can't be helped," said Mark. + +"No, let's get right to work," suggested Jack. + +They got out their tools and started to repair the two pumps. It was +found that the Cardite motor was not badly damaged, one of the negative +electrical plates merely having been smashed by a piece of the broken +connecting rod of the air pump. It was only a short time before the +motor was ready to run again. + +But it could not be successfully operated without the air and water +pumps, and it was necessary to fix them next. New gaskets were needed, +while an extra valve and some sliding gears had to be replaced. + +"It's an all day's job," remarked Professor Henderson. + +But many hands made light work, and even Washington and Andy were +called upon to do their share. By dinner time the work was more than +half done, and Professor Roumann, announced that he and Mr. Henderson +would finish it if Jack and Mark would take a look at the exterior of +the projectile, to see if any repairs were needed to that. + +The boys found that some of the exterior piping had become loosed at +the joints, because of the jar of the sudden descent, and, taking the +necessary tools outside, while they stuck their life-torches upright +near them, they labored away. + +At four o'clock the two lads had their task completed, and at the same +time Professor Henderson announced that the air and water pumps were +now in good shape again. + +"Then let's get under way at once," suggested Mr. Roumann. "We have +lost enough time as it is. Hurry inside, boys, and we'll start." + +The two chums were glad enough to do so, and in a few minutes they were +again moving through the air toward the unknown portion of the moon. + +Below the travellers, as they could see by looking down through a +plate-glass window in the floor of the projectile, were the same rugged +peaks, the same large and small craters that had marked the surface of +the moon from the time they had first had a glimpse of it. There was an +uninteresting monotony about it, unrelieved by any save the very +sparest vegetation. + +"I am beginning to think more and more that we will find people on the +other side of this globe," remarked Mr. Roumann, as he made an +observation through a telescope. + +"What strengthens your belief?" inquired Mr. Henderson. + +"The fact that the vegetation is growing thicker. There are many more +plants below us now than there were before. This part of the moon is +better able to support life than the portion we have just come from." + +This seemed to be so, but they were still some distance from the +opposite side of the moon. + +"I don't see anything of those diamonds you talked so much about, +Jack," said Mark, with a smile, a little later. "I guess all the +Reonaris you get you can put in a hollow tooth." + +"You wait," was all Jack replied. + +The projectile was slowed up to permit the two professors to make some +notes regarding a particularly large and deep crater, and a few minutes +later when Mark, who was in the engine room, attempted to speed up the +Cordite motor it would not respond. + +"Humph! I wonder what's wrong?" he asked of Jack. + +"Better call Mr. Roumann, and not try to fix it yourself," suggested +his chum, when, in response to various movements of the lever, the +machine seemed to go slower and slower. + +The German came in answer to the summons. + +"Ha!" he exclaimed, "that motor is broken again. We shall have to stop +once more for repairs. I shall need to take it all apart, I fear. Get +me the negative plate remover, will you, Mark?" + +The lad went to the tool chest for it. He opened the lid and fumbled +about inside. + +"It doesn't seem to be here," he announced. + +"What! the negative plate remover not there?" cried the professor. +"Why, it must be. It is one of the new tools we got, and it has not +been used for anything; has it?". + +"Oh, by Jinks!" cried Jack suddenly. + +"What's the matter?" asked his chum. + +"That plate remover! Don't you remember you and I had it when we were +fixing the pipes outside the projectile, when we had the other +breakdown? We must have left it back there on the ground." + +Jack and his chum gazed blankly at each other. + +"I guess we did," admitted Mark dubiously. + +"And it is the only one we have," said Mr. Roumann. "We need it very +much, too, for the projectile can't very well be moved without it." + +"How can we get it?" asked Jack. "I'm sorry. It was my fault." + +"It was as much mine as yours," asserted Mark. "I guess it's up to us +to go back after it. It isn't far. We can easily walk it." + +There seemed to be nothing else to do, and, after some discussion, it +was decided to have the two boys walk back after the missing tool, +which was a very valuable one. + +"Take fresh life-torches with you," advised Mr. Henderson, "and you had +better carry some food with you. It may be farther back than you think, +and you may get hungry." + +"I guess it will be a good thing to take some lunch along," admitted +Jack. "And some water, too. We can't get a drink here unless we come to +a spring, and we haven't seen any since we arrived." + +"I'll go with you, if you don't mind," said Andy. "I may see something +to shoot." + +The three of them, each one carrying a freshly charged vapor-torch, a +basket of food and a bottle of water, started off, well wrapped in +their fur coats. Andy had a compass to enable them to make their way +back to where the tool was left, for, amid the towering peaks and the +valley-like depressions, very little of the level surface of the moon +could be seen at a time. + +They walked on for several hours, every now and then hoping that they +had reached the place where the projectile had been halted, and where +they expected to find the tool. But so many places looked alike that +they were deceived a number of times. + +At length, however, they reached the spot and found the instrument +where Jack had carelessly dropped it. They picked it up and turned to +go back, when Andy Sudds saw a large crater off to one side. + +"Boys, I'm going to have a look down that," he said. "It may contain a +bear or wildcat, and I can get a shot." + +"Guess there isn't much danger of a bear being on the moon," said Mark, +but the old hunter leaned as far over the edge of the crater as he +dared. + +"No, there's nothing here," he announced, with almost a sigh, and he +straightened up. As he did so there came a tinkling sound, as if some +one had dropped a piece of money. + +"What's that?" asked Jack. + +"By heck! It's the compass!" cried Andy. "It slipped from my pocket +when I stooped over. Now it's gone!" + +There was no question of that. They could hear the instrument tinkling +far down in the unfathomable depths, striking from side to side of the +crater as it went down and down. + +"We'll never see that again," spoke Mark dubiously. "Can we get back to +the projectile without it?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, I fancy I can pick my trail back," answered the hunter. "It isn't +going to be easy, for there are no landmarks to guide me, but I'll do +my best. I ought to have known better than to put a compass in that +pocket." + +It was not with very light hearts that they started back, and for a +time they went cautiously. Then, as they seemed to get on familiar +ground, they increased their pace and covered several miles. + +"Say," remarked. Jack, as he sat down on a big stone. "I don't know how +the rest of you feel, but I'm tired. We've come quite a distance since +we picked up that tool." + +"Yes, farther than it took us to find it after we left the projectile," +added Mark. "I wonder if we're going right?" + +The two boys looked at Andy. He scratched his head in perplexity. + +"I can't be sure, but it seems to me that we came past here," he said. +"I seem to remember that big rock." + +"There are lots like it," observed Jack. + +"Suppose we try over to the left," spoke Mark, after they had rested +for ten minutes. + +They swerved in that direction, and, after keeping on that trail for +some time, and becoming more and more convinced that it was the wrong +one, they turned to the right. That did not bring them to familiar +ground, and there was no sight of the projectile. + +"Let's go straight ahead," suggested Andy, after a puzzled pause. "I +think that will be best." + +"Well, which way is straight ahead?" asked Mark. + +"That's so, it is hard to tell," admitted the hunter. "I wish I hadn't +lost that compass." + +They wandered about for an hour longer. They could seem to make no +progress, though they covered much ground. Suddenly Jack called out: + +"Say, we've been going around in a circle!" + +"In a circle?" asked Mark. + +"Yes," went on his chum. "Here's the very rock I sat down on a while +ago. I remember it, for I scratched my initials on it." + +Jack pointed out the letters. There was no disputing it. They had made +a complete circle. For a moment they maintained silence in the face of +this alarming fact. Then Mark exclaimed: + +"I guess we're lost!" + +"Lost on the moon!" added Jack, in an awestruck voice, and he gazed on +the chill and desolate scene all about them; the great pinnacles of +rocks, in fantastic form; the immense black caverns of craters on +either hand; the sickly green vegetation. + +"Lost on the moon!" whispered Mark, and there was not even an echo of +his voice to keep them company. Only a chill, desolate silence! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +DESOLATE WANDERINGS + + +For a moment the three stood helplessly there and stared at each other. +They could scarcely comprehend their situation at first. Then, with a +glance at the cold and quiet scene all about them, a look up at the +sun, which was the only cheerful object in the whole landscape, Jack +observed: "Oh, I say, come on now, don't let's give up this way! We +have only taken a wrong turn, and I'll wager that the projectile will +be just around the corner. Come on," and he started off. + +"Yes," said Mark, "that's the trouble. There are so many corners, and +we have taken so many wrong turns, that we're all confused. I think the +best thing to do will be to stay here a while and pull ourselves +together." + +"That's right," spoke old Andy. "Many a time in the woods I've got all +confused-like, and then I'd sit down and think, and I'd get on the +right path in a few minutes after." + +"The trouble here is," said Jack, "that there are no woods. If there +were we might know how to get out of them. But think of it! Lost on the +moon, in the midst of a whole lot of queer mountain peaks, and big +holes that would hold half a dozen cities of the United States at the +same time, and never know it! This is a fearful place to be lost in!" + +"I'm not going to admit that we're lost," declared Mark stoutly. + +"Hu! You're like the Indian," spoke Jack. "The Indian who got lost in +the woods. He insisted that it wasn't he who was lost, that it was his +wigwam that couldn't be found. He knew where he himself was all the +while. That's our case, I suppose. We're here, but the projectile is +lost." + +"Ha! ha!" laughed Andy Sudds. "That's a pretty good joke!" + +"But not being able to find the projectile is no joke," went on Mark, +who always took matters more seriously than did his chum. "What are we +going to do?" he added. "We can't stay here like this." + +"Maybe we'll have to," declared Jack. "We certainly can't get off the +moon--at least, not until we reach the projectile, and I'd like to +discover those diamonds before we go back." + +"Hu! Those diamonds!" exploded Mark. "I think this whole thing is a +wild-goose chase, anyhow! If it hadn't been for those diamonds we +wouldn't have come to the moon. I don't believe there are any diamonds +here, anyhow." + +"Well, I can't prove it to you now, but I will before we get back," +asserted Jack. "We'll be wearing diamonds, as the song says." + +"Diamonds aren't going to keep us warm when we're freezing," went on +Mark, who seemed bound to look on the dark side, "and we can't eat 'em +when we're hungry. A lot of good they'll do us if we do find them!" + +"Oh, cheer up!" suggested Jack cheerfully. "And, speaking of eating, +what's the matter with having some lunch? What did we bring it along +for if we're not going to eat? Let's begin." + +His good spirits were contagious, not that Andy needed any special +cheering up, but Mark did. In a few minutes they were seated on some +rugged rocks, and, with their life-torches stuck in cracks, so that the +perforated metal boxes of chemicals would be on a level with their +faces, they opened the baskets they had been fore-sighted enough to +bring with them. + +"Why, I feel better already," asserted Jack, as he munched some +sandwiches which Washington White had made. "As soon as we've finished +we'll have another hunt for the projectile, and I'll wager that we'll +find it." + +"I wouldn't finish if I were you," suggested Andy, who was eating +sparingly. + +"Finish what?" asked Jack. + +"All your lunch. You see," the old hunter went on, "we may find the +projectile, and, again, we may not. I'm inclined to think we're not so +very far from it, but we may be some time locating it in among all +these peaks and craters. So it will be the best plan to save some of +our lunch and drinking water until--well, until we're hungry again," +and he carefully put back into his basket the remains of the food. + +"You don't mean to say you think we'll be all day finding the +Annihilator, do you?" + +Jack paused, with a sandwich half way to his mouth as he asked this +question. + +"Well, it's best to be on the safe side," spoke Andy guardedly. "We may +find it, and, again, we may not. Save your powder against the time of +need, I say--by powder meaning victuals and drink. We can't drop in a +restaurant up here, and I don't see much game to shoot, and I should +hate to eat such fodder as this," and he poked with his foot some +sickly green vines, growing on the ground. + +The boys' faces, which had become more cheerful, assumed a serious +look. Jack stopped eating at once and placed back in the basket his +remaining sandwiches. He also corked up the bottle of water, which was +kept from freezing by means of a fur pouch in which it was carried. + +"If there's a possibility of being lost some time," spoke Mark, "we'd +better figure out just how long our food will last," and he examined +the contents of his basket. + +Fortunately Washington White, with a knowledge of the appetites of the +chums, had filled the baskets with lavish hands. There was, they found, +food enough to last them three days, if they ate sparingly, and there +was enough water for half that time, providing they only took small +sips when thirsty. But they had noticed, in one or two places, little +pools of liquid, which they had not tasted, but which might prove to be +drinking water. Certainly they would need more if they were destined to +remain away from the projectile for very long. + +"Well, then," observed Mark, when the food calculation was over, "it +appears that we can remain lost for about three days, at the most." + +"Oh, but we'll be back home--I mean in the projectile--long before +that," declared Jack. + +"I wish I was sure of that," murmured Andy with a dubious shake of his +head. + +"Well, let's move on again," suggested Jack. "We feel better now, and +maybe we'll have better luck." + +They started off, tramping over the rugged surface of the moon, while +the sun shone with tepid heat down on them. They had to go this way and +that to avoid the immense fissures in the ground or the yawning +craters, which loomed deep, and in awful silence, in their path. +Sometimes they climbed small mountains or crawled in and out of small +craters, slipping and stumbling. + +They were not cold, for their fur garments kept them comfortably warm, +and there was no wind to make the freezing temperature search through +the crevices of their clothing. But it was the desolate silence, the +utter absence of any form of life save the pale green vegetation that +got on their nerves. It was like being in a dead world--on a planet +that seemed about to dissolve into space. + +They began their further search for the projectile with hope in their +hearts, but this gradually gave way to despair as they wandered on over +the desolate surface, and saw nothing but the same rugged peaks, the +same yawning caverns and the innumerable craters, large and small. + +On they wandered, looking on all sides for the missing projectile, but +they had no glimpse of it. Even climbing to one of the high peaks, +whence they had a view of the surrounding country, afforded them no +trace of the _Annihilator_, They were utterly lost. + +Old Andy, who, by reason of his experience as a trapper and hunter, had +taken the lead, came to a halt. He looked around helplessly. He did not +know what to do. + +"Well, boys," he remarked at length, "I don't like to say it, but I +can't seem to get anywhere. I give up." + +"Give up?" murmured Jack, in blank dismay. + +"Yes, for the time being," said the old man. "I'm all played out. I +guess we all are. We must have a rest. Here's a sort of cave. Let's +crawl in and have a sleep. Then maybe we can do something +to-morrow--no, not to-morrow, for they don't have that on the moon, +where the day is fourteen days long--but after we sleep we may be able +to find our way back. Anyhow, I've got to get some sleep," and without +another word the old hunter went into the cave, and, fixing his +life-torch near his head, where the fumes from it would dissipate the +poisonous gases of the moon, he closed his eyes, and was soon in +slumber. + +"I--I guess we'd better do the same," said Jack, and Mark nodded. They +were both sick at heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE PETRIFIED CITY + + +For a time, after they had entered the cave, which was in the side of a +rugged mountain, the boys talked in low tones of their perilous +situation. For that it was perilous they both knew. Had they been on +the earth, lost in some desolate part of it, away from civilization, +their plight, would have been bad enough with what little food they +possessed. + +But on the far-off moon--the dead moon, which contained no living +creatures save themselves, as far as they could tell--with no form of +animal life that might serve to keep them from starving, with only the +scantiest of vegetation, their situation was most deplorable. + +"And then there's another thing," said Mark, as if he was cataloguing a +list of their troubles. + +"What is it?" asked Jack. "I guess we have all the troubles that belong +to us, and more, too." + +"Well, what are we going to do when the life-torches give out, and we +can't breathe any more?" asked Mark dubiously. + +"Well, I guess it'll be all up with us then, if we don't starve to +death in the meanwhile," answered Jack. "But I'm afraid we will get out +of food before the torches are exhausted. They were freshly filled +before we started out after that tool, and they'll last for two weeks. +So we don't have to worry about that. + +"By Jinks! this is all my fault, anyhow, it seems. If I hadn't seen +that item in the Martian paper about the diamonds, we never would have +come here, and if I hadn't left that tool on the ground outside of the +projectile we wouldn't have had to come back after it, and we wouldn't +have become lost. So I guess it's up to me, as the boys say." + +"Oh, nonsense!" exclaimed Mark, who, as soon as he heard his chum +blaming his own actions, was ready to shoulder part of the +responsibility himself. "We all wanted to come to the moon," he went +on, "and, as for leaving the tool and forgetting it, I'm as much at +fault as you are. Let's go to sleep, and maybe we'll feel better when +we wake up." + +It was a new role for Mark--to be cheerful in the face of +difficulties--and Jack appreciated it. They stretched out on the hard, +rocky floor of the cavern, taking care to fix their life-torches so +that the fumes would dispel the poisonous gases. Then the two lads +joined Andy in slumberland. + +Meanwhile, as may be imagined, those aboard the projectile were very +anxious about the fate of the two boys and the hunter. They could not +understand what delayed them, and, though they guessed the real cause, +after several hours had passed, there was nothing the two scientists +could do. + +They could not move the projectile until it had been repaired, and this +could not be done, without the tool--at least, they did not believe so +then. Nor did Mr. Henderson and the German think it would be safe to +start out in search of the wanderers. + +"For," said Mr. Henderson, "if we went we would easily get lost amid +these peaks ourselves, and they are so much alike and in such numbers +that there is no distinguishing feature about them. We had better stay +here in charge of the _Annihilator_ until the boys and Andy come back. +They can't be away much longer now." + +So worn out and exhausted were the boys and the hunter that they slept +for several hours in the cave, and the rest did them good. They awoke +in better spirits, and, after a frugal meal and a sip of the +fast-dwindling water, they started off once more to locate the +projectile. + +"I'm a regular amateur hunter to go and lose my compass," complained +old Andy. "I ought to have it fastened to me, like a baby does the +rattle-box. I ought to kick myself," and he accepted all the blame for +their misadventure. But the boys would not suffer him to thus accuse +himself, and they insisted that they would shortly be with the two +professors and Washington in the _Annihilator_ once more. + +"Well, it can't come any too soon," said Jack, "for I am beginning to +feel the need of a square meal and a big drink of water." + +"So am I," said Mark, "but let's not think of it." + +All that day they wandered on, crossing the rugged mountains, climbing +towering peaks, and descending into deep valleys. At times they skirted +the lips of craters, to look shudderingly into the depths of which made +them dizzy, for the bottoms were lost to sight in the black gloom that +enshrouded the yawning holes. + +Their food was getting less and less, and what there was of it was most +unpalatable, for the bread was stale and dry, though the meat kept +perfectly in that freezing temperature. How they longed for a hot cup +of coffee, such as Washington used to make! and how they would have +even exchanged their chance of filling their pockets with the moon +diamonds for a good meal, such as was so often served in the projectile! + +On and on they went. Once, as they were crossing the lip of a great +crater, Mark became dizzy, and would have fallen had not Jack caught +him. Mark had forgotten, for the moment, and had lowered his +life-torch, so that his mouth and nose were not enclosed in the film of +vapor that emanated from the perforated box. + +"You must be careful," Andy warned them. + +"What's the use?" asked Mark despondently. "I don't believe we'll ever +find the projectile." + +"Of course we will!" exclaimed Jack. "I know we can't be far from it, +only we can't see it because of the mountains. If we only had some way +of letting them know where we are, they could signal to us." + +"By gum!" suddenly exclaimed Andy. + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack, for the old hunter was capering about +like a boy. + +"Matter? Why, the matter is that I'm a double-barrelled dunce," was the +answer. "Look here; do you see that?" and he held up his rifle. + +"Sure," replied Jack, wondering if their sufferings and worry had made +the old hunter simple-minded. + +"What is it?" asked Andy, shaking it in the air. + +"Your rifle," answered Mark, looking at Jack in surprise. + +"Of course," answered the hunter, "and a rifle is made to be fired off, +and here I've been carrying mine for nearly three days now, and I +haven't shot it once. You wanted a signal to make the folks in the +projectile hear us. Well, here it is I I guess they can hear this, and +when they do they can come and get us, for we don't seem able to reach +them. I'll just fire some signal shots." + +"That's the stuff!" cried Jack, and Andy proceeded to discharge his +rifle. + +The report the gun made in that quiet place was tremendous, and the +effect was curious, for, there being no air in the ordinary acceptance +of the word, there was no echo. It was as if one had hit two shingles +together. Merely a loud, sharp sound, and then an utter silence, the +vibrations being swallowed up instantly. + +"Do you think they can hear that?" asked Andy. + +"It sounds loud enough," answered Jack. "Shoot some more," which the +old hunter did. They wandered on still farther, firing at intervals all +that day, but there came no answering report or calls to direct them to +the projectile. They climbed once more to the tops of towering peaks, +but there they found their range of vision limited by peaks still +higher, while there were great valleys, in one of which, whether near +or far they could not tell, they knew, the _Annihilator_ was hidden. + +They had almost lost track of time now, and they did not know how far +they had wandered. They had sought out lonely caves to sleep in when +they were so weary they could go no farther, and they had sat about on +bleak rocks shivering, and had eaten their scanty meals--shivering +because in spite of their fur garments they were cold, as they did not +eat enough to keep their blood properly circulating. They could not +when they did not have the food to eat! + +Andy used up all but a few of his cartridges in firing signals, but to +no purpose. Their water was all but gone, and of their food only enough +remained for a day longer, though their life-torches still gave forth +plenty of vapor. + +"Well, what's to be done?" asked Jack, as they sat about, looking +helplessly at one another. + +"Might as well give up," suggested Mark bitterly. + +"Give up? Not a bit of it!" cried Andy, as cheerfully as he could. +"Let's keep on. We'll find the projectile sooner or later." + +So they kept on. It was while making their way between two great +mountain peaks that towered above their heads on either side, thousands +of feet up, making a sort of natural gateway, that Jack, who was in the +lead, cried out in astonishment at the sight that met his gaze when he +had passed the pinnacles. + +"Look!" he shouted, pointing forward. + +What he indicated was a great crater--larger and deeper than any they +had yet met with. It seemed a mile across, and, if gloom and darkness +were any indications, it was a hundred miles deep. + +But it was not the size of the great hole in the ground, not its +fearful gloom, that attracted their attention. What did was a great +natural or artificial bridge of stone that was thrown across the middle +of it from edge to edge. A bridge of stone that spanned the abyss; a +roadway, fifty feet wide, which reached into some unknown land, +connecting it with the desolate country in which our friends had been +wandering. + +"A bridge of stone across the cavern," said Jack, "but see. Here is a +house of stone. This was the guard-house, I'll wager--the guardhouse at +the entrance to some city, and that bridge is the means by which the +inhabitants entered and left. Maybe we are at the edge of the inhabited +part of the moon!" + +His words thrilled them. They pressed forward to the beginning of the +bridge across the crater. They looked into the stone hut. Clearly it +had been made by hands, for it was composed of blocks of stone, neatly +fitted together. Jack's theory seemed confirmed. + +Mark peered into the house, and uttered a cry of alarm. + +"There's a petrified man in there!" he gasped. + +Jack and Andy looked in at the open window. They saw, sitting at a +table, which was also of rock, a man, evidently a soldier, or rather he +had been, for he was nothing but stone now, like the hut in which he +dwelt. + +The wanderers looked at each other with fear on their faces. What +dreadful mystery were they about to penetrate? "Let's cross the +bridge," suggested Jack, in a low voice. "Maybe this marks the end of +desolation. Perhaps we may find life and food across the crater." + +"But--but the petrified man!" gasped Mark. + +"What of it? He won't hurt us. Maybe there are live men, who will take +care of us, beyond there," and Jack pointed across the bridge of stone. + +There was nothing to keep them where they were--in the land of +desolation. They could not live much longer there, with no food and +water. To pass on over the crater seemed the only thing to do. + +"Come ahead," called Jack boldly. They followed him. They kept in the +middle of the road, for to approach the edge, where there was a sheer +descent of so many feet that it made them dizzy to think of it, filled +them with terror. On they hurried until, in a short time, they had +crossed the great chasm. + +The road over the crater came to an end between two peaks, similar to +those at the beginning. Jack was the first to pass them, and as he +emerged he once more uttered a cry--a cry of fear and wonder. + +And well he might, for in a valley below the wanderers there was a +city. A great city, with wonderful buildings, with wide streets well +laid out--a city in which figures of many men and women could be +seen--little children too! A fair city, teeming with life, it seemed! + +But then, as they looked again, struck by the curious quiet that +prevailed, they knew that they were gazing down on a city of the +dead--a city where the inhabitants had been turned to stone, even as +had the soldier on guard in his lonely hut. + +They had come upon a petrified city of the moon! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +SEEKING FOOD + + +"Well, if this isn't the limit!" burst out Jack, when he had stood and +contemplated the silent city for several moments, which also his +companions did. "After all our wanderings and troubles, when we do find +a place, it isn't any good to us. I don't suppose there is a square +meal in the whole town! Isn't it wonderful, though--every person turned +to stone!" + +"Wonderful!" gasped old Andy. "I never saw anything like it in all my +life! What do you reckon did it, boys?" + +"The same thing that turned the man in the hut, and the one Washington +thought was a ghost, into stone," answered Mark. "There was a rain of +some lime-water, or a liquid charged with similar chemicals, and the +people were turned to rocks." + +It was uncanny, and for a moment they hesitated on the edge of the +city, which lay in a sort of cup-like valley, surrounded on all sides +by towering peaks of the moon mountains. The bridge over which they had +come afforded the only entrance to the city, and in times of war +(provided the inhabitants of the moon ever fought) the passage must +have been well guarded. + +It was evidently a time of peace when the calamity that turned the +inhabitants to stone came upon them, for only one soldier was in the +guard hut--doubtless being there merely to give an alarm, or possibly +to keep out undesirable strangers. + +"Well, are we going to stand here all day?" asked Jack of his +companions, when they had contemplated the silent city for five minutes +longer. + +"I say, let's go down there and see what we can find. I'm getting +hungry." + +"There'll be nothing there to eat," declared Mark. "If there ever was +anything, it's now stone. Think of a loaf of bread like a brick, and a +chunk of meat like some great rock!" + +"Let's go down, anyhow," added Andy, and they advanced. + +As they got down into the streets, the weird effect came over them more +strongly. It was as if they had suddenly entered some large town, and +at their advent every living person had been turned into an image. + +"Wonderful, wonderful!" murmured Jack. + +"I've read of the uncovering of the ancient buried cities, and how they +found women in the kitchen baking bread, and men at their work, but +this goes ahead of that, for here the people are not dust--they are +statues!" + +"It certainly is wonderful," agreed Mark. "I only wish the two +professors could see this. They could write several books about it. +This proves that the moon was once inhabited, though it is dead now. +The projectile should have come to this part of the moon." + +"Maybe they'll bring it here, when we get back and tell them what we've +seen," suggested Jack. + +"Yes, if we ever do get back," went on his chum, with a return of his +gloomy thoughts. + +The strangeness of the scenes all about them can scarcely be imagined. +Think of looking at a city street teeming with life, men and women +hurrying here and there, dogs running about, children at their play, +and then suddenly seeing that same street become as dead as some +mountain, with the people represented as stones on that same mountain, +and you can get some idea of what our friends looked upon. + +Here was a woman, looking in a store window, probably at some bargains, +though even the very window and store itself was now stone, and the +woman was like a block of marble. Near her was a little child, also +turned to stone, and there were a number of men, standing together on a +street corner as if they had been talking politics when the calamity +overtook them. + +There were shops where the workers had been turned to stone at their +benches, there were houses at the windows of which stone faces peered +out, and there were parks on the benches of which sat men, women and +children, stiff and solid--creatures of stone! Truly it was a city of +the dead! + +The wanderers walked about, seeing new wonders on every side. They +spoke in whispers at times, as though at the sound of a loud voice the +silent ones would awaken and resume the occupations or pleasures they +had left off centuries ago. + +Another strange part of it was that the people were not so very +different from those of the earth. They were exactly the same in size +and feature, but their clothing, as nearly as could be told from the +stone garments, seemed of a bygone fashion, such as was in vogue +hundreds of years ago. There were no horses observed, though there were +stone dogs and cats, and the shops given over to the sale of food +contained in the windows what seemed to be chunks of meat, loaves of +bread, and pies and cakes, though now they were only pieces of rock. + +"It's just as if one of our cities and the people in it should be +suddenly petrified," said Mark. "It's almost like the earth up here; +only they don't seem to have gotten to trolley cars yet." + +"Maybe they would if the moon hadn't cooled off when it did, and killed +them all," suggested Jack. "But, I say, let's get down to something +more practical than theorizing." + +"What, for instance?" asked Mark. + +"Looking for something to eat," went on Jack. "I'm nearly starved, and +I have only half a sandwich left. I want to eat it, yet, if I do, I +don't know where I'm going to get more. And as for water, I'd give a +handful of diamonds, if I had them, for half a glass of even warm +water." + +"Yes, we do need food and water badly," said Andy. + +"Then let's look for it," suggested Jack. "If we can find food in any +of these houses or shops, I don't believe the people will care if we +take it." + +"Find food here?" cried Mark. "Why, you must be crazy! All the food is +turned to stone, and what isn't would be spoiled! Why, no one has been +alive here for thousands and thousands of years!" + +"That's nothing," asserted Jack. "Don't you remember reading how, in +the arctic regions, they have found the bodies of prehistoric elephants +and mastodons encased in blocks of ice, where they have been for +centuries. The meat is perfectly preserved because of the cold. And +what of the grains of wheat they find in the coffins of Egyptian +mummies? Some of that is three thousand years old, yet it grows when +they plant it, and they can make bread of it. + +"Now, maybe we can find some wheat or something to eat in some of these +houses. If there's meat, it will be perfectly preserved, for the +temperature is below freezing." + +"That may be," admitted Mark, convinced, in spite of himself, "but it's +turned to stone, I tell you." + +"The outside part may be," said Jack, "but if we can crack off the +outside layer of stone we may find some good meat inside. I'm going to +look, anyhow." + +"That's not a bad idea!" cried Andy with enthusiasm. "Think of having a +loaf of bread and some beefsteak thousands of years old. I suppose they +had beefsteak here," he added cautiously. + +"Some kind of meat, anyhow," agreed Jack. "Well, let's look for a place +that was once a restaurant or hotel, and we'll see what luck we have. +Come on." + +They walked along the silent streets, with their silent occupants, and +finally Jack found what he was seeking. It was an eating place, to +judge by the appearance, and at tables inside were seated stone men and +women. + +"Back to the kitchen!" cried Jack with enthusiasm. "There's where we'll +find food, if there is any!" + +"It'll be all stone," declared Mark, but he and Andy followed Jack. + +They came to the place where was what appeared to be a stove. It was +more like a brick oven, however, than a modern range, though in dishes +that were now stone something was being cooked when the catastrophe +occurred. + +"There's meat, I'll wager!" cried Jack, pointing to several objects on +a table. They looked like chunks of beef, but when Mark struck them +with the end of his life-torch they gave forth a sound as if a rock had +been tapped. + +"What did I tell you?" Mark asked, "Nothing but rocks. And the bread is +also a stone," he added bitterly. + +"You're right," admitted Jack, with a sigh. "And I'm getting hungrier +than ever." They all were. For days they had been without sufficient +food, and now, when it was almost within their reach, they were denied +it by this curious trick of nature. With pale and wan faces they gazed +at each other, wetting their parched lips, for they had some time since +taken the last of their scant supply of water, and they were very +thirsty. + +"I guess it's all up with us," murmured Mark. "We'll soon be like these +poor people here--blocks of stone." + +"If we only could change this meat back into it's original shape," +spoke Jack musingly, smiting his fist against a block of beef. + +Suddenly Andy uttered a cry. + +"I have it!" he fairly shouted. + +"What?" asked Jack. + +"I have a plan to get meat out of this hunk of stone!" + +The two boys gazed at the old hunter as though they thought he had lost +his reason, but, chuckling gleefully, Andy took from his pouch several +cartridges, and proceeded to remove the wads, and pour the powder from +the paper shells out on the stone table. + +"I'll have some meat for us," he muttered. "We shan't starve now!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE BLACK POOL + + +"What are you going to do, Andy?" asked Jack, as he watched the old +hunter. + +"What am I going to do? Why, I'm going to blast out some of this meat, +that's what I'm going to do! I heard you boys talking about elephants +and other things being preserved for centuries in a cake of ice, and, +if that's true, why won't the meat in this petrified city be preserved +just as well? It's always below freezing here, and that's cold enough." + +"But the meat has turned to stone," objected Mark. + +"Only the outside part of it, to my thinking," answered Andy. "I +believe that inside these lumps of rock we'll find good, fresh meat!" + +"But how are you going to get it?" asked Jack. + +"Just as I told you--blast it out with some of the powder from my +cartridges. I used to be a miner before I turned hunter, and when we +wanted gold we used to fire a charge in some rocks. Now we want meat, +and I'm going to do the same thing. I'll put some powder underneath +this block of stone that looks as if it was a chunk of roast beef, and +we'll see what happens. It's lucky I saved some of my cartridges." + +While he was talking the old hunter had taken some of the powder and +put it back in one of the paper shells. Then, making a fuse by twisting +some powder grains in a piece of paper he happened to have in his +pocket, he inserted it in the improvised bomb, using some dirt and +small stones with which to tamp down the charge. He discovered a crack +in the big stone, which they hoped would prove to be a chunk of roast +beef, and Andy put the cartridge in that. + +"Look out now, boys," he called, "I'm going to light the fuse. I didn't +make a heavy charge, but it might do some damage, so we'll go outside." + +They hurried from the place, with its silent guests and waiters, and +reached the street. A moment later there sounded a dull explosion. + +"Now, let's see what we've got!" called Jack. + +Back to the kitchen they ran, the two boys in the lead. + +"Why--why--the stone has disappeared!" cried Jack, in disappointment, +as he glanced all around. + +"Yes, but look here," added Mark. "Here are bits of meat," and he +picked up from the stone table some scraps of meat. + +"Is it really roast beef?" cried Jack. "Good to eat?" + +Mark smelled of it. Then he put the morsel cautiously to his lips. The +next instant it had disappeared. It was proof enough. + +"Good! I should say it was good!" exclaimed Mark. "I wish there was +more of it! What happened to the rock of meat, Andy?" + +"I used too heavy a charge, and it blew all to pieces. I'll know better +next time. There are lots more chunks of meat, and we'll soon have a +feast. I'll make another bombshell." + +He worked rapidly while Jack sampled some of the shreds of meat that +had been scattered about by the explosion. The beef was perfectly +cooked, and in spite of its great age it was as fresh and palatable as +frozen meat ever is. Besides the heat generated by the explosion had +partly thawed it, so that there was no trouble in chewing it. + +Once more came the explosion, a slight one this time, and when the +adventurers re-entered the kitchen they found that what had been a lump +of stone had been broken open, and the middle part, like the kernel of +a nut, was sweet and good. It was cooked, so they did not have to eat +it raw. + +"Say, maybe this isn't good!" exclaimed Jack, chewing away. "It's the +best ever!" + +"And there's enough in this city to keep us alive for months, if we +can't find the projectile in that time," declared Andy. + +"Don't you think we will?" asked Mark. + +"Of course, but I was only just mentioning it. Now, eat all you want, +boys, I have quite a few cartridges left. I didn't fire away as many as +I thought I did, and we can blast out a dinner any time we want it. So +eat hearty!" + +They needed no second invitation, and for the first time in several +days they had enough to eat. It was comfortable in the petrified +restaurant, too, for they could move about without carrying their +life-torches constantly in their hand. The gases from the perforated +boxes filled the rooms, and were not quickly dispelled by the poisonous +vapors as they were outside, so they could walk around in comparative +freedom. + +"Now, if we could only blast out a loaf of bread, we'd be all right," +said Jack. They found some petrified loaves, but on breaking one open +it was found to be stone all the way through. + +Spurred on by an overwhelming thirst, they wandered about the dead +city, but found no moisture. They tried to chew some of the pale green +vegetation that grew more plentiful on this side of the moon, but it +was exceedingly bitter, and they could not stand it, though there was +some juice in it. + +They crossed the city, and wandered out into the country beyond. It +appeared to have been a fertile land before the stone death settled +down on it. They saw farmers in the fields, turned into images, beside +the oxen with which they had been plowing. But nowhere was there a sign +of water. Had it not been for a frozen rice pudding, they would have +perished that first day in the stone city. + +As it was, they dragged out a miserable existence, eating from time to +time of the blasted meat. But even this palled on them after a while, +for their lips were parched and cracked, and their tongues were swollen +in their mouths. + +"I can't stand this any longer!" cried Jack. + +"What are you going to do?" asked Mark. + +"Go out and look for water. There must be some in the country outside +if there isn't any in this city. I'm going to have a look. Besides, if +I'm going to die, I might as well die while I'm busy. I'm not going to +sit here in this dreadful place and give up." + +His words urged them to follow him, and, with lagging steps, for they +were weak and faint, they went from the restaurant, which they had made +their home since coming to the petrified city. + +Out into the open fields they went, but their search seemed likely to +be in vain. Between times of looking for the water they scanned the sky +for a sight of the projectile, which, hoping against hope, they thought +they might see hovering over them. But there was no sight of it. + +They came to a vast, level plain, girt with mountains, a lonesome +place, where there was no sign of life. Listlessly they walked over it. + +Suddenly Andy, who was in the lead, uttered a cry and sprang forward. +The boys ran to him, and found the old hunter gazing into the depths of +a great black pool, which filled a depression in the surface of the +moon. It was a small crater, and was filled, nearly to the top, with +some black liquid, which gloomily reflected back the light of the sun. + +"I'm going to have a drink!" cried Andy, and before the boys could stop +him he threw himself face downward at the edge of the black pool. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE SIGNAL FAILS + + +"Stop! Don't drink that! It may be poison!" yelled Jack. + +"Pull him back!" shouted Mark, and together they advanced on the old +hunter. They tried to drag him away from the black pool, but Andy shook +them off. + +"Let--me--alone!" he gasped, as he bent over the uninviting liquid and +drank deeply. "It's water, I tell you--good water--and I'm +almost--dead--from--thirst!" + +"Water? Is that water?" cried Jack. + +"Well, it's the nearest thing to it that I've tasted since I've been +lost on the moon," spoke Andy, as he slowly arose. "My, but that was +good!" he added fervently. + +"But--water?" gasped Mark. "How can there be water here?" + +"Taste and see," invited the old hunter. + +They hesitated a moment, and then followed his example. The +liquid--water it evidently had once been--had a peculiar taste, but it +was not bad. By some curious chemical action, which they never +understood, the liquid had been prevented from evaporating, nor was it +frozen or petrified as was everything else on the moon. + +What gave the liquid its peculiar black color they could not learn. +Sufficient for them that it was capable of quenching their thirst, and +they all drank deeply and refilled their bottles. + +"Now, I feel like eating again," spoke Andy, "We can take some of this +back with us, and have a good meal on blasted meat. Whenever we get +thirsty we'll have to make a trip back here for water." + +The boys agreed with him. They examined the black pool. It appeared to +be filled by hidden springs, though there was no bubbling, and the +surface was as unruffled as a mirror. The liquid was not very inviting, +being as black as ink, but the color appeared to be a sort of +reflection, for when the water, if such it was, had been put into +bottles it at once became clear, nor did it stain their faces or hands. + +"Well, it's another queer thing in this queer moon," said Jack. "I wish +the two professors could see this place. They'd have lots to write +about." + +"I wonder if we'll ever see them again?" asked Mark. + +"Sure," replied Jack hopefully. "We'll fill our lunch baskets, take a +lot of water along, and have another hunt for the projectile soon." + +They did, but with no success. For several days more they lived in the +petrified city, the meat encased in its block of stone, which Andy +blasted from time to time, and the black water keeping them alive. From +time to time they went out in the surrounding country, looking for the +projectile. But they could not find the place where they had left it, +nor could they find even the place where they had picked up the lost +tool that had cost them so much suffering. They were more completely +lost than ever. They crossed back and forth on the bridge over the +crater chasm, and penetrated for many miles in a radius from that, +marking their way by chipping off pieces of the rocky pinnacles, as +they did not want to leave the petrified city behind. + +From some peaks they caught glimpses of other towns that had fallen +under the strange spell of the petrification. Some were larger and some +smaller than the one they called "home." + +Jack proposed visiting some of them, thinking they might find better +food, but Mark and Andy decided it was best to stay where they were, as +they were nearer the supposed location of the projectile. + +"I think they'll manage to fix it up somehow, so it will move," said +Andy, "and then they'll come to look for us. I hope it will be soon, +though." + +"Why?" asked Jack, struck by something in the tone of the old hunter. + +"Because," replied Andy, "I am afraid our life-torches won't last much +longer. Mine seems to be weakening. I have to hold it very close to my +face now to breathe in comfort, while at first the oxygen from it was +so strong that I could hold it two feet off and never notice the +poisonous moon vapors." + +This was a new danger, and, thinking of it, the faces of the boys +became graver than ever. Death seemed bound to get them somehow. + +Two more days went by. They had now been lost on the moon over a week. +Each one now noticed that his life-torch was weakening. How much longer +would they last? They dared not answer that question. They could only +hope. + +The sun, too, was moving away from them. Soon the long night would set +in. By Mark's computation there was only three more days of daylight +left. What would happen in the desolate darkness? + +As they were returning from the black pool, with their water bottles +filled, and put inside the fur bags to prevent the frost from reaching +them, Mark happened to gaze over across a line of towering peaks. What +he saw caused him to gasp in astonishment. + +"Jack! Andy! See!" he whispered hoarsely, pointing a trembling finger +at the sky. + +There, outlined against the cloudless heavens, was a long, black shape, +floating through the air about two miles distant. + +"The projectile! The _Annihilator!_" yelled Jack. "Shout! Call to them! +Wave your hands! Andy, fire your gun! They have started off, and they +can't see us. We must make them hear!" + +Together they raised their voices in a mighty shout. The old hunter +fired his gun several times. They waved their hands frantically. + +But the projectile never swerved from its course. On it moved slowly, +those in it paying no heed to the wanderers, for they did not hear +them. Andy fired his gun again, but the signal failed, and a few +minutes later the _Annihilator_ was lost to sight behind a great peak. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE FIELD OF DIAMONDS + + +Dumbly the wanderers gazed at each other. They could not comprehend it +at first. That the projectile, on which their very lives depended in +this dead world of the moon, should float away and leave them seemed +incredible. Yet they had witnessed it. + +"Do--do you really think we saw it--saw the _Annihilator_, Mark?" asked +Jack in a low voice, after several minutes had passed. + +"Saw it? Of course, we saw it. We've seen the last of it, I'm afraid. +But what do you mean?" + +"I--I thought maybe I was out of my head, and I only saw a vision," +answered Jack. "You know--a sort of mirage. It was real, then?" + +"Altogether too real," spoke Andy Sudds grimly. "They didn't see us nor +hear us. We're left behind!" + +"But can't we do something?" demanded Mark. "Let's start off and try to +catch them. They were going slow." + +"The wonder to me is how they moved at all," said Jack. "I thought the +machinery wouldn't work until we got back with the lost tool." + +"Probably the two professors found some way of patching up the motor," +was Mark's opinion, and later they found that this was so. + +For some time they remained staring in the direction in which the +projectile had vanished, as if they might see it reappear, but the +great steel shell did not poke its sharp nose in among the towering +peaks which hid it from view. Probably it was many miles away now. + +"Well," remarked old Andy at length, "we've got to make the best of it. +We won't have many more days of light, and we must gather what food we +can, put it where we can find it in the dark, and also bring in some +water from the black pool. We can store that in some of the stone +tables. By turning them upside down they will make good troughs, and it +won't freeze. We must work while we have light, for soon the long night +will come." + +The sight of the projectile going away seemed to take the heart out of +all of them, and they did not know what to do. For some time they +remained there idly, until Andy roused the boys to a sense of their +responsibility by urging upon them the necessity of getting together a +store of meat and water. + +As they had about exhausted the limited food supply in the ancient +restaurant, they sought and found another and larger one. There they +had the good fortune to come upon some whole sides of beef and lamb, +which were petrified on the outside, but which, when they had blasted +off the outer shell of stone, gave them good food. + +They made several trips to the black pool, and brought in all the +liquid they could, for they did not want to have to go outside the +petrified city into the wild and desolate country beyond, after the +dismal night had settled down. They feared they would become lost again. + +Their lonely situation seemed to grow upon them. The appalling silence +all about terrified them. The weird sight of the petrified men and +women in the petrified city got on their nerves. + +They had done all they could. A store of meat had been blasted out and +put away. It would keep outside of the stone shell now, for the weather +was getting colder with the advent of the long night. + +This fact worried them. With the temperature at twenty-eight when the +sun was shining, what might it not fall to in the darkness? The +terrible cold of the arctic regions might be nothing compared to the +frostiness of the dead moon in the shadow. Their fur garments, thick as +they were, might be no more protection than so much paper. And they had +no means of making a fire, nor anything to burn on one had they been +capable of kindling it, for Andy had used the last of his cartridges to +blast with, and where everything was petrified there was no wood. + +Then, too, their life-torches were giving out. The emanations of oxygen +were weaker, and they had to hold them almost under their noses to +breathe the vital vapor. + +One day, or rather what corresponded to a day, for they had lost all +track of time, Andy Sudds arose from the stone bench on which their +meager meal had been served. He started from the restaurant where they +had taken up their abode. + +"Where are you going?" asked Jack. + +"I'm going to make one last attempt to find the projectile before it +gets too dark," answered the hunter. "We can go out, look around for +several hours, and get back before darkness sets in. We might as well +do it as sit here doing nothing. Then, too, we can bring in some more +water. We'll need all we can store away." + +"I'll go with you," volunteered Jack, and Mark, not wanting to be left +alone in the dead city, followed. Carrying their life-torches and +wrapping their fur garments closely about them, for it had grown much +colder, they sallied forth. + +They found a thin film of ice on the black pool, showing that it would +probably freeze when it got cold enough, though the ordinary +temperature of thirty-two degrees had not affected it. They filled +their water bottles, and then Andy proposed that they take a new +path--one they had not tried before. + +They hardly knew where they were going, but ever as they tramped on +they cast anxious looks upward to see if they might descry the +projectile hovering over them. But they did not see it. + +Jack had taken the lead, and was walking along, glancing idly about. He +came to a place where two peaks were so close together that it was all +he could do to squeeze through. But the moment he had passed the defile +and looked out on a broad, level field, he came to a sudden stop. His +companions, who pressed after him, saw him rub his eyes and shake his +head, as if disbelieving the evidence of what lay before him. Then Jack +murmured: "It can't be true! It can't be true!" + +"What?" called Mark. + +"There! Those," answered his chum. "See, the field is covered with +diamonds! We have found the diamonds of the moon--the field of Reonaris +that the men of Mars discovered! There are the diamonds--millions of +them!" + +"Diamonds!" exclaimed Mark. He squeezed through the defile, and stood +beside Jack. Before him in the fading light of the sun was a broad +field, girt around with towering cliffs, and the surface of the field +was covered with white stones. + +Jack sprang forward and gathered up a double handful. He let them run +through his fingers in a sparkling stream. Old Andy came up to the boys. + +"They're only glass or crystals," he said. + +"They are _not_ glass or crystals!" declared Mark, who had made a study +of gems. "I should say they were diamonds, probably meteoric diamonds, +very rare and valuable. Why, there is the ransom of a thousand kings +spread out before us!" + +He fell upon his knees and began to scoop up the gems. His chum was +making a little heap of the stones. + +"The ransom of a thousand kings!" murmured Jack. "More diamonds than in +all the world--and I'd give my share for a good ham sandwich!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +BACK TO EARTH--CONCLUSION + + +At any other time the discovery of such a vast store of wealth would +have set the wanderers half wild with joy. Now they only accepted the +fact dully, for the perils of their situation overburdened them. As +Jack had said, they needed food more than the gems, for at best the +supply they had blasted out could not last long, and when that was gone +where were they to get more, for there were no more cartridges, and the +rending force of powder was needed to open the rocky meat. + +"I knew we'd find the diamonds," murmured Jack, as he began to fill the +pockets of his fur coat. "I'm right, after all, Mark, you see." + +"Yes, but what good will it do us? What's the good of even carrying any +away. We can never use them." + +"That's so," agreed Jack, in a low voice. "I might as well leave them +here." + +But somehow the desire to pick up gems which, when they were cut and +polished, would rival many of the famous diamonds of history was too +strong to be resisted. Though he was afraid he would never get back to +earth to enjoy them, Jack could not help putting in his pockets a +goodly supply of the largest of the precious stones. Andy did the same, +and Mark, in spite of his gloomy feelings, stuffed his pockets. They +worked with their torches held close to their faces, and in the search +for the better stones they literally walked over millions of dollars' +worth of the gems. + +For there, stretched out before them, was an actual field of diamonds. +As Mark had said, they were of meteoric origin, that is, a meteor had +burst over that particular portion of the moon, and the chemical action +had created the diamonds, which had fallen in a shower in the field. + +"If you boys have all you want, then let's get back to the city," +suggested Andy. "No telling when it will be night now." + +They followed his advice, and soon were going back by way of the black +pool. It seemed more lonesome than ever, after the excitement of +discovering the field of diamonds, and even Jack, glad as he was to +have his theory vindicated, got tired of referring to it. His triumph +meant little to him now. + +They were at the entrance to the petrified city. As they were about to +go in, ready to hide themselves in the deepest part of the restaurant, +away from the terrible cold and appalling darkness they felt would soon +be upon them, Mark came to a sudden halt. He glanced quickly up into +the air and cried out: "Hark!" + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack, as they stood in a listening attitude. + +"I heard a noise," whispered Mark. "It sounded--I'm sure it +sounded--like the crackling of the wireless motor waves of the +projectile. Listen!" + +Faintly through the silence came a sound as if there was a discharge of +an electric current. It increased in volume, and there was a faint +roaring in the atmosphere. + +"It's her--it's the _Annihilator!_" shouted Jack, leaping about. + +"Wait," counselled Andy, who dreaded the terrible disappointment should +the boys be mistaken. The sound came nearer. The crackling could +plainly be made out now. The sun was out of sight, but there was still +the glow which follows sunset. + +The boys were eagerly scanning the heavens, Their hearts beat high with +hope. Suddenly, in the olive-tinted sky just above a range of rugged +peaks, a black shape loomed. A black shape, as of a great cigar, +pointed at both ends. It shot into full view. + +"The projectile!" yelled Jack. + +"The _Annihilator!_" gasped Mark. + +"Thank Heaven, they have found us in time!" exclaimed Andy fervently, +and the three stretched out their arms toward the craft from which they +had been parted so long. It was as if they tried to pull it down to +them. + +"Do they see us?" + +"Will they pass us by?" + +"Make a noise so they'll hear us!" + +"Wave to them!" + +"Oh, if they leave us now!" + +Questions, ejaculations and entreaties came rapidly from the lips of +the wanderers. They raised their voices in a shout. They leaped up and +down. They wildly waved their hands and life-torches. + +Then, to their inexpressible joy, they saw the course of the projectile +change. It was headed toward them, and a few minutes later it settled +slowly to the ground about half a mile away. + +"Come on!" cried Jack! "We must hurry to them, or soon it will be too +dark to see them, or for them to find us. It's our last chance; don't +let's lose it!" + +He sprang forward, the others after him, and together they ran toward +the projectile. They could see the two professors and Washington White +emerging from the steel car, waving their hands. + +On rushed the lost wanderers, over the rough stones, skirting the great +cliffs, falling into small craters, crawling out again, just missing +several times being precipitated into yawning caverns, and stumbling +over petrified bodies that strewed the ground. + +Ever did they hasten onward though, increasing their speed. They came +to a great crater that lay between them and the projectile, but +fortunately there was across the middle of it a natural bridge of +stone. But it was narrow--scarcely wide enough for one at a time. + +"We can never cross on that!" cried Mark, halting. + +"We've got to!" shouted Jack, and he sprang fearlessly forward, fairly +running over the narrow path, which had a sheer descent of thousands of +feet on either side. + +Mark, though fearful that he would become dizzy and fall, followed +Andy. They were soon across the narrow bridge, and speeding on toward +the _Annihilator_. Five minutes later they had reached it, and were +being wildly welcomed by the two professors and Washington White, who +had advanced to meet them. + +"I 'clar t' goodness-gladness!" exclaimed the colored man, "I am +suttinly constrained t' espress my approbation ob de deleterous manner +in which yo' all has come back t' dis continuous territory." + +"Do you mean you're glad to see us, Wash?" asked Jack. + +"Dat's what I done said," was the answer, with a cheerful grin, "an' I +might also remark dat dinner am serbed in de dinin' car." + +"Hurrah!" cried Jack. "That's the best news I've heard in a week. No +more blasted beef for mine! Give me ham and eggs!" + +"But what happened to you? Where have you been? We have searched all +over for you, and were just giving you up for dead, and going back to +the earth," said Professor Henderson. "We caught sight of you at the +last minute." + +"Oh, you mustn't go back until you go to the field of diamonds!" cried +Jack, and then by turns he and Mark and Andy told of their terrible +adventures while they were lost on the moon. + +On their part Professors Roumann and Henderson stated how they had +waited in vain for the return of the wanderers, and had then, by +strenuous work, managed to make the necessary repairs without the +missing tool. Then they set out to discover the lost ones, but +succeeded only just in time, for it was now quite dusk. + +"An' did yo' all really discober dem sparklers?" asked Washington, as +he served what the boys thought was the finest dinner they had ever +tasted. + +"We sure did," replied Jack. "Here are a couple for that red necktie of +yours," and he passed over two big diamonds. + +It did not take long to move the projectile to the field of the +sparkling gems, and by means of a powerful search-light enough were +soon gathered up to satisfy even Washington White, who declared that he +would be the best decorated colored man in Bayside when they got back. +The two professors made what observations they could in the petrified +city in the fast-gathering darkness, and then, having taken a petrified +man into the projectile with them to deposit in a scientific museum in +which Professor Roumann was interested, the _Annihilator_ was sealed +shut. + +And it was only just in time, for with the suddenness of an eclipse +intense darkness settled down, and the temperature, as indicated by a +thermometer thrust outside, showed a drop of a hundred degrees. + +"We never could have lived out there," said Jack. + +"Well, we'll soon be back on earth," observed Mark, and a little later +the Cardite motor was out in operation, and the journey back to this +world begun. + +Little of moment happened on the return trip. The boys went more into +detail about their wanderings, and told how they had managed to live +during the time they were lost. The two professors and Washington spoke +of their worry and anxiety, and their vain search for the wanderers. + +As they were anxious to get back home, the motor was speeded to the +limit, and in much less time than they had made the trip to the moon +they had arrived in sight of the earth again. As they did not want to +create too much excitement, they hovered about in the air over Bayside +until dark, when they gently descended almost in the very spot from +which they had started. + +"Well," remarked Jack, as he stepped out on the earth once more, "it +was quite an experience to go to the moon, and I suppose being lost +there wasn't the worst thing that could happen to us, but all the same +I'm glad to be back." + +"So am I," declared Mark. "It was worth while going," and he felt of +his pocketful of diamonds. + +"We certainly made some very valuable scientific observations," +asserted Mr. Henderson, "and we will be able to prove that the moon was +once inhabited." + +Washington White was carefully lifting out his Shanghai rooster, which +was uttering loud crows. As soon as he had set the fowl on the ground, +the colored man started off. + +"Where are you going?" asked Mark. + +"I'm going t' a jewelery shop t' hab my diamonds made inter a stick-pin +fo' my red necktie," was the answer. + +"Oh, you'd better wait until morning," suggested Professor Henderson. + +They gathered about the table in the cozy dining room of their home, +while Washington got a meal ready. Every one was talking about what a +wonderful trip they had had. + +"The only trouble is," said Jack, "that we've been to about all the +interesting places in this universe now. I wonder where we can go next?" + +"I'm going to bed right after supper," announced Mark. "Maybe I'll +discover a new land in my dreams." + +The moon voyagers had a great store of gems, and, as they did not wish +to bring down values by disposing of them, they only sold a few, which, +because of their great size and brilliancy, brought a large price. +Several jewelers wanted to know where the diamonds came from, but the +secret was well kept. Most of the gems were used for scientific +purposes, but Mark and Jack gave some to certain of their friends. + +The petrified man proved a great curiosity, and a history of it, in two +large volumes, can be seen in the museum where the body is exhibited. +Professor Henderson wrote the account, and also published quite an +extensive history of the trip to the moon, which was considered by +scientists and laymen to be a most remarkable journey. + +But, though our friends had been to many strange places, it was +reserved for them to have yet still more wonderful adventures, though +for a time after returning from the moon they remained at home, the two +professors busy over their scientific work, and the boys engaged with +their studies, while Andy occasionally went hunting, and Washington got +the meals and, between times, fed his rooster and admired the diamonds +in his red necktie. And now we will bid our friends good-by. + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lost on the Moon, by Roy Rockwood + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOST ON THE MOON *** + +***** This file should be named 7473-8.txt or 7473-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/4/7/7473/ + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Tiffany Vergon, Joshua Hutchinson +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/7473-8.zip b/7473-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..046f28f --- /dev/null +++ b/7473-8.zip diff --git a/7473.txt b/7473.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3ad0127 --- /dev/null +++ b/7473.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6766 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lost on the Moon, by Roy Rockwood + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lost on the Moon + or In Quest of the Field of Diamonds + +Author: Roy Rockwood + +Posting Date: August 29, 2012 [EBook #7473] +Release Date: February, 2005 +First Posted: May 6, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOST ON THE MOON *** + + + + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Tiffany Vergon, Joshua Hutchinson +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + +LOST ON THE MOON OR IN QUEST OF THE FIELD OF DIAMONDS + +BY ROY ROCKWOOD + + + + +CHAPTER + + + I. A WONDERFUL STORY + II. SOMETHING ABOUT OUR HEROES + III. PREPARING FOR A VOYAGE + IV. AN ACCIDENT + V. THE WORK OF AN ENEMY + VI. ON THE TRACK + VII. MARK IS CAPTURED + VIII. JACK IS PUZZLED + IX. A DARING PLOT + X. "HOW STRANGE MARK ACTS" + XI. READY FOR THE MOON + XII. MARK'S ESCAPE + XIII. A DIREFUL THREAT + XIV. OFF AT LAST + XV. THE SHANGHAI MAKES TROUBLE + XVI. "WILL IT HIT US?" + XVII. TURNING TURTLE + XVIII. AT THE MOON + XIX. TORCHES OF LIFE + XX. ON THE EDGE OF A CRATER + XXI. WASHINGTON SEES A GHOST + XXII. A BREAKDOWN + XXIII. LOST ON THE MOON + XXIV. DESOLATE WANDERINGS + XXV. THE PETRIFIED CITY + XXVI. SEEKING FOOD + XXVII. THE BLACK POOL +XXVIII. THE SIGNAL FAILS + XXIX. THE FIELD OF DIAMONDS + XXX. BACK TO EARTH--CONCLUSION + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A WONDERFUL STORY + + +"Well, what do you think of it, Mark?" asked Jack Darrow, as he laid +aside a portion of a newspaper, covered with strange printed +characters. "Great; isn't it?" + +"You don't mean to tell me that you believe that preposterous story, do +you, Jack?" And Mark Sampson looked across the table at his companion +in some astonishment. + +"Oh, I don't know; it may be true," went on Jack, again picking up the +paper and gazing thoughtfully at it. "I wish it was." + +"But think of it!" exclaimed Mark. "Why, if such a thing exists, and if +we, or some one else, should attempt to bring all those precious stones +to this earth, it would revolutionize the diamond industry of the +world. It can't be true!" + +"Well, here It is, in plain print. You can read it for yourself, as you +know the Martian language as well as I do. It states that a large field +of 'Reonaris' was discovered on the moon near Mare Tranquilitatis (or +Tranquil Ocean, I suppose that could be translated), and that the men +of Mars brought back some of the Reonaris with them. Here, read it, if +you don't believe me." + +"Oh, I believe you, all right--that is, I think you have translated +that article as well as you can. But suppose you have made some error? +We didn't have much time to study the language of Mars while we were +there, and we might make some mistake in the words. That article might +be an account of a dog-fight on the red planet, instead of an account +of a trip to the moon and the discovery of a field of Reonaris; eh, +Jack?" + +"Of course, I'm likely to have made an error, for it isn't easy to +translate this stuff." And Jack gazed intently at the strangely printed +page, which was covered with characters not unlike Greek. "I may be +wrong," went on the lad, "but you must remember that I translated some +other articles in this paper, and Professor Henderson also translated +them substantially as I did, and Professor Roumann agreed with him. +There _is_ Reonaris on the moon, and I wish we could go there and get +some." + +"But maybe after you got the Reonaris it would turn out to be only +common crystals," objected Mark. + +"No!" exclaimed Jack. "Reonaris is what the Martians call it in their +language, and that means diamonds. I'm sure of it!" + +"Well, I don't agree with you," declared the other lad. + +"Don't be cranky and contrary," begged Jack. + +"I'm not; but what's the use of believing anything so wild and weird as +that? It's a crazy yarn!" + +"It's nothing of the sort! There are diamonds on the moon; and I can +prove it!" + +"Well, don't get excited," suggested Mark calmly. "I don't believe it; +that's all. You're mistaken about what Reonaris is; that's what you +are." + +"I am not!" Jack had arisen from his chair, and seemed much elated. In +his hand he held clinched the paper which had caused the lively +discussion. It was as near to a disagreement as Jack Darrow and Mark +Sampson had come in some time. + +"Sit down," begged Mark. + +"I'll not!" retorted Jack. "I'm going to prove to you that I'm right." + +"How are you going to do it?" + +"I'm going to get Professor Henderson and Professor Roumann to +translate this article for you, and then you can ask them what Reonaris +is. Guess that'll convince you; won't it?" + +"Maybe; but why don't you ask Andy Sudds or Washington White to give +their opinion?" + +"Don't get funny," advised the other lad sharply, and then, seeing that +his chum was smiling, Jack laughed, cooled down a bit, looked at the +paper which he had crumpled in his hand, and said: + +"I guess I _was_ getting a little too excited. But I'm sure I'm right. +Here's the paper I brought from Mars to prove it, and the only thing +there's any doubt about is whether or not Reonaris means diamonds. I'll +ask----" + +At that moment the door of the library, in which Jack and Mark were +seated, was cautiously opened, and a black, woolly head was thrust in. +Then two widely-opened eyes gazed at the boys. + +"What's the matter, Washington?" asked Jack, with a laugh. + +"'Scuse me, Massa Jack," answered the colored man, "but did I done heah +you' to promulgate some conversationess regarding de +transmigatorability ob diamonds?" + +"Do you mean, were we talking about diamonds?" inquired Mark. + +"Dat's what I done said, Massa Mark." + +"No, you _didn't_ say it, but you meant it, I guess," went on Jack. +"Yes, we _were_ talking about diamonds, Washington. I know a place +that's full of them." + +"Where?" inquired the colored man, thrusting his head farther into the +room, and opening his eyes to their fullest extent. "Ef it ain't +violatin' no confidences, Massa Jack, would yo' jest kindly mention it +to yo's truly," and Professor Henderson's faithful servant, who had +followed him into many dangers, looked at the two boys, who, of late +years, had shared the labors of the well-known scientist. "Where am +dose diamonds, Massa Jack?" + +"On the moon," was the answer. + +"On de moon? Ha! Ha! Dat's a joke!" And Washington began to laugh. "On +de moon! Ha! Ho!" + +"Well, you can read it for yourself," went on the lad, tossing the +paper over to the colored man. The latter picked it up, gazed at it, +first from one side, and then from the other. Next he turned it upside +down, but, as this did not make the article any clearer, he turned the +paper back again. Then he remarked, with a puzzled air: + +"Well, I neber could read without mah glasses, Massa Jack, so I guess +I'll hab t' let it go until annoder time. Diamonds on de moon, eh? +Dat's wonderful! I wonder what dey'll be doin' next? But I'se got t' +go. Diamonds on de moon, eh? Diamonds on de moon!" + +As Washington turned to leave the room, for he had entered it when Jack +and Mark were talking to aim, the latter lad asked: + +"Did you want to see us about anything particular, Wash?" + +"Why, I suah did," was the reply, "I did come t' tell yo' dat Perfesser +Henderson would be pleased to hold some conversations wid yo', but when +Massa Jack done mentioned about dem diamonds, I clean fo'got it. +Diamonds on de moon, eh?" + +"Well, if the professor wants us we'd better go," suggested Mark. "Come +on, Jack, and stop dreaming about Reonaris and the moonbeams. Get back +to earth." + +"All right; laugh if you want to," said Jack sturdily, "but the time +will come, Mark, when you'll find out that I'm right." + +"How?" asked Mark. + +"I don't know, but I'm sure I can prove what I say." + +The two boys were to have the wonderful diamond story demonstrated to +them sooner than either expected. Following the colored man, the lads, +Jack carrying the paper, made their way to the laboratory of Professor +Henderson. His door was open, and the aged man, whose hair and beard +were now white with age, was bending over a table covered with papers, +chemical apparatus, test tubes, alembecs, Bunsen burners, globes, and +various pieces of apparatus. Another man, not quite so old as was Mr. +Henderson, was on the point of leaving the apartment. + +"Ah, boys," remarked the older professor, as he caught sight of them, +"I hope I didn't disturb you by sending for you." + +"No; Jack and I were only having a red-hot discussion about diamonds on +the moon," said Mark, with a laugh. + +"Diamonds on the moon!" exclaimed Professor Henderson. + +"Diamonds on the moon?" repeated his friend, Prof. Santell Roumann. "Is +this a joke, boys?" + +"Mark thinks so, but I don't!" cried Jack, enthusiastically. "Look +here, Professor Henderson, and also Mr. Roumann. Here is one of the +newspapers that we brought back with us in our projectile, the +_Annihilator_, after our trip to Mars. I have been translating some of +the articles in it, and to-night I came across one that told of a trip +made by some of the inhabitants of Mars to the moon, in a sort of +projectile, like ours, only more on the design of an aeroplane. + +"They landed on the moon, the article states, and found a big field, or +deposit, of Reonaris, which I claim are diamonds. Mark says I'm wrong, +but, Professor Henderson, isn't Reonaris to the Martians what diamonds +are to us?" + +"It certainly is," agreed the older scientist, and he looked for +confirmation to his scholarly companion. + +"Reonaris is substantially a diamond," said Professor Roumann. "It has +the same chemical constitution, and also the diamond's hardness and +brilliancy. But I don't understand how any diamonds can be on the moon." + +"You can read this for yourself," suggested Jack, passing over the +paper, which was one of some souvenirs brought back from what was the +longest journey on record, ever taken by human beings. + +Mr. Roumann adjusted his glasses, and carefully read the article that +was printed in such strange characters. As he perused it, he nodded his +head thoughtfully from time to time. Then he passed the paper to +Professor Henderson. + +The older scientist was somewhat longer in going over the article, but +when he had finished, he looked at the two boys, and said: "Jack is +right! This is an account of a trip made to the moon by some of the +Martians, who have advanced much further in the art of air navigation +than have we. Some of the words I am not altogether familiar with, but +in the main, that is what the paper states." + +"And doesn't it tell about them finding a field of Reonaris?" asked +Jack eagerly, for he was anxious to prove to his chum that he was right. + +"Yes, it does," replied Mr. Henderson. + +"And Reonaris is diamonds, isn't it?" asked Jack. + +"It is," answered Professor Roumann gravely. + +"Then," cried Jack, "what's to hinder us from going to the moon, and +getting some of those diamonds? The Martians must have left some! Let's +go to the moon and get them! We can do it in the projectile with which +we made the journey to Mars. Let's start for the moon!" + +For a moment there was silence in the laboratory of the scientist. It +was broken by Washington White, who remarked: + +"Good land a' massy! Annodder ob dem trips through de air! Well, I +ain't goin' to no moon--no sah!! Ef I went dere, I'd suah get looney, +an' I has troubles enough now wid'out dat, I suah has!" And, shaking +his head dubiously, the colored man shuffled from the room. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SOMETHING ABOUT OUR HEROES + + +"Are you in earnest in proposing this trip?" asked Professor Henderson +of Jack. The lad, with flushed face and bright eyes, stood in the +centre of the apartment, holding the paper which the aged scientist had +returned to him. + +"I certainly am," was the reply. "It ought not to be a difficult +undertaking, after our trip to the North Pole through the air, the one +to the South Pole under water, our journey to the centre of the earth, +and our flight to Mars. Why, a trip to the moon ought to be a little +pleasure jaunt, like an automobile tour. Can't we go, Professor?" + +"From the standpoint of possibility, I presume we could make a trip to +the moon," the scientist admitted. "It would not take so long, nor +would it be as dangerous, as was our trip to Mars. And yet, I don't +know that I care to go. I am getting along in years, and I have money +enough to live on. Even a field of diamonds hardly sounds attractive to +me." Jack's face showed the disappointment he felt. + +"And yet," went on the aged scientist with a smile, "there are certain +attractions about another trip through space. I had hoped to settle +down in life now, and devote my time to scientific study and the +writing of books. But this is something new. We never have been to the +moon, and----" + +"There are lots of problems about it that are still unsolved!" cried +Jack eagerly. "You will be able to discover if the moon has an +atmosphere and moisture; and also what the other side--the one that is +always turned away from us--looks like." + +"It does sound tempting," went on the aged scientist slowly. "And we +could do it in our projectile, the _Annihilator_. It is in good working +order; isn't it, Professor Roumann?" + +"Couldn't be better. If you ask me, I, for one, would like to make a +trip to the moon. It would give me a better chance to test the powers +of Cardite, that wonderful red substance we brought from Mars. I can +use that in the Etherium motor. If you left it to me, I'd say, 'go to +the moon.'" + +"Well, perhaps we will," spoke Mr. Henderson thoughtfully. + +"You'll go, too, won't you, Mark?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, I'm not going to be left behind. I'll go if the rest do, but I +don't believe you'll find any diamonds on the moon. If there ever were +any, the Martians took them." For Mark had been partly convinced after +the confirmation by the two professors of Jack's translation. + +"I'll take a chance on the sparklers," said his chum. "But now, let's +go into details, and figure out when we can start. It ought not to take +very long to get ready." + +As has been explained in detail in the other books of this series, +Professor Amos Henderson and the two lads, Mark Sampson and Jack +Darrow, had undertaken many strange voyages together. Sometimes they +were accompanied by friends and assistants, while Washington White, a +sort of servant, helper, and man-of-all-work, and Andy Sudds, an old +hunter, always went with them. + +Mark and Jack were orphans, who had been adopted by Professor +Henderson, who spent all his time making wonderful machines for +transportation, or conducting strange experiments. + +The two boys had been rescued by Professor Henderson and Washington +White from a train wreck. Although both boys were badly hurt, they were +nursed back to health by the eminent scientist, who soon learned to +care for the lads as though they had been his own sons. + +They aided the professor, as soon as they were able, in constructing an +airship, called the _Electric Monarch_, in which Professor Henderson +hoped to be able to reach the North Pole. The boys thoroughly enjoyed +the trip through the air, and had many thrills fighting the savage +Eskimos. Finally, they succeeded in passing over the exact spot of the +North Pole during a violent snowstorm. + +Not satisfied with their experiences after conquering the North, the +adventurers set out for the Antarctic regions in a submarine boat. This +trip, even more remarkable than the first, took them to many strange +places in the South Atlantic. They were trapped for a time in the +Sargasso Sea, and they walked on the ocean floor in new diving suits, +one of the professor's marvelous inventions. + +It was on the voyage to the south that, coming to the surface one day, +the adventurers saw a strange island in the Atlantic Ocean, far from +the coast of South America. On it was a great whirlpool, into which the +_Porpoise_, their submarine boat, was nearly drawn by the powerful +suction. + +The chasm might lead to the center of the earth, it was suggested, and, +after thinking the matter over, on their return from the Antarctic, +Professor Henderson decided to build a craft in which they might solve +the mystery. + +The details of the voyage they took in the _Flying Mermaid_, are told +of in the third volume, entitled "Five Thousand Miles Underground." The +_Mermaid_ could sail on the water, or float in the air like a balloon. +In this craft the travellers descended into the centre of the earth, +and had many wonderful adventures. They nearly lost their lives, and +had to escape, after running through danger of the spouting water, +leaving their craft behind. + +For some time they undertook no further voyages, and the two boys, who +lived with Professor Henderson in a small town on the coast of Maine, +were sent to attend the Universal Electrical and Chemical College. +Washington remained at home to minister to the wants of the old +professor, and Andy Sudds went off on occasional hunting trips. + +But the spirit of adventure was still strong in the hearts of the boys +and the professor. One day, in the midst of some risky experiments at +college, Jack and Mark, as related in "Through Space to Mars," received +a telegram from Professor Henderson, calling them home. + +There they found their friend entertaining as a guest Professor Santell +Roumann, who was almost as celebrated as was Mr. Henderson, in the +matter of inventions. + +Professor Roumann made a strange proposition. He said if the old +scientist and his young friends would build the proper kind of a +projectile, they could make a trip to the planet Mars, by means of a +wonderful motor, operated by a power called Etherium, of which Mr. +Roumann held the secret. + +After some discussion, the projectile, called the _Annihilator_, from +the fact that it annihilated space, was begun. It was two hundred feet +long, ten feet in diameter in the middle, and shaped like a cigar. It +consisted of a double shell of strong metal, with a non-conducting gas +between the two sides. + +Within it were various machines, besides the Etherium motor, which +would send the projectile along at the rate of one hundred miles a +second. This great speed was necessary in order to reach the planet +Mars, which, at the time our friends started for it, was about +thirty-five millions of miles away from this earth. It has since +receded some distance farther than this. + +Finally all was in readiness for the start to Mars. Professor Roumann +wanted to prove that the planet was inhabited, and he also wanted to +get some of a peculiar substance, which he believed gave the planet its +rosy hue. He had an idea that it would prove of great value. + +But, though every precaution was taken, the adventurers were not to get +away from the earth safely. Almost at the last minute, a crazy +machinist, named Fred Axtell, who was refused work on the projectile, +tried to blow it up with a bomb. He partly succeeded, but the damage +was repaired, and the start made. + +Inside the projectile our friends shut themselves up, and the powerful +motors were started. Off it shot, at the rate of one hundred miles a +second, but the travellers were as comfortable as in a Pullman car. +They had plenty to eat and drink, they manufactured their own air and +water, and they slept when they so desired. + +But Axtell, the crazy machinist, had hidden himself aboard, and, in +mid-air, he tried to wreck the projectile. He was caught, and locked up +in a spare room, but, when Mars was reached, he escaped. + +The book tells how our friends were welcomed by the Martians, how they +learned the language, saw many strange sights, and finally got on the +track of the Cardite, or red substance, which the German professor, Mr. +Roumann, had come so far to seek. This Cardite was capable of great +force, and, properly controlled, could move great weights and operate +powerful machinery. + +Our friends wanted to take some back to earth with them, but when they +attempted to store it in their projectile, they met with objections, +for the Martians did not want them to take any. They had considerable +trouble, and the crazy machinist led an attack of the soldiers of the +red planet against our friends, the adventurers in the projectile. + +Among the other curiosities brought away by our friends, was a +newspaper printed in Mars, for the inhabitants of that place where much +further advanced along certain lines than we are on this earth, but in +the matter of newspapers they had little to boast of, save that the +sheets were printed by wireless electricity, no presses being needed. + +As told at the opening of this story, Jack had noticed on one of the +sheets they brought back, an account of how some of the Martians made a +trip to the moon, and discovered a field of Reonaris. This trip was +made shortly before our friends made their hasty departure, and it was +undertaken by some Martian adventurers on another part of the red +planet than where the projectile landed, and so Professor Henderson and +his friends did not hear of it at the time. + +"Well, then, suppose we make the attempt to go to the moon," said +Professor Roumann, after a long discussion in the laboratory. "It will +not take long to get ready." + +"I'd like to go," said Jack. "How about you, Professor Henderson? Oh, +by the way, Washington said you wanted to see Mark and me, but I was so +interested in this news item, that I forgot to ask what it as about." + +"I merely wanted to inquire when you and Mark thought of resuming your +studies at college," said the aged man, "but, since this matter has +come up, it will be just as well if you do not arrange to resume your +lessons right away." + +"We can study while making the trip to the moon," suggested Mark. + +"Not much," declared Jack, with a laugh. "There'll be too much to see." + +"Well, we'll discuss that later," went on Mr. Henderson. "Practically +speaking, I think the voyage can be made, and, the more I think of it, +the better I like the idea. We will look over the projectile in the +morning, and see what needs to be done to it to get it ready for +another trip through space." + +"Not much will have to be done, I fancy," remarked the German +scientist. "But I want to make a few improvements in the Cardite motor, +which I will use in place of the Etherium one, that took us to Mars." + +A little later there came a knock on the rear door of the rambling old +house where the professor lived and did much of his experimental work. + +"I'll go," volunteered Jack, and when he opened the portal there stood +on the threshold a small boy, Dick Johnson, one of the village lads. + +"What is it you want, Dick?" asked Mark. + +"Here's a note for you," went on the boy, passing over a slip of paper. +"I met a man down the road, and he gave me a quarter to bring it here. +He said it was very important, and he's waiting for you down by the +white bridge over the creek." + +"Waiting for who?" asked Jack. + +"For Mark, I guess; but I don't know. Anyhow, the note's for him." + +"Hum! This is rather strange," mused Mark. + +"What is it?" asked Jack. + +"Why, this note. It says: 'It is important that I see you. I will wait +for you at the white bridge.' That's all there is to it." + +"No name signed?" asked Jack. + +"Not a name. But I'll just take a run down and see what it is. I'll not +be long. Much obliged, Dick." + +The boy who had brought the note turned to leave the house, and Mark +prepared to follow. Jack said: + +"Let me see that note." + +He scanned it closely, and, as Mark was getting on his hat and coat, +for the night was chilly, his chum went on: + +"Mark, if I didn't know, that we had left Axtell, the crazy machinist, +up on Mars, I'd say that this was his writing. But, of course, it's +impossible." + +"Of course--impossible," agreed Mark. + +"But, there's one thing, though," continued Jack. + +"What's that?" asked Mark. + +"I don't like the idea of you going off alone in the dark, to meet a +man who doesn't sign his name to the note he wrote. So, if you have no +objections, I'll go with you. No use taking any chances." + +"I don't believe I run any risk," said Mark, "but I'll be glad of your +company. Come along. Maybe it's only a joke." And the two lads started +off together in the darkness toward the white bridge. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +PREPARING FOR A VOYAGE + + +"Seems like rather an odd thing; doesn't it?" remarked Jack, as he and +his chum walked along. + +"What?" + +"This note." + +"Oh, yes. But what made you think the writing looked like that of the +crazy machinist who tried to wreck the projectile?" + +"Because I once saw some of the crazy letters he sent us, and he wrote +just like the man who gave Dick this note. But come on, let's hustle, +and see what's up." + +In a few minutes they came in sight of the white bridge, which was +about a quarter of a mile down the road from the professor's house. The +two boys kept well together, and they were watching for a first sight +of the man in waiting. + +"See anything?" asked Jack. + +"No; do you?" + +"Not a thing. Wait until we get closer. He may be in the shadow. It's +dark now." + +Almost as Jack spoke, the moon, which had been hidden behind a bank of +clouds, peeped out, making the scene comparatively bright. The boys +peered once more toward the bridge, and, as they did so, they saw a +figure step from the shadows, stand revealed for an instant in the +middle of the structure, and then, seemingly after a swift glance +toward the approaching chums, the person darted off in the darkness. + +"Did you see that?" cried Jack. + +"Sure," assented Mark. "Guess he didn't want to wait for us. Why, he's +running to beat the band!" + +"Let's take after him," suggested Jack, and, nothing loath, Mark +assented. The two lads broke into a run, but, as they leaped forward, +the man also increased his pace, and they could hear his feet pounding +out a tattoo on the hard road. + +The two youths reached the bridge, and sped across it. They glanced +hastily on either side, thinking possibly the man might have had some +companions, but no one was in sight, and the stranger himself was now +out of view around a bend in the highway. + +"No use going any farther," suggested Jack, pulling up at the far side +of the bridge. "There are two roads around the bend, and we couldn't +tell which one he'd take. Besides, it might not be altogether safe to +risk it." + +Mark and Jack, on their return, told Professor Henderson and the German +scientist something of their little excursion. + +"But who could he have been?" asked Mr. Roumann. "Perhaps if you ask +the boy who brought the note he can tell you." + +"We'll do it in the morning," decided Mark. + +"It's peculiar that he wanted Mark to meet him," spoke Amos Henderson. +"Have you any enemies that you know of, Mark?" + +"Not a one. But what makes you think this man was an enemy, Professor?" + +"From the fact that he ran when he saw you and Jack together. Evidently +he expected to get Mark out alone." + +They discussed the matter for some time, and then the boys and the +scientists retired to bed, ready to begin active preparations on the +morrow, for their trip to the moon. + +There was much to be done, but their experience in making other +wonderful trips, particularly the one to Mars, stood the travellers in +good stead. They knew just how to go to work. + +To Washington was entrusted the task of preparing the food supply, +since he was to act as cook. Andy Sudds was instructed to look after +the clothing and other supplies, except those of a scientific nature, +while the two young men were to act as general helpers to the two +professors. + +As the _Annihilator_ has been fully described in the volume entitled, +"Through Space to Mars," there is no need to dwell at any length on the +construction of the projectile in which our friends hoped to travel to +the moon. Sufficient to say that it was a sort of enclosed airship, +capable of travelling through space--that is, air or ether--at enormous +speed, that there were contained within it many complicated machines, +some for operating the projectile, some for offence or defence against +enemies, such as electric guns, apparatus for making air or water, and +scores of scientific instruments. + +The _Annihilator_ was controlled either from the engine room, or from a +pilot house forward. As for the motive power it was, for the trip to +the moon, to be of that wonderful Martian substance, Cardite, which +would operate the motors. + +The projectile moved through space by the throwing off of waves of +energy, similar to wireless vibrations, from large plates of metal, and +these plates were the invention of Professor Roumann. + +Perhaps to some of my readers it may seem strange to speak so casually +of a trip to the moon, but it must be remembered that our friends had +already accomplished a much more difficult journey, namely, that to +Mars. So the moon voyage was not to daunt them. + +Mars, as I have said, was thirty-five millions of miles away from the +earth when the _Annihilator_ was headed toward it. To reach the moon, +however, but 252,972 miles, at the most, must be traversed--a little +more than a quarter of a million miles. As the distance from the earth +to the moon varies, being between the figures I have named, and 221,614 +miles, with the average distance computed as being 238,840 miles, it +can readily be seen that at no time was the voyage to be considered as +comparing in distance with the one to Mars. + +But there were other matters to be taken into consideration, and our +friends began to ponder on them in the days during which they made +their preparations. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +AN ACCIDENT + + +Washington White was kept busy getting together the food for the +voyage, and he had about completed his task, while Andy Sudds announced +one morning that his department was ready for inspection, and that he +thought he would go hunting until the projectile was ready to start. + +"Well, if you see anything of that queer man who sent me the note, just +ask him what he meant by it," suggested Mark, for inquiry from the boy +who had brought the message, developed the fact that Dick did not know +the man, nor had he ever seen him before. He was a stranger in the +neighborhood. But, as nothing more resulted from it, the two lads gave +the matter no further thought. + +"How soon before we will be ready to start?" asked Jack one day, while +he and his chum, with the two professors, were working over the +projectile, which was soon to be shot through space. + +"In about two weeks," replied Mr. Roumann. "I want to make a few +changes in the Cardite plates, which will replace the ones used on the +Etherium motor. Then I want to test them, and, if I find that they work +all right, as I hope, we will seal ourselves up in the _Annihilator_, +and start for the moon." + +"Are you going to try to go around it, and land on the side turned away +from us?" asked Mark, who had been studying astronomy lately. + +"What do you mean by that?" asked Jack. "Doesn't the moon turn around?" + +"Not as the earth does," replied his chum; "or, rather, to be more +exact, it rotates exactly as the earth does, on its axis; but, in doing +this it occupies precisely the same time that it takes to make a +revolution about our planet. So that, in the long run, to quote from my +astronomy, it keeps the same side always toward the earth; and today, +or, to be more correct, each night that the moon is visible, we see the +same face and aspect that Galileo did when he first looked at it +through his telescope, and, unless something happens, the same thing +will continue for thousands of years." + +"Then we've never seen the other side of the moon?" asked Jack. + +"Never; and that's why I wondered if the professor was going to attempt +to reach it. Perhaps there are people there, and air and water, for it +is practically certain that there is neither moisture nor atmosphere on +this side of Luna." + +"Wow! Then maybe we'd better not go," said Jack, with a shiver. "What +will we do, if we get thirsty?" + +"Oh, I guess we can manage, with all the apparatus we have, to distill +enough water," said Professor Henderson, with a smile. "Then, too, we +will take plenty with us, and, of course, tanks of oxygen to breathe. +But it will be interesting to see if there are people on the moon." + +"If there are any, they must have a queer time," went on Mark. + +"Why?" asked Jack, who wasn't very fond of study. + +"Why? Because the moon is only about one forty-ninth the size of the +earth. Its diameter is 2,163 miles--only a quarter of the earth's--and, +comparing the force of gravity, ours is much greater. A body that +weighs six pounds on the earth, would weigh only one pound on the moon, +and a man on the moon could jump six times as high as he can on this +earth, and throw a stone six times as far." + +"What's dat?" inquired Washington White quickly, nearly dropping some +packages he was carrying into the projectile. "What was yo' pleased t' +saggasiate, in remarkin' concernin' de untranquility ob the densityness +ob stones jumpin' ober a man what is six times high?" he asked. + +"Do you mean what did I say?" asked Mark solemnly. + +"Dat's what I done asked yo'," spoke the colored man gravely. + +"Well, you didn't, but perhaps you meant to," went on the youth, and he +repeated his remarks. + +"'Scuse me, I guess I'd better not go on dish yeah trip after all," +came from Washington. + +"Why not?" demanded Professor Henderson. + +"'Cause I ain't goin' t' no place whar ef yo' wants t' take a little +jump yo' has t' go six times as far as yo' does when yo' is on dis yeah +earth. An' s'posin' some ob dem moon men takes a notion t' throw a +stone at me? Whar'll I be, when a stone goes six times as far as it +does on heah? No, sah, I ain't goin'!" + +"But perhaps there are no men on the moon," said Mark quickly. "It is +only a theory of astronomers that I'm talking about." + +"Oh, only a theory; eh?" asked Washington quickly. + +"That's all." + +"Oh, if it's only a theory, den I reckons it's all right," came from +the colored man. "I didn't know it were a theory. Dat makes it all +right. It's jest in theory, am it, Massa Mark, dat a stone goes six +times as far?" + +"That's all." + +"Oh, well, den, why didn't yo' say so fust, dat it was only a theory? I +don't mind theories. I--I used t' eat 'em boiled an' roasted befo' de +wah." And, with a contented smile on his face, Washington went into the +projectile, to finish stowing things away in his kitchen lockers. + +The big projectile was housed in the shed where it had been +constructed, and the professor and the boys were working over it there, +carefully guarded from curious eyes, for the German inventor did not +want the secret of his Cardite motor to become known. + +The work went on from day to day, good progress being made. The boys +were of great assistance, for they were practical mechanics, and had +had considerable experience. + +"Well, I shall try the Cardite motor to-morrow," announced Professor +Roumann one night, after a hard day's work on the projectile. + +"Do you think it will work?" asked Mr. Henderson. + +"I think so, yes. My experiments have made me hopeful." + +"And if it does work, when can we start?" asked Jack. + +"Two days later; that is, if everything else is in readiness, the food +and other, supplies on board." + +"They are all ready to be stowed away," said Andy Sudds, who had been +hunting all day. + +It was an anxious assemblage that gathered inside the big shed the next +day, to watch Professor Roumann try the Cardite motor. Would it work as +well as had the Etherium one? Would it send them along through space at +enormous speed? True, they would not have to travel so far, nor so +fast, but more power would be needed, since, as it was feared no food, +water, nor air could be had on the moon, many more supplies were to be +taken along than on the trip to Mars, and this made the projectile +heavier. + +"We will test the Cardite in this small motor first," said Mr. Roumann, +as he pointed to a machine in the projectile used for winding a cable +around a windlass when there was necessity for hauling the +_Annihilator_ about, without sending it into the air. + +Into the receptacle of the motor, the German professor placed some of +the wonderful red substance he had secured from Mars. Then he closed +the heavy metal box that held it, and, looking about to see if all was +in readiness, he motioned to those watching him that he was about to +shift the lever that would start the motor. + +"If it works as well as I hope it will," he said, "it ought to pull the +projectile slowly across the shop--a task that would be impossible in a +motor of this size, if operated by electricity, gasoline, or any other +force at present in use. And, if this small motor will do that, I know +the large ones will send us through space to the moon. All ready, now." + +Slowly the professor shoved over the lever, while Jack, Mark and the +others watched him carefully. They were standing back of him, in the +engine room of the projectile. + +There was a clicking sound as the lever snapped into place. This was +succeeded by a buzzing hum, as the motor began to absorb the great +power from the red substance, which was not unlike radium in its +action. There was a trembling to the great projectile. + +"She's moving!" cried Jack. + +Hardly had he spoken when there was a flash of red fire, a sound as of +a bursting bomb, and everyone was knocked from his feet, over backward, +while Professor Roumann was hurled the entire length of the engine room. + +"The Cardite motor has exploded!" cried Mark. "Professor Roumann is +killed!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE WORK OF AN ENEMY + + +Jack's first act, on arising from amid a mass of tools, into which he +had been tossed by the explosion, was to run to where Professor Roumann +lay in a semi-conscious condition. An instant later Mark slowly arose, +and made his way to where Professor Henderson was rubbing his forehead +in a dazed fashion. + +"Are you hurt?" asked Mark, of his aged friend. + +"I think not," answered Mr. Henderson slowly, "but I fear Mr. Roumann +is. See to him; I'm all right." + +"He's breathing," cried Jack, who had bent over the German. "He isn't +dead, at any rate." + +"But he may be, unless he gets attention," said Professor Henderson. +"Get my medicine chest, Mark, and we'll see what we can do for him." + +Jack had raised the head of the injured man on his arm, and was giving +him some water from a glass. This partially revived the German, and he +opened his eyes. He looked around, into the faces of his friends, as if +scarcely comprehending what had happened, and then, as his gaze +wandered toward the disabled Cardite motor, he exclaimed: + +"Some enemy has done this! The motor was tampered with. The resistance +block was loosened, and that caused the force of the Cardite to shoot +out at the rear. We must watch out for the work of this enemy!" + +"Don't distress yourself about that now," urged Mr. Henderson. "Are you +badly hurt? Do you need a doctor?" + +The German slowly drank the rest of the water which Jack gave him, and +then gradually arose to a standing position. + +"I am all right," he said faintly, "except that I feel a trifle dizzy. +Something hit me on the head, and the fumes from the Cardite took away +my breath for a moment. I think I shall be all right soon." + +"Here is the medicine chest!" exclaimed Mark, coming back into the +engine room. Mr. Henderson poured out some aromatic spirits of ammonia +into a graduated glass, added a little water, and gave it to his +fellow, inventor, who, after drinking it, declared that he felt much +better. There was a cut on his forehead, where a piece of the broken +motor had struck him, but, otherwise, he did not seem injured +externally. + +As for the boys, they were only stunned, nor was Mr. Henderson more +than momentarily shocked. In a few minutes the German professor was +almost himself again. + +"We must try to discover who our enemy is," he said earnestly, as he +looked over the disabled motor. "He might have blown up the whole +projectile by tampering as he did with the machinery. Had I been +testing the large, instead of the small motor, there would have been +nothing left of the _Annihilator_, or us, either. Who could have done +this? If that crazy machinist is around again----" + +"I don't believe he could get here from Mars," interrupted Jack, with a +smile. + +"Hardly," added Mark. + +"No, I guess he is still on the Red Planet, so it couldn't have been +him," went on Mr. Roumann. "But it was some one." + +Jack and Mark at once thought of the odd man who had sent Mark the +note, and then had run away. + +"Could it have been him?" suggested Jack. + +"It's possible," remarked Professor Henderson. "We must be on our +guard. I wonder if Washington----" + +At that moment there sounded a violent pounding on the exterior of the +projectile, and the voice of the colored man could be heard calling: + +"Am anything de mattah? Andy Sudds an' I is out heah, an' we heard +suffin goin' on in dere. Am anybody hurted?" + +"It's all over now, Wash," replied Jack, for the two boys, and the two +professors, had shut themselves up in the projectile while they +conducted the experiment. Jack opened the door of the _Annihilator_ and +stepped out, being met by the colored man and the old hunter. + +"You haven't seen any suspicious characters around, have you, Wash?" +asked Mark. "Some one has been tampering with a motor, and it exploded." + +"Nobody's been around since I've been here," announced Andy Sudds, with +a significant glance at his gun. + +"Maybe it's some ob dem moon-men, what don't laik de idea ob us goin' +dere arter dere diamonds," volunteered the colored man. + +"Perhaps," admitted Jack, with a smile. "But certainly some one has +been around here who had no business to be, and we must find out who it +was. Better take a look around, Wash." + +"I'll help him," said Andy, and, with his rifle in readiness for any +intruders, the old hunter followed the colored man outside the big shed. + +Meanwhile Professor Roumann and Mr. Henderson were carefully examining +the exploded motor. + +"I should have looked at the breech plug before turning on the power," +said the German, "but I had no reason to suspect that anything was +wrong." He went on to explain that the explosion was something like +that which occurs when the breech-block of a big navy gun is not +properly in place. The force of the Cardite, instead of being directed +against the piston-heads of the motor, shot out backward, and almost +into the face of the professor, who was operating the machine. + +"But what could be their object?" asked Mark. "Who would want to injure +us, or damage the projectile?" + +"Some enemy, of course," declared Jack. "But who? The crazy machinist +is out of it, and as for that man who sent the note to you, he seemed +too big a coward to attempt anything like this." + +"Some one evidently sneaked in here and loosened the breech-plug," went +on Mark, "and it was evidently done with the idea of delaying us. The +enemy could not have desired to utterly disable the projectile, or else +he would have tampered with the large motor, instead of the small one." + +"Yes, the object seems to have been to delay us," admitted Professor +Henderson; "yet, I can't understand why. Whoever did it evidently knows +something about machinery." + +"I hope they did not discover the secret of my Cardite motor," said +Professor Roumann quickly. + +"They hardly had time," declared Mark. "We have been in or around the +projectile nearly every minute of the day, and whoever it was, must +have watched his chance, slipped in, stayed a few seconds, and then +slipped out again." + +They went carefully over the entire projectile, but could find no +further damage done. Nor were there any traces of the person who had so +nearly caused a tragedy. Washington and Andy, after a careful search +outside the shed, had to admit that they had no clews. + +"Well, the only thing to do is to go to work and build a new small +motor," announced Professor Roumann, after once more looking over the +_debris_ of the one that had exploded. + +"Will it take long?" asked Jack. + +"About two weeks. Fortunately, I can use some of the parts of this one, +or we would be delayed longer." + +"Still two weeks is quite a while," suggested Mark. "Perhaps there'll +be no diamonds left on the moon when we get there, Jack," and he smiled +jokingly. + +"Oh, I fancy there will. The article in the paper from Mars says there +was a whole field of them." + +"This brings up another matter," said Professor Henderson. "What will +happen if we bring back bushels and bushels of diamonds?--which, in +view of what the paper says, may be possible. We will swamp the market, +and the value of diamonds will drop." + +"Then we must not throw them upon the market," decided Professor +Roumann. "The scarcity of an article determines its value. If we do +find plenty of diamonds, it will give me a chance to conduct some +experiments I have long postponed because of a lack of the precious +stones. We can use them for laboratory purposes, and need not sell +them. In fact, with the Cardite we brought back from Mars, we have no +lack of money, so we really do not need the diamonds." + +It was decided, in view of the shock and upset caused by the explosion, +that no further work would be done that day, and so, after carefully +locking the shed, and posting Andy on guard with his gun, the boys and +the professor went into the house to discuss matters, and plan for work +the next day. + +"Mark," said Jack in a low voice, as they followed the two scientists, +"I think it's up to us to try to find that mysterious man who sent the +note. I think he did this mean trick!" + +"So do I, and we'll have a hunt for him. Let's go now." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ON THE TRACK + + +The two boys gazed after Professors Henderson and Roumann. The +scientists were deep in a discussion of various technical matters, +which discussion, it was evident, made them oblivious to everything +else. + +"Shall we ask them?" inquired Jack in a whisper. + +"No; what's the use?" queried Mark. "Let's go off by ourselves, and +perhaps we can discover something. If we could once get on the trail of +the man who wrote the note, I think we could put our hands on the +person responsible for the blowing up of the motor." + +"I agree with you. We won't bother them about our plans," and he waved +his hand toward the scientists, who had, by this time, entered the +house. + +"In the first place," said Mark, as he and his chum turned from the +yard, and walked along a quiet country road, "I think our best plan +will be to find Dick Johnson, and ask him just where it was he met the +man who gave him a quarter to bring the note to me." + +"What for?" asked Jack. + +"Why, then, we can tell where to start from. Perhaps Dick can give us a +description of the man, or tell from what direction he came. Then we'll +know how to begin on the trail." + +"That's a good idea, I guess. We know where he disappeared to, or, +rather, in nearly what direction, so that will help some." + +"Sure. Well, then, let's find Dick." + +To the inquiries of the two lads from the projectile, Dick Johnson +replied that, as he had asserted once before, that the man was a +stranger to him. + +"He was tall, and had a big black mustache," Dick described, "but he +kept his hat pulled down over his eyes, so I couldn't see his face very +well. Anyhow, it was dark when I met him." + +"Where did you meet him?" asked Mark. + +"Not far from your house. He was standing on the corner, where you turn +down to go to the woollen mill, and, as I passed him, he asked me if I +wanted to earn a quarter." + +"Of course you said you did," suggested Jack. + +"Sure," replied Dick. "Then he gave me the note, and told me where to +take it, and I did. That wasn't wrong, was it?" + +"No; only there seems to be something queer about the man, and we want +to find out what it is," replied Mark. + +"What was the man doing when you saw him?" asked Jack. + +"Standing, and sort of looking toward your house." + +"Looking toward our house?" repeated Jack. "Was he anywhere near the +big shed where we build the machines?" + +"Well, I couldn't say. Maybe he might have been." + +"I guess that's all you can tell us," put in Mark, with a glance at his +chum, to warn him not to go too much into details with Dick, for they +did not want it known that some enemy had tried to wreck the projectile. + +"Yes, I can't tell you any more," admitted the small lad. + +"Well, here's a quarter for what you did tell us," said Jack, "and if +you see that man again, and he gives you a note for us, just keep your +eye on him, watch where he goes, and tell us. Then you will get a +half-dollar." + +"Gee! I'll be on the watch," promised Dick, his eyes shining at the +prospect of so much money. + +"Come on," suggested Jack to his chum, after the small chap had +departed. "Let's go down by the white bridge and make some inquiries of +people living in that vicinity. They may have seen a stranger hanging +around, and, perhaps we can get on his trail that way." + +"All right," agreed Mark, and they walked on together. + +They had gone quite a distance away from the bridge, and had made +several inquiries, but had met with no success, and they were about to +give up and go back home. + +"I know one person we haven't inquired of yet," said Mark, as they +tramped along. + +"Who's that?" + +"Old Bascomb, who lives alone in a shack on the edge of the creek. You +know the old codger who traps muskrats." + +"Oh, sure; but I don't believe he'd know anything. If he did, he's so +cranky he wouldn't tell you." + +"Maybe he would, if we gave him a little money for some smoking +tobacco. It's worth trying, anyhow. Bascomb goes around a great deal, +and he may have met a strange man in his travels." + +"Well, go ahead; we'll ask him." + +The muskrat trapper did not prove to be in a very pleasant frame of +mind, but, after Mark had given him a quarter, Bascomb consented to +answer a few questions. The boys told him about looking for a strange +man, describing him as best they could, though they did not tell why +they wanted to find him. + +"Wa'al, now, I shouldn't be surprised but what I know the very fellow +you want," said the trapper. "I met him a couple of days back, an' I +think he's still hanging around. Fust I thought he was after some of my +traps, but when I found he wa'ant, I didn't pay no more attention to +him. He looked jest like you say." + +"Where was he?" asked Jack eagerly. + +"Walkin' along the creek, sort of absent-minded like." + +"You don't know where he lives, or whether he is staying in this +vicinity, do you?" inquired Mark. + +"Ya'as, I think I do," replied the trapper. + +"Where?" cried Jack eagerly. + +"Wa'al, you know the old Preakness homestead, down by the bend of the +creek, about four mile below here?" + +"Sure we know it," answered Mark. "We used to go in swimming not far +from there." + +"Wa'al, the old house has been deserted now for quite a spell," went on +the trapper, "and there ain't nobody lived in it but tramps. But the +other night, when I was comin' past, with a lot of rats I'd jest taken +out of my traps, I see a light in the old house. Thinks I, to myself, +that there's more tramps snoozin' in there, and I didn't reckon it was +none of my business, so I kept on. But jest as I was walking past the +main gate, some one come out of the house and hurried away. I had a +good look at him, an'----" + +"Who was it?" asked Mark impatiently, for the old trapper was a slow +talker. + +"It was the same man you're lookin' for," declared Bascomb. "I'm sure +of it, an' he's hangin' out in the old Preakness house. If you want t' +see him, why don't you go there?" + +"We will!" cried Jack. "Come on, Mark. I think we're on the trail at +last." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MARK IS CAPTURED + + +Eagerly the boys hurried forward, intent on making the best time +possible to the old Preakness homestead, which was a landmark for miles +around, and which, in its day, had been a handsome house and estate. +Now it was fallen into ruins, for there was a dispute among the heirs, +and the property was in the Chancery Court. + +"Do you think we'll find him there?" asked Mark, as they made their way +along the dusty highway. "Hard to tell. Yet, if he's hanging out in +this neighborhood, that would be as good a place as any, for him to +hide in." + +"I wonder who he can be, anyhow? And how he knows me?" + +"Give it up. Evidently he isn't a tramp, though he stays in a place +where there are plenty of the Knights of the Road." + +The boys increased their pace, and were soon on the main road leading +to the Preakness house, and about a mile away from it. "We'll soon be +there now," remarked Jack. "Then we'll see if we can find that man." + +As he spoke, the lad put his hand in his pocket, and, a moment later, +he uttered a startled cry. + +"What's the matter?" asked Mark, in some alarm. + +"Matter? Why, gee whiz! If I haven't forgotten to send that telegram +Professor Henderson gave me! It's to order some special tools to take +along on our trip to the moon. They didn't come, and the professor +wrote out a message urging the factory to hurry the shipment. He gave +it to me to send, just before the accident to the motor, but when that +happened it knocked it out of my mind, I guess. I stuck the telegram in +my pocket, and here it is yet," and Jack drew forth a crumpled paper. +"Wouldn't that make you tired?" he asked. "It's important, and ought to +go at once. The professor won't like it." + +"I'll tell you what to do," suggested Mark, after a moment's thought. +"The telegraph office isn't so far away from here. You can cut across +lots, and be there in fifteen or twenty minutes. Tell 'em to rush the +message, and it may be in time yet. Anyhow, we're going to be delayed +because of the accident to the motor, so it won't make so much +difference. But come on, let's start, and we can hurry back." + +"I guess that's the best plan," remarked Jack dubiously, for he did not +fancy a half-hour's tramp across the fields and back again. Then, as he +thought of something else, he called out: + +"Say, Mark, there's no use of both of us going to the telegraph office. +I'll go alone, as it's my fault, and you can stay here, and watch to +see if that strange man appears on the scene. I'll not be long, and you +can wait for me here." + +"How would it be if I went on a little nearer to the Preakness house?" +asked Mark. "I can meet you there just as well as here, and something +may develop." + +"Good idea! You go on, and when I come back, I'll take the road that +leads through the old slate quarry, and save some time that way. I'll +meet you right near the old barn that stands on the Gilbert property, +just before you reach the Preakness grounds." + +"All right; I'll be there, but don't run your legs off. We're out for +all day, and there isn't anything that needs to be done at home, or +around the projectile, so take your time." + +"Oh, I'll not go to sleep," declared Jack. "I want to see if we can't +solve the mystery of the man who writes such queer notes." + +Jack started off across the fields at a swift pace, while Mark strolled +on down the road, in the direction of the old Preakness house. He was +thinking of many things, chiefly of the wonderful journey that lay +before them, and he was wondering what the moon would look like when +they got to it. + +That it would be a wild, desolate place, he had no doubt, for the +evidences of the telescopes of astronomers pointed that way, and, as is +well known, the most powerful instruments can now bring the moon to +within an apparent distance of one hundred miles of the earth. This is +true of the Lick telescope, which has a magnifying power of 2,500 and +an object lens a yard across. + +But, with this powerful telescope, it has been impossible to +distinguish any such objects as forests, cities, or any evidences of +life on the moon--that is, on the side that has always been turned +toward us. + +Almost unconsciously, Mark went on faster than he intended, and, before +he knew it, he had arrived at the barn where he had promised to wait +for his chum. Mark looked at his watch, and found that he would still +have some time to linger before he could expect Jack to return. He sat +down on a stone beside the fence, and looked about him. The day was +warm for fall, and the last of the crickets were chirping away, while, +in distant fields, men could be seen husking corn, or drawing in loads +of yellow pumpkins. + +"I wonder if we'll have pumpkin pie on the moon," thought Mark. +"Though, of course, we won't. I guess all we'll have to eat will be +what Washington takes along in the projectile--that is, unless we find +people on the other side of the place." + +He sat on the stone for some minutes longer, and then, tiring of the +inactivity, he arose and strolled about. Something seemed to draw him +in the direction of the old house, which he knew was just around the +bend in the road. + +"I guess there wouldn't be any harm in my going along and taking a peep +at it," mused the lad. "It will be some time before Jack returns, and I +may be able to catch a glimpse of our man. I think I'll go up where I +can see the place, and I can come back in time to meet Jack. I'll do +it. Maybe the fellow might escape while I'm waiting." + +Mark thus tried to justify himself for his action in not keeping to his +agreement with his chum. Of course it was not an important matter, Mark +thought, though the results of his simple action were destined to be +more far-reaching than he imagined. He thought he would be back in time +to meet Jack, and so he strolled on, going more cautiously now, for, in +a few minutes he would come in sight of the old, deserted house, and he +did not know what he might find there. + +Mark's first sight of the Preakness homestead was of two old stone +posts, that had once formed a fine gateway. The posts were in ruins, +now, and half fallen down, being covered with Virginia creeper, the +leaves of which were now a vivid red, mingled with green. + +"Nothing very alarming there," said Mark, half aloud. He could just +catch a glimpse of the roof of the house over the tops of the trees, +which had not yet shed all their leaves. "Guess I'll go on a little +farther. Maybe our friend, the enemy, is sitting on the front porch, +sunning himself." + +Past the old gateway Mark continued, intending to proceed along the +highway until he got directly in front of the old mansion. There, he +knew, he would have a good view, unobstructed by trees or shrubbery. + +When the lad got to this place in the road, he paused, and stooped +over, as if tying the lace of his shoe, for it was his intention to +pass himself off, if possible, as a casual passer-by, so that in case +the mysterious man should be in the house, his suspicions would not be +aroused by seeing the youth to whom he had written the note staring in +at him. + +And, while he was apparently fussing with his shoe, Mark was narrowly +eying the old house. + +"Not a very inviting place," thought Mark. "I don't see why any man who +could afford anything better, would stay there--unless he has some +strong motive for lingering in this section. And that's probably what +this fellow has, and I'd like to discover it. Well, I don't see any +signs of him, so I guess I might as well go back, and wait for Jack. +He'll be along soon." + +He stood up, took a good look at the house, and was about to retrace +his steps down the highway, when he saw the sagging front door of the +old mansion slowly open. It creaked on the rusty hinges, and Mark +stared with all his might as he saw a man emerge, a man who did not +look like a tramp, for his clothes were of good material and cut, and +fit him well. Nor did he wear a stubbly growth of beard, but, on the +contrary, his face was clean shaven. The man was about Mark's size, +perhaps a little taller, and nearly as stout. He stood on the sagging +porch, and gazed off toward the road. + +"Well, if that's the man Dick Johnson got the note from he's changed +mightily in appearance," thought Mark, as he looked at the fellow. "He +isn't very tall, and he hasn't any black mustache. But of course he may +have shaved that off, and I suppose in the dark, and when one is in a +hurry to earn a quarter, it's hard to say whether a man is tall or +short. I wonder if this can be the person we're looking for?" + +Mark hardly knew what to do. He stood in the road, undecided, and +fairly stared at the man, who had left the porch, and was walking down +the weed-grown path. He was looking straight at Mark, but if the +stranger was the person who had written the note, and if he recognized +the lad, he gave no sign to that effect. + +"Good afternoon," said the man, as he paused at the gap in the front +wall, where once a gate had been. "Pleasant day, isn't it." + +"Ye--yes," stammered Mark, wondering what to say next. + +"Live around here?" went on the man. + +"Not very far off." + +"Ah, then you know this old shack?" + +"Well, I don't get over here, very often. Do you live here?" ventured +Mark boldly, determining to do some questioning on his own account. + +"Me live here?" cried the man, as if indignant "Well, hardly! I was +just passing, and, happening to see the old place, and having a +fondness for antiques, I stepped in. But it is in bad shape. I should +say tramps make it their hangout." + +"It has that name," said Mark. + +There was a pause for a moment, and the lad was a trifle embarrassed. +The man was gazing boldly at him. + +"I guess I've made a mistake," thought Mark. "This can't be the man we +want. He doesn't live here, and he doesn't look like him. I'd better be +getting back to meet Jack." + +"Are you engaged at anything in particular?" questioned the man taking +a few steps nearer the youth. + +"No, I'm not working, but I expect to take a trip, shortly, with some +friends of mine," answered Mark. + +"Ah, is that so?" and there was polite inquiry in the man's voice. "Are +you going far?" + +"Quite a distance." Mark wondered what the man would say if he told him +he was going to the moon. + +"I wonder if you would do me a favor?" went on the man. "As I was +passing through this old house I saw, on one of the outer doors, an +old-fashioned knocker. I am a collector of antiques, and I would very +much like to have that. But I need help in getting it off. I do not +intend to steal it, but if it is left here some tramp may destroy it, +and that would be too bad. I intend to remove it, and then hunt up the +owners of this place, and purchase it from them." + +"It will be hard to discover who are the owners," replied Mark, "as the +title is in dispute." + +"So much the better for me. Will you help me remove the knocker? I will +pay you for your time." + +Mark hesitated. He did not like the man's manner, and there was a +shifty, uneasy look about his eyes. Still he might be all right. But +Mark did not like the idea of going into the old house with him alone. +It might be safe, and, again, it might not. But the knocker was on an +outside door. There could be no harm in helping him, as long as it was +outside. The man saw the hesitation in the lad's manner. + +"It will not take us long," the stranger said. "I want you to help me +pry off the knocker, as I have no screw-driver to remove it. I will pay +you well." + +As he spoke he came nearer to Mark, and the lad noticed that the man's +right hand was held behind his back. This struck Mark as rather +suspicious. Suddenly he became aware of a peculiar odor in the air--a +sweet, sickish odor. He started back in alarm, all his former +suspicions aroused. The man seemed to leap toward him. + +"Look out!" suddenly cried the fellow. "Look behind you!" + +Involuntarily Mark turned. He saw nothing alarming. The next instant he +felt himself grasped in the strong arms of the man, and a cloth that +smelled strongly of the strange, sweetly sickish odor was pressed over +the lad's face. + +"Here! Stop! Let me go! Help! Help!" cried Mark. Then his voice died +out. He felt weak and sick, and sank back, an inert mass in the man's +arms. + +"I guess I've got you this time," whispered the fellow, as he gazed +down on Mark's white face. "I'll put you where you won't get away, +either," and, picking up the youth, he carried him a prisoner into the +deserted house. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +JACK IS PUZZLED + + +Whistling merrily, with his mind as much on the big field of diamonds +he expected to discover on the moon, as it was on anything else, Jack +Darrow crossed over the meadows toward the telegraph office. + +"By Jinks! It certainly will be great to fly through space once more," +he mused. "Of course it isn't much of a trip, only a quarter of a +million miles at most, but it will be a little outing for us, and then +those diamonds!" + +A trip of a quarter of a million miles only a little outing! But then +what can be expected of lads who had gone to Mars and back again? + +Jack lost no time in reaching the telegraph office, where he left the +message to be sent, urging the operator to "rush" it, which that +official promised to do. + +"'Twon't be no great hardship on me, neither," he said with a cheerful +grin, "seein' as how this is the only one I've had to send to-day. I'll +get it right off for you, Jack." + +Jack meant to hurry back, but, just as he was turning out of the main +village street, to cut across lots, and join Mark at the place agreed +upon, Jack saw two dogs fighting. It was with the best intentions in +the world that he ran toward them, for he wanted to separate them. +However a man was ahead of him, and soon had the two beasts apart. But +Jack lingered several moments to see if there would be a renewal of the +hostilities. There wasn't, and he hurried on. In a short time he was +within sight of the barn, where his chum had agreed to meet him. + +"Mark!" cried Jack, when he came within hailing distance. + +There was no response. + +"Maybe he's hiding to fool me," thought the lad, "I'll give him another +call." + +Neither was there a reply to this shout, and Jack, with a vague feeling +of fear in his heart, hurried forward, climbed the fence that separated +the field from the highway, and fairly ran toward the barn. + +A glance sufficed to show that Mark was not in sight, and, thinking +that his chum might be on the other side, Jack went around the +structure. + +"Oh, you Mark!" he called. "I'm back! Let's get a move on and go to the +old house." + +Silence was the only answer. + +"That's queer," murmured Jack, when he had made a circuit of the place, +and had seen no sight of his friend. "I wonder if anything could have +happened to him? Perhaps he went inside, and has fallen down the hay +mow. I'll take a look." + +He made a thorough inspection of the ramshackle old structure, but +there was no evidence that Mark had entered it, and Jack was soon quite +assured that no harm had befallen his friend in there. Then a sudden +thought came to him. + +"Why, of course!" he exclaimed aloud. "I should have thought of that +before. Mark got tired of waiting, and went on to the Preakness house. +I might have known. I'll go on and catch up to him there." + +Jack had reasoned correctly, but he could not know, what had taken +place with only the old, grim, deserted mansion for a witness. With a +lighter heart he set off down the road. + +It did not take him long, at the pace he kept up, to come within sight +of the old gateway, with the creeper twining over the pillars. Then he +caught a glimpse of the house, and he at once slackened his footsteps. + +"No use rushing into this thing," he reasoned in a whisper. "Mark may +be in hiding, taking an observation of the mysterious man, and I don't +want to spoil it, by butting in. Guess I'll lie low for a while, and +see what develops." + +Crouching down beside some bushes that lined the roadway Jack looked +toward the silent, tumbled-down house and waited. All was still. +Occasionally a shutter flapped in the wind, the hinges creaking +dismally, or some of the loose window-panes rattled as the sash was +blown to and fro. It was not a pleasant aspect, and as the afternoon +was waning, and the sun was going down, while a cool wind sprang up, +Jack was anything but comfortable in his place of observation. + +And the one objection to it was that there was nothing to observe. Not +a sign of life was to be seen about the place, and the broken windows, +like so many unblinking eyes, stared out on the fields and road. + +"Oh pshaw!" exclaimed Jack at length, "I'm not going to sit here this +way! I'm going up and take a look. It can't bite me, and if that man's +in there I can give him some sort of a talk that will make it look all +right. I'm going closer. Maybe Mark's inside there, waiting for me, +though it's queer why he didn't keep his agreement and wait for me at +the barn. Well, here goes." + +Though he spoke bravely, it was not without a little feeling of +apprehension that Jack started toward the old mansion. He kept a close +watch for the advent of any person or persons who might be in the +house, but, when he reached the front porch, and had seen no one, he +felt more at ease. + +"Hello, Mark!" he cried boldly. "Are you inside?" + +He paused for an answer. None came. + +"This is getting rather strange," murmured Jack, who was now quite +puzzled as to what to make of the whole matter. "Mark must be here, yet +why doesn't he answer me? Oh, you Mark!" he shouted at the top of his +voice. + +There was only silence, and, after waiting a few moments Jack made up +his mind that the best plan would be to enter the house and look around. + +He made a hasty search through the lower rooms, but saw no sign of +Mark. It was the same upstairs, and on the third floor there was no +evidence of his chum. Jack called again, but got no reply. + +"The garret next, and then the cellar," he told himself, and these two +places, darker and more dismal than any other parts of the old mansion, +were soon explored. + +"Well, if Mark came here he's not here now," thought Jack, "and there's +no use in my staying any longer. Maybe something happened that he had +to go back home. Perhaps he's trailing the man. We should have made up +some plan to be followed in case anything like that happened." + +Deciding that the best thing he could do would be to go back home Jack +came out of the old house. As he did so he gave a final call: + +"Mark! Oh, you Mark! Are you anywhere about?" + +What was that? Was it an answer, or merely the echo of his own voice? +Jack started, and then, as he heard another sound, he said: + +"Only the wind squeaking a shutter. Mark isn't here." + +If Jack had only known! + +Through the quickly-gathering darkness Jack turned his steps toward +home. On the way along the country road he kept a sharp lookout for any +sign of his chum, and, also, he looked to see if he could catch a +glimpse of any person who might answer the description of the man they +suspected of tampering with the Cardite motor. + +But the road was deserted, save for an occasional farmer urging his +horses along, that he might the more quickly get home to supper. + +"It's mighty strange," mused Jack, as he kept on. "I don't think Mark +did just right, and yet, perhaps, when it's all explained, he may have +good reasons for what he did. Maybe I'm wrong to worry about him, and, +just as likely as not, he's safe home, wondering what kept me. But he +might have known that I'd come back to the barn where I said I'd meet +him. Of course that dog-fight delayed me a little, but not much." + +It was quite dark when Jack reached the house where he and his chum +lived with the two professors. There was a cheerful light glowing from +many windows, and Jack also noticed an illumination in the shed where +the projectile was housed. + +"Guess they're working on it, to get it in shape for the trip, sooner +than they expected," he mused. + +Jack was met at the door by Washington White. + +"Hello, Wash!" greeted the lad. + +"Good land a' massy! Where hab yo' been transmigatorying yo'se'f during +de period when the conglomeration of carbohydrates and protoids hab +been projected on to de interplanetary plane ob de rectangle?" + +"Do you mean where have I been while supper was getting ready?" asked +Jack. + +"Dat's 'zackly what I means, Massa Jack." + +"Then why don't you say it?" + +"I done did. Dat's what I done. Supper's cold. But where am Massa Mark?" + +"What! Isn't Mark home?" cried Jack, starting back in alarm. + +"No, Massa Jack, we ain't seed him sence yo' two went off togedder. +Where yo' all been?" + +"Mark not home!" gasped Mark. "Where is Professor Henderson, Wash? I +must speak to him at once." + +"He am out in de shed wif Massa Roumann." + +With fear in his heart Jack dashed out toward the big shed. + +"Ain't yo' goin' t' hab some supper?" called Washington. + +"I don't want any supper--yet," flung back Jack over his shoulder. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A DARING PLOT + + +Mark Sampson lay an inert mass in the arms of the man who had attacked +him. Through the sagging door of the old, deserted house the captive +lad was carried, and up creaking stairs. + +"I guess no one saw me," whispered the man. "I'm safe, so far, and I +can work my scheme to perfection. Everything turned out well for me. I +was just wondering how I could get this youth in my power, and he +fairly walked into my hands! Now to keep him safe until I can take his +place in the projectile, and have my revenge. I have waited a long time +for it, but it has come at last!" + +Pausing at the head of the creaking stairs the man looked behind him, +to make sure that he was not being followed, but not a sound broke the +stillness of the old house, save the rattle and bang of the ruined +shutters. + +"I'm safe! Safe!" exulted the man, with a cruel chuckle. "Now to bind +him, and hide him in the secret chamber." + +He laid Mark down on a pile of bagging in a corner of a room at the +head of the stairs. Then, still glancing behind him, as if fearful of +being observed, the man walked over to a mantlepiece, fumbled about a +bit of carving that adorned the centre, and pressed on a certain spot. +A moment later the mantle seemed to swing out, and there was revealed a +secret room, the existence of which would never have been suspected by +the casual observer. + +Taking some of the bags from the pile where the unconscious lad was, +the man made a rude bed in the secret room. Then he carried Mark in, +and placed him in a fairly comfortable position, first taking the +precaution, however, of binding his hands and feet. + +"There," whispered the man, when he had finished, "I guess you'll not +get away in a hurry. Now I'll wait until dark, and then I'll give you +something to eat, for I don't want you to starve. But I must keep in +hiding, for, very likely, there'll be a search made for him. Guess I'd +better stay here, and see what happens," and the mysterious man pressed +the spring that sent the mantle back into place again, hiding all +traces of the secret room. + +"It's a good thing I stumbled upon this hiding place," he said to +himself. "It couldn't be better for what I want. Now to see what +happens next." + +He did not have long to wait, for in a short time Jack, as we have +seen, appeared on the scene, and began his search. At the sound of his +voice, calling for Mark, the man started in his hiding place, and +glanced uneasily at Mark. + +"He may hear, and wake up," he whispered. + +Jack came upstairs in the deserted house, and continued his search +there, calling from time to time. He gave one loud shout at the head of +the stairs, and the very thing that the man feared would happen came to +pass. + +The effect of the drug having worn off, Mark stirred uneasily, and +started up. He heard Jack's cry, and uttered a half-articulate answer. +In an instant the man was at his side, and had quickly gagged him. This +had the further effect of awakening the unfortunate lad; and he +struggled to loosen his bonds, but they were too strongly tied. He +endeavored to answer Jack, but only a meaningless mumble resulted, for +the gag was effective. + +"All you have to do is to keep quiet," urged the man, as he knelt +beside Mark in the darkness. "As soon as your chum goes, I'll take that +thing out of your mouth, and give you something to eat." + +Jack's voice died away, and presently, as the ears of the man told him, +the boy left the old house. Waiting some time, to make sure that he +would not return, the man removed the knot of rags from Mark's mouth, +and slightly loosened his bonds, first warning him, however, that if he +attempted to escape he would be harshly dealt with. + +"But what right have you to keep me here?" demanded the youth. "Who are +you, and what have I done to you, that you should treat me this way? +Are you crazy? Don't you know that you are liable to arrest for this?" + +"No one can arrest me," boasted the fellow. + +"But why have you made me a prisoner?" demanded Mark. + +"For reasons of my own. You'll see very soon." + +"But what have I done to you?" persisted the lad. "I never saw you +before, that I know of, unless you are the man who sent me the note, +and who ran when my chum and I came to the bridge to meet you." + +"I'm the man," was the answer, with a chuckle. + +"Then you must be the one who tried to wreck our projectile," went on +Mark. + +"Yes, I did that, and now I am sorry for it, for I have thought of a +much better scheme for getting even, and having my revenge on you." + +"But why do you want to be revenged on us?" + +"Because of what you have done!" and the man's voice took on an ugly +tone. + +"But what did we do?" begged Mark. + +"You'll know soon enough," was the answer, with a cunning laugh, and +then Mark was sure he had to deal with a lunatic. He ceased his +struggles to loosen the bonds, and resolved to meet cunning with +cunning. He would bide his time. + +"Will you promise to be quiet, and not kick up a fuss if I get you +something to eat?" asked the man. + +"Yes; but I'd rather have a drink of water first. I feel sick." + +"Very well, you shall have some water. I'll have to go out and get it, +but I must first blindfold you, so that you will not discover the +secret of this room." + +Mark could not help himself, for he was bound, and when the man had +tied a handkerchief over his eyes, Mark heard his captor moving about. + +Next there came a sound as of some heavy body, or object, being pushed +across the room. Mark felt a draught of wind on his face, but it ceased +instantly, and he knew that he was alone. He tried to work the bandage +from over his eyes, and he endeavored to loosen his bonds, for he did +not consider that this violated his promise. But it was of no effect. + +Presently he heard the moving, shoving sound again, and once more felt +the wind on his face. Then he heard the voice of his captor speaking. + +"Here is food and drink. I'm going to untie your hands so you can eat, +but mind, no fighting, for I'm a desperate man, and I won't stand any +nonsense!" + +He fumbled about the bonds, and soon Mark was free to stand up and use +his hands. The bandage was taken from his eyes, and he was able to peer +about his prison by the light of a candle which his captor had brought. + +Mark's first glance was at the man. He was the same one who had emerged +from the house to attack and drug him, but as for recognizing in him +the person who had been at the bridge, this was impossible. As far as +Mark could tell he had never seen the man before, nor did he answer the +description given by Dick Johnson. + +There was little danger that Mark would attempt violence. He was too +weak, and his jailer seemed a powerful fellow. Then, too, the lad felt +ill from the effects of the drug. + +"Drink some water, and eat a bit, and you'll feel better," urged the +man, which advice Mark followed, though, his appetite was not of the +best, and he was much worried as to what his friends would think about +his strange disappearance. + +"What do you intend to do with me?" asked Mark, when he felt a little +better from the effects of the food and drink. The man had sat on an +old soap box, and watched his captive while he ate. + +"Do with you? Why, I'm going to keep you here until your friends have +left in the projectile," was the answer. + +"But why don't you want me to go with them?" + +"Oh, I have my reasons. You'll find out soon enough. You can't go, +that's all." + +"But why do you take such an interest in me? Why didn't you capture my +chum Jack, too, while you were about it?" + +"Two reasons. One was that Jack wouldn't answer my purpose, and the +other was that I didn't have a chance to get him. You walked right into +my trap, just when I was doing my best to think of another plan to get +hold of you, since my first one failed." + +"But what is your purpose?" insisted the lad. "What do you want with +me?" He thought perhaps if he questioned the man closely enough he +might discover something that would give him a clew, or might aid him +to escape. + +"You'll learn soon enough," was the answer. + +"Will you tell me your name?" asked Marie quietly. + +"No--why should I?" was the quick reply. "If I told you who I was you +would at once know why I have made you a captive here. No; you shall +hear all in good time, but that will not be until I am ready. + +"Now," went on his captor, after a period of silence, "I shall have to +bind and blindfold you again." + +"Why?" asked Mark, in some alarm. + +"Because I don't want you to see how I get in and out of this room, and +that's the only way I can guard my secret. Though if you promise not to +remove the bandage from your eyes within five minutes from the time I +leave you, I will not have to tie your hands and feet. After I am gone +you may take the handkerchief off, but when you hear me rap on the +wall, ready to come back again, you must once more blindfold yourself. +Otherwise I shall have to tie you up." + +Mark considered a moment. It was not pleasant to be tied with the cruel +ropes, and he felt that in time he could penetrate the mystery of how +the room opened, even if he did not see his jailer enter and leave. + +"I promise," he said finally. + +"That's good. It simplifies matters. Now you can blindfold yourself, +and I trust to your honor. You may remove the bandage in five minutes, +but when you hear me knock, you must replace it until I am in the +apartment. Then you can take it off again." + +There was little choice but to obey, and Mark tied the handkerchief +over his eyes. He listened intently, heard the man moving about the +room, felt the wind on his cheeks, and then came silence. + +He waited until he thought five minutes had passed, and then took off +the bandage. The candle was burning where the man had set it, but the +fellow himself was gone. He had taken with him the broken dishes, and +remains of the food Mark had not eaten. The glass and a pitcher of +water stood on a broken table, and Mark took a big drink. + +"Now to see if I can't get out of this place," he murmured to himself. + +Mark had invented many pieces of apparatus, and he was considered a +good mechanician. Consequently he went about his task in a systematic +manner. He examined the walls carefully by the candle, which he carried +in his hand, but no opening was apparent. + +"Of course, there must be some secret spring to press," said the lad. +"That's how he gets in and out. A section of the wall moves, but where +it is I can't see. It will take time. I must look at every inch." + +He was in the midst of his investigations when there sounded on the +wall back of him three raps. + +"Ha! At least, that tells me where the opening is," thought the lad. +"It's on that side, but now I have to put that blamed bandage on. Well, +I may be able to escape yet." + +True to his promise, he blindfolded himself well, and presently he +heard a noise, felt a draught of air, and he knew his captor was in the +room. + +"You can now take off the handkerchief," said the man. "I have brought +you some more bags for bed clothing. It isn't much, but it is all I +have. They will keep you warm tonight." + +"Are you going to imprison me over night?" asked Mark. + +"Yes, and I'll stay here with you. No one can find us here. The secret +room is well hidden. But first I have another matter that needs +attention. I am going to ask you a question." + +"What?" asked the captive, wondering what strange request the mentally +unbalanced man would make now. + +The man leaned forward and whispered something in Mark's ear, as if he +was afraid the very walls would hear. + +"I'll not do it!" cried the youth. "I'll never aid you to deceive my +friends, for that is your object. I'll never do it!" + +"Then I shall have to use force," was the determined response. "You may +take your choice!" + +Poor Mark did not know what to do, yet there was little he could choose +between. The man had him in his power, yet the lad was terribly afraid +of the result of the daring scheme which he knew was in the mind of the +lunatic, for such he believed the man to be. + +"Will you not give up this plan?" begged Mark. "I know Professor +Henderson will pay you any sum in reason to let me go. You can become a +rich man." + +"I don't want riches--I want revenge!" exclaimed the man. And he glared +at Mark, while throughout the dismal, deserted house there sounded the +rattle and bang of the flapping shutters. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MARK'S STRANGE ACTIONS + + +Jack Darrow fairly burst into the big shed where the two scientists +were at work over the ruined motor. They looked up at his excitable +entrance, and Mr. Henderson called out: + +"Why, Jack, what's the matter?" + +"Quite a lot, I'm afraid," answered the lad, and there was that in his +voice which alarmed the professors. + +"What do you mean?" inquired Mr. Roumann, laying aside some of the +damaged motor plates. + +"Mark's gone!" gasped Jack. + +"Gone! Where?" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. + +"I don't know, but he went to the deserted house, where we thought the +mysterious man was hiding, and since then I can't find him." + +Then the frightened lad proceeded to explain what he and Mark had +undertaken, and the outcome of it; how his chum had failed to meet him +at the rendezvous, and how Jack had searched through the old house +without result. + +"There's but one thing to do," declared Professor Henderson, when he +had listened to the story. "We must go back there and make a more +thorough search." + +"What--to-night?" exclaimed the German. + +"Surely. Why not? We can't leave Mark there all alone. He may be hurt, +or in trouble." + +"That's what I think," said Jack. "I'll tell Washington and Andy, and +we'll go back and hunt for him. Poor Mark! If he had only waited for +me, perhaps this would never have happened, and if I hadn't stopped at +the dog-fight maybe Mark would have waited for me. Well, it's too late +to worry about that now. The thing is to find him; and I guess we can." + +Jack would not stop longer than to snatch a hasty bite of supper before +he joined the searching party. Washington and he carried lanterns, +while Andy Sudds had his trusty rifle, and the two professors brought +up in the rear, armed with stout clubs, for Jack's account of the +affair made them think that perhaps they might have to deal with a +violent man. + +"Hadn't you better notify the police?" suggested Andy. "A couple of +constables would be some help." + +"Not very much," declared Jack. "Besides, there are only two in +Bayside, and it's hard to locate either one when you want them. I guess +we can manage alone." + +"Yes, I would rather not notify the police if it can be avoided," said +Professor Henderson. + +The searching party hurried along the country highway, which was now +deserted, as it was quite dark. Their lanterns flashed from side to +side, but they had no hope of getting any trace of Mark until they came +to the old barn, at least, though Jack wished several times that he +might meet his chum running toward them along the road. + +They reached the barn in due course, and while Washington, Jack and +Andy began a search of it, the two scientists went up to the house of +the man who owned it and enlisted his aid. They asked him if he had +seen Mark around that afternoon, but the farmer had not. + +"But me an' my hired man'll come out and help you hunt through the +barn," he said. "I remember once, when I was a lad, that my brother +fell off the hay mow and lay unconscious in a manger for five hours +before we found him. Maybe that's what's happened to this young man," +suggested Mr. Hampton, which was the farmer's name. + +"I looked around pretty well this afternoon," explained Jack, when the +farmer and his man had reached the barn, "but, of course, I didn't know +all the nooks and corners." + +A thorough search of the structure, however, failed to reveal the +presence of Mark, and then the farmer volunteered to accompany the +party on to the old Preakness house. His offer was received with +thanks, and, bringing two more lanterns with them, Mr. Hampton and his +man added considerable to the illumination. + +They went through the old mansion from garret to cellar, and called +repeatedly, but there was no answer. And good reason, for in the secret +room, with his captive, the mysterious man heard the first approach of +the searching party; and he quickly bound Mark and gagged him, so that +he could not answer. + +There was nothing to do but to leave, and it was with sad hearts that +Jack and his friends departed, their search having been unavailing. +They turned toward home, which they reached quite late, but found +nothing disturbed. + +No one in Professor Henderson's house slept much that night, and in the +morning pale and wan faces looked at each other, all asking the same +question: "Where is Mark?" + +But no one could answer. + +They talked over the matter, and decided that Jack, with Andy and +Washington, should form a searching party to scour the surrounding +country. The two scientists were too old for such work, and, as the aid +of the police was not desired, it was felt that the three could do all +that was necessary. + +Accordingly, while Professor Henderson and his German friend went to +work on the damaged motor, which did not need as much repairing as at +first was thought to put it in working shape again, Jack and the two +men started off to hunt for Mark. + +They were gone all that day, returning very much discouraged at dusk, +saying that they could get no trace of him. + +"I don't see where he can be!" exclaimed Jack desperately, for, though +the two lads were not related, they had been friends so long, and had +shared so many pleasures and dangers together, that they were like +brothers. "You won't start for the moon until you find him, will you, +Professor?" asked Jack. + +"No, indeed; though we could start to-morrow if he was here," replied +the aged scientist. "The special tools came to-day, and the motor has +been repaired. We have tested it, and the Cardite power works even +better than did the Etherium apparatus." + +"Then we can start as soon as Mark is found?" asked Andy Sudds. + +"Yes, for everything has been put inside the projectile, and all that +remains is to haul it out of the shed, point it at the moon, and start +the motor." + +"Then I guess I'll give my gun a final cleaning, and get ready. There +may be good hunting on the moon," said the old hunter. + +Jack was tired from his long tramp that day, searching for his missing +chum, but before he went to bed he wanted to go out and take a look at +the big projectile, which was now ready to start for the moon. + +As he turned around the corner of the immense shed to enter the door, +he was startled by seeing a figure coming toward him. Jack started, +rubbed his eyes, and peered again. + +"Is it possible? Can I be mistaken?" he whispered. + +The figure came nearer. Jack, who had come to a halt, broke into a run. + +"Mark! Mark!" he cried joyously. "Oh, you've come back! Where have you +been?" + +Jack was about to clasp his chum in his arms when he saw that Mark's +arm was in a sling, and that his face was all bandaged up, so that +scarcely any of his features showed. Had it not been for the clothes, +and a certain stoutness of which Mark never could seem to get rid, Jack +would scarcely have known his friend. + +"Why, Mark, what happened?" cried Jack. "Have you met with an accident? +Where have you been? In a hospital? What became of you? Why didn't you +wait for me?" + +"I can't answer all those questions at once," was the reply, and Jack +thought Mark's voice was curiously muffled and hoarse, entirely unlike +his usual tones. But he ascribed that to the bandages around the mouth. + +"Well, answer one at a time then," said Jack, and there was an +undefinable, strange air about his chum which cooled Jack's first +impulse of gladness. "Whatever happened to you, Mark? Are you hurt?" + +"I was--yes," came the reply, in short, jerky tones. "I had an +accident, and I've been in a hospital. That's why I couldn't send you +word. But I'm all right now. When does the projectile start?" + +"To-morrow, now that you're here. But tell me more about it. Where were +you hurt?" + +"On my head and arm." + +"No; I mean where did the accident occur?" + +"Oh, in the old house where I went to--to look for that man." + +"Did you find him?" asked Jack eagerly. + +"No. He's not there now." + +"Well, never mind. We won't bother about him. Come on to the house. My, +but I'm glad to see you again! And so will the others be." + +In his enthusiasm at seeing his chum again Jack wanted to hug him. He +approached Mark, but the latter cried out: + +"Look out! Don't come too close!" + +"Why not? Have you caught some disease?" + +"No, but you might hurt my broken arm!" + +"Oh, is it broken? That's tough luck. Did you fall?" + +"Yes--in the old house. I fell down stairs." + +"And your head is all bandaged up, too," went on Jack, trying to peer +into his friend's face through the roll of bandages. + +"Look out! Don't come too near!" again warned the other. "You might +jostle against me, and knock off some of the bandages." + +"Did you lose some of your teeth, the reason your voice sounds so +funny?" asked Jack. + +"Yes, I did knock out a few when I tumbled. But don't bother about me. +I'll be all right soon. Let's go in the house. I want to go to bed." + +"But they'll all want to see you, and hear about the accident, Mark," +insisted Jack. "My, but we've been all worked up about you. How did you +happen to be taken to a hospital?" + +"A farmer came along, and I hailed him. Then I lost consciousness, and +couldn't let you know where I was. But never mind the details. I'm +anxious to get started on the trip to the moon. Couldn't we start +to-night?" + +"I don't believe so. You need rest. But come on in the house." Then +Jack hurried on ahead, calling: "Mark's found! Mark is back!" + +His cries brought all of the others out on the porch, and at first they +could scarcely believe the good news, but soon Jack and the new arrival +came in sight. As Jack had been, the two professors and the others were +startled when they saw how Mark was bundled up in bandages. + +"He fell down stairs," explained Jack. + +"Come over here where it's light, so I can see you," suggested +Professor Henderson. "Perhaps some of the bandages have slipped off +since you came from the hospital. Why did you come alone? Why didn't +you send us word where you were as soon as you were conscious, and we +would have come for you." + +"Oh, I didn't want to bother you," explained the bundled-up figure. "I +managed to walk it all right." + +"But your injuries may need attention," insisted Mr. Henderson. "I know +something about doctoring. Come here where I can see." + +"No--no--the--light hurts my eyes," was the hasty reply. "I guess I'll +go to bed, so as to be all ready to start in the morning. Why don't you +leave for the moon to-night, professor?" + +"There are still a few little details to look after. But are you sure +you are well enough to go with us? We may meet with hardships up on the +moon." + +"Oh, I'm all ready to go," was the answer. "I'd start to-night if I +could. But now I must get to bed." + +"Don't you want supper?" asked Jack. + +"No, I had some just before I left the hospital." + +"What hospital was it?" inquired Andy Sudds. "I was in one once, and I +didn't like it. There wa'nt enough air for me." + +"I forget the name of the place," came the reply. "I can't think +clearly. I need sleep." + +The newcomer kept in the shadows of the room, as if the light hurt his +eyes, and appeared restless and ill at ease. With the hand that was not +in a sling he pulled the bandages closer about his face. + +"Can't you tell us more about what happened?" asked Jack, for Mark was +not usually so reticent, and his chum noticed it. + +"There isn't much to tell," was the response. "I went to the old house, +and I was looking around when I happened to tumble down stairs. I must +have been knocked unconscious, but when I came to I crawled outside. A +farmer was driving past, and I asked him to take me to a hospital." + +"Why didn't you come home?" asked Mr. Henderson. + +"Oh, I didn't want to make any trouble and delay work on the +projectile. I figured that I could be with you in a few hours, and you +wouldn't worry. But they insisted that I must stay in the hospital when +they got me there. Then I lost consciousness again, and couldn't manage +to let you know where I was. But I'm all right now." + +"Why didn't you wait for me at the barn, when I went to send the +telegram, as you promised you would?" asked Jack, who felt a little +hurt at his chum's neglect. + +"Did I promise to wait for you at some barn?" + +"Yes; don't you remember?" and Jack gazed at the bandaged figure in +surprise. + +"Oh, yes--I--I guess I do. But I want to go to bed now," and pulling +the cloths closer about his face the injured one started from the +apartment. + +"Here. That's not the way up to your room. The stairs are over here," +called Jack, for he saw the newcomer taking the wrong direction. + +"Oh, yes. Guess my mind must be wandering," and with an uneasy laugh +the injured one turned about. They heard him going up stairs, and a +little later Jack followed. He found that Mark's room was not occupied. + +"Hi, Mark! Where are you?" he called, in some alarm. + +"Here," was the answer, and the voice came from Jack's own apartment. + +"Well, you're in the wrong bunk." + +"Am I? Well, I must have made another mistake. My head can't be right," +and with that the other came out and hastily went into the adjoining +apartment. + +For a moment Jack stood in the hall. He looked at the door that had +closed behind the bandaged figure. + +"There's something wrong," said Jack in a low voice. "How strange Mark +acts! I wonder what can be the matter?" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +READY FOR THE MOON + + +There were busy times for the moon-voyagers the next day. They were up +early, for at the last moment many little details needed to be settled. +The Cardite motor had been thoroughly repaired, for the damage caused +by the unknown enemy had done no permanent harm. + +When the injured one appeared the bandage on his head seemed larger +than ever, and his features were almost hidden. He still wore his arm +in a sling. + +"Well, how do you feel?" asked Jack, looking narrowly at the figure. He +could not get rid of a suspicion that something was wrong with Mark. + +"Oh, I'm feeling pretty fair," was the mumbled answer. "I didn't sleep +much, though." + +"Well, take care of yourself," advised Jack. "We are about ready to +start. We'll get off about noon, Professor Henderson says. Don't try to +do anything and injure your broken arm. You certainly had a tough time +of it." + +"Yes, I guess I did. I can't do much to help you." + +"You don't need to. We're all but finished. Just hang around and watch +me work. There isn't much to do." + +But though Jack gave an invitation to remain near him, the other seemed +to prefer being off by himself. He wandered in and out of the +projectile, now and then helping Andy or Washington to carry light +objects into the _Annihilator_. But all the while he was careful not to +disturb the bandage on his face, and several times he stopped to +readjust it. Nor did he talk much, which Jack ascribed to his statement +that his teeth hurt him. And when the bandaged figure did speak, it was +in mumbling tones, very different from Mark's usually cheerful ones. + +"Well," remarked Professor Roumann, after a final inspection of the big +Cardite motor--the one that was to be depended on to carry them to the +moon--"I think we are about ready to leave this earth. How about it, +Professor Henderson?" + +"Yes, I think so. Have you made any calculation as to speed?" + +"Yes, we will not have to move nearly as fast as we did when we went to +Mars. We only have to cover a quarter of a million of miles at the +most, and probably less than that. The motor will send us along at the +rate of about a mile a second, which is three thousand six hundred +miles an hour, or eighty-six thousand four hundred miles a--day. At +that rate we would be at the moon in less than three days. + +"But I don't want to travel as fast as that," the German went on. "I +want time to make some scientific observations on the way, and so I +have reduced the speed of the Cardite motor by half, though should we +need to hasten our trip we can do so." + +"Then we'll be about a week on the way?" asked Jack. + +"About that, yes," assented Mr. Roumann. + +"And could we go farther than to the moon if we wanted to?" inquired +the bandaged figure mumblingly. + +"Farther? What do you mean?" asked Professor Henderson quickly. + +"I mean could we go to Mars if we wanted to?" + +"You don't mean to say you want to go back there, and run the chance of +being attacked by the savage Martians, do you?" asked Jack. + +"No, I was only asking," and the other seemed confused. + +"Well, of course, we _could_ go there, as we have plenty of supplies +and enough of the Cardite," said Mr. Roumann. "But I think the moon +will be the limit of our trip this time." + +The work went on, the last things to be put aboard the projectile being +a number of scientific instruments. The injured one wandered in and +out, now being in the house and again in the big shed. He seemed +restless and ill at ease, and frequently he walked to the front gate +and gazed down the road. + +"You seem to be looking for some one," spoke Jack. "Are you expecting +your girl to come along and bid you good-by, Mark?" + +"Who--me? No, I--I was just looking to see if--if it was going to rain." + +"Rain? Well, rain won't make much difference to us soon. We will be +outside of the earth's atmosphere in a jiffy after we have started, and +then rain won't worry us. Is your stateroom all fixed up?" + +"No, I didn't think of that. Guess I'd better look after it." + +The two started together for the projectile. The stout one entered +first, and made his way through the engine room and main cabin to the +compartment off which the staterooms opened. He entered one. + +"Here, that's not yours," cried Jack. "That's where Professor Henderson +sleeps. Yours is next to mine." + +"That's right; I forgot," mumbled the other. "I must be getting absent +minded since my accident. But I'll be all right soon. I'll get my room +to rights, and then probably we'll start." + +"I guess so," answered Jack, but he shook his head as he gazed after +his chum. "Mark has certainly changed," he murmured. "I wish he'd take +those bandages off, so I could get a look at his face." + +The last details were completed. The big _Annihilator_ had been run out +on trucks into the yard surrounding the shed, ready to be hurled +through the air. The shop, shed and house had been locked up and given +in charge of a caretaker, who would remain on guard until our friends +returned. + +"Are we all ready?" asked Professor Henderson, as he stood ready to +close the main entrance door and seal it hermetically. + +"All ready, I guess," answered Jack. The stout one had gone to his +stateroom, where he could be heard moving about. + +"I'm ready," announced Professor Roumann. "Say the word and I'll start +the motor." He was in the engine room, looking over the machinery. At +that moment there came a loud yell from the galley where Washington +White was. + +"Heah, heah! Come back!" cried the colored man. "My Shanghai rooster is +got loose!" he yelled, and, an instant later, the fowl came sailing out +of the projectile, with Washington in full chase after him. + +"I'll help you catch him," volunteered Jack, springing to the cook's +aid, while Professor Henderson laughed, and a bandaged figure, looking +from a stateroom port, wondered at the delay in starting the projectile. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +MARK'S ESCAPE + + +Mark Sampson was alone in the deserted house. Bound hand and foot, +stripped of his clothing, and attired in some old garments that the +tramps who made a hanging-out place of the old mansion had cast aside, +the unfortunate lad was stretched on a pile of bagging, his heart +beating partly with fear and partly with rage over a desire to escape +and punish the scoundrel responsible for his plight. + +The man who had captured him, after taking away Mark's clothes, had +chuckled, as though at some joke. + +"You may think this is funny," spoke the lad bitterly, "but you won't +be so pleased when my friends get after you." + +"They'll never get after me," boasted the man. "This is a good joke. To +think that I can pass myself off as you; that I can join them in the +projectile, and they never will be the wiser!" + +"They'll soon discover that you are disguised as me," declared Mark, +"and when they do they'll have you arrested." + +"Yes, but they'll not discover it until we have left the earth, and are +on our way to the moon. Then it will be too late to turn back, and my +object will have been accomplished. I will be with them in the +_Annihilator_, and I'll have my revenge! The projectile is due to sail +to-morrow, and I'll be on hand. I'm going to leave you now. I have left +orders with a friend of mine that you are to be released to-morrow +night. In the meanwhile you will have to be as comfortable as you can. +I wish you no harm, but I must keep you here. + +"I will feed you well before I go, and put some water where you can get +it. But I must leave you tied. I'll not gag you, for, no matter how you +yell, no one will hear you. I have posted a notice in front of this +place that it is under the watch of the police, so no tramps will +venture in, and your friends will not come back. + +"Now, just make yourself comfortable here, and I'll go to the moon in +your place. I think I shall enjoy the trip. As I said, you will be +released to-morrow night, several hours after the projectile has left +the earth." + +"How do you know it is to start to-morrow morning?" asked Mark. + +"Oh, I have been spying around, and I overheard the professors talking. +I know a thing or two, and I'll be on hand, on time, in your place! +Now, I have to leave you. I've left ten dollars to pay for your suit, +which I need to disguise myself with." + +Then the man was gone, and Mark was left with his bitter thoughts to +keep him company. The whole daring scheme of the man had been revealed. +He did look something like Mark, and, attired in the lad's clothes, and +by keeping his face concealed, he might pass himself off as Jack's +chum; at least, until after the projectile had started. + +"And then, as he says, it will be too late to return to earth and get +me," thought Mark bitterly. "Oh, why did I ever try to learn this man's +secret? Who is he, anyhow? Why didn't I wait for Jack at the barn, as I +promised? It's all my fault. I wonder if I can't get loose?" + +Mark struggled several hours desperately and at last he felt the ropes +giving slightly. He redoubled his efforts. Strand by strand the cords +parted. He put all his efforts into one last attempt, and to his great +joy he felt his hands separate. He was partly free! + +But scarcely half his task was accomplished. He had yet to discover the +secret of the hidden room--a room, as he afterward learned, which had +been built during slavery days to conceal the poor black men who were +escaping from the South. + +"But now I have my hands to work with!" exulted Mark. + +Resting a bit after his strenuous labors, he took a long drink of water +and attacked the ropes on his feet. They were comparatively easy to +loosen, and soon he stood up unbound. + +"Now for the secret panel!" he exclaimed, for he was convinced that it +was by some such means that his captor had entered and left. As has +already been explained, Mark knew on which side of his prison the +opening was likely to be--it would be where the warning knocks had +sounded. He began a minute inspection of that wall. + +But if Mark hoped to speedily discover the secret he was doomed to +disappointment. He went over every inch of the surface, seemingly, and +pressed on every depression or projection that met his eye, as he +passed the candle flame along the wall. + +Success did not reward him, and, as hour after hour passed, and the +candle burned lower and lower, Mark began to despair. + +"I must escape before the projectile leaves," he murmured. "It will +never do to let them take that man with them under the impression that +they have me. I must escape! I will!" + +Once more he began the tiresome task of seeking the secret spring. The +candle was spluttering in the socket now. It would burn hardly another +minute. Desperately Mark sought. + +At last, just as the candle gave a dying gasp and flared brightly up +prior to going out, the lad saw a small screw head he had not noticed +before. It was sunk deep in a board. + +"I'll press that and see what happens!" he exclaimed. + +With a suddenness that was startling, he found himself in total +darkness. The candle had burned out, but he had his finger on the +screw. He pressed it with all his force. + +There was a rumbling sound in the darkness, a movement as if some heavy +body had slid out of the way, and Mark felt a breath of air on his +cheeks. Then he saw a dim light. + +"Oh, I'm out! I'm out!" he cried joyously, breathing a prayer of +thankfulness at his deliverance. "I'm free! I pushed on the right +spring, and the panel slid back!" + +He fairly leaped forward. The morning light was streaming in through +the broken windows. He saw himself in the old hall of the mansion, at +the head of the stairs, in a sort of anteroom, the mantle of which +apartment had swung aside to give him egress from the secret chamber +through a hole in the wall. He was free! + +"But am I in time?" he cried. "It is morning--and about ten o'clock, I +should judge. I've been working to get free all night. Will I be in +time?" + +He gave one last look behind at his prison and sprang down the rickety +stairs. He had but one thought--to reach home in time to unmask the +villain who was impersonating him--to be in time to make the journey to +the moon. + +"But it's several miles, and I can't walk very fast," murmured Mark. +"I'm too stiff and weak. How can I do it?" + +He thought of making his way to the nearest farm house, and asking for +the loan of a horse and carriage, but he looked so much like a tramp +that no farmer would lend him a horse. + +"And I need to make speed," he murmured. + +At that moment he heard a noise down the road. It was a steady +"chug-chug," like some distant motor-boat, but there was no water near +at hand. + +"A motorcycle!" exclaimed Mark. "Some one is coming on a motorcycle. +Oh, if I could only borrow it!" + +He ran down into the road. He could see the rider now. To his joy it +was Dick Johnson--the lad who had brought him the mysterious note. + +"Hi Dick! Dick! hold on!" cried Mark. + +The lad on the motor gave one glance at the ragged figure that had +hailed him. Then he turned on more power to escape from what he thought +was a savage tramp. + +"Wait! Stop! I want that motorcycle!" cried Mark. + +"Well, you're not going to get it!" yelled back Dick. "I'll send the +police after you." + +Mark couldn't understand. Then a glance down at his ragged garments +showed him what was the matter. + +"Wait! Hold on, Dick!" he cried, running forward. "I'm Mark Sampson! +I've had a terrible time! I was captured by that mysterious man, and +he's got my clothes. I must get home quick!" + +Dick heard, but scarcely understood. However, he comprehended that his +friend was in trouble, and he wanted to help him. He slowed up, and +Mark reached him. + +"Lend me your motorcycle, Dick," begged Mark. "I must get home in a +hurry to unmask a scoundrel. I'll leave your machine for you at our +house. I won't hurt it. I'm in a hurry! Get off!" + +Somewhat dazed, Dick dismounted, and Mark climbed into the saddle. He +began to pedal, and then threw in the gasolene and spark. The cycle +chugged off. + +"I'll leave it for you at our house," Mark called back. "I'm going on a +trip to the moon, and I don't want to be late." + +He was fast disappearing in a cloud of dust, while Dick, gazing after +him, remarked: + +"Well, I always thought those fellows were crazy to go off in +projectiles and things like that, and now I'm sure of it. Going to the +moon! Well, I only hope he doesn't take my motorcycle there!" + +Mark sped on, turning the handle levers to get the last notch of speed +out of the cycle. Would he be in time? + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A DIREFUL THREAT + + +Perhaps Washington White's Shanghai rooster did not care to make the +trip to the moon, or perhaps the fowl had not yet seen enough of this +earth. At any rate, when he flew from the projectile, uttering loud +crows, and landed some distance away, he began to run back toward the +coop in the rear of the yard. + +"Cotch him, cotch him!" yelled the colored man. "Dat's a valuable bird!" + +"We'll get him when he goes in the coop," said Jack, who found it +difficult to run and laugh at the same time. + +"Shall I fire my rifle off and scare him?" asked Andy Sudds. + +"No, you might kill him or scare him t' death," objected Washington. + +"Come on, Mark, and help," cried Jack, looking toward the projectile, +where a figure was peering from the glass-covered port of the main +cabin. + +But the figure, whose hand was done up in voluminous bandages, did not +come out, and Jack wondered the more at what he thought was a growing +strangeness on the part of his chum. + +Jack, followed by Andy and Washington, raced off after the rooster, +while the two professors, somewhat amused, rather chaffed at the delay. +But afterward they were glad of it. + +"Just my luck!" muttered the bandaged one. "This delay comes at the +wrong time. Why don't they go on without that confounded rooster? If we +stay here too long, that fellow Mark may get loose and spoil the whole +thing, or Jenkins may go and release him before the time set. It would +be just like Jenkins! I've a good notion to start the projectile +myself. I know how to operate the Cardite motor. Only I suppose those +two professors are on guard in the engine room. I'll have to wait until +they catch that rooster, I guess, but I'd like to wring his neck!" + +The chase after the fowl was kept up. + +"I've got him now!" cried Jack a little later, as the fowl, evidently +now much exhausted, ran into another fence corner, where Jack caught +him, and shut him up in the coop in the projectile. + +"Yo' suttinly am de mos' contrary-minded specimen ob de chicken fambly +dat I eber seed," observed Washington, breathing heavily, for his run +had winded him. + +"Well, are we all ready to start now?" asked Professor Henderson. "No +more live stock loose, is there, Jack?" + +"I think not." + +"Where's Mark? Wasn't he helping you catch the rooster?" + +"No, he's inside. Shall I seal the door?" + +"Yes, and I'll tell Professor Roumann that we're about to start. All +ready for the moon trip!" + +Jack was pulling the steel portal toward him. An eager face, peering +from a port, waited anxiously for the tremor which would indicate that +the projectile had left the earth. In another moment they would be off. + +But what was that sound coming from down the highway. A steady +chug-chug--a sort of roar, as of a battery of rapid-fire guns going off +in double relays! And, mingled with the explosions, there was a voice +shouting: + +"Wait! Hold on! Don't go without me! I'm Mark Sampson! Don't start the +projectile!" + +"Somebody must be in a mighty hurry on a motorcycle," thought Jack, as +he paused a moment before fastening the door. Then the shouts came to +his ears. + +"Mark Sampson!" he cried. + +Again came the cry: "Wait! Wait! Don't go without me! You've got that +mysterious man on board!" + +"Mark Sampson!" murmured Jack again. "That's his voice sure enough! I +wonder--can it be possible--that man--with his head all bandaged +up--his queer actions--I--I----" + +Words failed the youth. Throwing wide open the door, he sprang out of +the projectile. A moment later there dashed into the yard, where the +great projectile rested, a strange figure astride of a puffing +motorcycle. The figure was torn and, ragged, and the nondescript +garments were covered with dust, for Mark had had a fall. But there was +no mistaking the face that peered eagerly forward. + +"Jack!" cried the youth on the machine. + +"Mark!" ejaculated the lad who had sprung from the projectile. "What +has happened? Who is the fellow who has been masquerading as you?" + +"A scoundrel and a villain! Let me get at him!" and, slamming on the +brakes, as he shut off the power, Mark leaped from the motorcycle, +stood it up against the projectile, and clasped his chum by the hand. + +"What's the matter?" asked Professor Henderson, as he, too, ran out of +the _Annihilator_. "What does that tramp want, Jack? Give him some +money, and get back in here; we ought to have started long ago." He +looked at the ragged figure. + +"This isn't a tramp," cried Jack. "It's Mark!" + +"Mark! I thought----" + +"There have been strange doings," gasped the lad in tramp's garments. +"I have just escaped from being kept a prisoner. Where is the +mysterious man? Oh, I'm glad I arrived in time! Were you about to +start?" + +"That's what we were," replied Jack. "Oh, Mark, but I'm glad to see you +again! I didn't know what to think. You acted so strange--or, rather, +the fellow we thought was you had me guessing!" + +"Good land a' massy!" exclaimed Washington White, as he stood in the +doorway, with Andy Sudds behind him. "Am dere two Marks? What's up, +anyhow?" + +"Don't let that fellow get away--the fellow who passed himself off as +me!" shouted Mark. "Lock him up! There's some mystery about him that +must be explained. He's a dangerous man to be at large." + +Professor Henderson turned back to enter the projectile. Jack advised +Andy to get his gun ready, with which to threaten the scoundrel in case +of necessity. + +At that instant there sounded a crash of glass, and the whole front of +the big observation window in the side of the _Annihilator_ was smashed +to atoms. A figure leaped--a figure which no longer had its head +bandaged, and whose arm was no longer in a sling--the figure of a +man--the mysterious man who had held Mark a prisoner! + +"There he goes!" shouted Jack. "Catch him, somebody! Andy, where's your +gun?" + +"I'll have it in a jiffy!" cried the hunter, as he dashed back to get +it. + +But the man did not linger. Scrambling to his feet after his fall, +caused by his leap from the broken window, which he had smashed with a +sledge hammer as soon as he understood that his game was up, he raced +out of the yard. He turned long enough to shake his fist at the group +assembled around the projectile, and then leaped away, calling out some +words which they could not hear. + +"Let's take after him," proposed Mark. + +"Come on," seconded Jack. + +"No, let him go; he's a desperate man, and you came just in time to +unmask him," said Professor Henderson. "He might harm you if you took +after him. Let him go. He has not done much damage. We can easily +replace the broken window. But I can't understand what his object was +in disguising himself as Mark. He certainly looked like you, Mark, +especially when he kept his face concealed. Why did he do it?" + +"He wanted to go to the moon in my place," answered the former prisoner +of the deserted house. + +"But why?" insisted Jack. + +"Because, I think, he's crazy, and he didn't really know what he did +want. But he certainly had me well concealed," spoke Mark. "I'm free +now, however, and as soon as I get some decent clothes on I'll go with +you to the moon. I wouldn't want the moon people to see me dressed this +way." + +"How did it happen?" asked Jack. "Tell us all about it. My! but I +certainly have been puzzled since you--or rather since the person we +thought was you--came back last night all bunged up. Give us the story." + +"I will; give me a chance. I guess that villain is gone for good." Andy +Sudds came out with his gun, and insisted on taking a look down the +road and around the premises. The man was nowhere in sight. + +"Now we're in for another delay," remarked Jack ruefully, as he gazed +at the smashed window. "It seems as if we'd never get started for the +moon." + +"Oh, yes, we will," declared Professor Henderson. "We have some extra +heavy plate glass in the shop, and we can soon put in another +observation window." + +"Let's get right to work then," proposed Jack. "That man may come back. +Did you learn who he was, Mark?" + +"No, he wouldn't tell his name, and he said he was doing this to get +revenge on us for some fancied wrong. I can't imagine who he is. But +let's work and talk at the same time. I'll tell you all that happened +to me," which he did briefly. + +Mark soon got rid of the tramp clothes, and donned an extra suit which +had been packed in his trunk in the projectile. Then he helped replace +the broken window, which, in spite of their haste, took nearly all the +rest of the day to put in place. + +"Shall we wait and start to-morrow?" asked Jack, when four o'clock +came. "It will soon be dark." + +"Darkness will make no difference to us," announced Professor Roumann. +"Our Cardite motor will soon take us out of the shadow of the earth, +and we will be in perpetual sunshine until we reach the moon. As we are +all ready, we might as well start now." + +They all agreed with this, and, after a final inspection of the +projectile, the travellers entered it, and Jack was once more about to +seal the big door. + +Before he could do so there came riding into the yard, on his +motorcycle, which he had claimed that afternoon, Dick Johnson. + +"Wait a minute," he cried. "I've got a letter for you. It's from that +man!" + +"What--another thing to delay us?" cried Jack, but he called to +Professor Roumann not to start the motor, and ran to take from Dick the +letter which the lad held out. + +"That same man who gave me the one for Mark gave me this, and he paid +me a half a dollar to bring it here," said the boy. + +"All right," answered Jack impatiently. + +He looked at the note. It was addressed to the "Moon Travellers," and, +considering that he was one, the youth tore open the envelope. In the +dim light of the fading day he read the bold handwriting. + +"I have fixed you," the letter began. "You will never get to the moon. +I shall have my revenge. You took my brother Fred Axtell to Mars and +left him there. I determined to get him back, and to that end I +disguised myself as one of the boys, and got aboard. When we were +safely away from the earth, I would have compelled you to go to Mars +and rescue my brother. But my plan has failed. I will have my revenge, +though. You will never reach the moon, even if you do get started. +Beware! George, the brother of Fred Axtell, will avenge his fate!" + +"The brother of the crazy machinist!" gasped Jack. "Now I understand +his strange actions. He's crazy, too--he wanted to go to Mars--he says +we will never reach the moon! Say, look here!" cried Jack, raising his +voice. "Here's bad news! That scoundrel has put some game up on us! +Maybe he's tampered with the machinery! It won't be safe to start for +the moon until we've looked over everything carefully! He says he's +fixed us, and perhaps he has!" + +From the projectile came hurrying the would-be moon travellers, a vague +fear in their hearts. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +OFF AT LAST + + +In the gathering twilight Professor Henderson read slowly the note Dick +had brought. Then he passed it to Professor Roumann. The latter shook +his shaggy gray hair, and murmured something in German. + +"Where did you meet the man?" asked Jack of the young motorcyclist. + +"About two miles down the road. He was walking along, sort of talking +to himself, and I was afraid of him. He called to me, and offered me a +half a dollar to deliver this message. I didn't want to at first, but +he said if I didn't he'd hurt me, so I took it. Is it anything bad?" + +"We don't know yet," replied Mark. + +"No, that is the worst of it," added Professor Roumann. "He has made a +threat, but we can't tell whether or not he will accomplish it. We are +in the dark. He may have done some secret damage to our machinery, and +it will take a careful inspection to show it." + +"And will the inspection have to be made now?" asked Jack. + +"I think so," answered Professor Henderson gravely. "It would not be +safe to start for the moon and have a breakdown before we got there. We +must wait until morning to begin our trip." + +"It will be the safest," spoke the German, and the boys, in spite of +the fact that they were anxious to get under way, were forced to the +same conclusion. + +"Then if we're going to camp here for the night," proposed old Andy, +"what's the matter with me and the boys having a hunt for that man? +We've put up with enough from him, and it's time he was punished. If we +let him go on, he'll annoy us all the while, if not now, then after we +get back from the moon. I'm for giving him a chase and having him +arrested." + +"He certainly deserves some punishment, if only for the way he treated +Mark," was Jack's opinion, his chum having related how he was drugged +and kept a prisoner in the secret room, and how he escaped in time to +unmask the villain. + +"Well," said Professor Henderson, after some thought, "it might not be +a bad plan to see if you could get that scoundrel put in some safe +place, where he could make no more trouble for us. I guess the lunatic +asylum is where he belongs, though I can sympathize with him on account +of his brother. But it was not our fault that the crazy machinist went +with us to Mars. He was a stowaway, and went against our wishes, and +when he got there he tried to injure us." + +"Then may Mark, Andy and I see if we can find this man?" asked Jack. + +"Yes, but be careful not to get separated; and don't run any risks," +cautioned the professor. "Mr. Roumann and I, with the help of +Washington, will go carefully over all the machinery, and every part of +the projectile, to see if any hidden damage has been done. But don't +stay out too late. You had better notify the police. They may be able +to give you some aid, and I don't mind letting them know about it now, +as we will soon be away from here, because, no matter if they do send +detectives or constables spying about now, they can learn none of our +secrets." + +Waiting only to partake of a hasty meal, the two boys and the veteran +hunter set out, Andy with his gun over his shoulder and his sharp eyes +on the lookout for any sign of Axtell, though they hardly expected to +find him in the vicinity of the projectile. + +Taking the road, on which Dick Johnson said he had encountered the man, +the two lads and Andy proceeded, making inquiries from time to time of +persons they met. But no one had seen Axtell, and the insane man, for +such he seemed to be, appeared to have dropped out of sight. + +On into the village the searchers went, and there they reported matters +to the chief of police, telling him only so much as was necessary to +give him an understanding of the situation. + +"I'll send a couple of my best constables right out on the case," said +the chief. "We've just appointed two new ones, and I guess they'll be +glad to arrest somebody." + +"Let them look out that this fellow doesn't drug them and carry them +away," cautioned Mark. + +"Oh, I guess my constables can look out for theirselves," spoke the +chief proudly. + +Once more the trailers sallied forth to renew their search. They +thought perhaps they might find their man lingering in the town, but a +search through the principal streets did not disclose him, and Mark +proposed that they return to their home for the night, as he was tired +and weary from his experience in the deserted house. + +As they were turning out of the town, their attention was attracted by +a disturbance on the street just ahead of them. A woman screamed, and +men's voices were heard. Then came cries of: "Police! Police!" + +"Some one's in trouble!" exclaimed Jack. "Let's go see what it is." + +They broke into a run, and, as they approached, they saw a crowd +quickly collect. It seemed to center about a man who was being held by +two others, though he struggled to get away. + +"Here, what's the trouble?" the boys heard a constable ask as he +shouldered his way into the throng. + +"This fellow tried to snatch this lady's purse and run away with it," +explained one of the men who had grabbed the scoundrel. "Stand still, +you brute!" he shouted at him, "or I'll shake you to pieces! Such +fellows as you ought to go to the whipping-post!" + +"I'll take charge of him," announced the officer. "Who is he? Does any +one know?" + +"Stranger in town, I guess," volunteered the other man, who had helped +capture him. "Need any help, officer?" + +"No, I guess I can manage him. Come along now, and behave yourself, or +I'll use my club. It hasn't been tried on any one yet." + +"That's one of the new constables, I guess," said Mark, and Jack nodded. + +The crowd separated to allow the officer to take out his prisoner. As +the latter walked forward in the grip of the constable, he remarked in +a mild voice totally at variance with his bold act: + +"Why, I only wanted a little change to pay my fare to the moon. I'm +going there to look for my brother." + +"Crazy as a loon," said one of the men. + +"Or pretending that he is," added the officer. + +"Mark!" cried Jack, pointing at the prisoner, "look!" + +"The man who held me captive!" gasped Mark. "And he's wearing my +clothes yet! But he's in custody now, and we needn't fear any more from +him." + +"Unless he gets away," said Jack. + +"We'll go tell the chief who he is, and he'll keep him safe," suggested +Mark, and they hurried to headquarters, reaching there just before the +prisoner was brought in. The boys were assured by the chief that the +man, who was evidently a dangerous lunatic, would be kept where he +could do no harm. He would be arraigned later on the serious charge of +attempted highway robbery, as well as of being a dangerous lunatic at +large. When the boys and Andy got back, they found the two professors +and Washington still going over the machinery in detail. + +"Find anything wrong?" asked Jack, after they had told of the arrest of +Axtell. + +"No, but we will have another look in the morning," said Mr. Henderson. +"Then, if we find nothing out of order, I think we will take a chance +and start." + +A thorough inspection by all hands the next day did not disclose +anything wrong, and, a test of the motors and other machinery having +shown that it was in good working shape, it was decided to leave the +earth. + +"At last, I think, we are really going to get under way to the moon," +said Jack, as he closed the big main door. This time it was not +reopened. All the stores and supplies were in place. The two professors +were in the engine room. Washington White was in his galley, getting +ready to serve the first meal in the air. Jack and Mark were in the +pilot house, ready to do whatever was necessary and anxious to feel the +thrill that would tell them the projectile had left the earth. + +"All ready?" asked Professor Henderson. + +"All ready," replied his German assistant. + +"Then here we go!" announced the aged scientist. + +He pulled toward him the main starting lever of the Cardite motor, +while Professor Roumann opened the valve which admitted to the plates +and cylinders the mysterious force that was to send them on their way. + +"Elevate the bow!" called Professor Henderson. + +"Elevated it is," answered the German, as he turned a wheel which +directed the negative gravity force against the surface of the ground +and tilted up the nose of the _Annihilator_, as a skyrocket is slanted +in a trough before the fuse is ignited. + +"Throw over the switch," directed Mr. Henderson, and the other +scientist, with a quick motion, snapped it into place, amid a shower of +vicious electric sparks that hissed as when hot iron is thrust into +water. + +"Steer straight ahead!" called Professor Henderson to Mark and Jack, +who were in the pilot house. "We'll head for the moon later." + +"Straight ahead it is," answered Jack. + +There was a trembling to the great projectile. Up rose her +sharp-pointed bow. She swayed slightly in the air. The trembling +increased. The great Cardite motor hummed and throbbed. There was a +crackling as from a wireless apparatus. + +Then, with a rush and a roar, the big steel car, resembling an enormous +cigar, soared away from the earth, like some gigantic piece of +fireworks, and shot toward the sky. + +"We're off!" shouted Mark. + +"For the moon!" added Jack. + +And the _Annihilator_ soared upward and onward, while those in her +never dreamed of the fearful adventures that were to befall them ere +they would again be headed toward the earth. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SHANGHAI MAKES TROUBLE + + +Remaining in the engine room long enough to see that all the motors and +apparatus were working smoothly, Professor Henderson made his way to +the pilot house forward, where Mark and Jack were in charge of the +steering gears. The projectile could be started and stopped from there, +as well as from the engine room, once the motor was set going. + +"Well, boys, how does it feel to be in space once more?" asked the +scientist. + +"Fine," answered Mark. "But while I was shut up in that old house I +feared I'd never have this chance again." + +"It seems like old times again, to be flying through space," remarked +Jack. "My! but we aren't making half the speed of which the projectile +is capable. Why, we're only going about twenty miles a second," and he +spoke as if that was a mere nothing. + +"Twenty miles is some speed," observed Mark. + +"The earth goes around the sun at the rate of nineteen miles a second, +or about seventy-five times as fast as the swiftest cannon-ball, so you +see, Jack, you are 'going some,' as the boys say." + +"Yes, but we went much faster when we went to Mars. Still, no matter +how fast we travel, you'd never realize it inside here." + +This was true. So well balanced was the projectile, and so delicately +poised was the machinery, that the terrifically fast rate of travel, +rivalling that of the earth, was no more noticed than we, on this +globe, notice our pace of nineteen miles a second around the sun. + +"Everything seems to be all right," observed Professor Henderson, as he +looked out of the plate-glass window of the pilot house into a sea of +rolling mist, which represented the ether, for they had soon passed +through the atmosphere of the earth, which scientists estimate to be +two hundred miles in thickness. + +"Are we going to move any faster than this?" asked Jack, who seemed +possessed of a speed mania. + +"Not right away," replied Mr. Henderson. "Professor Roumann wants to +thoroughly test the Cardite motor first. Then, when he finds that it +works all right, we may go faster. But we will be at the moon soon +enough as it is. It is time we headed more directly on our proper way, +though, so I think I will ask Mr. Roumann to step here and aid me in +getting the projectile on the right course. You boys had better remain +also and learn how it is done. You may need to know some time." + +"I'll call the professor here, if he can leave the engine room," said +Mark, and he found the German bending over some complicated apparatus. +The scientist announced that the machines would run themselves +automatically for a while, so he accompanied the lad back to the +pilot-house. + +There, consulting big charts of the heavens, and by making some +intricate calculations, which the boys partly understood, the German +and Mr. Henderson were able to locate the exact position of the moon, +though that body was not then in sight, being behind the earth. + +"That ought to bring us there inside of a week," announced Mr. +Henderson, as he fastened the automatic steering apparatus in place. +"The projectile will now be held on a straight course, and I hope we +shall not have to change it." + +"Could anything cause us to swerve to one side?" asked Jack. + +"Sure," replied Mark. "Don't you remember how, in the trip to Mars, we +nearly collided with the comet? If we are in danger of hitting another +one of those things, or even a meteor, we'll steer out of the way, +won't we?" + +"Of course. I forgot about that," admitted Jack. + +"Yes," declared Professor Roumann, "we'll have to be on the lookout for +wandering meteors or other stray heavenly bodies. But our instruments +will give us timely warning of them. Now, I think we can leave the +projectile to herself while I make sure that all the machinery is +running smoothly. You boys may stay here if you like, though there +isn't much to see." + +There wasn't. It was totally unlike taking a trip on earth, where the +ever-varying scenery makes a journey pleasant. There was no landscape +to greet the eye now. It was even unlike a trip in a balloon, for in +that sort of air-craft, at least for a time, a glimpse of the earth can +be had. Now there was nothing but a white blanket of mist to be seen, +which rolled this way and that. Occasionally it was dispelled, and the +full, golden sunlight bathed the projectile. The earth had long since +dropped out of sight, for it required only a few seconds to put the +_Annihilator_ high up in a position where even the most intrepid +balloonist had never ventured. + +Mark and Jack sat for a few minutes in the pilot-house, looking out +into the ether. But they soon tired of seeing absolutely nothing. + +"I wonder what we'll do when we get to the moon?" asked Jack of his +chum. + +"Why, I suppose you'll make a dive for a hatful of diamonds, won't you? +That is, if you still believe that Martian newspaper account." + +"I sure do." + +The boys found the two professors busy adjusting some of the delicate +scientific instruments with which they expected to make observations on +the trip, and after they reached the moon. + +"What is your opinion, Professor Roumann, of the temperature at the +moon's surface?" asked Mr. Henderson. + +"I am in two minds about it," was the reply. "A few years ago, I see by +an astronomy, Lord Rosse inferred from his observations that the +temperature rose at its maximum (or about three days after full moon) +far above that of boiling water." + +"Boiling water!" ejaculated Mark. "Wow! That won't be very nice. I +don't want to be boiled like a lobster!" + +"Wait a moment," cautioned Mr. Roumann, with a smile. "Later, Lord +Rosse's own investigations, and those of Langley, threw some doubts on +this. There is said to be no air blanket about the moon, as there is +about the earth, so that the moon loses heat as fast as it receives it; +and it now seems more probable that the temperature never rises above +the freezing point of water, just as is the case on our highest +mountains." + +"That's better," came from Jack. "We can stand a low temperature more +easily than we can to be boiled; eh, Jack?" + +"Sure. But I don't want to be frozen or boiled either, if I can help +it. Guess I'll wear my fur suit that we brought back from the North +Pole with us." + +"I agree with you, Professor Roumann, about the temperature," announced +Mr. Henderson, "so we must make up our minds to shiver, rather than +melt. But we are prepared for that." + +"What about there being no air on the moon?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, we can manufacture our own oxygen," said Mark. "We can walk around +with an air tank on our shoulders, as we did when we went beneath the +surface of the ocean. Now, I guess----" + +"Dinner am served in de dining car!" interrupted Washington White, his +black face grinning cheerfully. He used to be a waiter in a Pullman, +and he was proud of it. "First call fo' dinner!" he went on. "Part ob +it am boiled, part am roasted, laik I done heah yo' talkin' 'bout jest +now, an' part am frozed--dat's de ice cream," he added hastily, lest +there be a mistake about it. + +"Well, that sounds good," observed Mark. "Come on, everybody," and he +led the way to the dining cabin. + +They had not been at the table more than a few minutes, and had begun +on the "boiled" part of the meal, which was the soup, when from the +engine room there came a curious, whining noise, as when an electric +motor slows up. + +"What's that?" cried Professor Henderson, jumping up from his seat in +alarm. + +"Something wrong in the engine room," cried Mr. Roumann. + +The two scientists, followed by the boys, hurried to where the various +pieces of apparatus were sending the projectile forward through space. +Already there was an appreciable slackening of speed. + +"The Cardite motor has stopped!" cried Mr. Roumann. "Something has +happened to it!" + +"Can it be the result of the damage which that lunatic did?" asked Mr. +Henderson. + +"Perhaps," spoke Jack. "If I had him here----" + +"We are falling!" shouted Mark, looking at an indicator which marked +their speed and motion. + +"Can't we start some other motor?" asked Jack. + +At that instant from beneath the now silent Cardite machine there came +a prolonged crow. + +"My Shanghai rooster!" shouted Washington. "He am in dar!" + +A second later the rooster scrambled out, scratching vigorously. Grains +of corn were scattered about. The motor started up again, and the +projectile resumed its onward way. + +"The rooster stopped it!" cried Jack. "He went under it to get some +corn, and he must have deranged one of the levers. Oh, you old +Shanghai, you nearly gave us all heart disease!" + +And the rooster crowed louder than before, while his colored owner +"shooed" him out of the engine room. The trouble was over speedily, and +the _Annihilator_ was once more speeding toward the moon. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"WILL IT HIT US?" + + +"Well, for a trouble-maker, give me a rooster every time," spoke Jack, +as, after an examination of the machinery, it was found that nothing +was out of order. "How do you think it happened, Professor Henderson?" + +"It never could have happened except in just that way," was the reply +of Mr. Roumann. "Underneath the motor, where they are supposed to be +out of all reach, are several self-adjusting levers. They control the +speed, and also, by being moved in a certain direction, they will shut +down the apparatus. The rooster crawled beneath the machine, an act +that I never figured on, for I knew it was too small for any of us to +reach with our hands or arms, even had we so desired. But the +Shanghai's feathers must have brushed against the levers, and that +stopped the action of the Cardite motor. However, I'm glad it was no +worse." + +"Yes, let's finish dinner now, if everything is all right," proposed +Mark. + +"How did the rooster get in here?" asked Jack. + +"I 'spects dat's my fault," answered Washington. "I took him out ob his +coop fo' a little exercise dis mawnin', an' he run in heah." + +"That explains it, I think," said Mr. Roumann. "Well, Washington, don't +let it happen again. We don't want to be dashed downward through space +all on account of a rooster." + +"No, indeedy; I'll lock him up good an' tight arter dis," promised the +colored man. + +They resumed the interrupted dinner, discussing the possibility of what +might have happened, and congratulating themselves that it did not take +place. + +"It certainly seems like old times to be eating while travelling along +like a cannon-ball," remarked Jack. "I declare, it gives me an +appetite!" + +"You didn't need any," retorted his chum. "But say! maybe things don't +taste good to me, after what I got while that fellow Axtell had me a +prisoner! Jack, I'll have a little more of that cocoanut pie, if you +don't mind." + +Jack passed over the pastry, and Mark took a liberal piece. Then +Washington brought in the ice cream, which was frozen on board by means +of an ammonia gas apparatus, the invention of Professor Henderson. The +novelty of dining as comfortably as at home, yet being thousands of +miles above the earth, and, at the same time, speeding along like a +cannon-ball, did not impress our friends as much as it had during their +trip to Mars. + +"Well, we're making a little better time now," observed Mark, as he and +the others rose from the table and went to the engine room. "The gauge +shows that we're making twenty-five miles a second." + +"We will soon go much faster," announced Professor Roumann. "I have not +yet had a chance to test my Cardite motor to its fullest speed, and I +think I will do so. I wish to see if it will equal my Etherium machine. +I'll turn on the power gradually now, and we'll see what happens." + +"How fast do you think it ought to send us along?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, perhaps one hundred and twenty-five miles a second. You know we +went a hundred miles a second when we headed for Mars. I would not be +surprised if we made even one hundred and thirty miles a second with +the Cardite." + +"Whew! If we ever hit anything going like that!" exclaimed old Andy +Sudds. + +"We'd go right through it," finished Jack fervently. The professor was +soon ready for the test. Slowly he shoved over the controlling lever. +The Cardite motor hummed more loudly, like some great cat purring. +Louder snapped the electrical waves. The air vibrated with the enormous +speed of the valve wheels, and there was a prickling sensation as the +power flowed into the positive and negative plates, by which the +projectile was moved through space. + +"Watch the hand of the speed indicator, boys," directed Professor +Roumann, "while Professor Henderson and I manipulate the motor. Call +out the figures to us, for we must keep our eyes on the valves." Slowly +the speed indicator hand, which was like that of an automobile +speedometer, swept over the dial. + +"Fifty miles a second," read off Mark. The two professors shoved the +levers over still more. + +"Seventy-five," called Jack. + +"Give it a little more of the positive current," directed Mr. Roumann. + +"Ninety miles a second," read Mark a few moments later. + +"We are creeping up, but we have not yet equalled our former speed," +spoke Mr. Henderson. The motor was fairly whining now, as if in protest. + +"One hundred and five miles," announced Jack. + +"Ha! That's some better!" ejaculated the German. "I think we shall do +it." Once more he advanced the speed lever a notch. + +"One hundred and thirty!" fairly shouted Mark. "We are beating all +records!" + +"And we will go still farther beyond them!" cried Mr. Roumann. "Watch +the gauge, boys!" + +To the last notch went the speed handle. There was a sharp crackling, +snapping sound, as if the metal of which the motor was composed was +strained to the utmost. Yet it held together. + +The hand of the dial quivered. It hung on the one hundred and thirty +mark for a second, as if not wanting to leave it, and then the steel +pointer swept slowly on in a circle, past point after point. + +"One hundred and thirty-five--one hundred and forty," whispered Jack, +as if afraid to speak aloud. The two professors did not look up from +the motor. They looked at the oil and lubricating cups. Already the +main shaft was smoking with the heat of friction. + +"Look! look!" whispered Mark hoarsely. + +"One hundred and fifty-three miles a second!" exclaimed Jack. "You've +done it, Professor Roumann!" + +"Yes, I have," spoke the German, with a sigh of satisfaction. "That is +faster than mortal man ever travelled before, and I think no one will +ever equal our speed. We have broken all records--even our own. Now I +will slow down, but we must do it gradually, so as not to strain the +machinery." + +He slipped back the speed lever, notch by notch. The hand of the dial +began receding, but it still marked one hundred and twenty miles a +second. + +Suddenly, above the roar and hum of the motor, there sounded the voice +of Andy. + +"Professor!" he shouted. "We're heading right toward a big, black +stone! Is that the moon?" + +"The moon? No, we are not half way there," said Mr. Henderson. "Are you +sure, Andy?" + +"Sure? Yes! I saw it from the window in the pilot-house. We are +shooting right toward it." + +"Look to the motor, and I'll see what it is," directed Mr. Henderson to +his friend. Followed by the boys, he hurried to the steering tower. His +worst fears were confirmed. + +Speeding along with a swiftness unrivalled even by some stars, the +projectile was lurching toward a great, black heavenly body. "It's a +meteor! An immense meteor!" cried Professor Henderson, "and it's coming +right toward us." + +"Will it hit us?" gasped Mark and Jack together. + +"I don't know. We must try to avoid it. Boys, notify Professor Roumann +at once. We are in grave danger!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +TURNING TURTLE + + +Together Mark and Jack leaped for the engine room. Their faces showed +the fear they felt. Even before they reached it, they realized that, at +the awful speed at which they were travelling, and the fearful velocity +of the meteor, there might be a crash in mid-air which would destroy +the projectile and end their lives. + +"I wonder if we can steer clear of it?" gasped Jack. + +"If it's possible the professor will do it," responded his chum. + +The next instant they were in the engine room, where Mr. Roumann was +bending over the Cardite motor. + +"Shut off the power!" yelled Jack. + +"We are going to hit a meteor!" gasped Mark. + +The German looked up with a startled glance. + +"Slow down?" he repeated. "It is impossible to slow down at once! We +are going ninety miles a second!" He pointed to the speed gauge. + +"Then there's going to be a fearful collision!" cried Jack, and he +blurted out the fact of the nearness of the heavenly wanderer. + +"So!" exclaimed Professor Roumann. "Dot is bat! ferry bat!" and he +lapsed into the broken language that seldom marked his almost perfect +English. Then, murmuring something in his own tongue, he leaped away +from the motor, calling to the boys: + +"Slow it down gradually! Keep pulling the speed lever toward you! I +will set in motion the repelling apparatus and go to help Professor +Henderson steer out of the way. It is our only chance!" + +Mark and Jack took their places beside the Cardite motor, which was +still keeping up a fearful speed, though not so fast as at first. To +stop it suddenly would mean that the cessation of strain could not all +be diffused at once, and serious damage might result. + +The only way was to come gradually down to the former speed, and, while +Mark kept his eyes on the indicator, Jack pulled the lever toward him, +notch by notch. + +"She's down to seventy-five miles a second," whispered Mark. They were +as anxious now to reduce speed as they had been before to increase it. + +Meanwhile Professor Roumann had set in motion a curious bit of +apparatus, designed to repel stray meteors or detached bits of comets. +As is well known, bodies floating in space, away from the attraction of +gravitation, attract or repel each other as does a magnet or an +electrically charged object. + +Acting on this law of nature, Professor Roumann had, with the aid of +Mr. Henderson, constructed a machine which, when a negative current of +electricity was sent into it, would force away any object that was +approaching the _Annihilator_. In a few moments the boys at the Cardite +motor heard the hum, the throb and crackling that told them that the +repelling apparatus was at work. + +But would it act in time? Or would the meteor prove too powerful for +it? And, if it did, would the two scientists be able to steer the +swiftly moving projectile out of the way of the big, black stone, as +the old hunter called it? + +These were questions that showed on the faces of the two lads as they +bent over the motor. + +"We're only going fifty miles a second now," whispered Jack. + +Mark nodded his head. "Can't you pull the lever over faster?" he asked. + +"I don't dare," replied his chum. There was nothing to do but to wait +and gradually slow up the projectile as much as possible. The boys +could hear the professors in the pilothouse shifting gears, valves and +levers to change the course of the projectile. Andy Sudds and +Washington White, with fear on their faces, looked into the engine +room, waiting anxiously for the outcome. + +"Hab--hab we hit it yet?" asked Washington, moving his hands nervously. + +"I reckon not, or we'd know it," said the hunter. + +"No, not yet," answered Jack, in a low voice. "How much are we making +now, Mark?" + +"Only thirty a second." + +"Good! She's coming down." + +Hardly had he spoken than there sounded a noise like thunder, or the +rushing of some mighty wind. The projectile, which was trembling +throughout her length from the force of the motor, shivered as though +she had plunged into the unknown depths of some mighty sea. The roaring +increased. Mark and Jack looked at each other. Washington White fell +upon his knees and began praying in a loud voice. Old Andy grasped his +gun, as though to say that, even though on the brink of eternity, he +was ready. + +Then, with a scream as of some gigantic shell from a thousand-inch +rifle, something passed over the _Annihilator_; something that shook +the great projectile like a leaf in the wind. And then the scream died +away, and there was silence. For a moment no one spoke, and then Jack +whispered hoarsely: + +"We've passed it." + +"Yes," added Mark, "we're safe now." + +"By golly! I knowed we would!" fairly yelled Washington, leaping to his +feet. "I knowed dat no old meteor could kerflumox us! Perfesser +Henderson he done jumped our boat ober it laik a hunter jumps his boss +ober a fence. Golly! I'se feelin' better now!" + +"How did you avoid it?" asked Mark of the professor. + +"With the help of the repelling machine and by changing our course. But +we did it only just in time. It was an immense meteor, much larger than +at first appeared, and it was blazing hot. Had it struck us, there +would have been nothing left of us or the projectile either but star +dust. But we managed to pass beneath it, and now we are safe." + +They congratulated each other on their lucky escape, and then busied +themselves about various duties aboard the air-craft. The rest of the +day was spent in making minor adjustments to some of the machines, +oiling others, and in planning what they would do when they reached the +moon. + +In this way three days and nights passed, mainly without incident. They +slept well on board the _Annihilator_, which was speeding so swiftly +through space--slept as comfortably as they had on earth. Each hour +brought them nearer the moon, and they figured on landing on the +surface of that wonderful and weird body in about three days more. + +It was on the morning of the fourth day when, as Mark and Jack were +taking their shift in the engine room, that Jack happened to glance +from the side observation window, which was near the Cardite motor. +What he saw caused him to cry out in surprise. + +"I say, Mark, look here! There's the moon over there. We're not heading +for it at all!" + +"By Jove! You're right!" agreed his chum. "We're off our course!" + +"We must tell Professor Henderson!" cried Jack. "I'll do it. You stay +here and watch things." + +A few seconds later a very much alarmed youth was rapidly talking to +the two scientists, who were in the pilot-house. + +"Some unknown force must have pulled us off our course," Jack was +saying. "The moon is away off to one side of us." + +To his surprise, instead of being alarmed, Mr. Roumann only smiled. + +"It's true," insisted Jack. + +"Of course, it is," agreed Mr. Henderson. "We can see it from here, +Jack," and he pointed to the observation window, from which could be +noticed the moon floating in the sky at the same time the sun was +shining, a phenomenon which is often visible on the earth early in the +morning at certain of the moon's phases. + +"Will we ever get there?" asked Jack. + +"Of course," replied Mr. Roumann. "You must remember, Jack, that the +moon is moving at the same time we are. Had I headed the projectile for +Luna, and kept it on that course, she would, by the time we reached +her, been in another part of the firmament, and we would have overshot +our mark. So, instead, I aimed the _Annihilator_ at a spot in the +heavens where I calculated the moon would be when we arrived there. +And, if I am not mistaken, we will reach there at the same time, and +drop gently down on Luna." + +"Oh, is that it?" asked the lad, much relieved. + +"That's it," replied Mr. Henderson. "And that's why we seem to be +headed away from the moon. Her motion will bring her into the right +position for us to land on when the time comes." + +"Then I'd better go tell Mark," said the lad. "He's quite worried." He +soon explained matters to his chum, and together they discussed the +many things necessary to keep in mind when one navigates the heavens. + +That day saw several thousand more miles reeled off on the journey to +the moon, and that evening (or rather what corresponded to evening, for +it was perpetual daylight) they began to make their preparations for +landing. Their wonderful journey through space was nearing an end. + +"I guess that crazy Axtell fellow was only joking when he said we'd +never reach the moon," ventured Jack. "Nothing has happened yet." + +"Only the meteor," said Mark, "and he couldn't know about that. I guess +he didn't get a chance to damage any of the machinery." + +"No, we seem to be making good time," went on his chum. "I think I'll +go and----" + +Jack did not finish his sentence. Instead he stared at one of the +instruments hanging from the walls of the engine room. It was a sort of +barometer to tell their distance from the earth, and it swung to and +fro like a pendulum. Now the instrument was swinging out away from the +wall to which it was attached. Further and further over it inclined. +Jack felt a curious sensation. Mark put his hand to his head. + +"I feel--feel dizzy!" he exclaimed. "What is the matter?" + +"Something has happened," cried Jack. + +The instrument swung over still more. Some tools fell from a work +bench, and landed on the steel floor with a crash. The boys were +staggering about the engine room, unable to maintain their balance. + +There came cries of fear from the galley, where Washington White was +rattling away amid his pots and pans. Andy Sudds was calling to some +one, and from the pilot-house came the excited exclamations of +Professors Henderson and Roumann. + +"We're turning turtle!" suddenly yelled Jack. "The projectile is +turning over in the air! Something has gone wrong! Perhaps this is the +revenge of that crazy man!" and, as he spoke, he fell over backward, +Mark following him, while the _Annihilator_ was turned completely over +and seemed to be falling down into unfathomable depths. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +AT THE MOON + + +Confusion reigned aboard the _Annihilator_. It had turned completely +over, and was now moving through space apparently bottom side up. Of +course, being cigar shaped, this did not make any difference as far as +the exterior was concerned, but it did make a great difference to those +within. + +The occupants of the great shell had fallen and slid down the rounded +sides of the projectile, and were now standing on what had been the +ceiling. Objects that were not fast had also followed them, scattering +all about, some narrowly missing hitting our friends. Of course, the +machinery was now in the air, over the heads of the travellers. + +This was one of the most serious phases of the accident, for the great +Cardite motor was built to run while in the other position, and when it +was turned upside down it immediately stopped, and the projectile, +deprived of its motive power, at once began falling through space. + +"What has happened? What caused it?" cried Mark, as he crawled over to +where Jack sat on the ceiling, with a dazed look on his face. + +"I don't know. Something went wrong. Here comes Professor Henderson and +Mr. Roumann. We'll ask them." + +The two scientists were observed approaching from the pilot-house. They +walked along what had been the ceiling, and when they came to the +engine room they had to climb over the top part of the door frame. + +"What's wrong?" asked Jack. + +"Our center of gravity has become displaced," answered Mr. Henderson. +"The gravity machine has either broken, or some one has been tampering +with it. Did either of you boys touch it?" + +"No, indeed!" cried Mark, and his chum echoed his words. + +"I wonder if Washington could have meddled with it?" went on the +scientist. + +At that moment the colored cook came along, making his way cautiously +into the engine room. He was an odd sight. Bits of carrots, turnips and +potatoes were in his hair, while from one ear dangled a bunch of +macaroni, and his clothes were dripping wet. + +"My kitchen done turned upside down on me!" wailed Washington, "an' a +whole kettle ob soup emptied on my head! Oh, golly! What happened?" + +The aged scientist looked toward the German. The latter was gazing up +at the motionless Cardite motor over his head. + +"There is but one way," he answered. "We must restore our centre of +gravity to where it was before. Then the projectile will right herself." + +"Can it be done?" asked Mark. + +"It will be quite an undertaking, but we must attempt it. Bring some +tables and chairs, so I can stand up and reach the equilibrium machine." + +From where they had fallen to the ceiling, which was now the floor, +Jack and Mark brought tables and chairs, and made a sort of stepladder. +On this Professor Roumann mounted, and at once began the readjusting of +the centre of gravity. + +It was hard work, for he had to labor with his arms stretched up in the +air, and any one who has even put up pictures knows what that means. +The muscles are unaccustomed to the strain. The German scientist, +though a strong man, had to rest at frequent intervals. + +"We're falling rapidly," announced Jack, in a low voice, as he looked +at the height gauge. + +"I am doing all I can," answered Mr. Roumann. "I think I will soon be +able to right the craft." + +He labored desperately, but he was at a disadvantage, for the +_Annihilator_ was not now moving smoothly through space. With the +stopping of the motor she was falling like some wobbly balloon, swaying +hither and thither in the ether currents. + +But Professor Roumann was not one to give up easily. He kept at his +task, aided occasionally by Professor Henderson and by the boys +whenever they could do anything. + +Finally the German cried out: + +"Ah, I have discovered the trouble. It is that scoundrel Axtell! See!" +And reaching into the interior of the machine he pulled out a small +magnet. To it was attached a card, on which was written: + +"I told you I would have my revenge!" It was signed with Axtell's name. + +"This was the dastardly plot he evolved," said Professor Roumann. "He +slipped this magnet into the equilibrium machine, knowing that in time +it would cause a deflection of the delicate needles, and so shift the +centre of gravity. He must have done this as a last resort, and to +provide for his revenge in case we discovered him on board after we +started. It was a cruel revenge, for had I not discovered it we would +soon all be killed." + +"Is the machine all right now?" asked Jack. + +"It will be in a few minutes. Here, take this magnet and put it as far +away from the engine room as possible." + +It was the work of but a few minutes, now that the disturbing element +was removed, to readjust the gravity machine, and Mr. Roumann called: + +"Look out, now, everybody! We're going to turn right side up again!" + +As he spoke he turned a small valve wheel. There was a clanging of +heavy ballast weights, which slid down their rods to the proper places. +Then, like some great fish turning over in the water, the _Annihilator_ +turned over in the ether, and was once more on her proper keel, if such +a shaped craft can be said to have a keel. + +Of course, the occupants of the space ship went slipping and sliding +back, even as they had fallen ceilingward before, but they were +prepared for it, and no one was hurt. From the galley came a chorus of +cries, as pots and pans once more scattered about Washington, but there +was no more soup to spill. + +As soon as the _Annihilator_ was righted, the Cardite motor began to +work automatically, and once more the projectile, with the seekers of +the moon, was shooting through space at their former speed. They had +lost considerable distance, but it was easy to make it up. + +"Well, that _was_ an experience," remarked Jack, as he and his chum +began picking up the tools and other objects that were scattered all +about by the change in equilibrium. + +"I should say yes," agreed Mark. "I'm glad it didn't happen at dinner +time. That fellow Axtell is a fiend to think of such a thing." + +"Indeed, he is! But we're all right now, though it did feel funny to be +turned upside down." + +An inspection of the projectile was made, but they could discover no +particular damage done. She seemed to be moving along the same as +before, and, except for the upsetting of things in the store-room, it +would hardly have been known, an hour later, that a dreadful accident +was narrowly averted. + +Washington made more soup, and soon had a fine meal ready, over which +the travellers discussed their recent experience. + +"And when do you think we will arrive?" asked Jack of Mr. Henderson. + +"We ought to be at the moon inside of two days now. We have not made +quite the speed we calculated on, but that does not matter. I think we +will go even more slowly on the remainder of the trip, as I wish to +take some scientific observations." + +"Yes, and so do I," added Mr. Roumann. "I think if we make fifteen +miles a second from now on we will be moving fast enough." + +Accordingly the Cardite motor was slowed down, and the projectile shot +through space at slightly reduced speed, while the two scientists made +several observations, and did some intricate calculating about ether +pressure, the distance of heavenly bodies and other matters of interest +only to themselves. + +It was on the afternoon of the third day following the turning turtle +of the _Annihilator_ that Mark, who was looking through a telescope in +the pilot-house, called out: "I say, Jack, look here!" + +"What's the matter?" asked his chum. + +"Why, we're rushing right at the moon! I can see the mountains and +craters on it as plain as though we were but five miles away!" + +"Then we must be nearly there," observed Jack. "Let's tell the others, +Mark." + +They hurried to inform the two professors, who at once left their +tables of figures and entered the steering chamber. Then, after gazing +through the glass, Mr. Henderson announced: "Friends, we will land on +the moon in half an hour. Get ready." + +"Are we really going to be walking around the moon inside of thirty +minutes?" asked Mark. + +"I don't know about walking around on it," answered the German. "We +first have to see if there is an atmosphere there for us to breathe, +and whether the temperature is such as we can stand. But the +Annihilator will soon be there." + +The speed of the Cardite motor was increased, and so rapidly did the +projectile approach Luna that glasses were no longer needed to +distinguish the surface of the moon. + +There she floated in space, a great, silent ball, but not like the +earth, pleasantly green, with lakes and rivers scattered about in +verdant forests. No, for the moon presented a desolate surface to the +gaze of the travellers. Great, rugged mountain peaks arose all about +immense caverns that seemed hundreds of miles deep. The surface was +cracked and seamed, as if by a moonquake. Silence and terrible +loneliness seemed to confront them. + +"Maybe it's better on some other part of the surface," said Jack, in a +low voice. + +"Perhaps," agreed Mark. "It's certainly not inviting there." + +Nearer and nearer they came to the moon. It no longer looked like a +great sphere, for they were so close that their vision could only take +in part of the surface, and it began to flatten out, as the earth does +to a balloonist. + +And the nearer they came to it the more rugged, the more terrible, the +more desolate did it appear. Would they be able to find a place to +land, or would they go hurtling down into some awful crater, or be +dashed upon the sharp peak of some mountain of the moon? + +It was a momentous question, and anxious were the faces of the two +professors. + +"Mr. Henderson, if you will undertake to steer to some level place, I +will take charge of the motor," suggested Mr. Roumann. "I will +gradually reduce the speed, and get the repelling machine in readiness, +so as to render our landing gentle." + +"Very well," responded the aged scientist, as he grasped the steering +wheel. + +The progress of the _Annihilator_ was gradually checked. More and more +slowly it approached the moon. The mountains seemed even higher now, +and the craters deeper. + +"What a terrible place," murmured Jack. "I shouldn't want to live +there." + +"Me either," said Mark. + +"Can you see a place to land?" called Professor Roumann through the +speaking-tube from the engine room to the steering tower. + +"Yes, we seem to be approaching a fairly level plateau," was Mr. +Henderson's reply. + +"Very well, then, I'll start the repelling machine." + +The Cardite motor was stopped. The projectile was now being drawn +toward the moon by the gravity force of the dead ball that once had +been a world like ours. Slowly and more slowly moved the great +projectile. + +There was a moment of suspense. Mr. Henderson threw over the steering +wheel. The _Annihilator_ moved more slowly. Then came a gentle shock. +The dishes in the galley rattled, and there was the clank of machinery. +The Shanghai rooster crowed. + +"We're on the moon at last!" cried jack, peering from an observation +window at the rugged surface outside. + +"Yes; and now to see what it's like," added Mark. "We'll go outside, +and----" + +"Wait," cautioned Professor Roumann. "First we must see if we can +breathe on the moon, and whether the temperature will support life. I +must make some tests before we venture out of the projectile." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +TORCHES OF LIFE + + +The natural inclination of the boys to rush out on the surface of the +moon to see what it was like was checked by the words of caution from +Professor Roumann. + +"Do you think it would be dangerous to venture outside the projectile?" +asked Jack, as he looked from the window and noted the rugged, uneven +surface of the moon. + +"Very much so," was the answer. "According to most astronomers, there +is absolutely no air on the moon, also no moisture, and the temperature +is either very high or around the freezing point. We must find out what +it is." + +"How can we?" inquired Mark. + +"I'll soon show you," went on the German. "Professor Henderson, will +you kindly assist me." + +When it had been decided to come to the moon in quest for the field of +diamonds, certain changes had been made in the _Annihilator_ to fit it +for new conditions that might be met. One of these consisted of an +aperture in the two sides of the projectile permitting certain delicate +instruments to be thrust out, so that the conditions they indicated +could be read on dials or graduated scales from within. + +"We will first make a test of the temperature," said Mr. Roumann, "as +that will be the easiest." Accordingly a thermometer was put outside, +and those in the air-craft anxiously watched the red column of spirits. +The temperature was marked as seventy-five inside the _Annihilator_, +but the thermometer had not been outside more than a second before it +began falling. + +"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson, as he noted it. "The temperature is +going down. I'd rather have it too cold than too hot. We can stand a +minus fifty of cold better than two hundred and twelve of heat. We have +fur garments with us." + +"It is still going down," remarked Jack, as he saw the red column drop +down past the thirty mark. + +"Below freezing," added Mark. + +The spirits fell in the tube until they touched twenty-eight degrees, +and there they remained. + +"Twenty-eight degrees," remarked Professor Henderson. "That isn't so +bad. At least, we can stand that if we are warmly clad." + +"Yes, but it will be colder to-night," said Jack. For they had landed +on the moon in bright sunlight. + +"To-night?" questioned the German scientist, with a smile. + +"Yes, it's always colder when the sun goes down," went on the lad. + +"You have forgotten one thing," said Mr. Henderson, with a smile at his +young protege. "You must remember, Jack, that the nights and days here +are each fourteen days long--that is, fourteen of our days." + +"How's that?" asked Jack. + +"Why," broke in Mark, who was a trifle better student than was his +chum, "don't you remember that the moon rotates on its axis once a +month, or in about twenty-eight days, to be exact, and so half of that +time is day and half night, just as on our earth, when it revolves on +its axis in twenty-four hours, half the time is day and half the time +is night." + +"Sure, I ought to have remembered," declared Jack. + +"Mark is right," added Mr. Henderson. "And, as we have most fortunately +arrived on the moon at the beginning of the long day, we will have +fourteen days of sunshine, during which we may expect the temperature +to remain at about twenty-eight degrees. But now about the atmosphere." +"We will test that directly," went on the German. "It will take some +time longer, though." + +Various instruments were brought forth and thrust out of the opening in +the side of the projectile, which opening was so arranged that it was +closed hermetically while the instruments were put forth. Then the +readings of the dials or scales were taken, and computations made. In +fact, some of what corresponded to the moon's atmosphere was secured in +a hollow steel cup and brought inside the _Annihilator_ for analysis. + +"Well," remarked Professor Roumann, as he bent over a test tube, the +contents of which he had put through several processes, "I am afraid we +cannot breathe on the moon." + +"Can't breathe on it?" gasped Jack. "Then we can't go out and walk +around it." + +"I didn't say that," resumed the German, with a smile. "I said we +couldn't breathe the moon's atmosphere. In fact there is nothing there +that we would call atmosphere. There is absolutely no oxygen, and there +are a number of poisonous gases that would instantly cause death if +inhaled." + +"Then how are we to get out and hunt for those diamonds, Professor?" +went on Jack. "Gee whiz! if I'd known that, I wouldn't have come. This +is tough luck!" + +"Maybe the professor can suggest a way out of the difficulty, boys," +spoke Mr. Henderson. "It certainly would be too bad if, after our +perilous trip, we couldn't get out of our cage and walk around the +moon." + +"I think perhaps I can discover a way so that it will be safe to +venture forth," said Mr. Roumann. "But I must first conduct some +further experiments. In the meanwhile suppose you boys get out some +fur-lined garments, for, though it is only twenty-eight degrees, we +will need to be well clad after the time spent inside this warm +projectile." + +"It does look as if he expected to get us out," remarked Jack, as he +and his chum went to where Andy Sudds was. + +"Yes, you'll get a chance to pick up diamonds after all, Jack. That is, +if there are any here." + +"Of course there are diamonds. You wait and see," and then, with the +help of the old hunter, they took from the store-room their fur +garments. + +It was half an hour before the warm clothes were sorted out, and then +the boys went back to where the two professors were. + +"Well," asked Jack cautiously, "can we go outside?" + +"I think so," answered the German cheerfully. "But you must always be +careful to carry one of these with you," and he handed to each of the +boys a steel rod about two feet long, at the end of which was a small +iron box, with perforations in the sides and top. + +"What is this?" asked Jack. "It looks like a magician's wand." + +"And that is exactly what it is," said Mr. Henderson. "As there is no +atmosphere fit to breathe on the moon, we have been forced to make our +own, boys. You each hold what may be called torches of life. To venture +out without them would mean instant death by suffocation or poison." + +"And will these save our lives?" asked Mark. + +"Yes," said Mr. Roumann. "In the iron boxes on those rods are certain +chemicals, rich in oxygen and other elements, which, when brought in +contact with the gases on the moon, will dispel a cloud of air about +whoever carries them--air such as we find on our earth. So, boys, be +careful never to venture out without the torches of life. I had them +prepared in anticipation of some such emergency as this, and all that +was necessary was to put in the chemicals. This I have done, and now, +if you wish, you may go out and stroll about the moon." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ON THE EDGE OF A CRATER + + +There was a little hesitation after Professor Roumann had spoken. Even +though he assured them all that it would be safe to venture out on the +surface of the moon, with its chilling temperature and its poisonous +"atmosphere" (if such it can be termed), there was an uncanny feeling +about stepping forth into the midst of the desolation that was on every +side. + +For it was desolate--terribly so! Not a sound broke the stillness. +There was no life--no motion--as far as could be seen. Not a tree or +shrub relieved the rugged monotony of the landscape. It was like a dead +world. + +"And to think that people may have once lived here," observed Jack, in +a low voice. + +"Yes, and to think that there may be people on the other side of the +moon even now," added Mark. "We must take a look if it's possible." + +"Well," remarked Mr. Henderson, after a while, "are we going out and +see what it's like or not." + +"Of course, we are," said Jack. "Come on, Mark, I'm not afraid." + +"Me either. Do we have to do anything to the torches to make them +operate, Professor Roumann?" + +"Merely press this lever," and the scientist showed them where there +was one in the handle of the steel rod. "As soon as that is pressed, it +admits a liquid to the chemicals and the oxygen gas is formed, rising +all around you, like a protecting vapor. After that it is automatic." + +"How long will the supply of chemical last?" inquired Jack. + +"Each one is calculated to give out gas for nearly two weeks," was the +reply; "possibly for a little longer. But come, I want to see how they +work. Here is your life-torch, Professor Henderson, and there is one +for you, too, Andy, and Washington." + +"'Scuse me!" exclaimed the colored man hastily, as he started back +toward the kitchen. + +"Why, what's the matter?" asked Jack. "Don't you want to go out, and +walk around the moon, and pick up diamonds?" + +"Diamonds am all right," answered Washington, "but I jest done fo'got +dat I ain't fed my Shanghai rooster to-day, an' I 'spects he's mighty +hungry. You folks go on out an' pick up a few obde sparklers, an' when +I gits de Shanghai fed I'll prognosticate myse'f inter conjunction wif +yo' all." + +"You mean you'll join us?" asked Mark. + +"Dat's what I means, suah." + +"Why, I do believe Washington's afraid!" cried Jack jokingly. + +"Askeered! Who's afraid?" retorted the colored man boldly. "Didn't I +done tole yo' dat I got t' feed my rooster? Heah him crowin' now? Yo' +all go 'long, an' I'll meet yo' later," and with that Washington +disappeared quickly. + +"Well, he'll soon pluck up courage and come out," declared Professor +Henderson. "Let him go now, and we'll go out and see what it is like on +the moon." + +"I hope we find those diamonds," murmured Jack, and Mark smiled. + +In order not to admit the poisonous gases into the projectile, it was +decided to leave the Annihilator and return to it by means of a double +door, forming a sort of air lock. It was similar to the water lock used +on the submarine. That is, the adventurers entered a chamber built in +between the two steel walls of their craft. The interior door was then +sealed shut automatically. Next the outer door was opened, and they +could step directly to the surface of the moon and into the deadly +atmosphere. + +"Well, are we all ready?" asked Mr. Roumann, as he picked up one of the +chemical torches. + +"I guess so," responded Andy Sudds, who had his gun with him. "I hope I +see some game. I haven't had a shot in a long while." + +"You're not likely to up here," spoke Mr. Henderson. "Game is scarce on +the moon, unless it's some of that green cheese Washington talked +about." + +They entered the air lock and fastened the door behind them. Then +Professor Roumann pressed on the lever that swung open the outer portal. + +"Hold your torches close to your head," he called. "The moon atmosphere +may be too strong for us at first until we create a mist of oxygen +about us." + +Out upon the surface of the moon they stepped, probably the first earth +beings so to do, though they had evidence that the inhabitants of Mars +had preceded them. + +For a moment they all gasped for breath, but only for a moment. Then +the gas began to flow from the life-torches, and they could breathe as +well as they had done while in the projectile, or while on the earth. + +"Well, if this isn't great!" cried Jack, gazing about him. + +"It certainly beats anything I ever saw," came from Mark. + +"Wonderful, wonderful," murmured Professor Henderson. "We will be able +to gain much valuable scientific knowledge here, Professor Roumann. We +must at once begin our observations." + +"I agree with you," spoke the German. + +Andy Sudds said nothing. He was looking around for a sight of game, +with his rifle in readiness. But not a sign of life met his eager eyes. + +Once they were outside the projectile it was even more desolate than it +had seemed when they looked from the observation windows. It was +absolutely still. Not a breath of wind fanned their cheeks, for where +there is no air to be heated and cooled there could be no wind which is +caused by the differences of temperature of the air, the cold rushing +in to fill the vacuum caused by the rising of the hot vapors. Clad in +their fur-lined garments, which effectually defied the cold, the +adventurers stepped out. + +Over the rugged ground they went, gazing curiously about them. It was +like being in the wildest part of the Canadian Rocky Mountains of our +earth, and, in fact, the surface of the moon was not unlike the +mountainous and hilly sections of the earth. There were no long ranges +of rugged peaks, though, but rather scattered pinnacles and deep +hollows, great craters adjoining immense, towering steeples of rocks, +with comparatively level ground in between. + +The life-torches worked to perfection. As our friends carried them, +there arose about their bodies a cloud of invisible vapor, which, +however, was as great a protection from the poisonous gases as a coat +of mail would have been. + +"This is great!" exclaimed Jack. "It's much better than to have to put +on a diving-suit and carry a cylinder of oxygen or compressed air about +on our shoulders." + +They strolled away from the projectile and gazed back at it. Nothing +moved--not a sound broke the stillness. There was only the blazing +sunlight, which, however, did not seem to warm the atmosphere much, for +it was very chilly. On every side were great rocks, rugged and broken, +with here and there immense fissures in the surface of the moon, +fissures that seemed miles and miles long. + +"Well, here's where I look for diamonds," called Jack, as he stepped +boldly out, followed by Mark. "Let's see who'll find the first +sparkler." + +"All right," agreed his chum, and they strolled away together, slightly +in advance of the two professors and Andy, who remained together, the +scientist discussing the phenomena on every side and the hunter looking +in vain for something to shoot. But he had come to a dead world. + +Almost before they knew it Jack and Mark had gone on quite some +distance. Though they were not aware of it at that moment, it was much +easier to walk on the moon than it was on the earth, for they weighed +only one sixth as much, and the attraction of gravitation was so much +less. + +But suddenly Jack remembered that curious fact, and, stooping, he +picked up a stone. He cast it from him, at the same time uttering a +yell. + +"What's the matter?" called Mark. + +"Look how far I fired that rock!" shouted Jack. "Talk about it being +easy! why, I believe I could throw a mile if I tried hard!" + +"It goes six times as far as it would on the earth," spoke his chum, +"and we can also jump six times as far." + +"Then let's try that!" proposed Jack. "There's a nice level place over +there. Come on, I'll wager that I can beat you." + +"Done!" agreed Mark, and they hurried to the spot, their very walking +being much faster than usual. + +"I'll go first," proposed Jack, "and you see if you can come up to me." +He poised himself on a little hummock of rock, balanced himself for a +moment, and then hurled himself through space. + +Prepared as he was, in a measure, for something strange, he never +bargained for what happened. It was as if he had been fired from some +catapult of the ancient Romans. Through the air he hurtled, like some +great flying animal, covering fifty feet from a standing jump. + +"Say, that's great!" yelled Mark. "Here I come, and I'll beat----" + +He did not finish, for a cry of horror came from Jack. + +"I'm going to fall into a crater--a bottomless pit! I'm on the edge of +it!" yelled the lad who had jumped. + +And, with horror-stricken eyes, Mark saw his chum disappear from sight +beyond a pile of rugged rocks, toward which he had leaped. The last +glimpse Mark had was of the life-torch, which Jack held up in the air, +close to his head. + +"Jack--in a crater!" gasped Mark, as he ran forward, holding his own +life-torch close to his mouth and nose. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +WASHINGTON SEES A GHOST + + +Advancing by leaps and bounds, and getting over the ground in a manner +most surprising, Mark soon found himself on the edge of the great, +yawning crater, into which his chum Jack had started to slide. I say +started, for, fortunately, the lad had been saved from death but by a +narrow margin. + +As Mark gazed down into the depths, which seemed fathomless, and which +were as black as night, he saw his friend clinging to a rocky +projection on the side of the extinct volcano. Jack had managed to +grasp a part of the rough surface as he slid down it after his reckless +jump. He looked up and saw Mark. + +"Oh, Mark, can't you save me?" he gasped. "Call Professor Henderson!" + +"I'll get you up, don't worry!" called Mark, as confidently as he +could. "Hold tight, Jack. What has become of your life-torch?" + +"I have it here by me. I didn't drop it, and it's on a piece of the +rock near my head. Otherwise I couldn't breathe. Oh, this place is +fearfully deep. I guess it hasn't any bottom." + +"Now, keep still, and don't think about that. Save your strength, hold +fast, and I'll get you up." + +But, having said that much, Mark was not so sure how next to proceed. +It was going to be no easy task to haul up Jack, and that without ropes +or other apparatus. Another matter that added to the danger was the +necessity of keeping the life-torch close to one's face in order to +prevent death by the poisonous gases. + +Mark's first impulse was to hasten back and call the two professors, +but he looked over the desolate landscape, and could not see them, and +he feared that if he went away Jack might slip and fall into the +unknown depths of the crater. + +"I've got to get him out alone," decided Mark. "But how can I do it?" + +He crawled cautiously nearer to the edge of the extinct volcano and +looked down. A few loose stones, dislodged by his weight, rattled down +the sides. + +"Look out!" cried Jack quickly, "or you'll fall, too!" + +"I'll be careful," answered Mark, and then he drew away out of danger, +with a queer feeling about his heart, which was beating furiously. Mark +had hoped to be able to make his way down the side of the crater to +where his chum was and help him up. But a look at the steep sides and +the uncertain footing afforded by the loose rocks of lava-like +formation showed that this could not be done. + +"I've got to think of a different scheme," decided Mark, and, spurred +on by the necessity of acting quickly if he was to save Jack, he fairly +forced his brain to work. For he saw by the strained look on his chum's +face that Jack could not hold out much longer. + +"I have it!" cried Mark at length. "My fur coat! I can cut it into +strips of hide and make a rope. Then I can lower it down to Jack and +haul him up." + +He did not think, for the moment, of the cold he would feel when he +stripped off the fur garment, and when it did come to him in a flash he +never hesitated. + +"After all, I've often been out without an overcoat on cold days," he +said to himself. "I guess I can stand it for a while, and when Jack is +up I can run back to the projectile and keep warm that way." + +To think was to act, and Mark laid down his life-torch to take off the +big fur coat. The next instant he had toppled over, almost in a faint, +and, had he not fallen so that his head was near the small perforated +box on the end of the steel rod, whence came the life-giving gas, the +lad might have died. + +He had forgotten, for the instant, the necessity of always keeping the +torch close to his face to prevent the poisonous gases of the moon from +overpowering him. Mark soon revived while lying on the ground, and, +rising, with his torch in his hand, he looked about him. + +"I've got to have my two hands to work with," he mused, "and yet I've +got to hold this torch close to my face. Say, a fellow ought to have +three hands if he's going to visit the moon. What can I do?" + +In an instant a plan came to him. He thrust the pointed end of the +steel rod in the crevice of some rocks, and it stood upright, so that +the perforated box of chemicals was on a level with his face. + +"There," said Mark aloud, "I guess that will work. I can use both my +hands now." The plan was a good one. Next, taking off his coat, the lad +proceeded to cut it into strips, working rapidly. He called to Jack +occasionally, bidding him keep up his courage. "I'll soon have you +out," he said cheeringly. + +In a few minutes Mark had a long, stout strip of hide, and, taking his +life-torch with him, he advanced once more to the edge of the crater. +He stuck the torch in between some rocks, as before, and looked down at +Jack. + +"I--I can't hold on much longer," gasped the unfortunate lad. "Hurry, +Mark!" + +"All right. I'm going to haul you up now. Can you hold on with one hand +long enough to slip the loop of this rope over your shoulders?" + +"I guess so. But where did you get a rope?" + +"I made it--cut up my fur coat." + +"But you'll freeze!" + +"Oh, I guess not. Here it comes, Jack. Get ready!" + +Mark lowered the hide rope to his chum. The latter, who managed to get +one toe on a small, projecting rock, while he held on with his right +hand, used his left to adjust the loop over his shoulders and under his +arms. + +"Are you all ready?" asked Mark. + +"Yes, but can you pull me up?" + +"Sure. I'm six times as strong as when on the earth. Hold steady now, +and keep the torch close to your face." + +Mark had placed some pieces of his fur coat under the rope where it +passed over the edge of the mouth of the crater to prevent the jagged +rocks from cutting the strips of hide. + +"Here you come!" he cried to Jack, and he began to haul, taking care to +keep his own head near his torch, which was stuck upright. Mark had +spoken truly when he said he possessed much more than his usual +strength. Any one who has tried to haul up a person with a rope from a +hole, and with no pulleys to adjust the strain of the cable, knows what +a task it is. But to Mark, on the moon, it was comparatively easy. + +Hand over hand he pulled on the hide rope until, with a final heave, he +had Jack out of his perilous position. He had pulled him up from the +mouth of the crater, and the thick fur coat Jack wore had prevented the +sharp rocks from injuring him. In another moment he stood beside Mark, +a trifle weak and shaky from his experience, but otherwise unhurt. + +"How did you happen to go down there?" asked Mark. + +"Not from choice, I assure you," answered Jack. "I couldn't see the +crater when I jumped, as it was hidden by some rocks, and I was into it +before I knew it. But don't stand talking here. Put on my coat. I don't +need it. I'm warm." + +"I will not. I'm not a bit cold. But we may as well get back to the +projectile, for they'll be worrying about us." Thereupon Mark broke +into a run, for, now that the exertion of hauling up Jack was over, he +began to feel cool, and the chilling atmosphere of the moon struck +through to his bones. + +In a short time the two lads were back at the _Annihilator_, where they +found Professors Roumann and Henderson getting a bit anxious about +them. Their adventure was quickly related, and the boys were cautioned +to be more careful in the future. + +"This moon is a curious, desolate place," said Mr. Henderson, "and you +can't behave on it as you would on the earth. We have discovered some +curious facts regarding it, and when we get back I am going to write a +book on them. But I think we have seen enough for the present, so we'll +stay in the rest of the day and plan for farther trips." + +"Aren't we going to look for those diamonds?" asked Jack, who had +almost fully recovered from his recent experience. + +"Oh, yes, we will look around for them," assented Mr. Roumann. "I +think, after a day or so, we will move our projectile to another part +of the moon. We want to see as much of it as possible." + +They sat discussing various matters, and, while doing so, Washington +White peered into the living cabin. + +"Has yo' got one ob dem torch-light processions t' spare?" he asked. + +"Torch-light processions?" queried Mark. "What do you think this is, an +election, Wash?" + +"I guess he means a life-torch," suggested Jack. "Are you going out, +Wash?" + +"Yais, sah, I did think I'd take a stroll around. Maybe I kin find a +diamond fo' my tie." + +Laughing, Jack provided the colored man with one of the torches, +instructing him how to use it, and presently Washington was seen +outside, walking gingerly around, as though he expected to go through +the crust of the moon any moment. Pretty soon, however, he got more +courage and tramped boldly along, peering about on the ground for all +the world, as Mark said, as if he was looking for chestnuts. + +They paid no attention to the cook for some little time until, when the +boys and the two professors were in the midst of a discussion as to +where would be the best place to move the projectile next, they heard +him running along the corridor toward the cabin. + +"Wash is in a hurry," observed Jack. + +The next instant they sprang to their feet at the sight of the +frightened face of the colored man peering in on them. He was as near +white as a negro can ever be, which is a sort of chalk color, and his +eyes were wide open with fear. + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack. + +"A ghost! I done seen de ghost ob a dead man!" gasped the colored man. + +"A ghost?" repeated Mark. + +"Yais, sah, right out yeah! He's lyin' down in a hole--a dead man. +Golly! but I'se a scared coon, I is!" and Washington looked over his +shoulder as though he feared the "ghost" had followed him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A BREAKDOWN + + +At first they were inclined to regard the announcement of Washington +lightly, but the too evident fright of the colored man showed that +there was some basis for his fear. + +"Tell us just what you saw, and where it was," said Mr. Henderson. "Was +the man alive, Washington?" + +"No, sah. How could a ghost be alive? Dey is all dead ones, ghosts am!" + +"There are no such things as ghosts," said Mr. Henderson sternly. + +"Den how could I see one?" demanded the cook triumphantly, as if there +was no further argument. + +"Well, tell us about it," suggested Jack. + +"It were jest dis way," began Washington earnestly, and with occasional +glances over his shoulder, "I were walkin' along, sort ob lookin' fer +dem sparklin' diamonds, an' I didn't see none, when all on a suddint I +looked down in a hole, and dere I seen HIM!" and he brought out the +word with a jerk. + +"Saw what--who?" asked Mr. Roumann. + +"De ghost--de dead man. He were lyin' all curled up, laik he were +asleep, an' when I seed him, I didn't stop t' call him t' dinner, yo' +can make up yo' minds t' dat all." + +"Can you show us the place?" inquired Jack. + +"Yais, sah, massa Jack, dat's what I kin. I'll point it out from dish +yeah winder, but I ain't g'wine dar ag'in; no, sah, 'scuse me!" + +"Well, show us then," suggested Mark. "I wonder what it can be?" he +went on. + +"Maybe one of the people who came from Mars after the diamonds, who was +forgotten and left here, and who died," said Jack. + +"It's possible," murmured Mr. Henderson. "However, we'll go take a +look. Get on your fur coats, boys, and take the life-torches. Will you +come, Andy?" + +"Sure. It's got to be more than a ghost to scare me," said the hunter. + +They emerged from the projectile and walked in the direction Washington +had pointed, holding their gas torches near their heads and talking of +what they might see. + +"This will be evidence in favor of my diamond theory," declared Jack. +"It shows that the Martians were here." + +"Wait and see what it is," suggested his chum. + +They walked along a short distance farther, and then Mark spoke. + +"That ought to be the place over there," he said, pointing to a +depression between two tall pinnacles of black rock. + +Jack sprang forward, and a moment later uttered a cry of astonishment. + +"Here it is!" he called. "A dead man!" + +"A dead man?" echoed Professor Henderson. + +"A petrified man," added Jack, in awe-struck tones. "He's turned to +stone." + +A few seconds later they were all grouped around the strange object--it +was a man no longer, but had once been one. It was a petrified human +being, a full-grown man, to judge by the size, and it was a solid image +in stone, even the garments with which he had been clothed being turned +to rock. + +For a moment no one spoke, and they gazed in silence at what was an +evidence of former life on the moon. The man was huddled up, with the +knees drawn toward the stomach and the arms bent around the body, as if +the man had died in agony. The features were scarcely distinguishable. + +"That man was never an inhabitant of Mars," spoke Professor Henderson, +in a low voice. "He is much too large, and he has none of the +characteristics of the Martians." + +"I agree with you," came from Mr. Roumann. + +"Then who is he?" asked Jack. + +"I think," said the aged scientist, "that we are now gazing on all that +was once mortal of one of the inhabitants of the moon." + +"An inhabitant of the moon?" gasped Mark. + +"Yes; why not?" went on Mr. Henderson. "I believe the moon was once a +planet like our earth--perhaps even a part of it, and I think that it +was inhabited. In time it cooled so that life could no longer be +supported, or, at least, this side of the moon presents that +indication. The people were killed--frozen to death, and by reason of +the chemical action of the gases, or perhaps from the moon being +covered with water in which was a large percentage of lime, they were +turned to stone. That is what happened to this poor man." + +"Such a thing is possible," admitted Professor Roumann gravely. + +And, indeed, it is, as the writer can testify, for in the Metropolitan +Museum in New York there are the remains of an ancient South American +miner, whose body has been turned into solid copper. The corpse, of +which the features are partly distinguishable, was found four hundred +feet down in an old copper mine, where the dripping from hidden +springs, the waters of which were rich in copper sulphate, had +converted the man's body into a block of metal, retaining its natural +shape. The body is drawn up in agony, and there is every indication +that the man was killed by a cave-in of the mine. Some of his tools +were found near him. + +They remained gazing at the weird sight of the petrified man for some +time. + +"Then the moon was once inhabited?" asked Jack at length. + +"I believe so--yes," answered Professor Henderson. + +"Then where are the other people?" asked Mark. "There must be more than +one left. Why was this man off here alone?" + +"We don't know," responded the German scientist. "Perhaps he was off +alone in the mountains when death overtook him, or perhaps all his +companions were buried under an upheaval of rock. We can only theorize." + +"It will be something else to put in the book I am to write," said Mr. +Henderson. "But, now that we have evidence of former life on the moon, +we must investigate further. We will make an attempt to go to the other +side of the country, and to that end I suggest that we set our +projectile in motion and travel a bit. There is little more to see +here." + +This plan met with general approval, and, after some photographs had +been taken of the petrified man, and the professors had made notes, and +set down data regarding him, and had tried to guess how long he had +been dead, they went back to the _Annihilator_. + +"Well, did yo' all see him?" asked Washington. + +"We sure did," answered Jack. "You weren't mistaken that time." + +They got ready to move the projectile, but decided to remain over night +where they were. "Over night" being the way they spoke of it, though, +as I have said, there was perpetual daylight for fourteen days at a +time on the moon. + +Professors Roumann and Henderson made a few more observations for +scientific purposes. They found traces of some vegetation, but it was +of little value for food, even to the lower forms of animal life, they +decided. There was also a little moisture; noticed at certain hours of +the day. But, in the main, the place where they had landed was most +desolate. + +"I hope we get to a better place soon," said Jack, just before they +sealed themselves up in the projectile to travel to a new spot. + +As distance was comparatively small on the moon, for her diameter is +only a little over two thousand miles and the circumference only about +six thousand six hundred miles, the _Annihilator_ could not be speeded +up. If it went too fast, it would soon be off the moon and into space +again. + +Accordingly the Cardite motor was geared to send the big craft along at +about forty miles an hour, and at times they went even slower than +that, when they were passing over some part of the surface which the +professors wished to photograph or observe closely. + +They did not rise high into the air, but flew along at an elevation of +about two hundred feet, steering in and out to avoid the towering peaks +scattered here and there. Occasionally they found themselves over +immense craters that seemed to have no bottom. + +For two days they moved here and there, finding no further signs of +life, neither petrified nor natural, though they saw many strange +sights, and some valuable pictures and scientific data was obtained. + +It was on the third day, when they were approaching the side of the +moon which from time immemorial has been hidden from view of the +inhabitants of the earth, that Jack, who was with Mark in the engine +room, while the two professors were in the pilot-house, remarked to his +chum: "Mark, doesn't it strike you that the water pump and the air +apparatus aren't working just right?" + +"They don't seem to be operating very smoothly," admitted Mark, after +an examination. + +"That's what I thought. Let's call Mr. Henderson. The machinery may +need adjusting." + +Jack started from the engine room to do this, and as he paused on the +threshold there was a sudden crash. Part of the air pump seemed to fly +off at a tangent, and a second later had smashed down on the Cardite +motor. This stopped in an instant, and the projectile began falling. +Fortunately it was but a short distance above the moon's surface, and +came down with a jar, which did not injure the travellers. + +But there was sufficient damage done to the machinery, for with the +breaking of the air pump the water apparatus also went out of +commission, and together with the breakdown of the Cardite motor had +fairly stalled the _Annihilator_. + +"What's the matter?" cried Professor Henderson, running in from the +pilot-house, for an automatic signal there had apprised him that +something was wrong. + +"There's a bad break," said Jack ruefully. + +"A bad break! I should say there was," remarked the scientist. "I think +we'll have to lay up for repairs." And he called Mr. Roumann. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +LOST ON THE MOON + + +Notwithstanding that they were somewhat accustomed to having accidents +happen, it was not with the most pleasant feelings in the world that +the moon travellers contemplated this one. It meant a delay, and a +delay was the one thing they did not want just now. + +They desired to get to the other side of the moon while the long period +of sunshine gave them an opportunity for observation. True there was +some time yet ere the long night of fourteen days would settle down, +but they felt that they would need every hour of sunshine. + +"Well, it's tough luck, but it can't be helped," said Mark. + +"No, let's get right to work," suggested Jack. + +They got out their tools and started to repair the two pumps. It was +found that the Cardite motor was not badly damaged, one of the negative +electrical plates merely having been smashed by a piece of the broken +connecting rod of the air pump. It was only a short time before the +motor was ready to run again. + +But it could not be successfully operated without the air and water +pumps, and it was necessary to fix them next. New gaskets were needed, +while an extra valve and some sliding gears had to be replaced. + +"It's an all day's job," remarked Professor Henderson. + +But many hands made light work, and even Washington and Andy were +called upon to do their share. By dinner time the work was more than +half done, and Professor Roumann, announced that he and Mr. Henderson +would finish it if Jack and Mark would take a look at the exterior of +the projectile, to see if any repairs were needed to that. + +The boys found that some of the exterior piping had become loosed at +the joints, because of the jar of the sudden descent, and, taking the +necessary tools outside, while they stuck their life-torches upright +near them, they labored away. + +At four o'clock the two lads had their task completed, and at the same +time Professor Henderson announced that the air and water pumps were +now in good shape again. + +"Then let's get under way at once," suggested Mr. Roumann. "We have +lost enough time as it is. Hurry inside, boys, and we'll start." + +The two chums were glad enough to do so, and in a few minutes they were +again moving through the air toward the unknown portion of the moon. + +Below the travellers, as they could see by looking down through a +plate-glass window in the floor of the projectile, were the same rugged +peaks, the same large and small craters that had marked the surface of +the moon from the time they had first had a glimpse of it. There was an +uninteresting monotony about it, unrelieved by any save the very +sparest vegetation. + +"I am beginning to think more and more that we will find people on the +other side of this globe," remarked Mr. Roumann, as he made an +observation through a telescope. + +"What strengthens your belief?" inquired Mr. Henderson. + +"The fact that the vegetation is growing thicker. There are many more +plants below us now than there were before. This part of the moon is +better able to support life than the portion we have just come from." + +This seemed to be so, but they were still some distance from the +opposite side of the moon. + +"I don't see anything of those diamonds you talked so much about, +Jack," said Mark, with a smile, a little later. "I guess all the +Reonaris you get you can put in a hollow tooth." + +"You wait," was all Jack replied. + +The projectile was slowed up to permit the two professors to make some +notes regarding a particularly large and deep crater, and a few minutes +later when Mark, who was in the engine room, attempted to speed up the +Cordite motor it would not respond. + +"Humph! I wonder what's wrong?" he asked of Jack. + +"Better call Mr. Roumann, and not try to fix it yourself," suggested +his chum, when, in response to various movements of the lever, the +machine seemed to go slower and slower. + +The German came in answer to the summons. + +"Ha!" he exclaimed, "that motor is broken again. We shall have to stop +once more for repairs. I shall need to take it all apart, I fear. Get +me the negative plate remover, will you, Mark?" + +The lad went to the tool chest for it. He opened the lid and fumbled +about inside. + +"It doesn't seem to be here," he announced. + +"What! the negative plate remover not there?" cried the professor. +"Why, it must be. It is one of the new tools we got, and it has not +been used for anything; has it?". + +"Oh, by Jinks!" cried Jack suddenly. + +"What's the matter?" asked his chum. + +"That plate remover! Don't you remember you and I had it when we were +fixing the pipes outside the projectile, when we had the other +breakdown? We must have left it back there on the ground." + +Jack and his chum gazed blankly at each other. + +"I guess we did," admitted Mark dubiously. + +"And it is the only one we have," said Mr. Roumann. "We need it very +much, too, for the projectile can't very well be moved without it." + +"How can we get it?" asked Jack. "I'm sorry. It was my fault." + +"It was as much mine as yours," asserted Mark. "I guess it's up to us +to go back after it. It isn't far. We can easily walk it." + +There seemed to be nothing else to do, and, after some discussion, it +was decided to have the two boys walk back after the missing tool, +which was a very valuable one. + +"Take fresh life-torches with you," advised Mr. Henderson, "and you had +better carry some food with you. It may be farther back than you think, +and you may get hungry." + +"I guess it will be a good thing to take some lunch along," admitted +Jack. "And some water, too. We can't get a drink here unless we come to +a spring, and we haven't seen any since we arrived." + +"I'll go with you, if you don't mind," said Andy. "I may see something +to shoot." + +The three of them, each one carrying a freshly charged vapor-torch, a +basket of food and a bottle of water, started off, well wrapped in +their fur coats. Andy had a compass to enable them to make their way +back to where the tool was left, for, amid the towering peaks and the +valley-like depressions, very little of the level surface of the moon +could be seen at a time. + +They walked on for several hours, every now and then hoping that they +had reached the place where the projectile had been halted, and where +they expected to find the tool. But so many places looked alike that +they were deceived a number of times. + +At length, however, they reached the spot and found the instrument +where Jack had carelessly dropped it. They picked it up and turned to +go back, when Andy Sudds saw a large crater off to one side. + +"Boys, I'm going to have a look down that," he said. "It may contain a +bear or wildcat, and I can get a shot." + +"Guess there isn't much danger of a bear being on the moon," said Mark, +but the old hunter leaned as far over the edge of the crater as he +dared. + +"No, there's nothing here," he announced, with almost a sigh, and he +straightened up. As he did so there came a tinkling sound, as if some +one had dropped a piece of money. + +"What's that?" asked Jack. + +"By heck! It's the compass!" cried Andy. "It slipped from my pocket +when I stooped over. Now it's gone!" + +There was no question of that. They could hear the instrument tinkling +far down in the unfathomable depths, striking from side to side of the +crater as it went down and down. + +"We'll never see that again," spoke Mark dubiously. "Can we get back to +the projectile without it?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, I fancy I can pick my trail back," answered the hunter. "It isn't +going to be easy, for there are no landmarks to guide me, but I'll do +my best. I ought to have known better than to put a compass in that +pocket." + +It was not with very light hearts that they started back, and for a +time they went cautiously. Then, as they seemed to get on familiar +ground, they increased their pace and covered several miles. + +"Say," remarked. Jack, as he sat down on a big stone. "I don't know how +the rest of you feel, but I'm tired. We've come quite a distance since +we picked up that tool." + +"Yes, farther than it took us to find it after we left the projectile," +added Mark. "I wonder if we're going right?" + +The two boys looked at Andy. He scratched his head in perplexity. + +"I can't be sure, but it seems to me that we came past here," he said. +"I seem to remember that big rock." + +"There are lots like it," observed Jack. + +"Suppose we try over to the left," spoke Mark, after they had rested +for ten minutes. + +They swerved in that direction, and, after keeping on that trail for +some time, and becoming more and more convinced that it was the wrong +one, they turned to the right. That did not bring them to familiar +ground, and there was no sight of the projectile. + +"Let's go straight ahead," suggested Andy, after a puzzled pause. "I +think that will be best." + +"Well, which way is straight ahead?" asked Mark. + +"That's so, it is hard to tell," admitted the hunter. "I wish I hadn't +lost that compass." + +They wandered about for an hour longer. They could seem to make no +progress, though they covered much ground. Suddenly Jack called out: + +"Say, we've been going around in a circle!" + +"In a circle?" asked Mark. + +"Yes," went on his chum. "Here's the very rock I sat down on a while +ago. I remember it, for I scratched my initials on it." + +Jack pointed out the letters. There was no disputing it. They had made +a complete circle. For a moment they maintained silence in the face of +this alarming fact. Then Mark exclaimed: + +"I guess we're lost!" + +"Lost on the moon!" added Jack, in an awestruck voice, and he gazed on +the chill and desolate scene all about them; the great pinnacles of +rocks, in fantastic form; the immense black caverns of craters on +either hand; the sickly green vegetation. + +"Lost on the moon!" whispered Mark, and there was not even an echo of +his voice to keep them company. Only a chill, desolate silence! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +DESOLATE WANDERINGS + + +For a moment the three stood helplessly there and stared at each other. +They could scarcely comprehend their situation at first. Then, with a +glance at the cold and quiet scene all about them, a look up at the +sun, which was the only cheerful object in the whole landscape, Jack +observed: "Oh, I say, come on now, don't let's give up this way! We +have only taken a wrong turn, and I'll wager that the projectile will +be just around the corner. Come on," and he started off. + +"Yes," said Mark, "that's the trouble. There are so many corners, and +we have taken so many wrong turns, that we're all confused. I think the +best thing to do will be to stay here a while and pull ourselves +together." + +"That's right," spoke old Andy. "Many a time in the woods I've got all +confused-like, and then I'd sit down and think, and I'd get on the +right path in a few minutes after." + +"The trouble here is," said Jack, "that there are no woods. If there +were we might know how to get out of them. But think of it! Lost on the +moon, in the midst of a whole lot of queer mountain peaks, and big +holes that would hold half a dozen cities of the United States at the +same time, and never know it! This is a fearful place to be lost in!" + +"I'm not going to admit that we're lost," declared Mark stoutly. + +"Hu! You're like the Indian," spoke Jack. "The Indian who got lost in +the woods. He insisted that it wasn't he who was lost, that it was his +wigwam that couldn't be found. He knew where he himself was all the +while. That's our case, I suppose. We're here, but the projectile is +lost." + +"Ha! ha!" laughed Andy Sudds. "That's a pretty good joke!" + +"But not being able to find the projectile is no joke," went on Mark, +who always took matters more seriously than did his chum. "What are we +going to do?" he added. "We can't stay here like this." + +"Maybe we'll have to," declared Jack. "We certainly can't get off the +moon--at least, not until we reach the projectile, and I'd like to +discover those diamonds before we go back." + +"Hu! Those diamonds!" exploded Mark. "I think this whole thing is a +wild-goose chase, anyhow! If it hadn't been for those diamonds we +wouldn't have come to the moon. I don't believe there are any diamonds +here, anyhow." + +"Well, I can't prove it to you now, but I will before we get back," +asserted Jack. "We'll be wearing diamonds, as the song says." + +"Diamonds aren't going to keep us warm when we're freezing," went on +Mark, who seemed bound to look on the dark side, "and we can't eat 'em +when we're hungry. A lot of good they'll do us if we do find them!" + +"Oh, cheer up!" suggested Jack cheerfully. "And, speaking of eating, +what's the matter with having some lunch? What did we bring it along +for if we're not going to eat? Let's begin." + +His good spirits were contagious, not that Andy needed any special +cheering up, but Mark did. In a few minutes they were seated on some +rugged rocks, and, with their life-torches stuck in cracks, so that the +perforated metal boxes of chemicals would be on a level with their +faces, they opened the baskets they had been fore-sighted enough to +bring with them. + +"Why, I feel better already," asserted Jack, as he munched some +sandwiches which Washington White had made. "As soon as we've finished +we'll have another hunt for the projectile, and I'll wager that we'll +find it." + +"I wouldn't finish if I were you," suggested Andy, who was eating +sparingly. + +"Finish what?" asked Jack. + +"All your lunch. You see," the old hunter went on, "we may find the +projectile, and, again, we may not. I'm inclined to think we're not so +very far from it, but we may be some time locating it in among all +these peaks and craters. So it will be the best plan to save some of +our lunch and drinking water until--well, until we're hungry again," +and he carefully put back into his basket the remains of the food. + +"You don't mean to say you think we'll be all day finding the +Annihilator, do you?" + +Jack paused, with a sandwich half way to his mouth as he asked this +question. + +"Well, it's best to be on the safe side," spoke Andy guardedly. "We may +find it, and, again, we may not. Save your powder against the time of +need, I say--by powder meaning victuals and drink. We can't drop in a +restaurant up here, and I don't see much game to shoot, and I should +hate to eat such fodder as this," and he poked with his foot some +sickly green vines, growing on the ground. + +The boys' faces, which had become more cheerful, assumed a serious +look. Jack stopped eating at once and placed back in the basket his +remaining sandwiches. He also corked up the bottle of water, which was +kept from freezing by means of a fur pouch in which it was carried. + +"If there's a possibility of being lost some time," spoke Mark, "we'd +better figure out just how long our food will last," and he examined +the contents of his basket. + +Fortunately Washington White, with a knowledge of the appetites of the +chums, had filled the baskets with lavish hands. There was, they found, +food enough to last them three days, if they ate sparingly, and there +was enough water for half that time, providing they only took small +sips when thirsty. But they had noticed, in one or two places, little +pools of liquid, which they had not tasted, but which might prove to be +drinking water. Certainly they would need more if they were destined to +remain away from the projectile for very long. + +"Well, then," observed Mark, when the food calculation was over, "it +appears that we can remain lost for about three days, at the most." + +"Oh, but we'll be back home--I mean in the projectile--long before +that," declared Jack. + +"I wish I was sure of that," murmured Andy with a dubious shake of his +head. + +"Well, let's move on again," suggested Jack. "We feel better now, and +maybe we'll have better luck." + +They started off, tramping over the rugged surface of the moon, while +the sun shone with tepid heat down on them. They had to go this way and +that to avoid the immense fissures in the ground or the yawning +craters, which loomed deep, and in awful silence, in their path. +Sometimes they climbed small mountains or crawled in and out of small +craters, slipping and stumbling. + +They were not cold, for their fur garments kept them comfortably warm, +and there was no wind to make the freezing temperature search through +the crevices of their clothing. But it was the desolate silence, the +utter absence of any form of life save the pale green vegetation that +got on their nerves. It was like being in a dead world--on a planet +that seemed about to dissolve into space. + +They began their further search for the projectile with hope in their +hearts, but this gradually gave way to despair as they wandered on over +the desolate surface, and saw nothing but the same rugged peaks, the +same yawning caverns and the innumerable craters, large and small. + +On they wandered, looking on all sides for the missing projectile, but +they had no glimpse of it. Even climbing to one of the high peaks, +whence they had a view of the surrounding country, afforded them no +trace of the _Annihilator_, They were utterly lost. + +Old Andy, who, by reason of his experience as a trapper and hunter, had +taken the lead, came to a halt. He looked around helplessly. He did not +know what to do. + +"Well, boys," he remarked at length, "I don't like to say it, but I +can't seem to get anywhere. I give up." + +"Give up?" murmured Jack, in blank dismay. + +"Yes, for the time being," said the old man. "I'm all played out. I +guess we all are. We must have a rest. Here's a sort of cave. Let's +crawl in and have a sleep. Then maybe we can do something +to-morrow--no, not to-morrow, for they don't have that on the moon, +where the day is fourteen days long--but after we sleep we may be able +to find our way back. Anyhow, I've got to get some sleep," and without +another word the old hunter went into the cave, and, fixing his +life-torch near his head, where the fumes from it would dissipate the +poisonous gases of the moon, he closed his eyes, and was soon in +slumber. + +"I--I guess we'd better do the same," said Jack, and Mark nodded. They +were both sick at heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE PETRIFIED CITY + + +For a time, after they had entered the cave, which was in the side of a +rugged mountain, the boys talked in low tones of their perilous +situation. For that it was perilous they both knew. Had they been on +the earth, lost in some desolate part of it, away from civilization, +their plight, would have been bad enough with what little food they +possessed. + +But on the far-off moon--the dead moon, which contained no living +creatures save themselves, as far as they could tell--with no form of +animal life that might serve to keep them from starving, with only the +scantiest of vegetation, their situation was most deplorable. + +"And then there's another thing," said Mark, as if he was cataloguing a +list of their troubles. + +"What is it?" asked Jack. "I guess we have all the troubles that belong +to us, and more, too." + +"Well, what are we going to do when the life-torches give out, and we +can't breathe any more?" asked Mark dubiously. + +"Well, I guess it'll be all up with us then, if we don't starve to +death in the meanwhile," answered Jack. "But I'm afraid we will get out +of food before the torches are exhausted. They were freshly filled +before we started out after that tool, and they'll last for two weeks. +So we don't have to worry about that. + +"By Jinks! this is all my fault, anyhow, it seems. If I hadn't seen +that item in the Martian paper about the diamonds, we never would have +come here, and if I hadn't left that tool on the ground outside of the +projectile we wouldn't have had to come back after it, and we wouldn't +have become lost. So I guess it's up to me, as the boys say." + +"Oh, nonsense!" exclaimed Mark, who, as soon as he heard his chum +blaming his own actions, was ready to shoulder part of the +responsibility himself. "We all wanted to come to the moon," he went +on, "and, as for leaving the tool and forgetting it, I'm as much at +fault as you are. Let's go to sleep, and maybe we'll feel better when +we wake up." + +It was a new role for Mark--to be cheerful in the face of +difficulties--and Jack appreciated it. They stretched out on the hard, +rocky floor of the cavern, taking care to fix their life-torches so +that the fumes would dispel the poisonous gases. Then the two lads +joined Andy in slumberland. + +Meanwhile, as may be imagined, those aboard the projectile were very +anxious about the fate of the two boys and the hunter. They could not +understand what delayed them, and, though they guessed the real cause, +after several hours had passed, there was nothing the two scientists +could do. + +They could not move the projectile until it had been repaired, and this +could not be done, without the tool--at least, they did not believe so +then. Nor did Mr. Henderson and the German think it would be safe to +start out in search of the wanderers. + +"For," said Mr. Henderson, "if we went we would easily get lost amid +these peaks ourselves, and they are so much alike and in such numbers +that there is no distinguishing feature about them. We had better stay +here in charge of the _Annihilator_ until the boys and Andy come back. +They can't be away much longer now." + +So worn out and exhausted were the boys and the hunter that they slept +for several hours in the cave, and the rest did them good. They awoke +in better spirits, and, after a frugal meal and a sip of the +fast-dwindling water, they started off once more to locate the +projectile. + +"I'm a regular amateur hunter to go and lose my compass," complained +old Andy. "I ought to have it fastened to me, like a baby does the +rattle-box. I ought to kick myself," and he accepted all the blame for +their misadventure. But the boys would not suffer him to thus accuse +himself, and they insisted that they would shortly be with the two +professors and Washington in the _Annihilator_ once more. + +"Well, it can't come any too soon," said Jack, "for I am beginning to +feel the need of a square meal and a big drink of water." + +"So am I," said Mark, "but let's not think of it." + +All that day they wandered on, crossing the rugged mountains, climbing +towering peaks, and descending into deep valleys. At times they skirted +the lips of craters, to look shudderingly into the depths of which made +them dizzy, for the bottoms were lost to sight in the black gloom that +enshrouded the yawning holes. + +Their food was getting less and less, and what there was of it was most +unpalatable, for the bread was stale and dry, though the meat kept +perfectly in that freezing temperature. How they longed for a hot cup +of coffee, such as Washington used to make! and how they would have +even exchanged their chance of filling their pockets with the moon +diamonds for a good meal, such as was so often served in the projectile! + +On and on they went. Once, as they were crossing the lip of a great +crater, Mark became dizzy, and would have fallen had not Jack caught +him. Mark had forgotten, for the moment, and had lowered his +life-torch, so that his mouth and nose were not enclosed in the film of +vapor that emanated from the perforated box. + +"You must be careful," Andy warned them. + +"What's the use?" asked Mark despondently. "I don't believe we'll ever +find the projectile." + +"Of course we will!" exclaimed Jack. "I know we can't be far from it, +only we can't see it because of the mountains. If we only had some way +of letting them know where we are, they could signal to us." + +"By gum!" suddenly exclaimed Andy. + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack, for the old hunter was capering about +like a boy. + +"Matter? Why, the matter is that I'm a double-barrelled dunce," was the +answer. "Look here; do you see that?" and he held up his rifle. + +"Sure," replied Jack, wondering if their sufferings and worry had made +the old hunter simple-minded. + +"What is it?" asked Andy, shaking it in the air. + +"Your rifle," answered Mark, looking at Jack in surprise. + +"Of course," answered the hunter, "and a rifle is made to be fired off, +and here I've been carrying mine for nearly three days now, and I +haven't shot it once. You wanted a signal to make the folks in the +projectile hear us. Well, here it is I I guess they can hear this, and +when they do they can come and get us, for we don't seem able to reach +them. I'll just fire some signal shots." + +"That's the stuff!" cried Jack, and Andy proceeded to discharge his +rifle. + +The report the gun made in that quiet place was tremendous, and the +effect was curious, for, there being no air in the ordinary acceptance +of the word, there was no echo. It was as if one had hit two shingles +together. Merely a loud, sharp sound, and then an utter silence, the +vibrations being swallowed up instantly. + +"Do you think they can hear that?" asked Andy. + +"It sounds loud enough," answered Jack. "Shoot some more," which the +old hunter did. They wandered on still farther, firing at intervals all +that day, but there came no answering report or calls to direct them to +the projectile. They climbed once more to the tops of towering peaks, +but there they found their range of vision limited by peaks still +higher, while there were great valleys, in one of which, whether near +or far they could not tell, they knew, the _Annihilator_ was hidden. + +They had almost lost track of time now, and they did not know how far +they had wandered. They had sought out lonely caves to sleep in when +they were so weary they could go no farther, and they had sat about on +bleak rocks shivering, and had eaten their scanty meals--shivering +because in spite of their fur garments they were cold, as they did not +eat enough to keep their blood properly circulating. They could not +when they did not have the food to eat! + +Andy used up all but a few of his cartridges in firing signals, but to +no purpose. Their water was all but gone, and of their food only enough +remained for a day longer, though their life-torches still gave forth +plenty of vapor. + +"Well, what's to be done?" asked Jack, as they sat about, looking +helplessly at one another. + +"Might as well give up," suggested Mark bitterly. + +"Give up? Not a bit of it!" cried Andy, as cheerfully as he could. +"Let's keep on. We'll find the projectile sooner or later." + +So they kept on. It was while making their way between two great +mountain peaks that towered above their heads on either side, thousands +of feet up, making a sort of natural gateway, that Jack, who was in the +lead, cried out in astonishment at the sight that met his gaze when he +had passed the pinnacles. + +"Look!" he shouted, pointing forward. + +What he indicated was a great crater--larger and deeper than any they +had yet met with. It seemed a mile across, and, if gloom and darkness +were any indications, it was a hundred miles deep. + +But it was not the size of the great hole in the ground, not its +fearful gloom, that attracted their attention. What did was a great +natural or artificial bridge of stone that was thrown across the middle +of it from edge to edge. A bridge of stone that spanned the abyss; a +roadway, fifty feet wide, which reached into some unknown land, +connecting it with the desolate country in which our friends had been +wandering. + +"A bridge of stone across the cavern," said Jack, "but see. Here is a +house of stone. This was the guard-house, I'll wager--the guardhouse at +the entrance to some city, and that bridge is the means by which the +inhabitants entered and left. Maybe we are at the edge of the inhabited +part of the moon!" + +His words thrilled them. They pressed forward to the beginning of the +bridge across the crater. They looked into the stone hut. Clearly it +had been made by hands, for it was composed of blocks of stone, neatly +fitted together. Jack's theory seemed confirmed. + +Mark peered into the house, and uttered a cry of alarm. + +"There's a petrified man in there!" he gasped. + +Jack and Andy looked in at the open window. They saw, sitting at a +table, which was also of rock, a man, evidently a soldier, or rather he +had been, for he was nothing but stone now, like the hut in which he +dwelt. + +The wanderers looked at each other with fear on their faces. What +dreadful mystery were they about to penetrate? "Let's cross the +bridge," suggested Jack, in a low voice. "Maybe this marks the end of +desolation. Perhaps we may find life and food across the crater." + +"But--but the petrified man!" gasped Mark. + +"What of it? He won't hurt us. Maybe there are live men, who will take +care of us, beyond there," and Jack pointed across the bridge of stone. + +There was nothing to keep them where they were--in the land of +desolation. They could not live much longer there, with no food and +water. To pass on over the crater seemed the only thing to do. + +"Come ahead," called Jack boldly. They followed him. They kept in the +middle of the road, for to approach the edge, where there was a sheer +descent of so many feet that it made them dizzy to think of it, filled +them with terror. On they hurried until, in a short time, they had +crossed the great chasm. + +The road over the crater came to an end between two peaks, similar to +those at the beginning. Jack was the first to pass them, and as he +emerged he once more uttered a cry--a cry of fear and wonder. + +And well he might, for in a valley below the wanderers there was a +city. A great city, with wonderful buildings, with wide streets well +laid out--a city in which figures of many men and women could be +seen--little children too! A fair city, teeming with life, it seemed! + +But then, as they looked again, struck by the curious quiet that +prevailed, they knew that they were gazing down on a city of the +dead--a city where the inhabitants had been turned to stone, even as +had the soldier on guard in his lonely hut. + +They had come upon a petrified city of the moon! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +SEEKING FOOD + + +"Well, if this isn't the limit!" burst out Jack, when he had stood and +contemplated the silent city for several moments, which also his +companions did. "After all our wanderings and troubles, when we do find +a place, it isn't any good to us. I don't suppose there is a square +meal in the whole town! Isn't it wonderful, though--every person turned +to stone!" + +"Wonderful!" gasped old Andy. "I never saw anything like it in all my +life! What do you reckon did it, boys?" + +"The same thing that turned the man in the hut, and the one Washington +thought was a ghost, into stone," answered Mark. "There was a rain of +some lime-water, or a liquid charged with similar chemicals, and the +people were turned to rocks." + +It was uncanny, and for a moment they hesitated on the edge of the +city, which lay in a sort of cup-like valley, surrounded on all sides +by towering peaks of the moon mountains. The bridge over which they had +come afforded the only entrance to the city, and in times of war +(provided the inhabitants of the moon ever fought) the passage must +have been well guarded. + +It was evidently a time of peace when the calamity that turned the +inhabitants to stone came upon them, for only one soldier was in the +guard hut--doubtless being there merely to give an alarm, or possibly +to keep out undesirable strangers. + +"Well, are we going to stand here all day?" asked Jack of his +companions, when they had contemplated the silent city for five minutes +longer. + +"I say, let's go down there and see what we can find. I'm getting +hungry." + +"There'll be nothing there to eat," declared Mark. "If there ever was +anything, it's now stone. Think of a loaf of bread like a brick, and a +chunk of meat like some great rock!" + +"Let's go down, anyhow," added Andy, and they advanced. + +As they got down into the streets, the weird effect came over them more +strongly. It was as if they had suddenly entered some large town, and +at their advent every living person had been turned into an image. + +"Wonderful, wonderful!" murmured Jack. + +"I've read of the uncovering of the ancient buried cities, and how they +found women in the kitchen baking bread, and men at their work, but +this goes ahead of that, for here the people are not dust--they are +statues!" + +"It certainly is wonderful," agreed Mark. "I only wish the two +professors could see this. They could write several books about it. +This proves that the moon was once inhabited, though it is dead now. +The projectile should have come to this part of the moon." + +"Maybe they'll bring it here, when we get back and tell them what we've +seen," suggested Jack. + +"Yes, if we ever do get back," went on his chum, with a return of his +gloomy thoughts. + +The strangeness of the scenes all about them can scarcely be imagined. +Think of looking at a city street teeming with life, men and women +hurrying here and there, dogs running about, children at their play, +and then suddenly seeing that same street become as dead as some +mountain, with the people represented as stones on that same mountain, +and you can get some idea of what our friends looked upon. + +Here was a woman, looking in a store window, probably at some bargains, +though even the very window and store itself was now stone, and the +woman was like a block of marble. Near her was a little child, also +turned to stone, and there were a number of men, standing together on a +street corner as if they had been talking politics when the calamity +overtook them. + +There were shops where the workers had been turned to stone at their +benches, there were houses at the windows of which stone faces peered +out, and there were parks on the benches of which sat men, women and +children, stiff and solid--creatures of stone! Truly it was a city of +the dead! + +The wanderers walked about, seeing new wonders on every side. They +spoke in whispers at times, as though at the sound of a loud voice the +silent ones would awaken and resume the occupations or pleasures they +had left off centuries ago. + +Another strange part of it was that the people were not so very +different from those of the earth. They were exactly the same in size +and feature, but their clothing, as nearly as could be told from the +stone garments, seemed of a bygone fashion, such as was in vogue +hundreds of years ago. There were no horses observed, though there were +stone dogs and cats, and the shops given over to the sale of food +contained in the windows what seemed to be chunks of meat, loaves of +bread, and pies and cakes, though now they were only pieces of rock. + +"It's just as if one of our cities and the people in it should be +suddenly petrified," said Mark. "It's almost like the earth up here; +only they don't seem to have gotten to trolley cars yet." + +"Maybe they would if the moon hadn't cooled off when it did, and killed +them all," suggested Jack. "But, I say, let's get down to something +more practical than theorizing." + +"What, for instance?" asked Mark. + +"Looking for something to eat," went on Jack. "I'm nearly starved, and +I have only half a sandwich left. I want to eat it, yet, if I do, I +don't know where I'm going to get more. And as for water, I'd give a +handful of diamonds, if I had them, for half a glass of even warm +water." + +"Yes, we do need food and water badly," said Andy. + +"Then let's look for it," suggested Jack. "If we can find food in any +of these houses or shops, I don't believe the people will care if we +take it." + +"Find food here?" cried Mark. "Why, you must be crazy! All the food is +turned to stone, and what isn't would be spoiled! Why, no one has been +alive here for thousands and thousands of years!" + +"That's nothing," asserted Jack. "Don't you remember reading how, in +the arctic regions, they have found the bodies of prehistoric elephants +and mastodons encased in blocks of ice, where they have been for +centuries. The meat is perfectly preserved because of the cold. And +what of the grains of wheat they find in the coffins of Egyptian +mummies? Some of that is three thousand years old, yet it grows when +they plant it, and they can make bread of it. + +"Now, maybe we can find some wheat or something to eat in some of these +houses. If there's meat, it will be perfectly preserved, for the +temperature is below freezing." + +"That may be," admitted Mark, convinced, in spite of himself, "but it's +turned to stone, I tell you." + +"The outside part may be," said Jack, "but if we can crack off the +outside layer of stone we may find some good meat inside. I'm going to +look, anyhow." + +"That's not a bad idea!" cried Andy with enthusiasm. "Think of having a +loaf of bread and some beefsteak thousands of years old. I suppose they +had beefsteak here," he added cautiously. + +"Some kind of meat, anyhow," agreed Jack. "Well, let's look for a place +that was once a restaurant or hotel, and we'll see what luck we have. +Come on." + +They walked along the silent streets, with their silent occupants, and +finally Jack found what he was seeking. It was an eating place, to +judge by the appearance, and at tables inside were seated stone men and +women. + +"Back to the kitchen!" cried Jack with enthusiasm. "There's where we'll +find food, if there is any!" + +"It'll be all stone," declared Mark, but he and Andy followed Jack. + +They came to the place where was what appeared to be a stove. It was +more like a brick oven, however, than a modern range, though in dishes +that were now stone something was being cooked when the catastrophe +occurred. + +"There's meat, I'll wager!" cried Jack, pointing to several objects on +a table. They looked like chunks of beef, but when Mark struck them +with the end of his life-torch they gave forth a sound as if a rock had +been tapped. + +"What did I tell you?" Mark asked, "Nothing but rocks. And the bread is +also a stone," he added bitterly. + +"You're right," admitted Jack, with a sigh. "And I'm getting hungrier +than ever." They all were. For days they had been without sufficient +food, and now, when it was almost within their reach, they were denied +it by this curious trick of nature. With pale and wan faces they gazed +at each other, wetting their parched lips, for they had some time since +taken the last of their scant supply of water, and they were very +thirsty. + +"I guess it's all up with us," murmured Mark. "We'll soon be like these +poor people here--blocks of stone." + +"If we only could change this meat back into it's original shape," +spoke Jack musingly, smiting his fist against a block of beef. + +Suddenly Andy uttered a cry. + +"I have it!" he fairly shouted. + +"What?" asked Jack. + +"I have a plan to get meat out of this hunk of stone!" + +The two boys gazed at the old hunter as though they thought he had lost +his reason, but, chuckling gleefully, Andy took from his pouch several +cartridges, and proceeded to remove the wads, and pour the powder from +the paper shells out on the stone table. + +"I'll have some meat for us," he muttered. "We shan't starve now!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE BLACK POOL + + +"What are you going to do, Andy?" asked Jack, as he watched the old +hunter. + +"What am I going to do? Why, I'm going to blast out some of this meat, +that's what I'm going to do! I heard you boys talking about elephants +and other things being preserved for centuries in a cake of ice, and, +if that's true, why won't the meat in this petrified city be preserved +just as well? It's always below freezing here, and that's cold enough." + +"But the meat has turned to stone," objected Mark. + +"Only the outside part of it, to my thinking," answered Andy. "I +believe that inside these lumps of rock we'll find good, fresh meat!" + +"But how are you going to get it?" asked Jack. + +"Just as I told you--blast it out with some of the powder from my +cartridges. I used to be a miner before I turned hunter, and when we +wanted gold we used to fire a charge in some rocks. Now we want meat, +and I'm going to do the same thing. I'll put some powder underneath +this block of stone that looks as if it was a chunk of roast beef, and +we'll see what happens. It's lucky I saved some of my cartridges." + +While he was talking the old hunter had taken some of the powder and +put it back in one of the paper shells. Then, making a fuse by twisting +some powder grains in a piece of paper he happened to have in his +pocket, he inserted it in the improvised bomb, using some dirt and +small stones with which to tamp down the charge. He discovered a crack +in the big stone, which they hoped would prove to be a chunk of roast +beef, and Andy put the cartridge in that. + +"Look out now, boys," he called, "I'm going to light the fuse. I didn't +make a heavy charge, but it might do some damage, so we'll go outside." + +They hurried from the place, with its silent guests and waiters, and +reached the street. A moment later there sounded a dull explosion. + +"Now, let's see what we've got!" called Jack. + +Back to the kitchen they ran, the two boys in the lead. + +"Why--why--the stone has disappeared!" cried Jack, in disappointment, +as he glanced all around. + +"Yes, but look here," added Mark. "Here are bits of meat," and he +picked up from the stone table some scraps of meat. + +"Is it really roast beef?" cried Jack. "Good to eat?" + +Mark smelled of it. Then he put the morsel cautiously to his lips. The +next instant it had disappeared. It was proof enough. + +"Good! I should say it was good!" exclaimed Mark. "I wish there was +more of it! What happened to the rock of meat, Andy?" + +"I used too heavy a charge, and it blew all to pieces. I'll know better +next time. There are lots more chunks of meat, and we'll soon have a +feast. I'll make another bombshell." + +He worked rapidly while Jack sampled some of the shreds of meat that +had been scattered about by the explosion. The beef was perfectly +cooked, and in spite of its great age it was as fresh and palatable as +frozen meat ever is. Besides the heat generated by the explosion had +partly thawed it, so that there was no trouble in chewing it. + +Once more came the explosion, a slight one this time, and when the +adventurers re-entered the kitchen they found that what had been a lump +of stone had been broken open, and the middle part, like the kernel of +a nut, was sweet and good. It was cooked, so they did not have to eat +it raw. + +"Say, maybe this isn't good!" exclaimed Jack, chewing away. "It's the +best ever!" + +"And there's enough in this city to keep us alive for months, if we +can't find the projectile in that time," declared Andy. + +"Don't you think we will?" asked Mark. + +"Of course, but I was only just mentioning it. Now, eat all you want, +boys, I have quite a few cartridges left. I didn't fire away as many as +I thought I did, and we can blast out a dinner any time we want it. So +eat hearty!" + +They needed no second invitation, and for the first time in several +days they had enough to eat. It was comfortable in the petrified +restaurant, too, for they could move about without carrying their +life-torches constantly in their hand. The gases from the perforated +boxes filled the rooms, and were not quickly dispelled by the poisonous +vapors as they were outside, so they could walk around in comparative +freedom. + +"Now, if we could only blast out a loaf of bread, we'd be all right," +said Jack. They found some petrified loaves, but on breaking one open +it was found to be stone all the way through. + +Spurred on by an overwhelming thirst, they wandered about the dead +city, but found no moisture. They tried to chew some of the pale green +vegetation that grew more plentiful on this side of the moon, but it +was exceedingly bitter, and they could not stand it, though there was +some juice in it. + +They crossed the city, and wandered out into the country beyond. It +appeared to have been a fertile land before the stone death settled +down on it. They saw farmers in the fields, turned into images, beside +the oxen with which they had been plowing. But nowhere was there a sign +of water. Had it not been for a frozen rice pudding, they would have +perished that first day in the stone city. + +As it was, they dragged out a miserable existence, eating from time to +time of the blasted meat. But even this palled on them after a while, +for their lips were parched and cracked, and their tongues were swollen +in their mouths. + +"I can't stand this any longer!" cried Jack. + +"What are you going to do?" asked Mark. + +"Go out and look for water. There must be some in the country outside +if there isn't any in this city. I'm going to have a look. Besides, if +I'm going to die, I might as well die while I'm busy. I'm not going to +sit here in this dreadful place and give up." + +His words urged them to follow him, and, with lagging steps, for they +were weak and faint, they went from the restaurant, which they had made +their home since coming to the petrified city. + +Out into the open fields they went, but their search seemed likely to +be in vain. Between times of looking for the water they scanned the sky +for a sight of the projectile, which, hoping against hope, they thought +they might see hovering over them. But there was no sight of it. + +They came to a vast, level plain, girt with mountains, a lonesome +place, where there was no sign of life. Listlessly they walked over it. + +Suddenly Andy, who was in the lead, uttered a cry and sprang forward. +The boys ran to him, and found the old hunter gazing into the depths of +a great black pool, which filled a depression in the surface of the +moon. It was a small crater, and was filled, nearly to the top, with +some black liquid, which gloomily reflected back the light of the sun. + +"I'm going to have a drink!" cried Andy, and before the boys could stop +him he threw himself face downward at the edge of the black pool. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE SIGNAL FAILS + + +"Stop! Don't drink that! It may be poison!" yelled Jack. + +"Pull him back!" shouted Mark, and together they advanced on the old +hunter. They tried to drag him away from the black pool, but Andy shook +them off. + +"Let--me--alone!" he gasped, as he bent over the uninviting liquid and +drank deeply. "It's water, I tell you--good water--and I'm +almost--dead--from--thirst!" + +"Water? Is that water?" cried Jack. + +"Well, it's the nearest thing to it that I've tasted since I've been +lost on the moon," spoke Andy, as he slowly arose. "My, but that was +good!" he added fervently. + +"But--water?" gasped Mark. "How can there be water here?" + +"Taste and see," invited the old hunter. + +They hesitated a moment, and then followed his example. The +liquid--water it evidently had once been--had a peculiar taste, but it +was not bad. By some curious chemical action, which they never +understood, the liquid had been prevented from evaporating, nor was it +frozen or petrified as was everything else on the moon. + +What gave the liquid its peculiar black color they could not learn. +Sufficient for them that it was capable of quenching their thirst, and +they all drank deeply and refilled their bottles. + +"Now, I feel like eating again," spoke Andy, "We can take some of this +back with us, and have a good meal on blasted meat. Whenever we get +thirsty we'll have to make a trip back here for water." + +The boys agreed with him. They examined the black pool. It appeared to +be filled by hidden springs, though there was no bubbling, and the +surface was as unruffled as a mirror. The liquid was not very inviting, +being as black as ink, but the color appeared to be a sort of +reflection, for when the water, if such it was, had been put into +bottles it at once became clear, nor did it stain their faces or hands. + +"Well, it's another queer thing in this queer moon," said Jack. "I wish +the two professors could see this place. They'd have lots to write +about." + +"I wonder if we'll ever see them again?" asked Mark. + +"Sure," replied Jack hopefully. "We'll fill our lunch baskets, take a +lot of water along, and have another hunt for the projectile soon." + +They did, but with no success. For several days more they lived in the +petrified city, the meat encased in its block of stone, which Andy +blasted from time to time, and the black water keeping them alive. From +time to time they went out in the surrounding country, looking for the +projectile. But they could not find the place where they had left it, +nor could they find even the place where they had picked up the lost +tool that had cost them so much suffering. They were more completely +lost than ever. They crossed back and forth on the bridge over the +crater chasm, and penetrated for many miles in a radius from that, +marking their way by chipping off pieces of the rocky pinnacles, as +they did not want to leave the petrified city behind. + +From some peaks they caught glimpses of other towns that had fallen +under the strange spell of the petrification. Some were larger and some +smaller than the one they called "home." + +Jack proposed visiting some of them, thinking they might find better +food, but Mark and Andy decided it was best to stay where they were, as +they were nearer the supposed location of the projectile. + +"I think they'll manage to fix it up somehow, so it will move," said +Andy, "and then they'll come to look for us. I hope it will be soon, +though." + +"Why?" asked Jack, struck by something in the tone of the old hunter. + +"Because," replied Andy, "I am afraid our life-torches won't last much +longer. Mine seems to be weakening. I have to hold it very close to my +face now to breathe in comfort, while at first the oxygen from it was +so strong that I could hold it two feet off and never notice the +poisonous moon vapors." + +This was a new danger, and, thinking of it, the faces of the boys +became graver than ever. Death seemed bound to get them somehow. + +Two more days went by. They had now been lost on the moon over a week. +Each one now noticed that his life-torch was weakening. How much longer +would they last? They dared not answer that question. They could only +hope. + +The sun, too, was moving away from them. Soon the long night would set +in. By Mark's computation there was only three more days of daylight +left. What would happen in the desolate darkness? + +As they were returning from the black pool, with their water bottles +filled, and put inside the fur bags to prevent the frost from reaching +them, Mark happened to gaze over across a line of towering peaks. What +he saw caused him to gasp in astonishment. + +"Jack! Andy! See!" he whispered hoarsely, pointing a trembling finger +at the sky. + +There, outlined against the cloudless heavens, was a long, black shape, +floating through the air about two miles distant. + +"The projectile! The _Annihilator!_" yelled Jack. "Shout! Call to them! +Wave your hands! Andy, fire your gun! They have started off, and they +can't see us. We must make them hear!" + +Together they raised their voices in a mighty shout. The old hunter +fired his gun several times. They waved their hands frantically. + +But the projectile never swerved from its course. On it moved slowly, +those in it paying no heed to the wanderers, for they did not hear +them. Andy fired his gun again, but the signal failed, and a few +minutes later the _Annihilator_ was lost to sight behind a great peak. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE FIELD OF DIAMONDS + + +Dumbly the wanderers gazed at each other. They could not comprehend it +at first. That the projectile, on which their very lives depended in +this dead world of the moon, should float away and leave them seemed +incredible. Yet they had witnessed it. + +"Do--do you really think we saw it--saw the _Annihilator_, Mark?" asked +Jack in a low voice, after several minutes had passed. + +"Saw it? Of course, we saw it. We've seen the last of it, I'm afraid. +But what do you mean?" + +"I--I thought maybe I was out of my head, and I only saw a vision," +answered Jack. "You know--a sort of mirage. It was real, then?" + +"Altogether too real," spoke Andy Sudds grimly. "They didn't see us nor +hear us. We're left behind!" + +"But can't we do something?" demanded Mark. "Let's start off and try to +catch them. They were going slow." + +"The wonder to me is how they moved at all," said Jack. "I thought the +machinery wouldn't work until we got back with the lost tool." + +"Probably the two professors found some way of patching up the motor," +was Mark's opinion, and later they found that this was so. + +For some time they remained staring in the direction in which the +projectile had vanished, as if they might see it reappear, but the +great steel shell did not poke its sharp nose in among the towering +peaks which hid it from view. Probably it was many miles away now. + +"Well," remarked old Andy at length, "we've got to make the best of it. +We won't have many more days of light, and we must gather what food we +can, put it where we can find it in the dark, and also bring in some +water from the black pool. We can store that in some of the stone +tables. By turning them upside down they will make good troughs, and it +won't freeze. We must work while we have light, for soon the long night +will come." + +The sight of the projectile going away seemed to take the heart out of +all of them, and they did not know what to do. For some time they +remained there idly, until Andy roused the boys to a sense of their +responsibility by urging upon them the necessity of getting together a +store of meat and water. + +As they had about exhausted the limited food supply in the ancient +restaurant, they sought and found another and larger one. There they +had the good fortune to come upon some whole sides of beef and lamb, +which were petrified on the outside, but which, when they had blasted +off the outer shell of stone, gave them good food. + +They made several trips to the black pool, and brought in all the +liquid they could, for they did not want to have to go outside the +petrified city into the wild and desolate country beyond, after the +dismal night had settled down. They feared they would become lost again. + +Their lonely situation seemed to grow upon them. The appalling silence +all about terrified them. The weird sight of the petrified men and +women in the petrified city got on their nerves. + +They had done all they could. A store of meat had been blasted out and +put away. It would keep outside of the stone shell now, for the weather +was getting colder with the advent of the long night. + +This fact worried them. With the temperature at twenty-eight when the +sun was shining, what might it not fall to in the darkness? The +terrible cold of the arctic regions might be nothing compared to the +frostiness of the dead moon in the shadow. Their fur garments, thick as +they were, might be no more protection than so much paper. And they had +no means of making a fire, nor anything to burn on one had they been +capable of kindling it, for Andy had used the last of his cartridges to +blast with, and where everything was petrified there was no wood. + +Then, too, their life-torches were giving out. The emanations of oxygen +were weaker, and they had to hold them almost under their noses to +breathe the vital vapor. + +One day, or rather what corresponded to a day, for they had lost all +track of time, Andy Sudds arose from the stone bench on which their +meager meal had been served. He started from the restaurant where they +had taken up their abode. + +"Where are you going?" asked Jack. + +"I'm going to make one last attempt to find the projectile before it +gets too dark," answered the hunter. "We can go out, look around for +several hours, and get back before darkness sets in. We might as well +do it as sit here doing nothing. Then, too, we can bring in some more +water. We'll need all we can store away." + +"I'll go with you," volunteered Jack, and Mark, not wanting to be left +alone in the dead city, followed. Carrying their life-torches and +wrapping their fur garments closely about them, for it had grown much +colder, they sallied forth. + +They found a thin film of ice on the black pool, showing that it would +probably freeze when it got cold enough, though the ordinary +temperature of thirty-two degrees had not affected it. They filled +their water bottles, and then Andy proposed that they take a new +path--one they had not tried before. + +They hardly knew where they were going, but ever as they tramped on +they cast anxious looks upward to see if they might descry the +projectile hovering over them. But they did not see it. + +Jack had taken the lead, and was walking along, glancing idly about. He +came to a place where two peaks were so close together that it was all +he could do to squeeze through. But the moment he had passed the defile +and looked out on a broad, level field, he came to a sudden stop. His +companions, who pressed after him, saw him rub his eyes and shake his +head, as if disbelieving the evidence of what lay before him. Then Jack +murmured: "It can't be true! It can't be true!" + +"What?" called Mark. + +"There! Those," answered his chum. "See, the field is covered with +diamonds! We have found the diamonds of the moon--the field of Reonaris +that the men of Mars discovered! There are the diamonds--millions of +them!" + +"Diamonds!" exclaimed Mark. He squeezed through the defile, and stood +beside Jack. Before him in the fading light of the sun was a broad +field, girt around with towering cliffs, and the surface of the field +was covered with white stones. + +Jack sprang forward and gathered up a double handful. He let them run +through his fingers in a sparkling stream. Old Andy came up to the boys. + +"They're only glass or crystals," he said. + +"They are _not_ glass or crystals!" declared Mark, who had made a study +of gems. "I should say they were diamonds, probably meteoric diamonds, +very rare and valuable. Why, there is the ransom of a thousand kings +spread out before us!" + +He fell upon his knees and began to scoop up the gems. His chum was +making a little heap of the stones. + +"The ransom of a thousand kings!" murmured Jack. "More diamonds than in +all the world--and I'd give my share for a good ham sandwich!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +BACK TO EARTH--CONCLUSION + + +At any other time the discovery of such a vast store of wealth would +have set the wanderers half wild with joy. Now they only accepted the +fact dully, for the perils of their situation overburdened them. As +Jack had said, they needed food more than the gems, for at best the +supply they had blasted out could not last long, and when that was gone +where were they to get more, for there were no more cartridges, and the +rending force of powder was needed to open the rocky meat. + +"I knew we'd find the diamonds," murmured Jack, as he began to fill the +pockets of his fur coat. "I'm right, after all, Mark, you see." + +"Yes, but what good will it do us? What's the good of even carrying any +away. We can never use them." + +"That's so," agreed Jack, in a low voice. "I might as well leave them +here." + +But somehow the desire to pick up gems which, when they were cut and +polished, would rival many of the famous diamonds of history was too +strong to be resisted. Though he was afraid he would never get back to +earth to enjoy them, Jack could not help putting in his pockets a +goodly supply of the largest of the precious stones. Andy did the same, +and Mark, in spite of his gloomy feelings, stuffed his pockets. They +worked with their torches held close to their faces, and in the search +for the better stones they literally walked over millions of dollars' +worth of the gems. + +For there, stretched out before them, was an actual field of diamonds. +As Mark had said, they were of meteoric origin, that is, a meteor had +burst over that particular portion of the moon, and the chemical action +had created the diamonds, which had fallen in a shower in the field. + +"If you boys have all you want, then let's get back to the city," +suggested Andy. "No telling when it will be night now." + +They followed his advice, and soon were going back by way of the black +pool. It seemed more lonesome than ever, after the excitement of +discovering the field of diamonds, and even Jack, glad as he was to +have his theory vindicated, got tired of referring to it. His triumph +meant little to him now. + +They were at the entrance to the petrified city. As they were about to +go in, ready to hide themselves in the deepest part of the restaurant, +away from the terrible cold and appalling darkness they felt would soon +be upon them, Mark came to a sudden halt. He glanced quickly up into +the air and cried out: "Hark!" + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack, as they stood in a listening attitude. + +"I heard a noise," whispered Mark. "It sounded--I'm sure it +sounded--like the crackling of the wireless motor waves of the +projectile. Listen!" + +Faintly through the silence came a sound as if there was a discharge of +an electric current. It increased in volume, and there was a faint +roaring in the atmosphere. + +"It's her--it's the _Annihilator!_" shouted Jack, leaping about. + +"Wait," counselled Andy, who dreaded the terrible disappointment should +the boys be mistaken. The sound came nearer. The crackling could +plainly be made out now. The sun was out of sight, but there was still +the glow which follows sunset. + +The boys were eagerly scanning the heavens, Their hearts beat high with +hope. Suddenly, in the olive-tinted sky just above a range of rugged +peaks, a black shape loomed. A black shape, as of a great cigar, +pointed at both ends. It shot into full view. + +"The projectile!" yelled Jack. + +"The _Annihilator!_" gasped Mark. + +"Thank Heaven, they have found us in time!" exclaimed Andy fervently, +and the three stretched out their arms toward the craft from which they +had been parted so long. It was as if they tried to pull it down to +them. + +"Do they see us?" + +"Will they pass us by?" + +"Make a noise so they'll hear us!" + +"Wave to them!" + +"Oh, if they leave us now!" + +Questions, ejaculations and entreaties came rapidly from the lips of +the wanderers. They raised their voices in a shout. They leaped up and +down. They wildly waved their hands and life-torches. + +Then, to their inexpressible joy, they saw the course of the projectile +change. It was headed toward them, and a few minutes later it settled +slowly to the ground about half a mile away. + +"Come on!" cried Jack! "We must hurry to them, or soon it will be too +dark to see them, or for them to find us. It's our last chance; don't +let's lose it!" + +He sprang forward, the others after him, and together they ran toward +the projectile. They could see the two professors and Washington White +emerging from the steel car, waving their hands. + +On rushed the lost wanderers, over the rough stones, skirting the great +cliffs, falling into small craters, crawling out again, just missing +several times being precipitated into yawning caverns, and stumbling +over petrified bodies that strewed the ground. + +Ever did they hasten onward though, increasing their speed. They came +to a great crater that lay between them and the projectile, but +fortunately there was across the middle of it a natural bridge of +stone. But it was narrow--scarcely wide enough for one at a time. + +"We can never cross on that!" cried Mark, halting. + +"We've got to!" shouted Jack, and he sprang fearlessly forward, fairly +running over the narrow path, which had a sheer descent of thousands of +feet on either side. + +Mark, though fearful that he would become dizzy and fall, followed +Andy. They were soon across the narrow bridge, and speeding on toward +the _Annihilator_. Five minutes later they had reached it, and were +being wildly welcomed by the two professors and Washington White, who +had advanced to meet them. + +"I 'clar t' goodness-gladness!" exclaimed the colored man, "I am +suttinly constrained t' espress my approbation ob de deleterous manner +in which yo' all has come back t' dis continuous territory." + +"Do you mean you're glad to see us, Wash?" asked Jack. + +"Dat's what I done said," was the answer, with a cheerful grin, "an' I +might also remark dat dinner am serbed in de dinin' car." + +"Hurrah!" cried Jack. "That's the best news I've heard in a week. No +more blasted beef for mine! Give me ham and eggs!" + +"But what happened to you? Where have you been? We have searched all +over for you, and were just giving you up for dead, and going back to +the earth," said Professor Henderson. "We caught sight of you at the +last minute." + +"Oh, you mustn't go back until you go to the field of diamonds!" cried +Jack, and then by turns he and Mark and Andy told of their terrible +adventures while they were lost on the moon. + +On their part Professors Roumann and Henderson stated how they had +waited in vain for the return of the wanderers, and had then, by +strenuous work, managed to make the necessary repairs without the +missing tool. Then they set out to discover the lost ones, but +succeeded only just in time, for it was now quite dusk. + +"An' did yo' all really discober dem sparklers?" asked Washington, as +he served what the boys thought was the finest dinner they had ever +tasted. + +"We sure did," replied Jack. "Here are a couple for that red necktie of +yours," and he passed over two big diamonds. + +It did not take long to move the projectile to the field of the +sparkling gems, and by means of a powerful search-light enough were +soon gathered up to satisfy even Washington White, who declared that he +would be the best decorated colored man in Bayside when they got back. +The two professors made what observations they could in the petrified +city in the fast-gathering darkness, and then, having taken a petrified +man into the projectile with them to deposit in a scientific museum in +which Professor Roumann was interested, the _Annihilator_ was sealed +shut. + +And it was only just in time, for with the suddenness of an eclipse +intense darkness settled down, and the temperature, as indicated by a +thermometer thrust outside, showed a drop of a hundred degrees. + +"We never could have lived out there," said Jack. + +"Well, we'll soon be back on earth," observed Mark, and a little later +the Cardite motor was out in operation, and the journey back to this +world begun. + +Little of moment happened on the return trip. The boys went more into +detail about their wanderings, and told how they had managed to live +during the time they were lost. The two professors and Washington spoke +of their worry and anxiety, and their vain search for the wanderers. + +As they were anxious to get back home, the motor was speeded to the +limit, and in much less time than they had made the trip to the moon +they had arrived in sight of the earth again. As they did not want to +create too much excitement, they hovered about in the air over Bayside +until dark, when they gently descended almost in the very spot from +which they had started. + +"Well," remarked Jack, as he stepped out on the earth once more, "it +was quite an experience to go to the moon, and I suppose being lost +there wasn't the worst thing that could happen to us, but all the same +I'm glad to be back." + +"So am I," declared Mark. "It was worth while going," and he felt of +his pocketful of diamonds. + +"We certainly made some very valuable scientific observations," +asserted Mr. Henderson, "and we will be able to prove that the moon was +once inhabited." + +Washington White was carefully lifting out his Shanghai rooster, which +was uttering loud crows. As soon as he had set the fowl on the ground, +the colored man started off. + +"Where are you going?" asked Mark. + +"I'm going t' a jewelery shop t' hab my diamonds made inter a stick-pin +fo' my red necktie," was the answer. + +"Oh, you'd better wait until morning," suggested Professor Henderson. + +They gathered about the table in the cozy dining room of their home, +while Washington got a meal ready. Every one was talking about what a +wonderful trip they had had. + +"The only trouble is," said Jack, "that we've been to about all the +interesting places in this universe now. I wonder where we can go next?" + +"I'm going to bed right after supper," announced Mark. "Maybe I'll +discover a new land in my dreams." + +The moon voyagers had a great store of gems, and, as they did not wish +to bring down values by disposing of them, they only sold a few, which, +because of their great size and brilliancy, brought a large price. +Several jewelers wanted to know where the diamonds came from, but the +secret was well kept. Most of the gems were used for scientific +purposes, but Mark and Jack gave some to certain of their friends. + +The petrified man proved a great curiosity, and a history of it, in two +large volumes, can be seen in the museum where the body is exhibited. +Professor Henderson wrote the account, and also published quite an +extensive history of the trip to the moon, which was considered by +scientists and laymen to be a most remarkable journey. + +But, though our friends had been to many strange places, it was +reserved for them to have yet still more wonderful adventures, though +for a time after returning from the moon they remained at home, the two +professors busy over their scientific work, and the boys engaged with +their studies, while Andy occasionally went hunting, and Washington got +the meals and, between times, fed his rooster and admired the diamonds +in his red necktie. And now we will bid our friends good-by. + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lost on the Moon, by Roy Rockwood + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOST ON THE MOON *** + +***** This file should be named 7473.txt or 7473.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/4/7/7473/ + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Tiffany Vergon, Joshua Hutchinson +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Lost on the Moon + or In Quest Of The Field of Diamonds + +Author: Roy Rockwood + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7473] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 6, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOST ON THE MOON *** + + + + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Tiffany Vergon, Joshua Hutchinson +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +LOST ON THE MOON +OR +IN QUEST OF THE FIELD OF DIAMONDS + +BY ROY ROCKWOOD + + + + +CHAPTER + + + I. A WONDERFUL STORY + II. SOMETHING ABOUT OUR HEROES + III. PREPARING FOR A VOYAGE + IV. AN ACCIDENT + V. THE WORK OF AN ENEMY + VI. ON THE TRACK + VII. MARK IS CAPTURED + VIII. JACK IS PUZZLED + IX. A DARING PLOT + X. "HOW STRANGE MARK ACTS" + XI. READY FOR THE MOON + XII. MARK'S ESCAPE + XIII. A DIREFUL THREAT + XIV. OFF AT LAST + XV. THE SHANGHAI MAKES TROUBLE + XVI. "WILL IT HIT US?" + XVII. TURNING TURTLE + XVIII. AT THE MOON + XIX. TORCHES OF LIFE + XX. ON THE EDGE OF A CRATER + XXI. WASHINGTON SEES A GHOST + XXII. A BREAKDOWN + XXIII. LOST ON THE MOON + XXIV. DESOLATE WANDERINGS + XXV. THE PETRIFIED CITY + XXVI. SEEKING FOOD + XXVII. THE BLACK POOL +XXVIII. THE SIGNAL FAILS + XXIX. THE FIELD OF DIAMONDS + XXX. BACK TO EARTH--CONCLUSION + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A WONDERFUL STORY + + +"Well, what do you think of it, Mark?" asked Jack Darrow, as he laid +aside a portion of a newspaper, covered with strange printed +characters. "Great; isn't it?" + +"You don't mean to tell me that you believe that preposterous story, do +you, Jack?" And Mark Sampson looked across the table at his companion +in some astonishment. + +"Oh, I don't know; it may be true," went on Jack, again picking up the +paper and gazing thoughtfully at it. "I wish it was." + +"But think of it!" exclaimed Mark. "Why, if such a thing exists, and if +we, or some one else, should attempt to bring all those precious stones +to this earth, it would revolutionize the diamond industry of the +world. It can't be true!" + +"Well, here It is, in plain print. You can read it for yourself, as you +know the Martian language as well as I do. It states that a large field +of 'Reonaris' was discovered on the moon near Mare Tranquilitatis (or +Tranquil Ocean, I suppose that could be translated), and that the men +of Mars brought back some of the Reonaris with them. Here, read it, if +you don't believe me." + +"Oh, I believe you, all right--that is, I think you have translated +that article as well as you can. But suppose you have made some error? +We didn't have much time to study the language of Mars while we were +there, and we might make some mistake in the words. That article might +be an account of a dog-fight on the red planet, instead of an account +of a trip to the moon and the discovery of a field of Reonaris; eh, +Jack?" + +"Of course, I'm likely to have made an error, for it isn't easy to +translate this stuff." And Jack gazed intently at the strangely printed +page, which was covered with characters not unlike Greek. "I may be +wrong," went on the lad, "but you must remember that I translated some +other articles in this paper, and Professor Henderson also translated +them substantially as I did, and Professor Roumann agreed with him. +There _is_ Reonaris on the moon, and I wish we could go there and +get some." + +"But maybe after you got the Reonaris it would turn out to be only +common crystals," objected Mark. + +"No!" exclaimed Jack. "Reonaris is what the Martians call it in their +language, and that means diamonds. I'm sure of it!" + +"Well, I don't agree with you," declared the other lad. + +"Don't be cranky and contrary," begged Jack. + +"I'm not; but what's the use of believing anything so wild and weird as +that? It's a crazy yarn!" + +"It's nothing of the sort! There are diamonds on the moon; and I can +prove it!" + +"Well, don't get excited," suggested Mark calmly. "I don't believe it; +that's all. You're mistaken about what Reonaris is; that's what you +are." + +"I am not!" Jack had arisen from his chair, and seemed much elated. In +his hand he held clinched the paper which had caused the lively +discussion. It was as near to a disagreement as Jack Darrow and Mark +Sampson had come in some time. + +"Sit down," begged Mark. + +"I'll not!" retorted Jack. "I'm going to prove to you that I'm right." + +"How are you going to do it?" + +"I'm going to get Professor Henderson and Professor Roumann to +translate this article for you, and then you can ask them what Reonaris +is. Guess that'll convince you; won't it?" + +"Maybe; but why don't you ask Andy Sudds or Washington White to give +their opinion?" + +"Don't get funny," advised the other lad sharply, and then, seeing that +his chum was smiling, Jack laughed, cooled down a bit, looked at the +paper which he had crumpled in his hand, and said: + +"I guess I _was_ getting a little too excited. But I'm sure I'm right. +Here's the paper I brought from Mars to prove it, and the only thing +there's any doubt about is whether or not Reonaris means diamonds. I'll +ask----" + +At that moment the door of the library, in which Jack and Mark were +seated, was cautiously opened, and a black, woolly head was thrust in. +Then two widely-opened eyes gazed at the boys. + +"What's the matter, Washington?" asked Jack, with a laugh. + +"'Scuse me, Massa Jack," answered the colored man, "but did I done heah +you' to promulgate some conversationess regarding de transmigatorability +ob diamonds?" + +"Do you mean, were we talking about diamonds?" inquired Mark. + +"Dat's what I done said, Massa Mark." + +"No, you _didn't_ say it, but you meant it, I guess," went on Jack. +"Yes, we _were_ talking about diamonds, Washington. I know a place +that's full of them." + +"Where?" inquired the colored man, thrusting his head farther into the +room, and opening his eyes to their fullest extent. "Ef it ain't +violatin' no confidences, Massa Jack, would yo' jest kindly mention it +to yo's truly," and Professor Henderson's faithful servant, who had +followed him into many dangers, looked at the two boys, who, of late +years, had shared the labors of the well-known scientist. "Where am +dose diamonds, Massa Jack?" + +"On the moon," was the answer. + +"On de moon? Ha! Ha! Dat's a joke!" And Washington began to laugh. "On +de moon! Ha! Ho!" + +"Well, you can read it for yourself," went on the lad, tossing the +paper over to the colored man. The latter picked it up, gazed at it, +first from one side, and then from the other. Next he turned it upside +down, but, as this did not make the article any clearer, he turned the +paper back again. Then he remarked, with a puzzled air: + +"Well, I neber could read without mah glasses, Massa Jack, so I guess +I'll hab t' let it go until annoder time. Diamonds on de moon, eh? +Dat's wonderful! I wonder what dey'll be doin' next? But I'se got t' +go. Diamonds on de moon, eh? Diamonds on de moon!" + +As Washington turned to leave the room, for he had entered it when Jack +and Mark were talking to aim, the latter lad asked: + +"Did you want to see us about anything particular, Wash?" + +"Why, I suah did," was the reply, "I did come t' tell yo' dat Perfesser +Henderson would be pleased to hold some conversations wid yo', but when +Massa Jack done mentioned about dem diamonds, I clean fo'got it. +Diamonds on de moon, eh?" + +"Well, if the professor wants us we'd better go," suggested Mark. "Come +on, Jack, and stop dreaming about Reonaris and the moonbeams. Get back +to earth." + +"All right; laugh if you want to," said Jack sturdily, "but the time +will come, Mark, when you'll find out that I'm right." + +"How?" asked Mark. + +"I don't know, but I'm sure I can prove what I say." + +The two boys were to have the wonderful diamond story demonstrated to +them sooner than either expected. Following the colored man, the lads, +Jack carrying the paper, made their way to the laboratory of Professor +Henderson. His door was open, and the aged man, whose hair and beard +were now white with age, was bending over a table covered with papers, +chemical apparatus, test tubes, alembecs, Bunsen burners, globes, and +various pieces of apparatus. Another man, not quite so old as was Mr. +Henderson, was on the point of leaving the apartment. + +"Ah, boys," remarked the older professor, as he caught sight of them, +"I hope I didn't disturb you by sending for you." + +"No; Jack and I were only having a red-hot discussion about diamonds on +the moon," said Mark, with a laugh. + +"Diamonds on the moon!" exclaimed Professor Henderson. + +"Diamonds on the moon?" repeated his friend, Prof. Santell Roumann. "Is +this a joke, boys?" + +"Mark thinks so, but I don't!" cried Jack, enthusiastically. "Look +here, Professor Henderson, and also Mr. Roumann. Here is one of the +newspapers that we brought back with us in our projectile, the +_Annihilator_, after our trip to Mars. I have been translating some of +the articles in it, and to-night I came across one that told of a trip +made by some of the inhabitants of Mars to the moon, in a sort of +projectile, like ours, only more on the design of an aeroplane. + +"They landed on the moon, the article states, and found a big field, or +deposit, of Reonaris, which I claim are diamonds. Mark says I'm wrong, +but, Professor Henderson, isn't Reonaris to the Martians what diamonds +are to us?" + +"It certainly is," agreed the older scientist, and he looked for +confirmation to his scholarly companion. + +"Reonaris is substantially a diamond," said Professor Roumann. "It has +the same chemical constitution, and also the diamond's hardness and +brilliancy. But I don't understand how any diamonds can be on the +moon." + +"You can read this for yourself," suggested Jack, passing over the +paper, which was one of some souvenirs brought back from what was the +longest journey on record, ever taken by human beings. + +Mr. Roumann adjusted his glasses, and carefully read the article that +was printed in such strange characters. As he perused it, he nodded his +head thoughtfully from time to time. Then he passed the paper to +Professor Henderson. + +The older scientist was somewhat longer in going over the article, but +when he had finished, he looked at the two boys, and said: "Jack is +right! This is an account of a trip made to the moon by some of the +Martians, who have advanced much further in the art of air navigation +than have we. Some of the words I am not altogether familiar with, but +in the main, that is what the paper states." + +"And doesn't it tell about them finding a field of Reonaris?" asked +Jack eagerly, for he was anxious to prove to his chum that he was +right. + +"Yes, it does," replied Mr. Henderson. + +"And Reonaris is diamonds, isn't it?" asked Jack. + +"It is," answered Professor Roumann gravely. + +"Then," cried Jack, "what's to hinder us from going to the moon, and +getting some of those diamonds? The Martians must have left some! Let's +go to the moon and get them! We can do it in the projectile with which +we made the journey to Mars. Let's start for the moon!" + +For a moment there was silence in the laboratory of the scientist. It +was broken by Washington White, who remarked: + +"Good land a' massy! Annodder ob dem trips through de air! Well, I +ain't goin' to no moon--no sah!! Ef I went dere, I'd suah get looney, +an' I has troubles enough now wid'out dat, I suah has!" And, shaking +his head dubiously, the colored man shuffled from the room. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SOMETHING ABOUT OUR HEROES + + +"Are you in earnest in proposing this trip?" asked Professor Henderson +of Jack. The lad, with flushed face and bright eyes, stood in the +centre of the apartment, holding the paper which the aged scientist had +returned to him. + +"I certainly am," was the reply. "It ought not to be a difficult +undertaking, after our trip to the North Pole through the air, the one +to the South Pole under water, our journey to the centre of the earth, +and our flight to Mars. Why, a trip to the moon ought to be a little +pleasure jaunt, like an automobile tour. Can't we go, Professor?" + +"From the standpoint of possibility, I presume we could make a trip to +the moon," the scientist admitted. "It would not take so long, nor +would it be as dangerous, as was our trip to Mars. And yet, I don't +know that I care to go. I am getting along in years, and I have money +enough to live on. Even a field of diamonds hardly sounds attractive to +me." Jack's face showed the disappointment he felt. + +"And yet," went on the aged scientist with a smile, "there are certain +attractions about another trip through space. I had hoped to settle +down in life now, and devote my time to scientific study and the +writing of books. But this is something new. We never have been to the +moon, and----" + +"There are lots of problems about it that are still unsolved!" cried +Jack eagerly. "You will be able to discover if the moon has an +atmosphere and moisture; and also what the other side--the one that is +always turned away from us--looks like." + +"It does sound tempting," went on the aged scientist slowly. "And we +could do it in our projectile, the _Annihilator_. It is in good working +order; isn't it, Professor Roumann?" + +"Couldn't be better. If you ask me, I, for one, would like to make a +trip to the moon. It would give me a better chance to test the powers +of Cardite, that wonderful red substance we brought from Mars. I can +use that in the Etherium motor. If you left it to me, I'd say, 'go to +the moon.'" + +"Well, perhaps we will," spoke Mr. Henderson thoughtfully. + +"You'll go, too, won't you, Mark?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, I'm not going to be left behind. I'll go if the rest do, but I +don't believe you'll find any diamonds on the moon. If there ever were +any, the Martians took them." For Mark had been partly convinced after +the confirmation by the two professors of Jack's translation. + +"I'll take a chance on the sparklers," said his chum. "But now, let's +go into details, and figure out when we can start. It ought not to take +very long to get ready." + +As has been explained in detail in the other books of this series, +Professor Amos Henderson and the two lads, Mark Sampson and Jack +Darrow, had undertaken many strange voyages together. Sometimes they +were accompanied by friends and assistants, while Washington White, a +sort of servant, helper, and man-of-all-work, and Andy Sudds, an old +hunter, always went with them. + +Mark and Jack were orphans, who had been adopted by Professor +Henderson, who spent all his time making wonderful machines for +transportation, or conducting strange experiments. + +The two boys had been rescued by Professor Henderson and Washington +White from a train wreck. Although both boys were badly hurt, they were +nursed back to health by the eminent scientist, who soon learned to +care for the lads as though they had been his own sons. + +They aided the professor, as soon as they were able, in constructing an +airship, called the _Electric Monarch_, in which Professor Henderson +hoped to be able to reach the North Pole. The boys thoroughly enjoyed +the trip through the air, and had many thrills fighting the savage +Eskimos. Finally, they succeeded in passing over the exact spot of the +North Pole during a violent snowstorm. + +Not satisfied with their experiences after conquering the North, the +adventurers set out for the Antarctic regions in a submarine boat. This +trip, even more remarkable than the first, took them to many strange +places in the South Atlantic. They were trapped for a time in the +Sargasso Sea, and they walked on the ocean floor in new diving suits, +one of the professor's marvelous inventions. + +It was on the voyage to the south that, coming to the surface one day, +the adventurers saw a strange island in the Atlantic Ocean, far from +the coast of South America. On it was a great whirlpool, into which the +_Porpoise_, their submarine boat, was nearly drawn by the powerful +suction. + +The chasm might lead to the center of the earth, it was suggested, and, +after thinking the matter over, on their return from the Antarctic, +Professor Henderson decided to build a craft in which they might solve +the mystery. + +The details of the voyage they took in the _Flying Mermaid_, are told +of in the third volume, entitled "Five Thousand Miles Underground." The +_Mermaid_ could sail on the water, or float in the air like a balloon. +In this craft the travellers descended into the centre of the earth, +and had many wonderful adventures. They nearly lost their lives, and +had to escape, after running through danger of the spouting water, +leaving their craft behind. + +For some time they undertook no further voyages, and the two boys, who +lived with Professor Henderson in a small town on the coast of Maine, +were sent to attend the Universal Electrical and Chemical College. +Washington remained at home to minister to the wants of the old +professor, and Andy Sudds went off on occasional hunting trips. + +But the spirit of adventure was still strong in the hearts of the boys +and the professor. One day, in the midst of some risky experiments at +college, Jack and Mark, as related in "Through Space to Mars," received +a telegram from Professor Henderson, calling them home. + +There they found their friend entertaining as a guest Professor Santell +Roumann, who was almost as celebrated as was Mr. Henderson, in the +matter of inventions. + +Professor Roumann made a strange proposition. He said if the old +scientist and his young friends would build the proper kind of a +projectile, they could make a trip to the planet Mars, by means of a +wonderful motor, operated by a power called Etherium, of which Mr. +Roumann held the secret. + +After some discussion, the projectile, called the _Annihilator_, from +the fact that it annihilated space, was begun. It was two hundred feet +long, ten feet in diameter in the middle, and shaped like a cigar. It +consisted of a double shell of strong metal, with a non-conducting gas +between the two sides. + +Within it were various machines, besides the Etherium motor, which +would send the projectile along at the rate of one hundred miles a +second. This great speed was necessary in order to reach the planet +Mars, which, at the time our friends started for it, was about thirty- +five millions of miles away from this earth. It has since receded some +distance farther than this. + +Finally all was in readiness for the start to Mars. Professor Roumann +wanted to prove that the planet was inhabited, and he also wanted to +get some of a peculiar substance, which he believed gave the planet its +rosy hue. He had an idea that it would prove of great value. + +But, though every precaution was taken, the adventurers were not to get +away from the earth safely. Almost at the last minute, a crazy +machinist, named Fred Axtell, who was refused work on the projectile, +tried to blow it up with a bomb. He partly succeeded, but the damage +was repaired, and the start made. + +Inside the projectile our friends shut themselves up, and the powerful +motors were started. Off it shot, at the rate of one hundred miles a +second, but the travellers were as comfortable as in a Pullman car. +They had plenty to eat and drink, they manufactured their own air and +water, and they slept when they so desired. + +But Axtell, the crazy machinist, had hidden himself aboard, and, in +mid-air, he tried to wreck the projectile. He was caught, and locked up +in a spare room, but, when Mars was reached, he escaped. + +The book tells how our friends were welcomed by the Martians, how they +learned the language, saw many strange sights, and finally got on the +track of the Cardite, or red substance, which the German professor, Mr. +Roumann, had come so far to seek. This Cardite was capable of great +force, and, properly controlled, could move great weights and operate +powerful machinery. + +Our friends wanted to take some back to earth with them, but when they +attempted to store it in their projectile, they met with objections, +for the Martians did not want them to take any. They had considerable +trouble, and the crazy machinist led an attack of the soldiers of the +red planet against our friends, the adventurers in the projectile. + +Among the other curiosities brought away by our friends, was a +newspaper printed in Mars, for the inhabitants of that place where much +further advanced along certain lines than we are on this earth, but in +the matter of newspapers they had little to boast of, save that the +sheets were printed by wireless electricity, no presses being needed. + +As told at the opening of this story, Jack had noticed on one of the +sheets they brought back, an account of how some of the Martians made a +trip to the moon, and discovered a field of Reonaris. This trip was +made shortly before our friends made their hasty departure, and it was +undertaken by some Martian adventurers on another part of the red +planet than where the projectile landed, and so Professor Henderson and +his friends did not hear of it at the time. + +"Well, then, suppose we make the attempt to go to the moon," said +Professor Roumann, after a long discussion in the laboratory. "It will +not take long to get ready." + +"I'd like to go," said Jack. "How about you, Professor Henderson? Oh, +by the way, Washington said you wanted to see Mark and me, but I was so +interested in this news item, that I forgot to ask what it as about." + +"I merely wanted to inquire when you and Mark thought of resuming your +studies at college," said the aged man, "but, since this matter has +come up, it will be just as well if you do not arrange to resume your +lessons right away." + +"We can study while making the trip to the moon," suggested Mark. + +"Not much," declared Jack, with a laugh. "There'll be too much to see." + +"Well, we'll discuss that later," went on Mr. Henderson. "Practically +speaking, I think the voyage can be made, and, the more I think of it, +the better I like the idea. We will look over the projectile in the +morning, and see what needs to be done to it to get it ready for +another trip through space." + +"Not much will have to be done, I fancy," remarked the German +scientist. "But I want to make a few improvements in the Cardite motor, +which I will use in place of the Etherium one, that took us to Mars." + +A little later there came a knock on the rear door of the rambling old +house where the professor lived and did much of his experimental work. + +"I'll go," volunteered Jack, and when he opened the portal there stood +on the threshold a small boy, Dick Johnson, one of the village lads. + +"What is it you want, Dick?" asked Mark. + +"Here's a note for you," went on the boy, passing over a slip of paper. +"I met a man down the road, and he gave me a quarter to bring it here. +He said it was very important, and he's waiting for you down by the +white bridge over the creek." + +"Waiting for who?" asked Jack. + +"For Mark, I guess; but I don't know. Anyhow, the note's for him." + +"Hum! This is rather strange," mused Mark. + +"What is it?" asked Jack. + +"Why, this note. It says: 'It is important that I see you. I will wait +for you at the white bridge.' That's all there is to it." + +"No name signed?" asked Jack. + +"Not a name. But I'll just take a run down and see what it is. I'll not +be long. Much obliged, Dick." + +The boy who had brought the note turned to leave the house, and Mark +prepared to follow. Jack said: + +"Let me see that note." + +He scanned it closely, and, as Mark was getting on his hat and coat, +for the night was chilly, his chum went on: + +"Mark, if I didn't know, that we had left Axtell, the crazy machinist, +up on Mars, I'd say that this was his writing. But, of course, it's +impossible." + +"Of course--impossible," agreed Mark. + +"But, there's one thing, though," continued Jack. + +"What's that?" asked Mark. + +"I don't like the idea of you going off alone in the dark, to meet a +man who doesn't sign his name to the note he wrote. So, if you have no +objections, I'll go with you. No use taking any chances." + +"I don't believe I run any risk," said Mark, "but I'll be glad of your +company. Come along. Maybe it's only a joke." And the two lads started +off together in the darkness toward the white bridge. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +PREPARING FOR A VOYAGE + + +"Seems like rather an odd thing; doesn't it?" remarked Jack, as he and +his chum walked along. + +"What?" + +"This note." + +"Oh, yes. But what made you think the writing looked like that of the +crazy machinist who tried to wreck the projectile?" + +"Because I once saw some of the crazy letters he sent us, and he wrote +just like the man who gave Dick this note. But come on, let's hustle, +and see what's up." + +In a few minutes they came in sight of the white bridge, which was +about a quarter of a mile down the road from the professor's house. The +two boys kept well together, and they were watching for a first sight +of the man in waiting. + +"See anything?" asked Jack. + +"No; do you?" + +"Not a thing. Wait until we get closer. He may be in the shadow. It's +dark now." + +Almost as Jack spoke, the moon, which had been hidden behind a bank of +clouds, peeped out, making the scene comparatively bright. The boys +peered once more toward the bridge, and, as they did so, they saw a +figure step from the shadows, stand revealed for an instant in the +middle of the structure, and then, seemingly after a swift glance +toward the approaching chums, the person darted off in the darkness. + +"Did you see that?" cried Jack. + +"Sure," assented Mark. "Guess he didn't want to wait for us. Why, he's +running to beat the band!" + +"Let's take after him," suggested Jack, and, nothing loath, Mark +assented. The two lads broke into a run, but, as they leaped forward, +the man also increased his pace, and they could hear his feet pounding +out a tattoo on the hard road. + +The two youths reached the bridge, and sped across it. They glanced +hastily on either side, thinking possibly the man might have had some +companions, but no one was in sight, and the stranger himself was now +out of view around a bend in the highway. + +"No use going any farther," suggested Jack, pulling up at the far side +of the bridge. "There are two roads around the bend, and we couldn't +tell which one he'd take. Besides, it might not be altogether safe to +risk it." + +Mark and Jack, on their return, told Professor Henderson and the German +scientist something of their little excursion. + +"But who could he have been?" asked Mr. Roumann. "Perhaps if you ask +the boy who brought the note he can tell you." + +"We'll do it in the morning," decided Mark. + +"It's peculiar that he wanted Mark to meet him," spoke Amos Henderson. +"Have you any enemies that you know of, Mark?" + +"Not a one. But what makes you think this man was an enemy, Professor?" + +"From the fact that he ran when he saw you and Jack together. Evidently +he expected to get Mark out alone." + +They discussed the matter for some time, and then the boys and the +scientists retired to bed, ready to begin active preparations on the +morrow, for their trip to the moon. + +There was much to be done, but their experience in making other +wonderful trips, particularly the one to Mars, stood the travellers in +good stead. They knew just how to go to work. + +To Washington was entrusted the task of preparing the food supply, +since he was to act as cook. Andy Sudds was instructed to look after +the clothing and other supplies, except those of a scientific nature, +while the two young men were to act as general helpers to the two +professors. + +As the _Annihilator_ has been fully described in the volume entitled, +"Through Space to Mars," there is no need to dwell at any length on the +construction of the projectile in which our friends hoped to travel to +the moon. Sufficient to say that it was a sort of enclosed airship, +capable of travelling through space--that is, air or ether--at enormous +speed, that there were contained within it many complicated machines, +some for operating the projectile, some for offence or defence against +enemies, such as electric guns, apparatus for making air or water, and +scores of scientific instruments. + +The _Annihilator_ was controlled either from the engine room, or from a +pilot house forward. As for the motive power it was, for the trip to +the moon, to be of that wonderful Martian substance, Cardite, which +would operate the motors. + +The projectile moved through space by the throwing off of waves of +energy, similar to wireless vibrations, from large plates of metal, and +these plates were the invention of Professor Roumann. + +Perhaps to some of my readers it may seem strange to speak so casually +of a trip to the moon, but it must be remembered that our friends had +already accomplished a much more difficult journey, namely, that to +Mars. So the moon voyage was not to daunt them. + +Mars, as I have said, was thirty-five millions of miles away from the +earth when the _Annihilator_ was headed toward it. To reach the moon, +however, but 252,972 miles, at the most, must be traversed--a little +more than a quarter of a million miles. As the distance from the earth +to the moon varies, being between the figures I have named, and 221,614 +miles, with the average distance computed as being 238,840 miles, it +can readily be seen that at no time was the voyage to be considered as +comparing in distance with the one to Mars. + +But there were other matters to be taken into consideration, and our +friends began to ponder on them in the days during which they made +their preparations. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +AN ACCIDENT + + +Washington White was kept busy getting together the food for the +voyage, and he had about completed his task, while Andy Sudds announced +one morning that his department was ready for inspection, and that he +thought he would go hunting until the projectile was ready to start. + +"Well, if you see anything of that queer man who sent me the note, just +ask him what he meant by it," suggested Mark, for inquiry from the boy +who had brought the message, developed the fact that Dick did not know +the man, nor had he ever seen him before. He was a stranger in the +neighborhood. But, as nothing more resulted from it, the two lads gave +the matter no further thought. + +"How soon before we will be ready to start?" asked Jack one day, while +he and his chum, with the two professors, were working over the +projectile, which was soon to be shot through space. + +"In about two weeks," replied Mr. Roumann. "I want to make a few +changes in the Cardite plates, which will replace the ones used on the +Etherium motor. Then I want to test them, and, if I find that they work +all right, as I hope, we will seal ourselves up in the _Annihilator_, +and start for the moon." + +"Are you going to try to go around it, and land on the side turned away +from us?" asked Mark, who had been studying astronomy lately. + +"What do you mean by that?" asked Jack. "Doesn't the moon turn around?" + +"Not as the earth does," replied his chum; "or, rather, to be more +exact, it rotates exactly as the earth does, on its axis; but, in doing +this it occupies precisely the same time that it takes to make a +revolution about our planet. So that, in the long run, to quote from my +astronomy, it keeps the same side always toward the earth; and today, +or, to be more correct, each night that the moon is visible, we see the +same face and aspect that Galileo did when he first looked at it +through his telescope, and, unless something happens, the same thing +will continue for thousands of years." + +"Then we've never seen the other side of the moon?" asked Jack. + +"Never; and that's why I wondered if the professor was going to attempt +to reach it. Perhaps there are people there, and air and water, for it +is practically certain that there is neither moisture nor atmosphere on +this side of Luna." + +"Wow! Then maybe we'd better not go," said Jack, with a shiver. "What +will we do, if we get thirsty?" + +"Oh, I guess we can manage, with all the apparatus we have, to distill +enough water," said Professor Henderson, with a smile. "Then, too, we +will take plenty with us, and, of course, tanks of oxygen to breathe. +But it will be interesting to see if there are people on the moon." + +"If there are any, they must have a queer time," went on Mark. + +"Why?" asked Jack, who wasn't very fond of study. + +"Why? Because the moon is only about one forty-ninth the size of the +earth. Its diameter is 2,163 miles--only a quarter of the earth's--and, +comparing the force of gravity, ours is much greater. A body that +weighs six pounds on the earth, would weigh only one pound on the moon, +and a man on the moon could jump six times as high as he can on this +earth, and throw a stone six times as far." + +"What's dat?" inquired Washington White quickly, nearly dropping some +packages he was carrying into the projectile. "What was yo' pleased t' +saggasiate, in remarkin' concernin' de untranquility ob the densityness +ob stones jumpin' ober a man what is six times high?" he asked. + +"Do you mean what did I say?" asked Mark solemnly. + +"Dat's what I done asked yo'," spoke the colored man gravely. + +"Well, you didn't, but perhaps you meant to," went on the youth, and he +repeated his remarks. + +"'Scuse me, I guess I'd better not go on dish yeah trip after all," +came from Washington. + +"Why not?" demanded Professor Henderson. + +"'Cause I ain't goin' t' no place whar ef yo' wants t' take a little +jump yo' has t' go six times as far as yo' does when yo' is on dis yeah +earth. An' s'posin' some ob dem moon men takes a notion t' throw a +stone at me? Whar'll I be, when a stone goes six times as far as it +does on heah? No, sah, I ain't goin'!" + +"But perhaps there are no men on the moon," said Mark quickly. "It is +only a theory of astronomers that I'm talking about." + +"Oh, only a theory; eh?" asked Washington quickly. + +"That's all." + +"Oh, if it's only a theory, den I reckons it's all right," came from +the colored man. "I didn't know it were a theory. Dat makes it all +right. It's jest in theory, am it, Massa Mark, dat a stone goes six +times as far?" + +"That's all." + +"Oh, well, den, why didn't yo' say so fust, dat it was only a theory? I +don't mind theories. I--I used t' eat 'em boiled an' roasted befo' de +wah." And, with a contented smile on his face, Washington went into the +projectile, to finish stowing things away in his kitchen lockers. + +The big projectile was housed in the shed where it had been +constructed, and the professor and the boys were working over it there, +carefully guarded from curious eyes, for the German inventor did not +want the secret of his Cardite motor to become known. + +The work went on from day to day, good progress being made. The boys +were of great assistance, for they were practical mechanics, and had +had considerable experience. + +"Well, I shall try the Cardite motor to-morrow," announced Professor +Roumann one night, after a hard day's work on the projectile. + +"Do you think it will work?" asked Mr. Henderson. + +"I think so, yes. My experiments have made me hopeful." + +"And if it does work, when can we start?" asked Jack. + +"Two days later; that is, if everything else is in readiness, the food +and other, supplies on board." + +"They are all ready to be stowed away," said Andy Sudds, who had been +hunting all day. + +It was an anxious assemblage that gathered inside the big shed the next +day, to watch Professor Roumann try the Cardite motor. Would it work as +well as had the Etherium one? Would it send them along through space at +enormous speed? True, they would not have to travel so far, nor so +fast, but more power would be needed, since, as it was feared no food, +water, nor air could be had on the moon, many more supplies were to be +taken along than on the trip to Mars, and this made the projectile +heavier. + +"We will test the Cardite in this small motor first," said Mr. Roumann, +as he pointed to a machine in the projectile used for winding a cable +around a windlass when there was necessity for hauling the _Annihilator_ +about, without sending it into the air. + +Into the receptacle of the motor, the German professor placed some of +the wonderful red substance he had secured from Mars. Then he closed +the heavy metal box that held it, and, looking about to see if all was +in readiness, he motioned to those watching him that he was about to +shift the lever that would start the motor. + +"If it works as well as I hope it will," he said, "it ought to pull the +projectile slowly across the shop--a task that would be impossible in a +motor of this size, if operated by electricity, gasoline, or any other +force at present in use. And, if this small motor will do that, I know +the large ones will send us through space to the moon. All ready, now." + +Slowly the professor shoved over the lever, while Jack, Mark and the +others watched him carefully. They were standing back of him, in the +engine room of the projectile. + +There was a clicking sound as the lever snapped into place. This was +succeeded by a buzzing hum, as the motor began to absorb the great +power from the red substance, which was not unlike radium in its +action. There was a trembling to the great projectile. + +"She's moving!" cried Jack. + +Hardly had he spoken when there was a flash of red fire, a sound as of +a bursting bomb, and everyone was knocked from his feet, over backward, +while Professor Roumann was hurled the entire length of the engine +room. + +"The Cardite motor has exploded!" cried Mark. "Professor Roumann is +killed!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE WORK OF AN ENEMY + + +Jack's first act, on arising from amid a mass of tools, into which he +had been tossed by the explosion, was to run to where Professor Roumann +lay in a semi-conscious condition. An instant later Mark slowly arose, +and made his way to where Professor Henderson was rubbing his forehead +in a dazed fashion. + +"Are you hurt?" asked Mark, of his aged friend. + +"I think not," answered Mr. Henderson slowly, "but I fear Mr. Roumann +is. See to him; I'm all right." + +"He's breathing," cried Jack, who had bent over the German. "He isn't +dead, at any rate." + +"But he may be, unless he gets attention," said Professor Henderson. +"Get my medicine chest, Mark, and we'll see what we can do for him." + +Jack had raised the head of the injured man on his arm, and was giving +him some water from a glass. This partially revived the German, and he +opened his eyes. He looked around, into the faces of his friends, as if +scarcely comprehending what had happened, and then, as his gaze +wandered toward the disabled Cardite motor, he exclaimed: + +"Some enemy has done this! The motor was tampered with. The resistance +block was loosened, and that caused the force of the Cardite to shoot +out at the rear. We must watch out for the work of this enemy!" + +"Don't distress yourself about that now," urged Mr. Henderson. "Are you +badly hurt? Do you need a doctor?" + +The German slowly drank the rest of the water which Jack gave him, and +then gradually arose to a standing position. + +"I am all right," he said faintly, "except that I feel a trifle dizzy. +Something hit me on the head, and the fumes from the Cardite took away +my breath for a moment. I think I shall be all right soon." + +"Here is the medicine chest!" exclaimed Mark, coming back into the +engine room. Mr. Henderson poured out some aromatic spirits of ammonia +into a graduated glass, added a little water, and gave it to his +fellow, inventor, who, after drinking it, declared that he felt much +better. There was a cut on his forehead, where a piece of the broken +motor had struck him, but, otherwise, he did not seem injured +externally. + +As for the boys, they were only stunned, nor was Mr. Henderson more +than momentarily shocked. In a few minutes the German professor was +almost himself again. + +"We must try to discover who our enemy is," he said earnestly, as he +looked over the disabled motor. "He might have blown up the whole +projectile by tampering as he did with the machinery. Had I been +testing the large, instead of the small motor, there would have been +nothing left of the _Annihilator_, or us, either. Who could have done +this? If that crazy machinist is around again----" + +"I don't believe he could get here from Mars," interrupted Jack, with a +smile. + +"Hardly," added Mark. + +"No, I guess he is still on the Red Planet, so it couldn't have been +him," went on Mr. Roumann. "But it was some one." + +Jack and Mark at once thought of the odd man who had sent Mark the +note, and then had run away. + +"Could it have been him?" suggested Jack. + +"It's possible," remarked Professor Henderson. "We must be on our +guard. I wonder if Washington----" + +At that moment there sounded a violent pounding on the exterior of the +projectile, and the voice of the colored man could be heard calling: + +"Am anything de mattah? Andy Sudds an' I is out heah, an' we heard +suffin goin' on in dere. Am anybody hurted?" + +"It's all over now, Wash," replied Jack, for the two boys, and the two +professors, had shut themselves up in the projectile while they +conducted the experiment. Jack opened the door of the _Annihilator_ +and stepped out, being met by the colored man and the old hunter. + +"You haven't seen any suspicious characters around, have you, Wash?" +asked Mark. "Some one has been tampering with a motor, and it +exploded." + +"Nobody's been around since I've been here," announced Andy Sudds, with +a significant glance at his gun. + +"Maybe it's some ob dem moon-men, what don't laik de idea ob us goin' +dere arter dere diamonds," volunteered the colored man. + +"Perhaps," admitted Jack, with a smile. "But certainly some one has +been around here who had no business to be, and we must find out who it +was. Better take a look around, Wash." + +"I'll help him," said Andy, and, with his rifle in readiness for any +intruders, the old hunter followed the colored man outside the big +shed. + +Meanwhile Professor Roumann and Mr. Henderson were carefully examining +the exploded motor. + +"I should have looked at the breech plug before turning on the power," +said the German, "but I had no reason to suspect that anything was +wrong." He went on to explain that the explosion was something like +that which occurs when the breech-block of a big navy gun is not +properly in place. The force of the Cardite, instead of being directed +against the piston-heads of the motor, shot out backward, and almost +into the face of the professor, who was operating the machine. + +"But what could be their object?" asked Mark. "Who would want to injure +us, or damage the projectile?" + +"Some enemy, of course," declared Jack. "But who? The crazy machinist +is out of it, and as for that man who sent the note to you, he seemed +too big a coward to attempt anything like this." + +"Some one evidently sneaked in here and loosened the breech-plug," went +on Mark, "and it was evidently done with the idea of delaying us. The +enemy could not have desired to utterly disable the projectile, or else +he would have tampered with the large motor, instead of the small one." + +"Yes, the object seems to have been to delay us," admitted Professor +Henderson; "yet, I can't understand why. Whoever did it evidently knows +something about machinery." + +"I hope they did not discover the secret of my Cardite motor," said +Professor Roumann quickly. + +"They hardly had time," declared Mark. "We have been in or around the +projectile nearly every minute of the day, and whoever it was, must +have watched his chance, slipped in, stayed a few seconds, and then +slipped out again." + +They went carefully over the entire projectile, but could find no +further damage done. Nor were there any traces of the person who had so +nearly caused a tragedy. Washington and Andy, after a careful search +outside the shed, had to admit that they had no clews. + +"Well, the only thing to do is to go to work and build a new small +motor," announced Professor Roumann, after once more looking over the +_debris_ of the one that had exploded. + +"Will it take long?" asked Jack. + +"About two weeks. Fortunately, I can use some of the parts of this one, +or we would be delayed longer." + +"Still two weeks is quite a while," suggested Mark. "Perhaps there'll +be no diamonds left on the moon when we get there, Jack," and he smiled +jokingly. + +"Oh, I fancy there will. The article in the paper from Mars says there +was a whole field of them." + +"This brings up another matter," said Professor Henderson. "What will +happen if we bring back bushels and bushels of diamonds?--which, in +view of what the paper says, may be possible. We will swamp the market, +and the value of diamonds will drop." + +"Then we must not throw them upon the market," decided Professor +Roumann. "The scarcity of an article determines its value. If we do +find plenty of diamonds, it will give me a chance to conduct some +experiments I have long postponed because of a lack of the precious +stones. We can use them for laboratory purposes, and need not sell +them. In fact, with the Cardite we brought back from Mars, we have no +lack of money, so we really do not need the diamonds." + +It was decided, in view of the shock and upset caused by the explosion, +that no further work would be done that day, and so, after carefully +locking the shed, and posting Andy on guard with his gun, the boys and +the professor went into the house to discuss matters, and plan for work +the next day. + +"Mark," said Jack in a low voice, as they followed the two scientists, +"I think it's up to us to try to find that mysterious man who sent the +note. I think he did this mean trick!" + +"So do I, and we'll have a hunt for him. Let's go now." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ON THE TRACK + + +The two boys gazed after Professors Henderson and Roumann. The +scientists were deep in a discussion of various technical matters, +which discussion, it was evident, made them oblivious to everything +else. + +"Shall we ask them?" inquired Jack in a whisper. + +"No; what's the use?" queried Mark. "Let's go off by ourselves, and +perhaps we can discover something. If we could once get on the trail of +the man who wrote the note, I think we could put our hands on the +person responsible for the blowing up of the motor." + +"I agree with you. We won't bother them about our plans," and he waved +his hand toward the scientists, who had, by this time, entered the +house. + +"In the first place," said Mark, as he and his chum turned from the +yard, and walked along a quiet country road, "I think our best plan +will be to find Dick Johnson, and ask him just where it was he met the +man who gave him a quarter to bring the note to me." + +"What for?" asked Jack. + +"Why, then, we can tell where to start from. Perhaps Dick can give us a +description of the man, or tell from what direction he came. Then we'll +know how to begin on the trail." + +"That's a good idea, I guess. We know where he disappeared to, or, +rather, in nearly what direction, so that will help some." + +"Sure. Well, then, let's find Dick." + +To the inquiries of the two lads from the projectile, Dick Johnson +replied that, as he had asserted once before, that the man was a +stranger to him. + +"He was tall, and had a big black mustache," Dick described, "but he +kept his hat pulled down over his eyes, so I couldn't see his face very +well. Anyhow, it was dark when I met him." + +"Where did you meet him?" asked Mark. + +"Not far from your house. He was standing on the corner, where you turn +down to go to the woollen mill, and, as I passed him, he asked me if I +wanted to earn a quarter." + +"Of course you said you did," suggested Jack. + +"Sure," replied Dick. "Then he gave me the note, and told me where to +take it, and I did. That wasn't wrong, was it?" + +"No; only there seems to be something queer about the man, and we want +to find out what it is," replied Mark. + +"What was the man doing when you saw him?" asked Jack. + +"Standing, and sort of looking toward your house." + +"Looking toward our house?" repeated Jack. "Was he anywhere near the +big shed where we build the machines?" + +"Well, I couldn't say. Maybe he might have been." + +"I guess that's all you can tell us," put in Mark, with a glance at his +chum, to warn him not to go too much into details with Dick, for they +did not want it known that some enemy had tried to wreck the +projectile. + +"Yes, I can't tell you any more," admitted the small lad. + +"Well, here's a quarter for what you did tell us," said Jack, "and if +you see that man again, and he gives you a note for us, just keep your +eye on him, watch where he goes, and tell us. Then you will get a half- +dollar." + +"Gee! I'll be on the watch," promised Dick, his eyes shining at the +prospect of so much money. + +"Come on," suggested Jack to his chum, after the small chap had +departed. "Let's go down by the white bridge and make some inquiries of +people living in that vicinity. They may have seen a stranger hanging +around, and, perhaps we can get on his trail that way." + +"All right," agreed Mark, and they walked on together. + +They had gone quite a distance away from the bridge, and had made +several inquiries, but had met with no success, and they were about to +give up and go back home. + +"I know one person we haven't inquired of yet," said Mark, as they +tramped along. + +"Who's that?" + +"Old Bascomb, who lives alone in a shack on the edge of the creek. You +know the old codger who traps muskrats." + +"Oh, sure; but I don't believe he'd know anything. If he did, he's so +cranky he wouldn't tell you." + +"Maybe he would, if we gave him a little money for some smoking +tobacco. It's worth trying, anyhow. Bascomb goes around a great deal, +and he may have met a strange man in his travels." + +"Well, go ahead; we'll ask him." + +The muskrat trapper did not prove to be in a very pleasant frame of +mind, but, after Mark had given him a quarter, Bascomb consented to +answer a few questions. The boys told him about looking for a strange +man, describing him as best they could, though they did not tell why +they wanted to find him. + +"Wa'al, now, I shouldn't be surprised but what I know the very fellow +you want," said the trapper. "I met him a couple of days back, an' I +think he's still hanging around. Fust I thought he was after some of my +traps, but when I found he wa'ant, I didn't pay no more attention to +him. He looked jest like you say." + +"Where was he?" asked Jack eagerly. + +"Walkin' along the creek, sort of absent-minded like." + +"You don't know where he lives, or whether he is staying in this +vicinity, do you?" inquired Mark. + +"Ya'as, I think I do," replied the trapper. + +"Where?" cried Jack eagerly. + +"Wa'al, you know the old Preakness homestead, down by the bend of the +creek, about four mile below here?" + +"Sure we know it," answered Mark. "We used to go in swimming not far +from there." + +"Wa'al, the old house has been deserted now for quite a spell," went on +the trapper, "and there ain't nobody lived in it but tramps. But the +other night, when I was comin' past, with a lot of rats I'd jest taken +out of my traps, I see a light in the old house. Thinks I, to myself, +that there's more tramps snoozin' in there, and I didn't reckon it was +none of my business, so I kept on. But jest as I was walking past the +main gate, some one come out of the house and hurried away. I had a +good look at him, an'----" + +"Who was it?" asked Mark impatiently, for the old trapper was a slow +talker. + +"It was the same man you're lookin' for," declared Bascomb. "I'm sure +of it, an' he's hangin' out in the old Preakness house. If you want t' +see him, why don't you go there?" + +"We will!" cried Jack. "Come on, Mark. I think we're on the trail at +last." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MARK IS CAPTURED + + +Eagerly the boys hurried forward, intent on making the best time +possible to the old Preakness homestead, which was a landmark for miles +around, and which, in its day, had been a handsome house and estate. +Now it was fallen into ruins, for there was a dispute among the heirs, +and the property was in the Chancery Court. + +"Do you think we'll find him there?" asked Mark, as they made their way +along the dusty highway. "Hard to tell. Yet, if he's hanging out in +this neighborhood, that would be as good a place as any, for him to +hide in." + +"I wonder who he can be, anyhow? And how he knows me?" + +"Give it up. Evidently he isn't a tramp, though he stays in a place +where there are plenty of the Knights of the Road." + +The boys increased their pace, and were soon on the main road leading +to the Preakness house, and about a mile away from it. "We'll soon be +there now," remarked Jack. "Then we'll see if we can find that man." + +As he spoke, the lad put his hand in his pocket, and, a moment later, +he uttered a startled cry. + +"What's the matter?" asked Mark, in some alarm. + +"Matter? Why, gee whiz! If I haven't forgotten to send that telegram +Professor Henderson gave me! It's to order some special tools to take +along on our trip to the moon. They didn't come, and the professor +wrote out a message urging the factory to hurry the shipment. He gave +it to me to send, just before the accident to the motor, but when that +happened it knocked it out of my mind, I guess. I stuck the telegram in +my pocket, and here it is yet," and Jack drew forth a crumpled paper. +"Wouldn't that make you tired?" he asked. "It's important, and ought to +go at once. The professor won't like it." + +"I'll tell you what to do," suggested Mark, after a moment's thought. +"The telegraph office isn't so far away from here. You can cut across +lots, and be there in fifteen or twenty minutes. Tell 'em to rush the +message, and it may be in time yet. Anyhow, we're going to be delayed +because of the accident to the motor, so it won't make so much +difference. But come on, let's start, and we can hurry back." + +"I guess that's the best plan," remarked Jack dubiously, for he did not +fancy a half-hour's tramp across the fields and back again. Then, as he +thought of something else, he called out: + +"Say, Mark, there's no use of both of us going to the telegraph office. +I'll go alone, as it's my fault, and you can stay here, and watch to +see if that strange man appears on the scene. I'll not be long, and you +can wait for me here." + +"How would it be if I went on a little nearer to the Preakness house?" +asked Mark. "I can meet you there just as well as here, and something +may develop." + +"Good idea! You go on, and when I come back, I'll take the road that +leads through the old slate quarry, and save some time that way. I'll +meet you right near the old barn that stands on the Gilbert property, +just before you reach the Preakness grounds." + +"All right; I'll be there, but don't run your legs off. We're out for +all day, and there isn't anything that needs to be done at home, or +around the projectile, so take your time." + +"Oh, I'll not go to sleep," declared Jack. "I want to see if we can't +solve the mystery of the man who writes such queer notes." + +Jack started off across the fields at a swift pace, while Mark strolled +on down the road, in the direction of the old Preakness house. He was +thinking of many things, chiefly of the wonderful journey that lay +before them, and he was wondering what the moon would look like when +they got to it. + +That it would be a wild, desolate place, he had no doubt, for the +evidences of the telescopes of astronomers pointed that way, and, as is +well known, the most powerful instruments can now bring the moon to +within an apparent distance of one hundred miles of the earth. This is +true of the Lick telescope, which has a magnifying power of 2,500 and +an object lens a yard across. + +But, with this powerful telescope, it has been impossible to +distinguish any such objects as forests, cities, or any evidences of +life on the moon--that is, on the side that has always been turned +toward us. + +Almost unconsciously, Mark went on faster than he intended, and, before +he knew it, he had arrived at the barn where he had promised to wait +for his chum. Mark looked at his watch, and found that he would still +have some time to linger before he could expect Jack to return. He sat +down on a stone beside the fence, and looked about him. The day was +warm for fall, and the last of the crickets were chirping away, while, +in distant fields, men could be seen husking corn, or drawing in loads +of yellow pumpkins. + +"I wonder if we'll have pumpkin pie on the moon," thought Mark. +"Though, of course, we won't. I guess all we'll have to eat will be +what Washington takes along in the projectile--that is, unless we find +people on the other side of the place." + +He sat on the stone for some minutes longer, and then, tiring of the +inactivity, he arose and strolled about. Something seemed to draw him +in the direction of the old house, which he knew was just around the +bend in the road. + +"I guess there wouldn't be any harm in my going along and taking a peep +at it," mused the lad. "It will be some time before Jack returns, and I +may be able to catch a glimpse of our man. I think I'll go up where I +can see the place, and I can come back in time to meet Jack. I'll do +it. Maybe the fellow might escape while I'm waiting." + +Mark thus tried to justify himself for his action in not keeping to his +agreement with his chum. Of course it was not an important matter, Mark +thought, though the results of his simple action were destined to be +more far-reaching than he imagined. He thought he would be back in time +to meet Jack, and so he strolled on, going more cautiously now, for, in +a few minutes he would come in sight of the old, deserted house, and he +did not know what he might find there. + +Mark's first sight of the Preakness homestead was of two old stone +posts, that had once formed a fine gateway. The posts were in ruins, +now, and half fallen down, being covered with Virginia creeper, the +leaves of which were now a vivid red, mingled with green. + +"Nothing very alarming there," said Mark, half aloud. He could just +catch a glimpse of the roof of the house over the tops of the trees, +which had not yet shed all their leaves. "Guess I'll go on a little +farther. Maybe our friend, the enemy, is sitting on the front porch, +sunning himself." + +Past the old gateway Mark continued, intending to proceed along the +highway until he got directly in front of the old mansion. There, he +knew, he would have a good view, unobstructed by trees or shrubbery. + +When the lad got to this place in the road, he paused, and stooped +over, as if tying the lace of his shoe, for it was his intention to +pass himself off, if possible, as a casual passer-by, so that in case +the mysterious man should be in the house, his suspicions would not be +aroused by seeing the youth to whom he had written the note staring in +at him. + +And, while he was apparently fussing with his shoe, Mark was narrowly +eying the old house. + +"Not a very inviting place," thought Mark. "I don't see why any man who +could afford anything better, would stay there--unless he has some +strong motive for lingering in this section. And that's probably what +this fellow has, and I'd like to discover it. Well, I don't see any +signs of him, so I guess I might as well go back, and wait for Jack. +He'll be along soon." + +He stood up, took a good look at the house, and was about to retrace +his steps down the highway, when he saw the sagging front door of the +old mansion slowly open. It creaked on the rusty hinges, and Mark +stared with all his might as he saw a man emerge, a man who did not +look like a tramp, for his clothes were of good material and cut, and +fit him well. Nor did he wear a stubbly growth of beard, but, on the +contrary, his face was clean shaven. The man was about Mark's size, +perhaps a little taller, and nearly as stout. He stood on the sagging +porch, and gazed off toward the road. + +"Well, if that's the man Dick Johnson got the note from he's changed +mightily in appearance," thought Mark, as he looked at the fellow. "He +isn't very tall, and he hasn't any black mustache. But of course he may +have shaved that off, and I suppose in the dark, and when one is in a +hurry to earn a quarter, it's hard to say whether a man is tall or +short. I wonder if this can be the person we're looking for?" + +Mark hardly knew what to do. He stood in the road, undecided, and +fairly stared at the man, who had left the porch, and was walking down +the weed-grown path. He was looking straight at Mark, but if the +stranger was the person who had written the note, and if he recognized +the lad, he gave no sign to that effect. + +"Good afternoon," said the man, as he paused at the gap in the front +wall, where once a gate had been. "Pleasant day, isn't it." + +"Ye--yes," stammered Mark, wondering what to say next. + +"Live around here?" went on the man. + +"Not very far off." + +"Ah, then you know this old shack?" + +"Well, I don't get over here, very often. Do you live here?" ventured +Mark boldly, determining to do some questioning on his own account. + +"Me live here?" cried the man, as if indignant "Well, hardly! I was +just passing, and, happening to see the old place, and having a +fondness for antiques, I stepped in. But it is in bad shape. I should +say tramps make it their hangout." + +"It has that name," said Mark. + +There was a pause for a moment, and the lad was a trifle embarrassed. +The man was gazing boldly at him. + +"I guess I've made a mistake," thought Mark. "This can't be the man we +want. He doesn't live here, and he doesn't look like him. I'd better be +getting back to meet Jack." + +"Are you engaged at anything in particular?" questioned the man taking +a few steps nearer the youth. + +"No, I'm not working, but I expect to take a trip, shortly, with some +friends of mine," answered Mark. + +"Ah, is that so?" and there was polite inquiry in the man's voice. "Are +you going far?" + +"Quite a distance." Mark wondered what the man would say if he told him +he was going to the moon. + +"I wonder if you would do me a favor?" went on the man. "As I was +passing through this old house I saw, on one of the outer doors, an +old-fashioned knocker. I am a collector of antiques, and I would very +much like to have that. But I need help in getting it off. I do not +intend to steal it, but if it is left here some tramp may destroy it, +and that would be too bad. I intend to remove it, and then hunt up the +owners of this place, and purchase it from them." + +"It will be hard to discover who are the owners," replied Mark, "as the +title is in dispute." + +"So much the better for me. Will you help me remove the knocker? I will +pay you for your time." + +Mark hesitated. He did not like the man's manner, and there was a +shifty, uneasy look about his eyes. Still he might be all right. But +Mark did not like the idea of going into the old house with him alone. +It might be safe, and, again, it might not. But the knocker was on an +outside door. There could be no harm in helping him, as long as it was +outside. The man saw the hesitation in the lad's manner. + +"It will not take us long," the stranger said. "I want you to help me +pry off the knocker, as I have no screw-driver to remove it. I will pay +you well." + +As he spoke he came nearer to Mark, and the lad noticed that the man's +right hand was held behind his back. This struck Mark as rather +suspicious. Suddenly he became aware of a peculiar odor in the air--a +sweet, sickish odor. He started back in alarm, all his former +suspicions aroused. The man seemed to leap toward him. + +"Look out!" suddenly cried the fellow. "Look behind you!" + +Involuntarily Mark turned. He saw nothing alarming. The next instant he +felt himself grasped in the strong arms of the man, and a cloth that +smelled strongly of the strange, sweetly sickish odor was pressed over +the lad's face. + +"Here! Stop! Let me go! Help! Help!" cried Mark. Then his voice died +out. He felt weak and sick, and sank back, an inert mass in the man's +arms. + +"I guess I've got you this time," whispered the fellow, as he gazed +down on Mark's white face. "I'll put you where you won't get away, +either," and, picking up the youth, he carried him a prisoner into the +deserted house. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +JACK IS PUZZLED + + +Whistling merrily, with his mind as much on the big field of diamonds +he expected to discover on the moon, as it was on anything else, Jack +Darrow crossed over the meadows toward the telegraph office. + +"By Jinks! It certainly will be great to fly through space once more," +he mused. "Of course it isn't much of a trip, only a quarter of a +million miles at most, but it will be a little outing for us, and then +those diamonds!" + +A trip of a quarter of a million miles only a little outing! But then +what can be expected of lads who had gone to Mars and back again? + +Jack lost no time in reaching the telegraph office, where he left the +message to be sent, urging the operator to "rush" it, which that +official promised to do. + +"'Twon't be no great hardship on me, neither," he said with a cheerful +grin, "seein' as how this is the only one I've had to send to-day. I'll +get it right off for you, Jack." + +Jack meant to hurry back, but, just as he was turning out of the main +village street, to cut across lots, and join Mark at the place agreed +upon, Jack saw two dogs fighting. It was with the best intentions in +the world that he ran toward them, for he wanted to separate them. +However a man was ahead of him, and soon had the two beasts apart. But +Jack lingered several moments to see if there would be a renewal of the +hostilities. There wasn't, and he hurried on. In a short time he was +within sight of the barn, where his chum had agreed to meet him. + +"Mark!" cried Jack, when he came within hailing distance. + +There was no response. + +"Maybe he's hiding to fool me," thought the lad, "I'll give him another +call." + +Neither was there a reply to this shout, and Jack, with a vague feeling +of fear in his heart, hurried forward, climbed the fence that separated +the field from the highway, and fairly ran toward the barn. + +A glance sufficed to show that Mark was not in sight, and, thinking +that his chum might be on the other side, Jack went around the +structure. + +"Oh, you Mark!" he called. "I'm back! Let's get a move on and go to the +old house." + +Silence was the only answer. + +"That's queer," murmured Jack, when he had made a circuit of the place, +and had seen no sight of his friend. "I wonder if anything could have +happened to him? Perhaps he went inside, and has fallen down the hay +mow. I'll take a look." + +He made a thorough inspection of the ramshackle old structure, but +there was no evidence that Mark had entered it, and Jack was soon quite +assured that no harm had befallen his friend in there. Then a sudden +thought came to him. + +"Why, of course!" he exclaimed aloud. "I should have thought of that +before. Mark got tired of waiting, and went on to the Preakness house. +I might have known. I'll go on and catch up to him there." + +Jack had reasoned correctly, but he could not know, what had taken +place with only the old, grim, deserted mansion for a witness. With a +lighter heart he set off down the road. + +It did not take him long, at the pace he kept up, to come within sight +of the old gateway, with the creeper twining over the pillars. Then he +caught a glimpse of the house, and he at once slackened his footsteps. + +"No use rushing into this thing," he reasoned in a whisper. "Mark may +be in hiding, taking an observation of the mysterious man, and I don't +want to spoil it, by butting in. Guess I'll lie low for a while, and +see what develops." + +Crouching down beside some bushes that lined the roadway Jack looked +toward the silent, tumbled-down house and waited. All was still. +Occasionally a shutter flapped in the wind, the hinges creaking +dismally, or some of the loose window-panes rattled as the sash was +blown to and fro. It was not a pleasant aspect, and as the afternoon +was waning, and the sun was going down, while a cool wind sprang up, +Jack was anything but comfortable in his place of observation. + +And the one objection to it was that there was nothing to observe. Not +a sign of life was to be seen about the place, and the broken windows, +like so many unblinking eyes, stared out on the fields and road. + +"Oh pshaw!" exclaimed Jack at length, "I'm not going to sit here this +way! I'm going up and take a look. It can't bite me, and if that man's +in there I can give him some sort of a talk that will make it look all +right. I'm going closer. Maybe Mark's inside there, waiting for me, +though it's queer why he didn't keep his agreement and wait for me at +the barn. Well, here goes." + +Though he spoke bravely, it was not without a little feeling of +apprehension that Jack started toward the old mansion. He kept a close +watch for the advent of any person or persons who might be in the +house, but, when he reached the front porch, and had seen no one, he +felt more at ease. + +"Hello, Mark!" he cried boldly. "Are you inside?" + +He paused for an answer. None came. + +"This is getting rather strange," murmured Jack, who was now quite +puzzled as to what to make of the whole matter. "Mark must be here, yet +why doesn't he answer me? Oh, you Mark!" he shouted at the top of his +voice. + +There was only silence, and, after waiting a few moments Jack made up +his mind that the best plan would be to enter the house and look +around. + +He made a hasty search through the lower rooms, but saw no sign of +Mark. It was the same upstairs, and on the third floor there was no +evidence of his chum. Jack called again, but got no reply. + +"The garret next, and then the cellar," he told himself, and these two +places, darker and more dismal than any other parts of the old mansion, +were soon explored. + +"Well, if Mark came here he's not here now," thought Jack, "and there's +no use in my staying any longer. Maybe something happened that he had +to go back home. Perhaps he's trailing the man. We should have made up +some plan to be followed in case anything like that happened." + +Deciding that the best thing he could do would be to go back home Jack +came out of the old house. As he did so he gave a final call: + +"Mark! Oh, you Mark! Are you anywhere about?" + +What was that? Was it an answer, or merely the echo of his own voice? +Jack started, and then, as he heard another sound, he said: + +"Only the wind squeaking a shutter. Mark isn't here." + +If Jack had only known! + +Through the quickly-gathering darkness Jack turned his steps toward +home. On the way along the country road he kept a sharp lookout for any +sign of his chum, and, also, he looked to see if he could catch a +glimpse of any person who might answer the description of the man they +suspected of tampering with the Cardite motor. + +But the road was deserted, save for an occasional farmer urging his +horses along, that be might the more quickly get home to supper. + +"It's mighty strange," mused Jack, as he kept on. "I don't think Mark +did just right, and yet, perhaps, when it's all explained, he may have +good reasons for what he did. Maybe I'm wrong to worry about him, and, +just as likely as not, he's safe home, wondering what kept me. But he +might have known that I'd come back to the barn where I said I'd meet +him. Of course that dog-fight delayed me a little, but not much." + +It was quite dark when Jack reached the house where he and his chum +lived with the two professors. There was a cheerful light glowing from +many windows, and Jack also noticed an illumination in the shed where +the projectile was housed. + +"Guess they're working on it, to get it in shape for the trip, sooner +than they expected," he mused. + +Jack was met at the door by Washington White. + +"Hello, Wash!" greeted the lad. + +"Good land a' massy! Where hab yo' been transmigatorying yo'se'f during +de period when the conglomeration of carbohydrates and protoids hab +been projected on to de interplanetary plane ob de rectangle?" + +"Do you mean where have I been while supper was getting ready?" asked +Jack. + +"Dat's 'zackly what I means, Massa Jack." + +"Then why don't you say it?" + +"I done did. Dat's what I done. Supper's cold. But where am Massa +Mark?" + +"What! Isn't Mark home?" cried Jack, starting back in alarm. + +"No, Massa Jack, we ain't seed him sence yo' two went off togedder. +Where yo' all been?" + +"Mark not home!" gasped Mark. "Where is Professor Henderson, Wash? I +must speak to him at once." + +"He am out in de shed wif Massa Roumann." + +With fear in his heart Jack dashed out toward the big shed. + +"Ain't yo' goin' t' hab some supper?" called Washington. + +"I don't want any supper--yet," flung back Jack over his shoulder. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A DARING PLOT + + +Mark Sampson lay an inert mass in the arms of the man who had attacked +him. Through the sagging door of the old, deserted house the captive +lad was carried, and up creaking stairs. + +"I guess no one saw me," whispered the man. "I'm safe, so far, and I +can work my scheme to perfection. Everything turned out well for me. I +was just wondering how I could get this youth in my power, and he +fairly walked into my hands! Now to keep him safe until I can take his +place in the projectile, and have my revenge. I have waited a long time +for it, but it has come at last!" + +Pausing at the head of the creaking stairs the man looked behind him, +to make sure that he was not being followed, but not a sound broke the +stillness of the old house, save the rattle and bang of the ruined +shutters. + +"I'm safe! Safe!" exulted the man, with a cruel chuckle. "Now to bind +him, and hide him in the secret chamber." + +He laid Mark down on a pile of bagging in a corner of a room at the +head of the stairs. Then, still glancing behind him, as if fearful of +being observed, the man walked over to a mantlepiece, fumbled about a +bit of carving that adorned the centre, and pressed on a certain spot. +A moment later the mantle seemed to swing out, and there was revealed a +secret room, the existence of which would never have been suspected by +the casual observer. + +Taking some of the bags from the pile where the unconscious lad was, +the man made a rude bed in the secret room. Then he carried Mark in, +and placed him in a fairly comfortable position, first taking the +precaution, however, of binding his hands and feet. + +"There," whispered the man, when he had finished, "I guess you'll not +get away in a hurry. Now I'll wait until dark, and then I'll give you +something to eat, for I don't want you to starve. But I must keep in +hiding, for, very likely, there'll be a search made for him. Guess I'd +better stay here, and see what happens," and the mysterious man pressed +the spring that sent the mantle back into place again, hiding all +traces of the secret room. + +"It's a good thing I stumbled upon this hiding place," he said to +himself. "It couldn't be better for what I want. Now to see what +happens next." + +He did not have long to wait, for in a short time Jack, as we have +seen, appeared on the scene, and began his search. At the sound of his +voice, calling for Mark, the man started in his hiding place, and +glanced uneasily at Mark. + +"He may hear, and wake up," he whispered. + +Jack came upstairs in the deserted house, and continued his search +there, calling from time to time. He gave one loud shout at the head of +the stairs, and the very thing that the man feared would happen came to +pass. + +The effect of the drug having worn off, Mark stirred uneasily, and +started up. He heard Jack's cry, and uttered a half-articulate answer. +In an instant the man was at his side, and had quickly gagged him. This +had the further effect of awakening the unfortunate lad; and he +struggled to loosen his bonds, but they were too strongly tied. He +endeavored to answer Jack, but only a meaningless mumble resulted, for +the gag was effective. + +"All you have to do is to keep quiet," urged the man, as he knelt +beside Mark in the darkness. "As soon as your chum goes, I'll take that +thing out of your mouth, and give you something to eat." + +Jack's voice died away, and presently, as the ears of the man told him, +the boy left the old house. Waiting some time, to make sure that he +would not return, the man removed the knot of rags from Mark's mouth, +and slightly loosened his bonds, first warning him, however, that if he +attempted to escape he would be harshly dealt with. + +"But what right have you to keep me here?" demanded the youth. "Who are +you, and what have I done to you, that you should treat me this way? +Are you crazy? Don't you know that you are liable to arrest for this?" + +"No one can arrest me," boasted the fellow. + +"But why have you made me a prisoner?" demanded Mark. + +"For reasons of my own. You'll see very soon." + +"But what have I done to you?" persisted the lad. "I never saw you +before, that I know of, unless you are the man who sent me the note, +and who ran when my chum and I came to the bridge to meet you." + +"I'm the man," was the answer, with a chuckle. + +"Then you must be the one who tried to wreck our projectile," went on +Mark. + +"Yes, I did that, and now I am sorry for it, for I have thought of a +much better scheme for getting even, and having my revenge on you." + +"But why do you want to be revenged on us?" + +"Because of what you have done!" and the man's voice took on an ugly +tone. + +"But what did we do?" begged Mark. + +"You'll know soon enough," was the answer, with a cunning laugh, and +then Mark was sure he had to deal with a lunatic. He ceased his +struggles to loosen the bonds, and resolved to meet cunning with +cunning. He would bide his time. + +"Will you promise to be quiet, and not kick up a fuss if I get you +something to eat?" asked the man. + +"Yes; but I'd rather have a drink of water first. I feel sick." + +"Very well, you shall have some water. I'll have to go out and get it, +but I must first blindfold you, so that you will not discover the +secret of this room." + +Mark could not help himself, for he was bound, and when the man had +tied a handkerchief over his eyes, Mark heard his captor moving about. + +Next there came a sound as of some heavy body, or object, being pushed +across the room. Mark felt a draught of wind on his face, but it ceased +instantly, and he knew that he was alone. He tried to work the bandage +from over his eyes, and he endeavored to loosen his bonds, for he did +not consider that this violated his promise. But it was of no effect. + +Presently he heard the moving, shoving sound again, and once more felt +the wind on his face. Then he heard the voice of his captor speaking. + +"Here is food and drink. I'm going to untie your hands so you can eat, +but mind, no fighting, for I'm a desperate man, and I won't stand any +nonsense!" + +He fumbled about the bonds, and soon Mark was free to stand up and use +his hands. The bandage was taken from his eyes, and he was able to peer +about his prison by the light of a candle which his captor had brought. + +Mark's first glance was at the man. He was the same one who had emerged +from the house to attack and drug him, but as for recognizing in him +the person who had been at the bridge, this was impossible. As far as +Mark could tell he had never seen the man before, nor did he answer the +description given by Dick Johnson. + +There was little danger that Mark would attempt violence. He was too +weak, and his jailer seemed a powerful fellow. Then, too, the lad felt +ill from the effects of the drug. + +"Drink some water, and eat a bit, and you'll feel better," urged the +man, which advice Mark followed, though, his appetite was not of the +best, and he was much worried as to what his friends would think about +his strange disappearance. + +"What do you intend to do with me?" asked Mark, when he felt a little +better from the effects of the food and drink. The man had sat on an +old soap box, and watched his captive while he ate. + +"Do with you? Why, I'm going to keep you here until your friends have +left in the projectile," was the answer. + +"But why don't you want me to go with them?" + +"Oh, I have my reasons. You'll find out soon enough. You can't go, +that's all." + +"But why do you take such an interest in me? Why didn't you capture my +chum Jack, too, while you were about it?" + +"Two reasons. One was that Jack wouldn't answer my purpose, and the +other was that I didn't have a chance to get him. You walked right into +my trap, just when I was doing my best to think of another plan to get +hold of you, since my first one failed." + +"But what is your purpose?" insisted the lad. "What do you want with +me?" He thought perhaps if he questioned the man closely enough he +might discover something that would give him a clew, or might aid him +to escape. + +"You'll learn soon enough," was the answer. + +"Will you tell me your name?" asked Marie quietly. + +"No--why should I?" was the quick reply. "If I told you who I was you +would at once know why I have made you a captive here. No; you shall +hear all in good time, but that will not be until I am ready. + +"Now," went on his captor, after a period of silence, "I shall have to +bind and blindfold you again." + +"Why?" asked Mark, in some alarm. + +"Because I don't want you to see how I get in and out of this room, and +that's the only way I can guard my secret. Though if you promise not to +remove the bandage from your eyes within five minutes from the time I +leave you, I will not have to tie your hands and feet. After I am gone +you may take the handkerchief off, but when you hear me rap on the +wall, ready to come back again, you must once more blindfold yourself. +Otherwise I shall have to tie you up." + +Mark considered a moment. It was not pleasant to be tied with the cruel +ropes, and he felt that in time he could penetrate the mystery of how +the room opened, even if he did not see his jailer enter and leave. + +"I promise," he said finally. + +"That's good. It simplifies matters. Now you can blindfold yourself, +and I trust to your honor. You may remove the bandage in five minutes, +but when you hear me knock, you must replace it until I am in the +apartment. Then you can take it off again." + +There was little choice but to obey, and Mark tied the handkerchief +over his eyes. He listened intently, heard the man moving about the +room, felt the wind on his cheeks, and then came silence. + +He waited until he thought five minutes had passed, and then took off +the bandage. The candle was burning where the man had set it, but the +fellow himself was gone. He had taken with him the broken dishes, and +remains of the food Mark had not eaten. The glass and a pitcher of +water stood on a broken table, and Mark took a big drink. + +"Now to see if I can't get out of this place," he murmured to himself. + +Mark had invented many pieces of apparatus, and he was considered a +good mechanician. Consequently he went about his task in a systematic +manner. He examined the walls carefully by the candle, which he carried +in his hand, but no opening was apparent. + +"Of course, there must be some secret spring to press," said the lad. +"That's how he gets in and out. A section of the wall moves, but where +it is I can't see. It will take time. I must look at every inch." + +He was in the midst of his investigations when there sounded on the +wall back of him three raps. + +"Ha! At least, that tells me where the opening is," thought the lad. +"It's on that side, but now I have to put that blamed bandage on. Well, +I may be able to escape yet." + +True to his promise, he blindfolded himself well, and presently he +heard a noise, felt a draught of air, and he knew his captor was in the +room. + +"You can now take off the handkerchief," said the man. "I have brought +you some more bags for bed clothing. It isn't much, but it is all I +have. They will keep you warm tonight." + +"Are you going to imprison me over night?" asked Mark. + +"Yes, and I'll stay here with you. No one can find us here. The secret +room is well hidden. But first I have another matter that needs +attention. I am going to ask you a question." + +"What?" asked the captive, wondering what strange request the mentally +unbalanced man would make now. + +The man leaned forward and whispered something in Mark's ear, as if he +was afraid the very walls would hear. + +"I'll not do it!" cried the youth. "I'll never aid you to deceive my +friends, for that is your object. I'll never do it!" + +"Then I shall have to use force," was the determined response. "You may +take your choice!" + +Poor Mark did not know what to do, yet there was little he could choose +between. The man had him in his power, yet the lad was terribly afraid +of the result of the daring scheme which he knew was in the mind of the +lunatic, for such he believed the man to be. + +"Will you not give up this plan?" begged Mark. "I know Professor +Henderson will pay you any sum in reason to let me go. You can become a +rich man." + +"I don't want riches--I want revenge!" exclaimed the man. And he glared +at Mark, while throughout the dismal, deserted house there sounded the +rattle and bang of the flapping shutters. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MARK'S STRANGE ACTIONS + + +Jack Darrow fairly burst into the big shed where the two scientists +were at work over the ruined motor. They looked up at his excitable +entrance, and Mr. Henderson called out: + +"Why, Jack, what's the matter?" + +"Quite a lot, I'm afraid," answered the lad, and there was that in his +voice which alarmed the professors. + +"What do you mean?" inquired Mr. Roumann, laying aside some of the +damaged motor plates. + +"Mark's gone!" gasped Jack. + +"Gone! Where?" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. + +"I don't know, but he went to the deserted house, where we thought the +mysterious man was hiding, and since then I can't find him." + +Then the frightened lad proceeded to explain what he and Mark had +undertaken, and the outcome of it; how his chum had failed to meet him +at the rendezvous, and how Jack had searched through the old house +without result. + +"There's but one thing to do," declared Professor Henderson, when he +had listened to the story. "We must go back there and make a more +thorough search." + +"What--to-night?" exclaimed the German. + +"Surely. Why not? We can't leave Mark there all alone. He may be hurt, +or in trouble." + +"That's what I think," said Jack. "I'll tell Washington and Andy, and +we'll go back and hunt for him. Poor Mark! If he had only waited for +me, perhaps this would never have happened, and if I hadn't stopped at +the dog-fight maybe Mark would have waited for me. Well, it's too late +to worry about that now. The thing is to find him; and I guess we can." + +Jack would not stop longer than to snatch a hasty bite of supper before +he joined the searching party. Washington and he carried lanterns, +while Andy Sudds had his trusty rifle, and the two professors brought +up in the rear, armed with stout clubs, for Jack's account of the +affair made them think that perhaps they might have to deal with a +violent man. + +"Hadn't you better notify the police?" suggested Andy. "A couple of +constables would be some help." + +"Not very much," declared Jack. "Besides, there are only two in +Bayside, and it's hard to locate either one when you want them. I guess +we can manage alone." + +"Yes, I would rather not notify the police if it can be avoided," said +Professor Henderson. + +The searching party hurried along the country highway, which was now +deserted, as it was quite dark. Their lanterns flashed from side to +side, but they had no hope of getting any trace of Mark until they came +to the old barn, at least, though Jack wished several times that he +might meet his chum running toward them along the road. + +They reached the barn in due course, and while Washington, Jack and +Andy began a search of it, the two scientists went up to the house of +the man who owned it and enlisted his aid. They asked him if he had +seen Mark around that afternoon, but the farmer had not. + +"But me an' my hired man'll come out and help you hunt through the +barn," he said. "I remember once, when I was a lad, that my brother +fell off the hay mow and lay unconscious in a manger for five hours +before we found him. Maybe that's what's happened to this young man," +suggested Mr. Hampton, which was the farmer's name. + +"I looked around pretty well this afternoon," explained Jack, when the +farmer and his man had reached the barn, "but, of course, I didn't know +all the nooks and corners." + +A thorough search of the structure, however, failed to reveal the +presence of Mark, and then the farmer volunteered to accompany the +party on to the old Preakness house. His offer was received with +thanks, and, bringing two more lanterns with them, Mr. Hampton and his +man added considerable to the illumination. + +They went through the old mansion from garret to cellar, and called +repeatedly, but there was no answer. And good reason, for in the secret +room, with his captive, the mysterious man heard the first approach of +the searching party; and he quickly bound Mark and gagged him, so that +he could not answer. + +There was nothing to do but to leave, and it was with sad hearts that +Jack and his friends departed, their search having been unavailing. +They turned toward home, which they reached quite late, but found +nothing disturbed. + +No one in Professor Henderson's house slept much that night, and in the +morning pale and wan faces looked at each other, all asking the same +question: "Where is Mark?" + +But no one could answer. + +They talked over the matter, and decided that Jack, with Andy and +Washington, should form a searching party to scour the surrounding +country. The two scientists were too old for such work, and, as the aid +of the police was not desired, it was felt that the three could do all +that was necessary. + +Accordingly, while Professor Henderson and his German friend went to +work on the damaged motor, which did not need as much repairing as at +first was thought to put it in working shape again, Jack and the two +men started off to hunt for Mark. + +They were gone all that day, returning very much discouraged at dusk, +saying that they could get no trace of him. + +"I don't see where he can be!" exclaimed Jack desperately, for, though +the two lads were not related, they had been friends so long, and had +shared so many pleasures and dangers together, that they were like +brothers. "You won't start for the moon until you find him, will you, +Professor?" asked Jack. + +"No, indeed; though we could start to-morrow if he was here," replied +the aged scientist. "The special tools came to-day, and the motor has +been repaired. We have tested it, and the Cardite power works even +better than did the Etherium apparatus." + +"Then we can start as soon as Mark is found?" asked Andy Sudds. + +"Yes, for everything has been put inside the projectile, and all that +remains is to haul it out of the shed, point it at the moon, and start +the motor." + +"Then I guess I'll give my gun a final cleaning, and get ready. There +may be good hunting on the moon," said the old hunter. + +Jack was tired from his long tramp that day, searching for his missing +chum, but before he went to bed he wanted to go out and take a look at +the big projectile, which was now ready to start for the moon. + +As he turned around the corner of the immense shed to enter the door, +he was startled by seeing a figure coming toward him. Jack started, +rubbed his eyes, and peered again. + +"Is it possible? Can I be mistaken?" he whispered. + +The figure came nearer. Jack, who had come to a halt, broke into a run. + +"Mark! Mark!" he cried joyously. "Oh, you've come back! Where have you +been?" + +Jack was about to clasp his chum in his arms when he saw that Mark's +arm was in a sling, and that his face was all bandaged up, so that +scarcely any of his features showed. Had it not been for the clothes, +and a certain stoutness of which Mark never could seem to get rid, Jack +would scarcely have known his friend. + +"Why, Mark, what happened?" cried Jack. "Have you met with an accident? +Where have you been? In a hospital? What became of you? Why didn't you +wait for me?" + +"I can't answer all those questions at once," was the reply, and Jack +thought Mark's voice was curiously muffled and hoarse, entirely unlike +his usual tones. But he ascribed that to the bandages around the mouth. + +"Well, answer one at a time then," said Jack, and there was an +undefinable, strange air about his chum which cooled Jack's first +impulse of gladness. "Whatever happened to you, Mark? Are you hurt?" + +"I was--yes," came the reply, in short, jerky tones. "I had an +accident, and I've been in a hospital. That's why I couldn't send you +word. But I'm all right now. When does the projectile start?" + +"To-morrow, now that you're here. But tell me more about it. Where were +you hurt?" + +"On my head and arm." + +"No; I mean where did the accident occur?" + +"Oh, in the old house where I went to--to look for that man." + +"Did you find him?" asked Jack eagerly. + +"No. He's not there now." + +"Well, never mind. We won't bother about him. Come on to the house. My, +but I'm glad to see you again! And so will the others be." + +In his enthusiasm at seeing his chum again Jack wanted to hug him. He +approached Mark, but the latter cried out: + +"Look out! Don't come too close!" + +"Why not? Have you caught some disease?" + +"No, but you might hurt my broken arm!" + +"Oh, is it broken? That's tough luck. Did you fall?" + +"Yes--in the old house. I fell down stairs." + +"And your head is all bandaged up, too," went on Jack, trying to peer +into his friend's face through the roll of bandages. + +"Look out! Don't come too near!" again warned the other. "You might +jostle against me, and knock off some of the bandages." + +"Did you lose some of your teeth, the reason your voice sounds so +funny?" asked Jack. + +"Yes, I did knock out a few when I tumbled. But don't bother about me. +I'll be all right soon. Let's go in the house. I want to go to bed." + +"But they'll all want to see you, and hear about the accident, Mark," +insisted Jack. "My, but we've been all worked up about you. How did you +happen to be taken to a hospital?" + +"A farmer came along, and I hailed him. Then I lost consciousness, and +couldn't let you know where I was. But never mind the details. I'm +anxious to get started on the trip to the moon. Couldn't we start +to-night?" + +"I don't believe so. You need rest. But come on in the house." Then +Jack hurried on ahead, calling: "Mark's found! Mark is back!" + +His cries brought all of the others out on the porch, and at first they +could scarcely believe the good news, but soon Jack and the new arrival +came in sight. As Jack had been, the two professors and the others were +startled when they saw how Mark was bundled up in bandages. + +"He fell down stairs," explained Jack. + +"Come over here where it's light, so I can see you," suggested +Professor Henderson. "Perhaps some of the bandages have slipped off +since you came from the hospital. Why did you come alone? Why didn't +you send us word where you were as soon as you were conscious, and we +would have come for you." + +"Oh, I didn't want to bother you," explained the bundled-up figure. "I +managed to walk it all right." + +"But your injuries may need attention," insisted Mr. Henderson. "I know +something about doctoring. Come here where I can see." + +"No--no--the--light hurts my eyes," was the hasty reply. "I guess I'll +go to bed, so as to be all ready to start in the morning. Why don't you +leave for the moon to-night, professor?" + +"There are still a few little details to look after. But are you sure +you are well enough to go with us? We may meet with hardships up on the +moon." + +"Oh, I'm all ready to go," was the answer. "I'd start to-night if I +could. But now I must get to bed." + +"Don't you want supper?" asked Jack. + +"No, I had some just before I left the hospital." + +"What hospital was it?" inquired Andy Sudds. "I was in one once, and I +didn't like it. There wa'nt enough air for me." + +"I forget the name of the place," came the reply. "I can't think +clearly. I need sleep." + +The newcomer kept in the shadows of the room, as if the light hurt his +eyes, and appeared restless and ill at ease. With the hand that was not +in a sling he pulled the bandages closer about his face. + +"Can't you tell us more about what happened?" asked Jack, for Mark was +not usually so reticent, and his chum noticed it. + +"There isn't much to tell," was the response. "I went to the old house, +and I was looking around when I happened to tumble down stairs. I must +have been knocked unconscious, but when I came to I crawled outside. A +farmer was driving past, and I asked him to take me to a hospital." + +"Why didn't you come home?" asked Mr. Henderson. + +"Oh, I didn't want to make any trouble and delay work on the +projectile. I figured that I could be with you in a few hours, and you +wouldn't worry. But they insisted that I must stay in the hospital when +they got me there. Then I lost consciousness again, and couldn't manage +to let you know where I was. But I'm all right now." + +"Why didn't you wait for me at the barn, when I went to send the +telegram, as you promised you would?" asked Jack, who felt a little +hurt at his chum's neglect. + +"Did I promise to wait for you at some barn?" + +"Yes; don't you remember?" and Jack gazed at the bandaged figure in +surprise. + +"Oh, yes--I--I guess I do. But I want to go to bed now," and pulling +the cloths closer about his face the injured one started from the +apartment. + +"Here. That's not the way up to your room. The stairs are over here," +called Jack, for he saw the newcomer taking the wrong direction. + +"Oh, yes. Guess my mind must be wandering," and with an uneasy laugh +the injured one turned about. They heard him going up stairs, and a +little later Jack followed. He found that Mark's room was not occupied. + +"Hi, Mark! Where are you?" he called, in some alarm. + +"Here," was the answer, and the voice came from Jack's own apartment. + +"Well, you're in the wrong bunk." + +"Am I? Well, I must have made another mistake. My head can't be right," +and with that the other came out and hastily went into the adjoining +apartment. + +For a moment Jack stood in the hall. He looked at the door that had +closed behind the bandaged figure. + +"There's something wrong," said Jack in a low voice. "How strange Mark +acts! I wonder what can be the matter?" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +READY FOR THE MOON + + +There were busy times for the moon-voyagers the next day. They were up +early, for at the last moment many little details needed to be settled. +The Cardite motor had been thoroughly repaired, for the damage caused +by the unknown enemy had done no permanent harm. + +When the injured one appeared the bandage on his head seemed larger +than ever, and his features were almost hidden. He still wore his arm +in a sling. + +"Well, how do you feel?" asked Jack, looking narrowly at the figure. He +could not get rid of a suspicion that something was wrong with Mark. + +"Oh, I'm feeling pretty fair," was the mumbled answer. "I didn't sleep +much, though." + +"Well, take care of yourself," advised Jack. "We are about ready to +start. We'll get off about noon, Professor Henderson says. Don't try to +do anything and injure your broken arm. You certainly had a tough time +of it." + +"Yes, I guess I did. I can't do much to help you." + +"You don't need to. We're all but finished. Just hang around and watch +me work. There isn't much to do." + +But though Jack gave an invitation to remain near him, the other seemed +to prefer being off by himself. He wandered in and out of the +projectile, now and then helping Andy or Washington to carry light +objects into the _Annihilator_. But all the while he was careful not to +disturb the bandage on his face, and several times he stopped to +readjust it. Nor did he talk much, which Jack ascribed to his statement +that his teeth hurt him. And when the bandaged figure did speak, it was +in mumbling tones, very different from Mark's usually cheerful ones. + +"Well," remarked Professor Roumann, after a final inspection of the big +Cardite motor--the one that was to be depended on to carry them to the +moon--"I think we are about ready to leave this earth. How about it, +Professor Henderson?" + +"Yes, I think so. Have you made any calculation as to speed?" + +"Yes, we will not have to move nearly as fast as we did when we went to +Mars. We only have to cover a quarter of a million of miles at the +most, and probably less than that. The motor will send us along at the +rate of about a mile a second, which is three thousand six hundred +miles an hour, or eighty-six thousand four hundred miles a--day. At +that rate we would be at the moon in less than three days. + +"But I don't want to travel as fast as that," the German went on. "I +want time to make some scientific observations on the way, and so I +have reduced the speed of the Cardite motor by half, though should we +need to hasten our trip we can do so." + +"Then we'll be about a week on the way?" asked Jack. + +"About that, yes," assented Mr. Roumann. + +"And could we go farther than to the moon if we wanted to?" inquired +the bandaged figure mumblingly. + +"Farther? What do you mean?" asked Professor Henderson quickly. + +"I mean could we go to Mars if we wanted to?" + +"You don't mean to say you want to go back there, and run the chance of +being attacked by the savage Martians, do you?" asked Jack. + +"No, I was only asking," and the other seemed confused. + +"Well, of course, we _could_ go there, as we have plenty of supplies +and enough of the Cardite," said Mr. Roumann. "But I think the moon +will be the limit of our trip this time." + +The work went on, the last things to be put aboard the projectile being +a number of scientific instruments. The injured one wandered in and +out, now being in the house and again in the big shed. He seemed +restless and ill at ease, and frequently he walked to the front gate +and gazed down the road. + +"You seem to be looking for some one," spoke Jack. "Are you expecting +your girl to come along and bid you good-by, Mark?" + +"Who--me? No, I--I was just looking to see if--if it was going to +rain." + +"Rain? Well, rain won't make much difference to us soon. We will be +outside of the earth's atmosphere in a jiffy after we have started, and +then rain won't worry us. Is your stateroom all fixed up?" + +"No, I didn't think of that. Guess I'd better look after it." + +The two started together for the projectile. The stout one entered +first, and made his way through the engine room and main cabin to the +compartment off which the staterooms opened. He entered one. + +"Here, that's not yours," cried Jack. "That's where Professor Henderson +sleeps. Yours is next to mine." + +"That's right; I forgot," mumbled the other. "I must be getting absent +minded since my accident. But I'll be all right soon. I'll get my room +to rights, and then probably we'll start." + +"I guess so," answered Jack, but he shook his head as he gazed after +his chum. "Mark has certainly changed," he murmured. "I wish he'd take +those bandages off, so I could get a look at his face." + +The last details were completed. The big _Annihilator_ had been run out +on trucks into the yard surrounding the shed, ready to be hurled +through the air. The shop, shed and house had been locked up and given +in charge of a caretaker, who would remain on guard until our friends +returned. + +"Are we all ready?" asked Professor Henderson, as he stood ready to +close the main entrance door and seal it hermetically. + +"All ready, I guess," answered Jack. The stout one had gone to his +stateroom, where he could be heard moving about. + +"I'm ready," announced Professor Roumann. "Say the word and I'll start +the motor." He was in the engine room, looking over the machinery. At +that moment there came a loud yell from the galley where Washington +White was. + +"Heah, heah! Come back!" cried the colored man. "My Shanghai rooster is +got loose!" he yelled, and, an instant later, the fowl came sailing out +of the projectile, with Washington in full chase after him. + +"I'll help you catch him," volunteered Jack, springing to the cook's +aid, while Professor Henderson laughed, and a bandaged figure, looking +from a stateroom port, wondered at the delay in starting the +projectile. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +MARK'S ESCAPE + + +Mark Sampson was alone in the deserted house. Bound hand and foot, +stripped of his clothing, and attired in some old garments that the +tramps who made a hanging-out place of the old mansion had cast aside, +the unfortunate lad was stretched on a pile of bagging, his heart +beating partly with fear and partly with rage over a desire to escape +and punish the scoundrel responsible for his plight. + +The man who had captured him, after taking away Mark's clothes, had +chuckled, as though at some joke. + +"You may think this is funny," spoke the lad bitterly, "but you won't +be so pleased when my friends get after you." + +"They'll never get after me," boasted the man. "This is a good joke. To +think that I can pass myself off as you; that I can join them in the +projectile, and they never will be the wiser!" + +"They'll soon discover that you are disguised as me," declared Mark, +"and when they do they'll have you arrested." + +"Yes, but they'll not discover it until we have left the earth, and are +on our way to the moon. Then it will be too late to turn back, and my +object will have been accomplished. I will be with them in the +_Annihilator_, and I'll have my revenge! The projectile is due to sail +to-morrow, and I'll be on hand. I'm going to leave you now. I have left +orders with a friend of mine that you are to be released to-morrow +night. In the meanwhile you will have to be as comfortable as you can. +I wish you no harm, but I must keep you here. + +"I will feed you well before I go, and put some water where you can get +it. But I must leave you tied. I'll not gag you, for, no matter how you +yell, no one will hear you. I have posted a notice in front of this +place that it is under the watch of the police, so no tramps will +venture in, and your friends will not come back. + +"Now, just make yourself comfortable here, and I'll go to the moon in +your place. I think I shall enjoy the trip. As I said, you will be +released to-morrow night, several hours after the projectile has left +the earth." + +"How do you know it is to start to-morrow morning?" asked Mark. + +"Oh, I have been spying around, and I overheard the professors talking. +I know a thing or two, and I'll be on hand, on time, in your place! +Now, I have to leave you. I've left ten dollars to pay for your suit, +which I need to disguise myself with." + +Then the man was gone, and Mark was left with his bitter thoughts to +keep him company. The whole daring scheme of the man had been revealed. +He did look something like Mark, and, attired in the lad's clothes, and +by keeping his face concealed, he might pass himself off as Jack's +chum; at least, until after the projectile had started. + +"And then, as he says, it will be too late to return to earth and get +me," thought Mark bitterly. "Oh, why did I ever try to learn this man's +secret? Who is he, anyhow? Why didn't I wait for Jack at the barn, as I +promised? It's all my fault. I wonder if I can't get loose?" + +Mark struggled several hours desperately and at last he felt the ropes +giving slightly. He redoubled his efforts. Strand by strand the cords +parted. He put all his efforts into one last attempt, and to his great +joy he felt his hands separate. He was partly free! + +But scarcely half his task was accomplished. He had yet to discover the +secret of the hidden room--a room, as he afterward learned, which had +been built during slavery days to conceal the poor black men who were +escaping from the South. + +"But now I have my hands to work with!" exulted Mark. + +Resting a bit after his strenuous labors, he took a long drink of water +and attacked the ropes on his feet. They were comparatively easy to +loosen, and soon he stood up unbound. + +"Now for the secret panel!" he exclaimed, for he was convinced that it +was by some such means that his captor had entered and left. As has +already been explained, Mark knew on which side of his prison the +opening was likely to be--it would be where the warning knocks had +sounded. He began a minute inspection of that wall. + +But if Mark hoped to speedily discover the secret he was doomed to +disappointment. He went over every inch of the surface, seemingly, and +pressed on every depression or projection that met his eye, as he +passed the candle flame along the wall. + +Success did not reward him, and, as hour after hour passed, and the +candle burned lower and lower, Mark began to despair. + +"I must escape before the projectile leaves," he murmured. "It will +never do to let them take that man with them under the impression that +they have me. I must escape! I will!" + +Once more he began the tiresome task of seeking the secret spring. The +candle was spluttering in the socket now. It would burn hardly another +minute. Desperately Mark sought. + +At last, just as the candle gave a dying gasp and flared brightly up +prior to going out, the lad saw a small screw head he had not noticed +before. It was sunk deep in a board. + +"I'll press that and see what happens!" he exclaimed. + +With a suddenness that was startling, he found himself in total +darkness. The candle had burned out, but he had his finger on the +screw. He pressed it with all his force. + +There was a rumbling sound in the darkness, a movement as if some heavy +body had slid out of the way, and Mark felt a breath of air on his +cheeks. Then he saw a dim light. + +"Oh, I'm out! I'm out!" he cried joyously, breathing a prayer of +thankfulness at his deliverance. "I'm free! I pushed on the right +spring, and the panel slid back!" + +He fairly leaped forward. The morning light was streaming in through +the broken windows. He saw himself in the old hall of the mansion, at +the head of the stairs, in a sort of anteroom, the mantle of which +apartment had swung aside to give him egress from the secret chamber +through a hole in the wall. He was free! + +"But am I in time?" he cried. "It is morning--and about ten o'clock, I +should judge. I've been working to get free all night. Will I be in +time?" + +He gave one last look behind at his prison and sprang down the rickety +stairs. He had but one thought--to reach home in time to unmask the +villain who was impersonating him--to be in time to make the journey to +the moon. + +"But it's several miles, and I can't walk very fast," murmured Mark. +"I'm too stiff and weak. How can I do it?" + +He thought of making his way to the nearest farm house, and asking for +the loan of a horse and carriage, but he looked so much like a tramp +that no farmer would lend him a horse. + +"And I need to make speed," he murmured. + +At that moment he heard a noise down the road. It was a steady "chug- +chug," like some distant motor-boat, but there was no water near at +hand. + +"A motorcycle!" exclaimed Mark. "Some one is coming on a motorcycle. +Oh, if I could only borrow it!" + +He ran down into the road. He could see the rider now. To his joy it +was Dick Johnson--the lad who had brought him the mysterious note. + +"Hi Dick! Dick! hold on!" cried Mark. + +The lad on the motor gave one glance at the ragged figure that had +hailed him. Then he turned on more power to escape from what he thought +was a savage tramp. + +"Wait! Stop! I want that motorcycle!" cried Mark. + +"Well, you're not going to get it!" yelled back Dick. "I'll send the +police after you." + +Mark couldn't understand. Then a glance down at his ragged garments +showed him what was the matter. + +"Wait! Hold on, Dick!" he cried, running forward. "I'm Mark Sampson! +I've had a terrible time! I was captured by that mysterious man, and +he's got my clothes. I must get home quick!" + +Dick heard, but scarcely understood. However, he comprehended that his +friend was in trouble, and he wanted to help him. He slowed up, and +Mark reached him. + +"Lend me your motorcycle, Dick," begged Mark. "I must get home in a +hurry to unmask a scoundrel. I'll leave your machine for you at our +house. I won't hurt it. I'm in a hurry! Get off!" + +Somewhat dazed, Dick dismounted, and Mark climbed into the saddle. He +began to pedal, and then threw in the gasolene and spark. The cycle +chugged off. + +"I'll leave it for you at our house," Mark called back. "I'm going on a +trip to the moon, and I don't want to be late." + +He was fast disappearing in a cloud of dust, while Dick, gazing after +him, remarked: + +"Well, I always thought those fellows were crazy to go off in +projectiles and things like that, and now I'm sure of it. Going to the +moon! Well, I only hope he doesn't take my motorcycle there!" + +Mark sped on, turning the handle levers to get the last notch of speed +out of the cycle. Would he be in time? + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A DIREFUL THREAT + + +Perhaps Washington White's Shanghai rooster did not care to make the +trip to the moon, or perhaps the fowl had not yet seen enough of this +earth. At any rate, when he flew from the projectile, uttering loud +crows, and landed some distance away, he began to run back toward the +coop in the rear of the yard. + +"Cotch him, cotch him!" yelled the colored man. "Dat's a valuable +bird!" + +"We'll get him when he goes in the coop," said Jack, who found it +difficult to run and laugh at the same time. + +"Shall I fire my rifle off and scare him?" asked Andy Sudds. + +"No, you might kill him or scare him t' death," objected Washington. + +"Come on, Mark, and help," cried Jack, looking toward the projectile, +where a figure was peering from the glass-covered port of the main +cabin. + +But the figure, whose hand was done up in voluminous bandages, did not +come out, and Jack wondered the more at what he thought was a growing +strangeness on the part of his chum. + +Jack, followed by Andy and Washington, raced off after the rooster, +while the two professors, somewhat amused, rather chaffed at the delay. +But afterward they were glad of it. + +"Just my luck!" muttered the bandaged one. "This delay comes at the +wrong time. Why don't they go on without that confounded rooster? If we +stay here too long, that fellow Mark may get loose and spoil the whole +thing, or Jenkins may go and release him before the time set. It would +be just like Jenkins! I've a good notion to start the projectile +myself. I know how to operate the Cardite motor. Only I suppose those +two professors are on guard in the engine room. I'll have to wait until +they catch that rooster, I guess, but I'd like to wring his neck!" + +The chase after the fowl was kept up. + +"I've got him now!" cried Jack a little later, as the fowl, evidently +now much exhausted, ran into another fence corner, where Jack caught +him, and shut him up in the coop in the projectile. + +"Yo' suttinly am de mos' contrary-minded specimen ob de chicken fambly +dat I eber seed," observed Washington, breathing heavily, for his run +had winded him. + +"Well, are we all ready to start now?" asked Professor Henderson. "No +more live stock loose, is there, Jack?" + +"I think not." + +"Where's Mark? Wasn't he helping you catch the rooster?" + +"No, he's inside. Shall I seal the door?" + +"Yes, and I'll tell Professor Roumann that we're about to start. All +ready for the moon trip!" + +Jack was pulling the steel portal toward him. An eager face, peering +from a port, waited anxiously for the tremor which would indicate that +the projectile had left the earth. In another moment they would be off. + +But what was that sound coming from down the highway. A steady chug- +chug--a sort of roar, as of a battery of rapid-fire guns going off in +double relays! And, mingled with the explosions, there was a voice +shouting: + +"Wait! Hold on! Don't go without me! I'm Mark Sampson! Don't start the +projectile!" + +"Somebody must be in a mighty hurry on a motorcycle," thought Jack, as +he paused a moment before fastening the door. Then the shouts came to +his ears. + +"Mark Sampson!" he cried. + +Again came the cry: "Wait! Wait! Don't go without me! You've got that +mysterious man on board!" + +"Mark Sampson!" murmured Jack again. "That's his voice sure enough! I +wonder--can it be possible--that man--with his head all bandaged up-- +his queer actions--I--I----" + +Words failed the youth. Throwing wide open the door, he sprang out of +the projectile. A moment later there dashed into the yard, where the +great projectile rested, a strange figure astride of a puffing +motorcycle. The figure was torn and, ragged, and the nondescript +garments were covered with dust, for Mark had had a fall. But there was +no mistaking the face that peered eagerly forward. + +"Jack!" cried the youth on the machine. + +"Mark!" ejaculated the lad who had sprung from the projectile. "What +has happened? Who is the fellow who has been masquerading as you?" + +"A scoundrel and a villain! Let me get at him!" and, slamming on the +brakes, as he shut off the power, Mark leaped from the motorcycle, +stood it up against the projectile, and clasped his chum by the hand. + +"What's the matter?" asked Professor Henderson, as he, too, ran out of +the _Annihilator_. "What does that tramp want, Jack? Give him some +money, and get back in here; we ought to have started long ago." He +looked at the ragged figure. + +"This isn't a tramp," cried Jack. "It's Mark!" + +"Mark! I thought----" + +"There have been strange doings," gasped the lad in tramp's garments. +"I have just escaped from being kept a prisoner. Where is the +mysterious man? Oh, I'm glad I arrived in time! Were you about to +start?" + +"That's what we were," replied Jack. "Oh, Mark, but I'm glad to see you +again! I didn't know what to think. You acted so strange--or, rather, +the fellow we thought was you had me guessing!" + +"Good land a' massy!" exclaimed Washington White, as he stood in the +doorway, with Andy Sudds behind him. "Am dere two Marks? What's up, +anyhow?" + +"Don't let that fellow get away--the fellow who passed himself off as +me!" shouted Mark. "Lock him up! There's some mystery about him that +must be explained. He's a dangerous man to be at large." + +Professor Henderson turned back to enter the projectile. Jack advised +Andy to get his gun ready, with which to threaten the scoundrel in case +of necessity. + +At that instant there sounded a crash of glass, and the whole front of +the big observation window in the side of the _Annihilator_ was smashed +to atoms. A figure leaped--a figure which no longer had its head +bandaged, and whose arm was no longer in a sling--the figure of a man-- +the mysterious man who had held Mark a prisoner! + +"There he goes!" shouted Jack. "Catch him, somebody! Andy, where's your +gun?" + +"I'll have it in a jiffy!" cried the hunter, as he dashed back to get +it. + +But the man did not linger. Scrambling to his feet after his fall, +caused by his leap from the broken window, which he had smashed with a +sledge hammer as soon as he understood that his game was up, he raced +out of the yard. He turned long enough to shake his fist at the group +assembled around the projectile, and then leaped away, calling out some +words which they could not hear. + +"Let's take after him," proposed Mark. + +"Come on," seconded Jack. + +"No, let him go; he's a desperate man, and you came just in time to +unmask him," said Professor Henderson. "He might harm you if you took +after him. Let him go. He has not done much damage. We can easily +replace the broken window. But I can't understand what his object was +in disguising himself as Mark. He certainly looked like you, Mark, +especially when he kept his face concealed. Why did he do it?" + +"He wanted to go to the moon in my place," answered the former prisoner +of the deserted house. + +"But why?" insisted Jack. + +"Because, I think, he's crazy, and he didn't really know what he did +want. But he certainly had me well concealed," spoke Mark. "I'm free +now, however, and as soon as I get some decent clothes on I'll go with +you to the moon. I wouldn't want the moon people to see me dressed this +way." + +"How did it happen?" asked Jack. "Tell us all about it. My! but I +certainly have been puzzled since you--or rather since the person we +thought was you--came back last night all bunged up. Give us the +story." + +"I will; give me a chance. I guess that villain is gone for good." Andy +Sudds came out with his gun, and insisted on taking a look down the +road and around the premises. The man was nowhere in sight. + +"Now we're in for another delay," remarked Jack ruefully, as he gazed +at the smashed window. "It seems as if we'd never get started for the +moon." + +"Oh, yes, we will," declared Professor Henderson. "We have some extra +heavy plate glass in the shop, and we can soon put in another +observation window." + +"Let's get right to work then," proposed Jack. "That man may come back. +Did you learn who he was, Mark?" + +"No, he wouldn't tell his name, and he said he was doing this to get +revenge on us for some fancied wrong. I can't imagine who he is. But +let's work and talk at the same time. I'll tell you all that happened +to me," which he did briefly. + +Mark soon got rid of the tramp clothes, and donned an extra suit which +had been packed in his trunk in the projectile. Then he helped replace +the broken window, which, in spite of their haste, took nearly all the +rest of the day to put in place. + +"Shall we wait and start to-morrow?" asked Jack, when four o'clock +came. "It will soon be dark." + +"Darkness will make no difference to us," announced Professor Roumann. +"Our Cardite motor will soon take us out of the shadow of the earth, +and we will be in perpetual sunshine until we reach the moon. As we are +all ready, we might as well start now." + +They all agreed with this, and, after a final inspection of the +projectile, the travellers entered it, and Jack was once more about to +seal the big door. + +Before he could do so there came riding into the yard, on his +motorcycle, which he had claimed that afternoon, Dick Johnson. + +"Wait a minute," he cried. "I've got a letter for you. It's from that +man!" + +"What--another thing to delay us?" cried Jack, but he called to +Professor Roumann not to start the motor, and ran to take from Dick the +letter which the lad held out. + +"That same man who gave me the one for Mark gave me this, and he paid +me a half a dollar to bring it here," said the boy. + +"All right," answered Jack impatiently. + +He looked at the note. It was addressed to the "Moon Travellers," and, +considering that he was one, the youth tore open the envelope. In the +dim light of the fading day he read the bold handwriting. + +"I have fixed you," the letter began. "You will never get to the moon. +I shall have my revenge. You took my brother Fred Axtell to Mars and +left him there. I determined to get him back, and to that end I +disguised myself as one of the boys, and got aboard. When we were +safely away from the earth, I would have compelled you to go to Mars +and rescue my brother. But my plan has failed. I will have my revenge, +though. You will never reach the moon, even if you do get started. +Beware! George, the brother of Fred Axtell, will avenge his fate!" + +"The brother of the crazy machinist!" gasped Jack. "Now I understand +his strange actions. He's crazy, too--he wanted to go to Mars--he says +we will never reach the moon! Say, look here!" cried Jack, raising his +voice. "Here's bad news! That scoundrel has put some game up on us! +Maybe he's tampered with the machinery! It won't be safe to start for +the moon until we've looked over everything carefully! He says he's +fixed us, and perhaps he has!" + +From the projectile came hurrying the would-be moon travellers, a vague +fear in their hearts. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +OFF AT LAST + + +In the gathering twilight Professor Henderson read slowly the note Dick +had brought. Then he passed it to Professor Roumann. The latter shook +his shaggy gray hair, and murmured something in German. + +"Where did you meet the man?" asked Jack of the young motorcyclist. + +"About two miles down the road. He was walking along, sort of talking +to himself, and I was afraid of him. He called to me, and offered me a +half a dollar to deliver this message. I didn't want to at first, but +he said if I didn't he'd hurt me, so I took it. Is it anything bad?" + +"We don't know yet," replied Mark. + +"No, that is the worst of it," added Professor Roumann. "He has made a +threat, but we can't tell whether or not he will accomplish it. We are +in the dark. He may have done some secret damage to our machinery, and +it will take a careful inspection to show it." + +"And will the inspection have to be made now?" asked Jack. + +"I think so," answered Professor Henderson gravely. "It would not be +safe to start for the moon and have a breakdown before we got there. We +must wait until morning to begin our trip." + +"It will be the safest," spoke the German, and the boys, in spite of +the fact that they were anxious to get under way, were forced to the +same conclusion. + +"Then if we're going to camp here for the night," proposed old Andy, +"what's the matter with me and the boys having a hunt for that man? +We've put up with enough from him, and it's time he was punished. If we +let him go on, he'll annoy us all the while, if not now, then after we +get back from the moon. I'm for giving him a chase and having him +arrested." + +"He certainly deserves some punishment, if only for the way he treated +Mark," was Jack's opinion, his chum having related how he was drugged +and kept a prisoner in the secret room, and how he escaped in time to +unmask the villain. + +"Well," said Professor Henderson, after some thought, "it might not be +a bad plan to see if you could get that scoundrel put in some safe +place, where he could make no more trouble for us. I guess the lunatic +asylum is where he belongs, though I can sympathize with him on account +of his brother. But it was not our fault that the crazy machinist went +with us to Mars. He was a stowaway, and went against our wishes, and +when he got there he tried to injure us." + +"Then may Mark, Andy and I see if we can find this man?" asked Jack. + +"Yes, but be careful not to get separated; and don't run any risks," +cautioned the professor. "Mr. Roumann and I, with the help of +Washington, will go carefully over all the machinery, and every part of +the projectile, to see if any hidden damage has been done. But don't +stay out too late. You had better notify the police. They may be able +to give you some aid, and I don't mind letting them know about it now, +as we will soon be away from here, because, no matter if they do send +detectives or constables spying about now, they can learn none of our +secrets." + +Waiting only to partake of a hasty meal, the two boys and the veteran +hunter set out, Andy with his gun over his shoulder and his sharp eyes +on the lookout for any sign of Axtell, though they hardly expected to +find him in the vicinity of the projectile. + +Taking the road, on which Dick Johnson said he had encountered the man, +the two lads and Andy proceeded, making inquiries from time to time of +persons they met. But no one had seen Axtell, and the insane man, for +such he seemed to be, appeared to have dropped out of sight. + +On into the village the searchers went, and there they reported matters +to the chief of police, telling him only so much as was necessary to +give him an understanding of the situation. + +"I'll send a couple of my best constables right out on the case," said +the chief. "We've just appointed two new ones, and I guess they'll be +glad to arrest somebody." + +"Let them look out that this fellow doesn't drug them and carry them +away," cautioned Mark. + +"Oh, I guess my constables can look out for theirselves," spoke the +chief proudly. + +Once more the trailers sallied forth to renew their search. They +thought perhaps they might find their man lingering in the town, but a +search through the principal streets did not disclose him, and Mark +proposed that they return to their home for the night, as he was tired +and weary from his experience in the deserted house. + +As they were turning out of the town, their attention was attracted by +a disturbance on the street just ahead of them. A woman screamed, and +men's voices were heard. Then came cries of: "Police! Police!" + +"Some one's in trouble!" exclaimed Jack. "Let's go see what it is." + +They broke into a run, and, as they approached, they saw a crowd +quickly collect. It seemed to center about a man who was being held by +two others, though he struggled to get away. + +"Here, what's the trouble?" the boys heard a constable ask as he +shouldered his way into the throng. + +"This fellow tried to snatch this lady's purse and run away with it," +explained one of the men who had grabbed the scoundrel. "Stand still, +you brute!" he shouted at him, "or I'll shake you to pieces! Such +fellows as you ought to go to the whipping-post!" + +"I'll take charge of him," announced the officer. "Who is he? Does any +one know?" + +"Stranger in town, I guess," volunteered the other man, who had helped +capture him. "Need any help, officer?" + +"No, I guess I can manage him. Come along now, and behave yourself, or +I'll use my club. It hasn't been tried on any one yet." + +"That's one of the new constables, I guess," said Mark, and Jack +nodded. + +The crowd separated to allow the officer to take out his prisoner. As +the latter walked forward in the grip of the constable, he remarked in +a mild voice totally at variance with his bold act: + +"Why, I only wanted a little change to pay my fare to the moon. I'm +going there to look for my brother." + +"Crazy as a loon," said one of the men. + +"Or pretending that he is," added the officer. + +"Mark!" cried Jack, pointing at the prisoner, "look!" + +"The man who held me captive!" gasped Mark. "And he's wearing my +clothes yet! But he's in custody now, and we needn't fear any more from +him." + +"Unless he gets away," said Jack. + +"We'll go tell the chief who he is, and he'll keep him safe," suggested +Mark, and they hurried to headquarters, reaching there just before the +prisoner was brought in. The boys were assured by the chief that the +man, who was evidently a dangerous lunatic, would be kept where he +could do no harm. He would be arraigned later on the serious charge of +attempted highway robbery, as well as of being a dangerous lunatic at +large. When the boys and Andy got back, they found the two professors +and Washington still going over the machinery in detail. + +"Find anything wrong?" asked Jack, after they had told of the arrest of +Axtell. + +"No, but we will have another look in the morning," said Mr. Henderson. +"Then, if we find nothing out of order, I think we will take a chance +and start." + +A thorough inspection by all hands the next day did not disclose +anything wrong, and, a test of the motors and other machinery having +shown that it was in good working shape, it was decided to leave the +earth. + +"At last, I think, we are really going to get under way to the moon," +said Jack, as he closed the big main door. This time it was not +reopened. All the stores and supplies were in place. The two professors +were in the engine room. Washington White was in his galley, getting +ready to serve the first meal in the air. Jack and Mark were in the +pilot house, ready to do whatever was necessary and anxious to feel the +thrill that would tell them the projectile had left the earth. + +"All ready?" asked Professor Henderson. + +"All ready," replied his German assistant. + +"Then here we go!" announced the aged scientist. + +He pulled toward him the main starting lever of the Cardite motor, +while Professor Roumann opened the valve which admitted to the plates +and cylinders the mysterious force that was to send them on their way. + +"Elevate the bow!" called Professor Henderson. + +"Elevated it is," answered the German, as he turned a wheel which +directed the negative gravity force against the surface of the ground +and tilted up the nose of the _Annihilator_, as a skyrocket is slanted +in a trough before the fuse is ignited. + +"Throw over the switch," directed Mr. Henderson, and the other +scientist, with a quick motion, snapped it into place, amid a shower of +vicious electric sparks that hissed as when hot iron is thrust into +water. + +"Steer straight ahead!" called Professor Henderson to Mark and Jack, +who were in the pilot house. "We'll head for the moon later." + +"Straight ahead it is," answered Jack. + +There was a trembling to the great projectile. Up rose her sharp- +pointed bow. She swayed slightly in the air. The trembling increased. +The great Cardite motor hummed and throbbed. There was a crackling as +from a wireless apparatus. + +Then, with a rush and a roar, the big steel car, resembling an enormous +cigar, soared away from the earth, like some gigantic piece of +fireworks, and shot toward the sky. + +"We're off!" shouted Mark. + +"For the moon!" added Jack. + +And the _Annihilator_ soared upward and onward, while those in her +never dreamed of the fearful adventures that were to befall them ere +they would again be headed toward the earth. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SHANGHAI MAKES TROUBLE + + +Remaining in the engine room long enough to see that all the motors and +apparatus were working smoothly, Professor Henderson made his way to +the pilot house forward, where Mark and Jack were in charge of the +steering gears. The projectile could be started and stopped from there, +as well as from the engine room, once the motor was set going. + +"Well, boys, how does it feel to be in space once more?" asked the +scientist. + +"Fine," answered Mark. "But while I was shut up in that old house I +feared I'd never have this chance again." + +"It seems like old times again, to be flying through space," remarked +Jack. "My! but we aren't making half the speed of which the projectile +is capable. Why, we're only going about twenty miles a second," and he +spoke as if that was a mere nothing. + +"Twenty miles is some speed," observed Mark. + +"The earth goes around the sun at the rate of nineteen miles a second, +or about seventy-five times as fast as the swiftest cannon-ball, so you +see, Jack, you are 'going some,' as the boys say." + +"Yes, but we went much faster when we went to Mars. Still, no matter +how fast we travel, you'd never realize it inside here." + +This was true. So well balanced was the projectile, and so delicately +poised was the machinery, that the terrifically fast rate of travel, +rivalling that of the earth, was no more noticed than we, on this +globe, notice our pace of nineteen miles a second around the sun. + +"Everything seems to be all right," observed Professor Henderson, as he +looked out of the plate-glass window of the pilot house into a sea of +rolling mist, which represented the ether, for they had soon passed +through the atmosphere of the earth, which scientists estimate to be +two hundred miles in thickness. + +"Are we going to move any faster than this?" asked Jack, who seemed +possessed of a speed mania. + +"Not right away," replied Mr. Henderson. "Professor Roumann wants to +thoroughly test the Cardite motor first. Then, when he finds that it +works all right, we may go faster. But we will be at the moon soon +enough as it is. It is time we headed more directly on our proper way, +though, so I think I will ask Mr. Roumann to step here and aid me in +getting the projectile on the right course. You boys had better remain +also and learn how it is done. You may need to know some time." + +"I'll call the professor here, if he can leave the engine room," said +Mark, and he found the German bending over some complicated apparatus. +The scientist announced that the machines would run themselves +automatically for a while, so he accompanied the lad back to the pilot- +house. + +There, consulting big charts of the heavens, and by making some +intricate calculations, which the boys partly understood, the German +and Mr. Henderson were able to locate the exact position of the moon, +though that body was not then in sight, being behind the earth. + +"That ought to bring us there inside of a week," announced Mr. +Henderson, as he fastened the automatic steering apparatus in place. +"The projectile will now be held on a straight course, and I hope we +shall not have to change it." + +"Could anything cause us to swerve to one side?" asked Jack. + +"Sure," replied Mark. "Don't you remember how, in the trip to Mars, we +nearly collided with the comet? If we are in danger of hitting another +one of those things, or even a meteor, we'll steer out of the way, +won't we?" + +"Of course. I forgot about that," admitted Jack. + +"Yes," declared Professor Roumann, "we'll have to be on the lookout for +wandering meteors or other stray heavenly bodies. But our instruments +will give us timely warning of them. Now, I think we can leave the +projectile to herself while I make sure that all the machinery is +running smoothly. You boys may stay here if you like, though there +isn't much to see." + +There wasn't. It was totally unlike taking a trip on earth, where the +ever-varying scenery makes a journey pleasant. There was no landscape +to greet the eye now. It was even unlike a trip in a balloon, for in +that sort of air-craft, at least for a time, a glimpse of the earth can +be had. Now there was nothing but a white blanket of mist to be seen, +which rolled this way and that. Occasionally it was dispelled, and the +full, golden sunlight bathed the projectile. The earth had long since +dropped out of sight, for it required only a few seconds to put the +_Annihilator_ high up in a position where even the most intrepid +balloonist had never ventured. + +Mark and Jack sat for a few minutes in the pilot-house, looking out +into the ether. But they soon tired of seeing absolutely nothing. + +"I wonder what we'll do when we get to the moon?" asked Jack of his +chum. + +"Why, I suppose you'll make a dive for a hatful of diamonds, won't you? +That is, if you still believe that Martian newspaper account." + +"I sure do." + +The boys found the two professors busy adjusting some of the delicate +scientific instruments with which they expected to make observations on +the trip, and after they reached the moon. + +"What is your opinion, Professor Roumann, of the temperature at the +moon's surface?" asked Mr. Henderson. + +"I am in two minds about it," was the reply. "A few years ago, I see by +an astronomy, Lord Rosse inferred from his observations that the +temperature rose at its maximum (or about three days after full moon) +far above that of boiling water." + +"Boiling water!" ejaculated Mark. "Wow! That won't be very nice. I +don't want to be boiled like a lobster!" + +"Wait a moment," cautioned Mr. Roumann, with a smile. "Later, Lord +Rosse's own investigations, and those of Langley, threw some doubts on +this. There is said to be no air blanket about the moon, as there is +about the earth, so that the moon loses heat as fast as it receives it; +and it now seems more probable that the temperature never rises above +the freezing point of water, just as is the case on our highest +mountains." + +"That's better," came from Jack. "We can stand a low temperature more +easily than we can to be boiled; eh, Jack?" + +"Sure. But I don't want to be frozen or boiled either, if I can help +it. Guess I'll wear my fur suit that we brought back from the North +Pole with us." + +"I agree with you, Professor Roumann, about the temperature," announced +Mr. Henderson, "so we must make up our minds to shiver, rather than +melt. But we are prepared for that." + +"What about there being no air on the moon?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, we can manufacture our own oxygen," said Mark. "We can walk around +with an air tank on our shoulders, as we did when we went beneath the +surface of the ocean. Now, I guess----" + +"Dinner am served in de dining car!" interrupted Washington White, his +black face grinning cheerfully. He used to be a waiter in a Pullman, +and he was proud of it. "First call fo' dinner!" he went on. "Part ob +it am boiled, part am roasted, laik I done heah yo' talkin' 'bout jest +now, an' part am frozed--dat's de ice cream," he added hastily, lest +there be a mistake about it. + +"Well, that sounds good," observed Mark. "Come on, everybody," and he +led the way to the dining cabin. + +They had not been at the table more than a few minutes, and had begun +on the "boiled" part of the meal, which was the soup, when from the +engine room there came a curious, whining noise, as when an electric +motor slows up. + +"What's that?" cried Professor Henderson, jumping up from his seat in +alarm. + +"Something wrong in the engine room," cried Mr. Roumann. + +The two scientists, followed by the boys, hurried to where the various +pieces of apparatus were sending the projectile forward through space. +Already there was an appreciable slackening of speed. + +"The Cardite motor has stopped!" cried Mr. Roumann. "Something has +happened to it!" + +"Can it be the result of the damage which that lunatic did?" asked Mr. +Henderson. + +"Perhaps," spoke Jack. "If I had him here----" + +"We are falling!" shouted Mark, looking at an indicator which marked +their speed and motion. + +"Can't we start some other motor?" asked Jack. + +At that instant from beneath the now silent Cardite machine there came +a prolonged crow. + +"My Shanghai rooster!" shouted Washington. "He am in dar!" + +A second later the rooster scrambled out, scratching vigorously. Grains +of corn were scattered about. The motor started up again, and the +projectile resumed its onward way. + +"The rooster stopped it!" cried Jack. "He went under it to get some +corn, and he must have deranged one of the levers. Oh, you old +Shanghai, you nearly gave us all heart disease!" + +And the rooster crowed louder than before, while his colored owner +"shooed" him out of the engine room. The trouble was over speedily, and +the _Annihilator_ was once more speeding toward the moon. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"WILL IT HIT US?" + + +"Well, for a trouble-maker, give me a rooster every time," spoke Jack, +as, after an examination of the machinery, it was found that nothing +was out of order. "How do you think it happened, Professor Henderson?" + +"It never could have happened except in just that way," was the reply +of Mr. Roumann. "Underneath the motor, where they are supposed to be +out of all reach, are several self-adjusting levers. They control the +speed, and also, by being moved in a certain direction, they will shut +down the apparatus. The rooster crawled beneath the machine, an act +that I never figured on, for I knew it was too small for any of us to +reach with our hands or arms, even had we so desired. But the +Shanghai's feathers must have brushed against the levers, and that +stopped the action of the Cardite motor. However, I'm glad it was no +worse." + +"Yes, let's finish dinner now, if everything is all right," proposed +Mark. + +"How did the rooster get in here?" asked Jack. + +"I 'spects dat's my fault," answered Washington. "I took him out ob his +coop fo' a little exercise dis mawnin', an' he run in heah." + +"That explains it, I think," said Mr. Roumann. "Well, Washington, don't +let it happen again. We don't want to be dashed downward through space +all on account of a rooster." + +"No, indeedy; I'll lock him up good an' tight arter dis," promised the +colored man. + +They resumed the interrupted dinner, discussing the possibility of what +might have happened, and congratulating themselves that it did not take +place. + +"It certainly seems like old times to be eating while travelling along +like a cannon-ball," remarked Jack. "I declare, it gives me an +appetite!" + +"You didn't need any," retorted his chum. "But say! maybe things don't +taste good to me, after what I got while that fellow Axtell had me a +prisoner! Jack, I'll have a little more of that cocoanut pie, if you +don't mind." + +Jack passed over the pastry, and Mark took a liberal piece. Then +Washington brought in the ice cream, which was frozen on board by means +of an ammonia gas apparatus, the invention of Professor Henderson. The +novelty of dining as comfortably as at home, yet being thousands of +miles above the earth, and, at the same time, speeding along like a +cannon-ball, did not impress our friends as much as it had during their +trip to Mars. + +"Well, we're making a little better time now," observed Mark, as he and +the others rose from the table and went to the engine room. "The gauge +shows that we're making twenty-five miles a second." + +"We will soon go much faster," announced Professor Roumann. "I have not +yet had a chance to test my Cardite motor to its fullest speed, and I +think I will do so. I wish to see if it will equal my Etherium machine. +I'll turn on the power gradually now, and we'll see what happens." + +"How fast do you think it ought to send us along?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, perhaps one hundred and twenty-five miles a second. You know we +went a hundred miles a second when we headed for Mars. I would not be +surprised if we made even one hundred and thirty miles a second with +the Cardite." + +"Whew! If we ever hit anything going like that!" exclaimed old Andy +Sudds. + +"We'd go right through it," finished Jack fervently. The professor was +soon ready for the test. Slowly he shoved over the controlling lever. +The Cardite motor hummed more loudly, like some great cat purring. +Louder snapped the electrical waves. The air vibrated with the enormous +speed of the valve wheels, and there was a prickling sensation as the +power flowed into the positive and negative plates, by which the +projectile was moved through space. + +"Watch the hand of the speed indicator, boys," directed Professor +Roumann, "while Professor Henderson and I manipulate the motor. Call +out the figures to us, for we must keep our eyes on the valves." Slowly +the speed indicator hand, which was like that of an automobile +speedometer, swept over the dial. + +"Fifty miles a second," read off Mark. The two professors shoved the +levers over still more. + +"Seventy-five," called Jack. + +"Give it a little more of the positive current," directed Mr. Roumann. + +"Ninety miles a second," read Mark a few moments later. + +"We are creeping up, but we have not yet equalled our former speed," +spoke Mr. Henderson. The motor was fairly whining now, as if in +protest. + +"One hundred and five miles," announced Jack. + +"Ha! That's some better!" ejaculated the German. "I think we shall do +it." Once more he advanced the speed lever a notch. + +"One hundred and thirty!" fairly shouted Mark. "We are beating all +records!" + +"And we will go still farther beyond them!" cried Mr. Roumann. "Watch +the gauge, boys!" + +To the last notch went the speed handle. There was a sharp crackling, +snapping sound, as if the metal of which the motor was composed was +strained to the utmost. Yet it held together. + +The hand of the dial quivered. It hung on the one hundred and thirty +mark for a second, as if not wanting to leave it, and then the steel +pointer swept slowly on in a circle, past point after point. + +"One hundred and thirty-five--one hundred and forty," whispered Jack, +as if afraid to speak aloud. The two professors did not look up from +the motor. They looked at the oil and lubricating cups. Already the +main shaft was smoking with the heat of friction. + +"Look! look!" whispered Mark hoarsely. + +"One hundred and fifty-three miles a second!" exclaimed Jack. "You've +done it, Professor Roumann!" + +"Yes, I have," spoke the German, with a sigh of satisfaction. "That is +faster than mortal man ever travelled before, and I think no one will +ever equal our speed. We have broken all records--even our own. Now I +will slow down, but we must do it gradually, so as not to strain the +machinery." + +He slipped back the speed lever, notch by notch. The hand of the dial +began receding, but it still marked one hundred and twenty miles a +second. + +Suddenly, above the roar and hum of the motor, there sounded the voice +of Andy. + +"Professor!" he shouted. "We're heading right toward a big, black +stone! Is that the moon?" + +"The moon? No, we are not half way there," said Mr. Henderson. "Are you +sure, Andy?" + +"Sure? Yes! I saw it from the window in the pilot-house. We are +shooting right toward it." + +"Look to the motor, and I'll see what it is," directed Mr. Henderson to +his friend. Followed by the boys, he hurried to the steering tower. His +worst fears were confirmed. + +Speeding along with a swiftness unrivalled even by some stars, the +projectile was lurching toward a great, black heavenly body. "It's a +meteor! An immense meteor!" cried Professor Henderson, "and it's coming +right toward us." + +"Will it hit us?" gasped Mark and Jack together. + +"I don't know. We must try to avoid it. Boys, notify Professor Roumann +at once. We are in grave danger!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +TURNING TURTLE + + +Together Mark and Jack leaped for the engine room. Their faces showed +the fear they felt. Even before they reached it, they realized that, at +the awful speed at which they were travelling, and the fearful velocity +of the meteor, there might be a crash in mid-air which would destroy +the projectile and end their lives. + +"I wonder if we can steer clear of it?" gasped Jack. + +"If it's possible the professor will do it," responded his chum. + +The next instant they were in the engine room, where Mr. Roumann was +bending over the Cardite motor. + +"Shut off the power!" yelled Jack. + +"We are going to hit a meteor!" gasped Mark. + +The German looked up with a startled glance. + +"Slow down?" he repeated. "It is impossible to slow down at once! We +are going ninety miles a second!" He pointed to the speed gauge. + +"Then there's going to be a fearful collision!" cried Jack, and he +blurted out the fact of the nearness of the heavenly wanderer. + +"So!" exclaimed Professor Roumann. "Dot is bat! ferry bat!" and he +lapsed into the broken language that seldom marked his almost perfect +English. Then, murmuring something in his own tongue, he leaped away +from the motor, calling to the boys: + +"Slow it down gradually! Keep pulling the speed lever toward you! I +will set in motion the repelling apparatus and go to help Professor +Henderson steer out of the way. It is our only chance!" + +Mark and Jack took their places beside the Cardite motor, which was +still keeping up a fearful speed, though not so fast as at first. To +stop it suddenly would mean that the cessation of strain could not all +be diffused at once, and serious damage might result. + +The only way was to come gradually down to the former speed, and, while +Mark kept his eyes on the indicator, Jack pulled the lever toward him, +notch by notch. + +"She's down to seventy-five miles a second," whispered Mark. They were +as anxious now to reduce speed as they had been before to increase it. + +Meanwhile Professor Roumann had set in motion a curious bit of +apparatus, designed to repel stray meteors or detached bits of comets. +As is well known, bodies floating in space, away from the attraction of +gravitation, attract or repel each other as does a magnet or an +electrically charged object. + +Acting on this law of nature, Professor Roumann had, with the aid of +Mr. Henderson, constructed a machine which, when a negative current of +electricity was sent into it, would force away any object that was +approaching the _Annihilator_. In a few moments the boys at the +Cardite motor heard the hum, the throb and crackling that told them +that the repelling apparatus was at work. + +But would it act in time? Or would the meteor prove too powerful for +it? And, if it did, would the two scientists be able to steer the +swiftly moving projectile out of the way of the big, black stone, as +the old hunter called it? + +These were questions that showed on the faces of the two lads as they +bent over the motor. + +"We're only going fifty miles a second now," whispered Jack. + +Mark nodded his head. "Can't you pull the lever over faster?" he asked. + +"I don't dare," replied his chum. There was nothing to do but to wait +and gradually slow up the projectile as much as possible. The boys +could hear the professors in the pilothouse shifting gears, valves and +levers to change the course of the projectile. Andy Sudds and +Washington White, with fear on their faces, looked into the engine +room, waiting anxiously for the outcome. + +"Hab--hab we hit it yet?" asked Washington, moving his hands nervously. + +"I reckon not, or we'd know it," said the hunter. + +"No, not yet," answered Jack, in a low voice. "How much are we making +now, Mark?" + +"Only thirty a second." + +"Good! She's coming down." + +Hardly had he spoken than there sounded a noise like thunder, or the +rushing of some mighty wind. The projectile, which was trembling +throughout her length from the force of the motor, shivered as though +she had plunged into the unknown depths of some mighty sea. The roaring +increased. Mark and Jack looked at each other. Washington White fell +upon his knees and began praying in a loud voice. Old Andy grasped his +gun, as though to say that, even though on the brink of eternity, he +was ready. + +Then, with a scream as of some gigantic shell from a thousand-inch +rifle, something passed over the _Annihilator_; something that shook +the great projectile like a leaf in the wind. And then the scream died +away, and there was silence. For a moment no one spoke, and then Jack +whispered hoarsely: + +"We've passed it." + +"Yes," added Mark, "we're safe now." + +"By golly! I knowed we would!" fairly yelled Washington, leaping to his +feet. "I knowed dat no old meteor could kerflumox us! Perfesser +Henderson he done jumped our boat ober it laik a hunter jumps his boss +ober a fence. Golly! I'se feelin' better now!" + +"How did you avoid it?" asked Mark of the professor. + +"With the help of the repelling machine and by changing our course. But +we did it only just in time. It was an immense meteor, much larger than +at first appeared, and it was blazing hot. Had it struck us, there +would have been nothing left of us or the projectile either but star +dust. But we managed to pass beneath it, and now we are safe." + +They congratulated each other on their lucky escape, and then busied +themselves about various duties aboard the air-craft. The rest of the +day was spent in making minor adjustments to some of the machines, +oiling others, and in planning what they would do when they reached the +moon. + +In this way three days and nights passed, mainly without incident. They +slept well on board the _Annihilator_, which was speeding so swiftly +through space--slept as comfortably as they had on earth. Each hour +brought them nearer the moon, and they figured on landing on the +surface of that wonderful and weird body in about three days more. + +It was on the morning of the fourth day when, as Mark and Jack were +taking their shift in the engine room, that Jack happened to glance +from the side observation window, which was near the Cardite motor. +What he saw caused him to cry out in surprise. + +"I say, Mark, look here! There's the moon over there. We're not heading +for it at all!" + +"By Jove! You're right!" agreed his chum. "We're off our course!" + +"We must tell Professor Henderson!" cried Jack. "I'll do it. You stay +here and watch things." + +A few seconds later a very much alarmed youth was rapidly talking to +the two scientists, who were in the pilot-house. + +"Some unknown force must have pulled us off our course," Jack was +saying. "The moon is away off to one side of us." + +To his surprise, instead of being alarmed, Mr. Roumann only smiled. + +"It's true," insisted Jack. + +"Of course, it is," agreed Mr. Henderson. "We can see it from here, +Jack," and he pointed to the observation window, from which could be +noticed the moon floating in the sky at the same time the sun was +shining, a phenomenon which is often visible on the earth early in the +morning at certain of the moon's phases. + +"Will we ever get there?" asked Jack. + +"Of course," replied Mr. Roumann. "You must remember, Jack, that the +moon is moving at the same time we are. Had I headed the projectile for +Luna, and kept it on that course, she would, by the time we reached +her, been in another part of the firmament, and we would have overshot +our mark. So, instead, I aimed the _Annihilator_ at a spot in the +heavens where I calculated the moon would be when we arrived there. +And, if I am not mistaken, we will reach there at the same time, and +drop gently down on Luna." + +"Oh, is that it?" asked the lad, much relieved. + +"That's it," replied Mr. Henderson. "And that's why we seem to be +headed away from the moon. Her motion will bring her into the right +position for us to land on when the time comes." + +"Then I'd better go tell Mark," said the lad. "He's quite worried." He +soon explained matters to his chum, and together they discussed the +many things necessary to keep in mind when one navigates the heavens. + +That day saw several thousand more miles reeled off on the journey to +the moon, and that evening (or rather what corresponded to evening, for +it was perpetual daylight) they began to make their preparations for +landing. Their wonderful journey through space was nearing an end. + +"I guess that crazy Axtell fellow was only joking when he said we'd +never reach the moon," ventured Jack. "Nothing has happened yet." + +"Only the meteor," said Mark, "and he couldn't know about that. I guess +he didn't get a chance to damage any of the machinery." + +"No, we seem to be making good time," went on his chum. "I think I'll +go and----" + +Jack did not finish his sentence. Instead he stared at one of the +instruments hanging from the walls of the engine room. It was a sort of +barometer to tell their distance from the earth, and it swung to and +fro like a pendulum. Now the instrument was swinging out away from the +wall to which it was attached. Further and further over it inclined. +Jack felt a curious sensation. Mark put his hand to his head. + +"I feel--feel dizzy!" he exclaimed. "What is the matter?" + +"Something has happened," cried Jack. + +The instrument swung over still more. Some tools fell from a work +bench, and landed on the steel floor with a crash. The boys were +staggering about the engine room, unable to maintain their balance. + +There came cries of fear from the galley, where Washington White was +rattling away amid his pots and pans. Andy Sudds was calling to some +one, and from the pilot-house came the excited exclamations of +Professors Henderson and Roumann. + +"We're turning turtle!" suddenly yelled Jack. "The projectile is +turning over in the air! Something has gone wrong! Perhaps this is the +revenge of that crazy man!" and, as he spoke, he fell over backward, +Mark following him, while the _Annihilator_ was turned completely over +and seemed to be falling down into unfathomable depths. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +AT THE MOON + + +Confusion reigned aboard the _Annihilator_. It had turned completely +over, and was now moving through space apparently bottom side up. Of +course, being cigar shaped, this did not make any difference as far as +the exterior was concerned, but it did make a great difference to those +within. + +The occupants of the great shell had fallen and slid down the rounded +sides of the projectile, and were now standing on what had been the +ceiling. Objects that were not fast had also followed them, scattering +all about, some narrowly missing hitting our friends. Of course, the +machinery was now in the air, over the heads of the travellers. + +This was one of the most serious phases of the accident, for the great +Cardite motor was built to run while in the other position, and when it +was turned upside down it immediately stopped, and the projectile, +deprived of its motive power, at once began falling through space. + +"What has happened? What caused it?" cried Mark, as he crawled over to +where Jack sat on the ceiling, with a dazed look on his face. + +"I don't know. Something went wrong. Here comes Professor Henderson and +Mr. Roumann. We'll ask them." + +The two scientists were observed approaching from the pilot-house. They +walked along what had been the ceiling, and when they came to the +engine room they had to climb over the top part of the door frame. + +"What's wrong?" asked Jack. + +"Our center of gravity has become displaced," answered Mr. Henderson. +"The gravity machine has either broken, or some one has been tampering +with it. Did either of you boys touch it?" + +"No, indeed!" cried Mark, and his chum echoed his words. + +"I wonder if Washington could have meddled with it?" went on the +scientist. + +At that moment the colored cook came along, making his way cautiously +into the engine room. He was an odd sight. Bits of carrots, turnips and +potatoes were in his hair, while from one ear dangled a bunch of +macaroni, and his clothes were dripping wet. + +"My kitchen done turned upside down on me!" wailed Washington, "an' a +whole kettle ob soup emptied on my head! Oh, golly! What happened?" + +The aged scientist looked toward the German. The latter was gazing up +at the motionless Cardite motor over his head. + +"There is but one way," he answered. "We must restore our centre of +gravity to where it was before. Then the projectile will right +herself." + +"Can it be done?" asked Mark. + +"It will be quite an undertaking, but we must attempt it. Bring some +tables and chairs, so I can stand up and reach the equilibrium +machine." + +From where they had fallen to the ceiling, which was now the floor, +Jack and Mark brought tables and chairs, and made a sort of stepladder. +On this Professor Roumann mounted, and at once began the readjusting of +the centre of gravity. + +It was hard work, for he had to labor with his arms stretched up in the +air, and any one who has even put up pictures knows what that means. +The muscles are unaccustomed to the strain. The German scientist, +though a strong man, had to rest at frequent intervals. + +"We're falling rapidly," announced Jack, in a low voice, as he looked +at the height gauge. + +"I am doing all I can," answered Mr. Roumann. "I think I will soon be +able to right the craft." + +He labored desperately, but he was at a disadvantage, for the +_Annihilator_ was not now moving smoothly through space. With the +stopping of the motor she was falling like some wobbly balloon, swaying +hither and thither in the ether currents. + +But Professor Roumann was not one to give up easily. He kept at his +task, aided occasionally by Professor Henderson and by the boys +whenever they could do anything. + +Finally the German cried out: + +"Ah, I have discovered the trouble. It is that scoundrel Axtell! See!" +And reaching into the interior of the machine he pulled out a small +magnet. To it was attached a card, on which was written: + +"I told you I would have my revenge!" It was signed with Axtell's name. + +"This was the dastardly plot he evolved," said Professor Roumann. "He +slipped this magnet into the equilibrium machine, knowing that in time +it would cause a deflection of the delicate needles, and so shift the +centre of gravity. He must have done this as a last resort, and to +provide for his revenge in case we discovered him on board after we +started. It was a cruel revenge, for had I not discovered it we would +soon all be killed." + +"Is the machine all right now?" asked Jack. + +"It will be in a few minutes. Here, take this magnet and put it as far +away from the engine room as possible." + +It was the work of but a few minutes, now that the disturbing element +was removed, to readjust the gravity machine, and Mr. Roumann called: + +"Look out, now, everybody! We're going to turn right side up again!" + +As he spoke he turned a small valve wheel. There was a clanging of +heavy ballast weights, which slid down their rods to the proper places. +Then, like some great fish turning over in the water, the _Annihilator_ +turned over in the ether, and was once more on her proper keel, if such +a shaped craft can be said to have a keel. + +Of course, the occupants of the space ship went slipping and sliding +back, even as they had fallen ceilingward before, but they were +prepared for it, and no one was hurt. From the galley came a chorus of +cries, as pots and pans once more scattered about Washington, but there +was no more soup to spill. + +As soon as the _Annihilator_ was righted, the Cardite motor began to +work automatically, and once more the projectile, with the seekers of +the moon, was shooting through space at their former speed. They had +lost considerable distance, but it was easy to make it up. + +"Well, that _was_ an experience," remarked Jack, as he and his chum +began picking up the tools and other objects that were scattered all +about by the change in equilibrium. + +"I should say yes," agreed Mark. "I'm glad it didn't happen at dinner +time. That fellow Axtell is a fiend to think of such a thing." + +"Indeed, he is! But we're all right now, though it did feel funny to be +turned upside down." + +An inspection of the projectile was made, but they could discover no +particular damage done. She seemed to be moving along the same as +before, and, except for the upsetting of things in the store-room, it +would hardly have been known, an hour later, that a dreadful accident +was narrowly averted. + +Washington made more soup, and soon had a fine meal ready, over which +the travellers discussed their recent experience. + +"And when do you think we will arrive?" asked Jack of Mr. Henderson. + +"We ought to be at the moon inside of two days now. We have not made +quite the speed we calculated on, but that does not matter. I think we +will go even more slowly on the remainder of the trip, as I wish to +take some scientific observations." + +"Yes, and so do I," added Mr. Roumann. "I think if we make fifteen +miles a second from now on we will be moving fast enough." + +Accordingly the Cardite motor was slowed down, and the projectile shot +through space at slightly reduced speed, while the two scientists made +several observations, and did some intricate calculating about ether +pressure, the distance of heavenly bodies and other matters of interest +only to themselves. + +It was on the afternoon of the third day following the turning turtle +of the _Annihilator_ that Mark, who was looking through a telescope in +the pilot-house, called out: "I say, Jack, look here!" + +"What's the matter?" asked his chum. + +"Why, we're rushing right at the moon! I can see the mountains and +craters on it as plain as though we were but five miles away!" + +"Then we must be nearly there," observed Jack. "Let's tell the others, +Mark." + +They hurried to inform the two professors, who at once left their +tables of figures and entered the steering chamber. Then, after gazing +through the glass, Mr. Henderson announced: "Friends, we will land on +the moon in half an hour. Get ready." + +"Are we really going to be walking around the moon inside of thirty +minutes?" asked Mark. + +"I don't know about walking around on it," answered the German. "We +first have to see if there is an atmosphere there for us to breathe, +and whether the temperature is such as we can stand. But the +Annihilator will soon be there." + +The speed of the Cardite motor was increased, and so rapidly did the +projectile approach Luna that glasses were no longer needed to +distinguish the surface of the moon. + +There she floated in space, a great, silent ball, but not like the +earth, pleasantly green, with lakes and rivers scattered about in +verdant forests. No, for the moon presented a desolate surface to the +gaze of the travellers. Great, rugged mountain peaks arose all about +immense caverns that seemed hundreds of miles deep. The surface was +cracked and seamed, as if by a moonquake. Silence and terrible +loneliness seemed to confront them. + +"Maybe it's better on some other part of the surface," said Jack, in a +low voice. + +"Perhaps," agreed Mark. "It's certainly not inviting there." + +Nearer and nearer they came to the moon. It no longer looked like a +great sphere, for they were so close that their vision could only take +in part of the surface, and it began to flatten out, as the earth does +to a balloonist. + +And the nearer they came to it the more rugged, the more terrible, the +more desolate did it appear. Would they be able to find a place to +land, or would they go hurtling down into some awful crater, or be +dashed upon the sharp peak of some mountain of the moon? + +It was a momentous question, and anxious were the faces of the two +professors. + +"Mr. Henderson, if you will undertake to steer to some level place, I +will take charge of the motor," suggested Mr. Roumann. "I will +gradually reduce the speed, and get the repelling machine in readiness, +so as to render our landing gentle." + +"Very well," responded the aged scientist, as he grasped the steering +wheel. + +The progress of the _Annihilator_ was gradually checked. More and more +slowly it approached the moon. The mountains seemed even higher now, +and the craters deeper. + +"What a terrible place," murmured Jack. "I shouldn't want to live +there." + +"Me either," said Mark. + +"Can you see a place to land?" called Professor Roumann through the +speaking-tube from the engine room to the steering tower. + +"Yes, we seem to be approaching a fairly level plateau," was Mr. +Henderson's reply. + +"Very well, then, I'll start the repelling machine." + +The Cardite motor was stopped. The projectile was now being drawn +toward the moon by the gravity force of the dead ball that once had +been a world like ours. Slowly and more slowly moved the great +projectile. + +There was a moment of suspense. Mr. Henderson threw over the steering +wheel. The _Annihilator_ moved more slowly. Then came a gentle shock. +The dishes in the galley rattled, and there was the clank of machinery. +The Shanghai rooster crowed. + +"We're on the moon at last!" cried jack, peering from an observation +window at the rugged surface outside. + +"Yes; and now to see what it's like," added Mark. "We'll go outside, +and----" + +"Wait," cautioned Professor Roumann. "First we must see if we can +breathe on the moon, and whether the temperature will support life. I +must make some tests before we venture out of the projectile." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +TORCHES OF LIFE + + +The natural inclination of the boys to rush out on the surface of the +moon to see what it was like was checked by the words of caution from +Professor Roumann. + +"Do you think it would be dangerous to venture outside the projectile?" +asked Jack, as he looked from the window and noted the rugged, uneven +surface of the moon. + +"Very much so," was the answer. "According to most astronomers, there +is absolutely no air on the moon, also no moisture, and the temperature +is either very high or around the freezing point. We must find out what +it is." + +"How can we?" inquired Mark. + +"I'll soon show you," went on the German. "Professor Henderson, will +you kindly assist me." + +When it had been decided to come to the moon in quest for the field of +diamonds, certain changes had been made in the _Annihilator_ to fit it +for new conditions that might be met. One of these consisted of an +aperture in the two sides of the projectile permitting certain delicate +instruments to be thrust out, so that the conditions they indicated +could be read on dials or graduated scales from within. + +"We will first make a test of the temperature," said Mr. Roumann, "as +that will be the easiest." Accordingly a thermometer was put outside, +and those in the air-craft anxiously watched the red column of spirits. +The temperature was marked as seventy-five inside the _Annihilator_, +but the thermometer had not been outside more than a second before +it began falling. + +"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson, as he noted it. "The temperature is +going down. I'd rather have it too cold than too hot. We can stand a +minus fifty of cold better than two hundred and twelve of heat. We have +fur garments with us." + +"It is still going down," remarked Jack, as he saw the red column drop +down past the thirty mark. + +"Below freezing," added Mark. + +The spirits fell in the tube until they touched twenty-eight degrees, +and there they remained. + +"Twenty-eight degrees," remarked Professor Henderson. "That isn't so +bad. At least, we can stand that if we are warmly clad." + +"Yes, but it will be colder to-night," said Jack. For they had landed +on the moon in bright sunlight. + +"To-night?" questioned the German scientist, with a smile. + +"Yes, it's always colder when the sun goes down," went on the lad. + +"You have forgotten one thing," said Mr. Henderson, with a smile at his +young protege. "You must remember, Jack, that the nights and days here +are each fourteen days long--that is, fourteen of our days." + +"How's that?" asked Jack. + +"Why," broke in Mark, who was a trifle better student than was his +chum, "don't you remember that the moon rotates on its axis once a +month, or in about twenty-eight days, to be exact, and so half of that +time is day and half night, just as on our earth, when it revolves on +its axis in twenty-four hours, half the time is day and half the time +is night." + +"Sure, I ought to have remembered," declared Jack. + +"Mark is right," added Mr. Henderson. "And, as we have most fortunately +arrived on the moon at the beginning of the long day, we will have +fourteen days of sunshine, during which we may expect the temperature +to remain at about twenty-eight degrees. But now about the atmosphere." +"We will test that directly," went on the German. "It will take some +time longer, though." + +Various instruments were brought forth and thrust out of the opening in +the side of the projectile, which opening was so arranged that it was +closed hermetically while the instruments were put forth. Then the +readings of the dials or scales were taken, and computations made. In +fact, some of what corresponded to the moon's atmosphere was secured in +a hollow steel cup and brought inside the _Annihilator_ for analysis. + +"Well," remarked Professor Roumann, as he bent over a test tube, the +contents of which he had put through several processes, "I am afraid we +cannot breathe on the moon." + +"Can't breathe on it?" gasped Jack. "Then we can't go out and walk +around it." + +"I didn't say that," resumed the German, with a smile. "I said we +couldn't breathe the moon's atmosphere. In fact there is nothing there +that we would call atmosphere. There is absolutely no oxygen, and there +are a number of poisonous gases that would instantly cause death if +inhaled." + +"Then how are we to get out and hunt for those diamonds, Professor?" +went on Jack. "Gee whiz! if I'd known that, I wouldn't have come. This +is tough luck!" + +"Maybe the professor can suggest a way out of the difficulty, boys," +spoke Mr. Henderson. "It certainly would be too bad if, after our +perilous trip, we couldn't get out of our cage and walk around the +moon." + +"I think perhaps I can discover a way so that it will be safe to +venture forth," said Mr. Roumann. "But I must first conduct some +further experiments. In the meanwhile suppose you boys get out some +fur-lined garments, for, though it is only twenty-eight degrees, we +will need to be well clad after the time spent inside this warm +projectile." + +"It does look as if he expected to get us out," remarked Jack, as he +and his chum went to where Andy Sudds was. + +"Yes, you'll get a chance to pick up diamonds after all, Jack. That is, +if there are any here." + +"Of course there are diamonds. You wait and see," and then, with the +help of the old hunter, they took from the store-room their fur +garments. + +It was half an hour before the warm clothes were sorted out, and then +the boys went back to where the two professors were. + +"Well," asked Jack cautiously, "can we go outside?" + +"I think so," answered the German cheerfully. "But you must always be +careful to carry one of these with you," and he handed to each of the +boys a steel rod about two feet long, at the end of which was a small +iron box, with perforations in the sides and top. + +"What is this?" asked Jack. "It looks like a magician's wand." + +"And that is exactly what it is," said Mr. Henderson. "As there is no +atmosphere fit to breathe on the moon, we have been forced to make our +own, boys. You each hold what may be called torches of life. To venture +out without them would mean instant death by suffocation or poison." + +"And will these save our lives?" asked Mark. + +"Yes," said Mr. Roumann. "In the iron boxes on those rods are certain +chemicals, rich in oxygen and other elements, which, when brought in +contact with the gases on the moon, will dispel a cloud of air about +whoever carries them--air such as we find on our earth. So, boys, be +careful never to venture out without the torches of life. I had them +prepared in anticipation of some such emergency as this, and all that +was necessary was to put in the chemicals. This I have done, and now, +if you wish, you may go out and stroll about the moon." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ON THE EDGE OF A CRATER + + +There was a little hesitation after Professor Roumann had spoken. Even +though he assured them all that it would be safe to venture out on the +surface of the moon, with its chilling temperature and its poisonous +"atmosphere" (if such it can be termed), there was an uncanny feeling +about stepping forth into the midst of the desolation that was on every +side. + +For it was desolate--terribly so! Not a sound broke the stillness. +There was no life--no motion--as far as could be seen. Not a tree or +shrub relieved the rugged monotony of the landscape. It was like a dead +world. + +"And to think that people may have once lived here," observed Jack, in +a low voice. + +"Yes, and to think that there may be people on the other side of the +moon even now," added Mark. "We must take a look if it's possible." + +"Well," remarked Mr. Henderson, after a while, "are we going out and +see what it's like or not." + +"Of course, we are," said Jack. "Come on, Mark, I'm not afraid." + +"Me either. Do we have to do anything to the torches to make them +operate, Professor Roumann?" + +"Merely press this lever," and the scientist showed them where there +was one in the handle of the steel rod. "As soon as that is pressed, it +admits a liquid to the chemicals and the oxygen gas is formed, rising +all around you, like a protecting vapor. After that it is automatic." + +"How long will the supply of chemical last?" inquired Jack. + +"Each one is calculated to give out gas for nearly two weeks," was the +reply; "possibly for a little longer. But come, I want to see how they +work. Here is your life-torch, Professor Henderson, and there is one +for you, too, Andy, and Washington." + +"'Scuse me!" exclaimed the colored man hastily, as he started back +toward the kitchen. + +"Why, what's the matter?" asked Jack. "Don't you want to go out, and +walk around the moon, and pick up diamonds?" + +"Diamonds am all right," answered Washington, "but I jest done fo'got +dat I ain't fed my Shanghai rooster to-day, an' I 'spects he's mighty +hungry. You folks go on out an' pick up a few obde sparklers, an' when +I gits de Shanghai fed I'll prognosticate myse'f inter conjunction wif +yo' all." + +"You mean you'll join us?" asked Mark. + +"Dat's what I means, suah." + +"Why, I do believe Washington's afraid!" cried Jack jokingly. + +"Askeered! Who's afraid?" retorted the colored man boldly. "Didn't I +done tole yo' dat I got t' feed my rooster? Heah him crowin' now? Yo' +all go 'long, an' I'll meet yo' later," and with that Washington +disappeared quickly. + +"Well, he'll soon pluck up courage and come out," declared Professor +Henderson. "Let him go now, and we'll go out and see what it is like on +the moon." + +"I hope we find those diamonds," murmured Jack, and Mark smiled. + +In order not to admit the poisonous gases into the projectile, it was +decided to leave the Annihilator and return to it by means of a double +door, forming a sort of air lock. It was similar to the water lock used +on the submarine. That is, the adventurers entered a chamber built in +between the two steel walls of their craft. The interior door was then +sealed shut automatically. Next the outer door was opened, and they +could step directly to the surface of the moon and into the deadly +atmosphere. + +"Well, are we all ready?" asked Mr. Roumann, as he picked up one of the +chemical torches. + +"I guess so," responded Andy Sudds, who had his gun with him. "I hope I +see some game. I haven't had a shot in a long while." + +"You're not likely to up here," spoke Mr. Henderson. "Game is scarce on +the moon, unless it's some of that green cheese Washington talked +about." + +They entered the air lock and fastened the door behind them. Then +Professor Roumann pressed on the lever that swung open the outer +portal. + +"Hold your torches close to your head," he called. "The moon atmosphere +may be too strong for us at first until we create a mist of oxygen +about us." + +Out upon the surface of the moon they stepped, probably the first earth +beings so to do, though they had evidence that the inhabitants of Mars +had preceded them. + +For a moment they all gasped for breath, but only for a moment. Then +the gas began to flow from the life-torches, and they could breathe as +well as they had done while in the projectile, or while on the earth. + +"Well, if this isn't great!" cried Jack, gazing about him. + +"It certainly beats anything I ever saw," came from Mark. + +"Wonderful, wonderful," murmured Professor Henderson. "We will be able +to gain much valuable scientific knowledge here, Professor Roumann. We +must at once begin our observations." + +"I agree with you," spoke the German. + +Andy Sudds said nothing. He was looking around for a sight of game, +with his rifle in readiness. But not a sign of life met his eager eyes. + +Once they were outside the projectile it was even more desolate than it +had seemed when they looked from the observation windows. It was +absolutely still. Not a breath of wind fanned their cheeks, for where +there is no air to be heated and cooled there could be no wind which is +caused by the differences of temperature of the air, the cold rushing +in to fill the vacuum caused by the rising of the hot vapors. Clad in +their fur-lined garments, which effectually defied the cold, the +adventurers stepped out. + +Over the rugged ground they went, gazing curiously about them. It was +like being in the wildest part of the Canadian Rocky Mountains of our +earth, and, in fact, the surface of the moon was not unlike the +mountainous and hilly sections of the earth. There were no long ranges +of rugged peaks, though, but rather scattered pinnacles and deep +hollows, great craters adjoining immense, towering steeples of rocks, +with comparatively level ground in between. + +The life-torches worked to perfection. As our friends carried them, +there arose about their bodies a cloud of invisible vapor, which, +however, was as great a protection from the poisonous gases as a coat +of mail would have been. + +"This is great!" exclaimed Jack. "It's much better than to have to put +on a diving-suit and carry a cylinder of oxygen or compressed air about +on our shoulders." + +They strolled away from the projectile and gazed back at it. Nothing +moved--not a sound broke the stillness. There was only the blazing +sunlight, which, however, did not seem to warm the atmosphere much, for +it was very chilly. On every side were great rocks, rugged and broken, +with here and there immense fissures in the surface of the moon, +fissures that seemed miles and miles long. + +"Well, here's where I look for diamonds," called Jack, as he stepped +boldly out, followed by Mark. "Let's see who'll find the first +sparkler." + +"All right," agreed his chum, and they strolled away together, slightly +in advance of the two professors and Andy, who remained together, the +scientist discussing the phenomena on every side and the hunter looking +in vain for something to shoot. But he had come to a dead world. + +Almost before they knew it Jack and Mark had gone on quite some +distance. Though they were not aware of it at that moment, it was much +easier to walk on the moon than it was on the earth, for they weighed +only one sixth as much, and the attraction of gravitation was so much +less. + +But suddenly Jack remembered that curious fact, and, stooping, he +picked up a stone. He cast it from him, at the same time uttering a +yell. + +"What's the matter?" called Mark. + +"Look how far I fired that rock!" shouted Jack. "Talk about it being +easy! why, I believe I could throw a mile if I tried hard!" + +"It goes six times as far as it would on the earth," spoke his chum, +"and we can also jump six times as far." + +"Then let's try that!" proposed Jack. "There's a nice level place over +there. Come on, I'll wager that I can beat you." + +"Done!" agreed Mark, and they hurried to the spot, their very walking +being much faster than usual. + +"I'll go first," proposed Jack, "and you see if you can come up to me." +He poised himself on a little hummock of rock, balanced himself for a +moment, and then hurled himself through space. + +Prepared as he was, in a measure, for something strange, he never +bargained for what happened. It was as if he had been fired from some +catapult of the ancient Romans. Through the air he hurtled, like some +great flying animal, covering fifty feet from a standing jump. + +"Say, that's great!" yelled Mark. "Here I come, and I'll beat----" + +He did not finish, for a cry of horror came from Jack. + +"I'm going to fall into a crater--a bottomless pit! I'm on the edge of +it!" yelled the lad who had jumped. + +And, with horror-stricken eyes, Mark saw his chum disappear from sight +beyond a pile of rugged rocks, toward which he had leaped. The last +glimpse Mark had was of the life-torch, which Jack held up in the air, +close to his head. + +"Jack--in a crater!" gasped Mark, as he ran forward, holding his own +life-torch close to his mouth and nose. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +WASHINGTON SEES A GHOST + + +Advancing by leaps and bounds, and getting over the ground in a manner +most surprising, Mark soon found himself on the edge of the great, +yawning crater, into which his chum Jack had started to slide. I say +started, for, fortunately, the lad had been saved from death but by a +narrow margin. + +As Mark gazed down into the depths, which seemed fathomless, and which +were as black as night, he saw his friend clinging to a rocky +projection on the side of the extinct volcano. Jack had managed to +grasp a part of the rough surface as he slid down it after his reckless +jump. He looked up and saw Mark. + +"Oh, Mark, can't you save me?" he gasped. "Call Professor Henderson!" + +"I'll get you up, don't worry!" called Mark, as confidently as he +could. "Hold tight, Jack. What has become of your life-torch?" + +"I have it here by me. I didn't drop it, and it's on a piece of the +rock near my head. Otherwise I couldn't breathe. Oh, this place is +fearfully deep. I guess it hasn't any bottom." + +"Now, keep still, and don't think about that. Save your strength, hold +fast, and I'll get you up." + +But, having said that much, Mark was not so sure how next to proceed. +It was going to be no easy task to haul up Jack, and that without ropes +or other apparatus. Another matter that added to the danger was the +necessity of keeping the life-torch close to one's face in order to +prevent death by the poisonous gases. + +Mark's first impulse was to hasten back and call the two professors, +but he looked over the desolate landscape, and could not see them, and +he feared that if he went away Jack might slip and fall into the +unknown depths of the crater. + +"I've got to get him out alone," decided Mark. "But how can I do it?" + +He crawled cautiously nearer to the edge of the extinct volcano and +looked down. A few loose stones, dislodged by his weight, rattled down +the sides. + +"Look out!" cried Jack quickly, "or you'll fall, too!" + +"I'll be careful," answered Mark, and then he drew away out of danger, +with a queer feeling about his heart, which was beating furiously. Mark +had hoped to be able to make his way down the side of the crater to +where his chum was and help him up. But a look at the steep sides and +the uncertain footing afforded by the loose rocks of lava-like +formation showed that this could not be done. + +"I've got to think of a different scheme," decided Mark, and, spurred +on by the necessity of acting quickly if he was to save Jack, he fairly +forced his brain to work. For he saw by the strained look on his chum's +face that Jack could not hold out much longer. + +"I have it!" cried Mark at length. "My fur coat! I can cut it into +strips of hide and make a rope. Then I can lower it down to Jack and +haul him up." + +He did not think, for the moment, of the cold he would feel when he +stripped off the fur garment, and when it did come to him in a flash he +never hesitated. + +"After all, I've often been out without an overcoat on cold days," he +said to himself. "I guess I can stand it for a while, and when Jack is +up I can run back to the projectile and keep warm that way." + +To think was to act, and Mark laid down his life-torch to take off the +big fur coat. The next instant he had toppled over, almost in a faint, +and, had he not fallen so that his head was near the small perforated +box on the end of the steel rod, whence came the life-giving gas, the +lad might have died. + +He had forgotten, for the instant, the necessity of always keeping the +torch close to his face to prevent the poisonous gases of the moon from +overpowering him. Mark soon revived while lying on the ground, and, +rising, with his torch in his hand, he looked about him. + +"I've got to have my two hands to work with," he mused, "and yet I've +got to hold this torch close to my face. Say, a fellow ought to have +three hands if he's going to visit the moon. What can I do?" + +In an instant a plan came to him. He thrust the pointed end of the +steel rod in the crevice of some rocks, and it stood upright, so that +the perforated box of chemicals was on a level with his face. + +"There," said Mark aloud, "I guess that will work. I can use both my +hands now." The plan was a good one. Next, taking off his coat, the lad +proceeded to cut it into strips, working rapidly. He called to Jack +occasionally, bidding him keep up his courage. "I'll soon have you +out," he said cheeringly. + +In a few minutes Mark had a long, stout strip of hide, and, taking his +life-torch with him, he advanced once more to the edge of the crater. +He stuck the torch in between some rocks, as before, and looked down at +Jack. + +"I--I can't hold on much longer," gasped the unfortunate lad. "Hurry, +Mark!" + +"All right. I'm going to haul you up now. Can you hold on with one hand +long enough to slip the loop of this rope over your shoulders?" + +"I guess so. But where did you get a rope?" + +"I made it--cut up my fur coat." + +"But you'll freeze!" + +"Oh, I guess not. Here it comes, Jack. Get ready!" + +Mark lowered the hide rope to his chum. The latter, who managed to get +one toe on a small, projecting rock, while he held on with his right +hand, used his left to adjust the loop over his shoulders and under his +arms. + +"Are you all ready?" asked Mark. + +"Yes, but can you pull me up?" + +"Sure. I'm six times as strong as when on the earth. Hold steady now, +and keep the torch close to your face." + +Mark had placed some pieces of his fur coat under the rope where it +passed over the edge of the mouth of the crater to prevent the jagged +rocks from cutting the strips of hide. + +"Here you come!" he cried to Jack, and he began to haul, taking care to +keep his own head near his torch, which was stuck upright. Mark had +spoken truly when he said he possessed much more than his usual +strength. Any one who has tried to haul up a person with a rope from a +hole, and with no pulleys to adjust the strain of the cable, knows what +a task it is. But to Mark, on the moon, it was comparatively easy. + +Hand over hand he pulled on the hide rope until, with a final heave, he +had Jack out of his perilous position. He had pulled him up from the +mouth of the crater, and the thick fur coat Jack wore had prevented the +sharp rocks from injuring him. In another moment he stood beside Mark, +a trifle weak and shaky from his experience, but otherwise unhurt. + +"How did you happen to go down there?" asked Mark. + +"Not from choice, I assure you," answered Jack. "I couldn't see the +crater when I jumped, as it was hidden by some rocks, and I was into it +before I knew it. But don't stand talking here. Put on my coat. I don't +need it. I'm warm." + +"I will not. I'm not a bit cold. But we may as well get back to the +projectile, for they'll be worrying about us." Thereupon Mark broke +into a run, for, now that the exertion of hauling up Jack was over, he +began to feel cool, and the chilling atmosphere of the moon struck +through to his bones. + +In a short time the two lads were back at the _Annihilator_, where +they found Professors Roumann and Henderson getting a bit anxious about +them. Their adventure was quickly related, and the boys were cautioned +to be more careful in the future. + +"This moon is a curious, desolate place," said Mr. Henderson, "and you +can't behave on it as you would on the earth. We have discovered some +curious facts regarding it, and when we get back I am going to write a +book on them. But I think we have seen enough for the present, so we'll +stay in the rest of the day and plan for farther trips." + +"Aren't we going to look for those diamonds?" asked Jack, who had +almost fully recovered from his recent experience. + +"Oh, yes, we will look around for them," assented Mr. Roumann. "I +think, after a day or so, we will move our projectile to another part +of the moon. We want to see as much of it as possible." + +They sat discussing various matters, and, while doing so, Washington +White peered into the living cabin. + +"Has yo' got one ob dem torch-light processions t' spare?" he asked. + +"Torch-light processions?" queried Mark. "What do you think this is, an +election, Wash?" + +"I guess he means a life-torch," suggested Jack. "Are you going out, +Wash?" + +"Yais, sah, I did think I'd take a stroll around. Maybe I kin find a +diamond fo' my tie." + +Laughing, Jack provided the colored man with one of the torches, +instructing him how to use it, and presently Washington was seen +outside, walking gingerly around, as though he expected to go through +the crust of the moon any moment. Pretty soon, however, he got more +courage and tramped boldly along, peering about on the ground for all +the world, as Mark said, as if he was looking for chestnuts. + +They paid no attention to the cook for some little time until, when the +boys and the two professors were in the midst of a discussion as to +where would be the best place to move the projectile next, they heard +him running along the corridor toward the cabin. + +"Wash is in a hurry," observed Jack. + +The next instant they sprang to their feet at the sight of the +frightened face of the colored man peering in on them. He was as near +white as a negro can ever be, which is a sort of chalk color, and his +eyes were wide open with fear. + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack. + +"A ghost! I done seen de ghost ob a dead man!" gasped the colored man. + +"A ghost?" repeated Mark. + +"Yais, sah, right out yeah! He's lyin' down in a hole--a dead man. +Golly! but I'se a scared coon, I is!" and Washington looked over his +shoulder as though he feared the "ghost" had followed him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A BREAKDOWN + + +At first they were inclined to regard the announcement of Washington +lightly, but the too evident fright of the colored man showed that +there was some basis for his fear. + +"Tell us just what you saw, and where it was," said Mr. Henderson. "Was +the man alive, Washington?" + +"No, sah. How could a ghost be alive? Dey is all dead ones, ghosts am!" + +"There are no such things as ghosts," said Mr. Henderson sternly. + +"Den how could I see one?" demanded the cook triumphantly, as if there +was no further argument. + +"Well, tell us about it," suggested Jack. + +"It were jest dis way," began Washington earnestly, and with occasional +glances over his shoulder, "I were walkin' along, sort ob lookin' fer +dem sparklin' diamonds, an' I didn't see none, when all on a suddint I +looked down in a hole, and dere I seen HIM!" and he brought out the +word with a jerk. + +"Saw what--who?" asked Mr. Roumann. + +"De ghost--de dead man. He were lyin' all curled up, laik he were +asleep, an' when I seed him, I didn't stop t' call him t' dinner, yo' +can make up yo' minds t' dat all." + +"Can you show us the place?" inquired Jack. + +"Yais, sah, massa Jack, dat's what I kin. I'll point it out from dish +yeah winder, but I ain't g'wine dar ag'in; no, sah, 'scuse me!" + +"Well, show us then," suggested Mark. "I wonder what it can be?" he +went on. + +"Maybe one of the people who came from Mars after the diamonds, who was +forgotten and left here, and who died," said Jack. + +"It's possible," murmured Mr. Henderson. "However, we'll go take a +look. Get on your fur coats, boys, and take the life-torches. Will you +come, Andy?" + +"Sure. It's got to be more than a ghost to scare me," said the hunter. + +They emerged from the projectile and walked in the direction Washington +had pointed, holding their gas torches near their heads and talking of +what they might see. + +"This will be evidence in favor of my diamond theory," declared Jack. +"It shows that the Martians were here." + +"Wait and see what it is," suggested his chum. + +They walked along a short distance farther, and then Mark spoke. + +"That ought to be the place over there," he said, pointing to a +depression between two tall pinnacles of black rock. + +Jack sprang forward, and a moment later uttered a cry of astonishment. + +"Here it is!" he called. "A dead man!" + +"A dead man?" echoed Professor Henderson. + +"A petrified man," added Jack, in awe-struck tones. "He's turned to +stone." + +A few seconds later they were all grouped around the strange object--it +was a man no longer, but had once been one. It was a petrified human +being, a full-grown man, to judge by the size, and it was a solid image +in stone, even the garments with which he had been clothed being turned +to rock. + +For a moment no one spoke, and they gazed in silence at what was an +evidence of former life on the moon. The man was huddled up, with the +knees drawn toward the stomach and the arms bent around the body, as if +the man had died in agony. The features were scarcely distinguishable. + +"That man was never an inhabitant of Mars," spoke Professor Henderson, +in a low voice. "He is much too large, and he has none of the +characteristics of the Martians." + +"I agree with you," came from Mr. Roumann. + +"Then who is he?" asked Jack. + +"I think," said the aged scientist, "that we are now gazing on all that +was once mortal of one of the inhabitants of the moon." + +"An inhabitant of the moon?" gasped Mark. + +"Yes; why not?" went on Mr. Henderson. "I believe the moon was once a +planet like our earth--perhaps even a part of it, and I think that it +was inhabited. In time it cooled so that life could no longer be +supported, or, at least, this side of the moon presents that +indication. The people were killed--frozen to death, and by reason of +the chemical action of the gases, or perhaps from the moon being +covered with water in which was a large percentage of lime, they were +turned to stone. That is what happened to this poor man." + +"Such a thing is possible," admitted Professor Roumann gravely. + +And, indeed, it is, as the writer can testify, for in the Metropolitan +Museum in New York there are the remains of an ancient South American +miner, whose body has been turned into solid copper. The corpse, of +which the features are partly distinguishable, was found four hundred +feet down in an old copper mine, where the dripping from hidden +springs, the waters of which were rich in copper sulphate, had +converted the man's body into a block of metal, retaining its natural +shape. The body is drawn up in agony, and there is every indication +that the man was killed by a cave-in of the mine. Some of his tools +were found near him. + +They remained gazing at the weird sight of the petrified man for some +time. + +"Then the moon was once inhabited?" asked Jack at length. + +"I believe so--yes," answered Professor Henderson. + +"Then where are the other people?" asked Mark. "There must be more than +one left. Why was this man off here alone?" + +"We don't know," responded the German scientist. "Perhaps he was off +alone in the mountains when death overtook him, or perhaps all his +companions were buried under an upheaval of rock. We can only +theorize." + +"It will be something else to put in the book I am to write," said Mr. +Henderson. "But, now that we have evidence of former life on the moon, +we must investigate further. We will make an attempt to go to the other +side of the country, and to that end I suggest that we set our +projectile in motion and travel a bit. There is little more to see +here." + +This plan met with general approval, and, after some photographs had +been taken of the petrified man, and the professors had made notes, and +set down data regarding him, and had tried to guess how long he had +been dead, they went back to the _Annihilator_. + +"Well, did yo' all see him?" asked Washington. + +"We sure did," answered Jack. "You weren't mistaken that time." + +They got ready to move the projectile, but decided to remain over night +where they were. "Over night" being the way they spoke of it, though, +as I have said, there was perpetual daylight for fourteen days at a +time on the moon. + +Professors Roumann and Henderson made a few more observations for +scientific purposes. They found traces of some vegetation, but it was +of little value for food, even to the lower forms of animal life, they +decided. There was also a little moisture; noticed at certain hours of +the day. But, in the main, the place where they had landed was most +desolate. + +"I hope we get to a better place soon," said Jack, just before they +sealed themselves up in the projectile to travel to a new spot. + +As distance was comparatively small on the moon, for her diameter is +only a little over two thousand miles and the circumference only about +six thousand six hundred miles, the _Annihilator_ could not be speeded +up. If it went too fast, it would soon be off the moon and into space +again. + +Accordingly the Cardite motor was geared to send the big craft along at +about forty miles an hour, and at times they went even slower than +that, when they were passing over some part of the surface which the +professors wished to photograph or observe closely. + +They did not rise high into the air, but flew along at an elevation of +about two hundred feet, steering in and out to avoid the towering peaks +scattered here and there. Occasionally they found themselves over +immense craters that seemed to have no bottom. + +For two days they moved here and there, finding no further signs of +life, neither petrified nor natural, though they saw many strange +sights, and some valuable pictures and scientific data was obtained. + +It was on the third day, when they were approaching the side of the +moon which from time immemorial has been hidden from view of the +inhabitants of the earth, that Jack, who was with Mark in the engine +room, while the two professors were in the pilot-house, remarked to his +chum: "Mark, doesn't it strike you that the water pump and the air +apparatus aren't working just right?" + +"They don't seem to be operating very smoothly," admitted Mark, after +an examination. + +"That's what I thought. Let's call Mr. Henderson. The machinery may +need adjusting." + +Jack started from the engine room to do this, and as he paused on the +threshold there was a sudden crash. Part of the air pump seemed to fly +off at a tangent, and a second later had smashed down on the Cardite +motor. This stopped in an instant, and the projectile began falling. +Fortunately it was but a short distance above the moon's surface, and +came down with a jar, which did not injure the travellers. + +But there was sufficient damage done to the machinery, for with the +breaking of the air pump the water apparatus also went out of +commission, and together with the breakdown of the Cardite motor had +fairly stalled the _Annihilator_. + +"What's the matter?" cried Professor Henderson, running in from the +pilot-house, for an automatic signal there had apprised him that +something was wrong. + +"There's a bad break," said Jack ruefully. + +"A bad break! I should say there was," remarked the scientist. "I think +we'll have to lay up for repairs." And he called Mr. Roumann. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +LOST ON THE MOON + + +Notwithstanding that they were somewhat accustomed to having accidents +happen, it was not with the most pleasant feelings in the world that +the moon travellers contemplated this one. It meant a delay, and a +delay was the one thing they did not want just now. + +They desired to get to the other side of the moon while the long period +of sunshine gave them an opportunity for observation. True there was +some time yet ere the long night of fourteen days would settle down, +but they felt that they would need every hour of sunshine. + +"Well, it's tough luck, but it can't be helped," said Mark. + +"No, let's get right to work," suggested Jack. + +They got out their tools and started to repair the two pumps. It was +found that the Cardite motor was not badly damaged, one of the negative +electrical plates merely having been smashed by a piece of the broken +connecting rod of the air pump. It was only a short time before the +motor was ready to run again. + +But it could not be successfully operated without the air and water +pumps, and it was necessary to fix them next. New gaskets were needed, +while an extra valve and some sliding gears had to be replaced. + +"It's an all day's job," remarked Professor Henderson. + +But many hands made light work, and even Washington and Andy were +called upon to do their share. By dinner time the work was more than +half done, and Professor Roumann, announced that he and Mr. Henderson +would finish it if Jack and Mark would take a look at the exterior of +the projectile, to see if any repairs were needed to that. + +The boys found that some of the exterior piping had become loosed at +the joints, because of the jar of the sudden descent, and, taking the +necessary tools outside, while they stuck their life-torches upright +near them, they labored away. + +At four o'clock the two lads had their task completed, and at the same +time Professor Henderson announced that the air and water pumps were +now in good shape again. + +"Then let's get under way at once," suggested Mr. Roumann. "We have +lost enough time as it is. Hurry inside, boys, and we'll start." + +The two chums were glad enough to do so, and in a few minutes they were +again moving through the air toward the unknown portion of the moon. + +Below the travellers, as they could see by looking down through a +plate-glass window in the floor of the projectile, were the same rugged +peaks, the same large and small craters that had marked the surface of +the moon from the time they had first had a glimpse of it. There was an +uninteresting monotony about it, unrelieved by any save the very +sparest vegetation. + +"I am beginning to think more and more that we will find people on the +other side of this globe," remarked Mr. Roumann, as he made an +observation through a telescope. + +"What strengthens your belief?" inquired Mr. Henderson. + +"The fact that the vegetation is growing thicker. There are many more +plants below us now than there were before. This part of the moon is +better able to support life than the portion we have just come from." + +This seemed to be so, but they were still some distance from the +opposite side of the moon. + +"I don't see anything of those diamonds you talked so much about, +Jack," said Mark, with a smile, a little later. "I guess all the +Reonaris you get you can put in a hollow tooth." + +"You wait," was all Jack replied. + +The projectile was slowed up to permit the two professors to make some +notes regarding a particularly large and deep crater, and a few minutes +later when Mark, who was in the engine room, attempted to speed up the +Cordite motor it would not respond. + +"Humph! I wonder what's wrong?" he asked of Jack. + +"Better call Mr. Roumann, and not try to fix it yourself," suggested +his chum, when, in response to various movements of the lever, the +machine seemed to go slower and slower. + +The German came in answer to the summons. + +"Ha!" he exclaimed, "that motor is broken again. We shall have to stop +once more for repairs. I shall need to take it all apart, I fear. Get +me the negative plate remover, will you, Mark?" + +The lad went to the tool chest for it. He opened the lid and fumbled +about inside. + +"It doesn't seem to be here," he announced. + +"What! the negative plate remover not there?" cried the professor. +"Why, it must be. It is one of the new tools we got, and it has not +been used for anything; has it?". + +"Oh, by Jinks!" cried Jack suddenly. + +"What's the matter?" asked his chum. + +"That plate remover! Don't you remember you and I had it when we were +fixing the pipes outside the projectile, when we had the other +breakdown? We must have left it back there on the ground." + +Jack and his chum gazed blankly at each other. + +"I guess we did," admitted Mark dubiously. + +"And it is the only one we have," said Mr. Roumann. "We need it very +much, too, for the projectile can't very well be moved without it." + +"How can we get it?" asked Jack. "I'm sorry. It was my fault." + +"It was as much mine as yours," asserted Mark. "I guess it's up to us +to go back after it. It isn't far. We can easily walk it." + +There seemed to be nothing else to do, and, after some discussion, it +was decided to have the two boys walk back after the missing tool, +which was a very valuable one. + +"Take fresh life-torches with you," advised Mr. Henderson, "and you had +better carry some food with you. It may be farther back than you think, +and you may get hungry." + +"I guess it will be a good thing to take some lunch along," admitted +Jack. "And some water, too. We can't get a drink here unless we come to +a spring, and we haven't seen any since we arrived." + +"I'll go with you, if you don't mind," said Andy. "I may see something +to shoot." + +The three of them, each one carrying a freshly charged vapor-torch, a +basket of food and a bottle of water, started off, well wrapped in +their fur coats. Andy had a compass to enable them to make their way +back to where the tool was left, for, amid the towering peaks and the +valley-like depressions, very little of the level surface of the moon +could be seen at a time. + +They walked on for several hours, every now and then hoping that they +had reached the place where the projectile had been halted, and where +they expected to find the tool. But so many places looked alike that +they were deceived a number of times. + +At length, however, they reached the spot and found the instrument +where Jack had carelessly dropped it. They picked it up and turned to +go back, when Andy Sudds saw a large crater off to one side. + +"Boys, I'm going to have a look down that," he said. "It may contain a +bear or wildcat, and I can get a shot." + +"Guess there isn't much danger of a bear being on the moon," said Mark, +but the old hunter leaned as far over the edge of the crater as he +dared. + +"No, there's nothing here," he announced, with almost a sigh, and he +straightened up. As he did so there came a tinkling sound, as if some +one had dropped a piece of money. + +"What's that?" asked Jack. + +"By heck! It's the compass!" cried Andy. "It slipped from my pocket +when I stooped over. Now it's gone!" + +There was no question of that. They could hear the instrument tinkling +far down in the unfathomable depths, striking from side to side of the +crater as it went down and down. + +"We'll never see that again," spoke Mark dubiously. "Can we get back to +the projectile without it?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, I fancy I can pick my trail back," answered the hunter. "It isn't +going to be easy, for there are no landmarks to guide me, but I'll do +my best. I ought to have known better than to put a compass in that +pocket." + +It was not with very light hearts that they started back, and for a +time they went cautiously. Then, as they seemed to get on familiar +ground, they increased their pace and covered several miles. + +"Say," remarked. Jack, as he sat down on a big stone. "I don't know how +the rest of you feel, but I'm tired. We've come quite a distance since +we picked up that tool." + +"Yes, farther than it took us to find it after we left the projectile," +added Mark. "I wonder if we're going right?" + +The two boys looked at Andy. He scratched his head in perplexity. + +"I can't be sure, but it seems to me that we came past here," he said. +"I seem to remember that big rock." + +"There are lots like it," observed Jack. + +"Suppose we try over to the left," spoke Mark, after they had rested +for ten minutes. + +They swerved in that direction, and, after keeping on that trail for +some time, and becoming more and more convinced that it was the wrong +one, they turned to the right. That did not bring them to familiar +ground, and there was no sight of the projectile. + +"Let's go straight ahead," suggested Andy, after a puzzled pause. "I +think that will be best." + +"Well, which way is straight ahead?" asked Mark. + +"That's so, it is hard to tell," admitted the hunter. "I wish I hadn't +lost that compass." + +They wandered about for an hour longer. They could seem to make no +progress, though they covered much ground. Suddenly Jack called out: + +"Say, we've been going around in a circle!" + +"In a circle?" asked Mark. + +"Yes," went on his chum. "Here's the very rock I sat down on a while +ago. I remember it, for I scratched my initials on it." + +Jack pointed out the letters. There was no disputing it. They had made +a complete circle. For a moment they maintained silence in the face of +this alarming fact. Then Mark exclaimed: + +"I guess we're lost!" + +"Lost on the moon!" added Jack, in an awestruck voice, and he gazed on +the chill and desolate scene all about them; the great pinnacles of +rocks, in fantastic form; the immense black caverns of craters on +either hand; the sickly green vegetation. + +"Lost on the moon!" whispered Mark, and there was not even an echo of +his voice to keep them company. Only a chill, desolate silence! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +DESOLATE WANDERINGS + + +For a moment the three stood helplessly there and stared at each other. +They could scarcely comprehend their situation at first. Then, with a +glance at the cold and quiet scene all about them, a look up at the +sun, which was the only cheerful object in the whole landscape, Jack +observed: "Oh, I say, come on now, don't let's give up this way! We +have only taken a wrong turn, and I'll wager that the projectile will +be just around the corner. Come on," and he started off. + +"Yes," said Mark, "that's the trouble. There are so many corners, and +we have taken so many wrong turns, that we're all confused. I think the +best thing to do will be to stay here a while and pull ourselves +together." + +"That's right," spoke old Andy. "Many a time in the woods I've got all +confused-like, and then I'd sit down and think, and I'd get on the +right path in a few minutes after." + +"The trouble here is," said Jack, "that there are no woods. If there +were we might know how to get out of them. But think of it! Lost on +the moon, in the midst of a whole lot of queer mountain peaks, and big +holes that would hold half a dozen cities of the United States at the +same time, and never know it! This is a fearful place to be lost in!" + +"I'm not going to admit that we're lost," declared Mark stoutly. + +"Hu! You're like the Indian," spoke Jack. "The Indian who got lost in +the woods. He insisted that it wasn't he who was lost, that it was his +wigwam that couldn't be found. He knew where he himself was all the +while. That's our case, I suppose. We're here, but the projectile is +lost." + +"Ha! ha!" laughed Andy Sudds. "That's a pretty good joke!" + +"But not being able to find the projectile is no joke," went on Mark, +who always took matters more seriously than did his chum. "What are we +going to do?" he added. "We can't stay here like this." + +"Maybe we'll have to," declared Jack. "We certainly can't get off the +moon--at least, not until we reach the projectile, and I'd like to +discover those diamonds before we go back." + +"Hu! Those diamonds!" exploded Mark. "I think this whole thing is a +wild-goose chase, anyhow! If it hadn't been for those diamonds we +wouldn't have come to the moon. I don't believe there are any diamonds +here, anyhow." + +"Well, I can't prove it to you now, but I will before we get back," +asserted Jack. "We'll be wearing diamonds, as the song says." + +"Diamonds aren't going to keep us warm when we're freezing," went on +Mark, who seemed bound to look on the dark side, "and we can't eat 'em +when we're hungry. A lot of good they'll do us if we do find them!" + +"Oh, cheer up!" suggested Jack cheerfully. "And, speaking of eating, +what's the matter with having some lunch? What did we bring it along +for if we're not going to eat? Let's begin." + +His good spirits were contagious, not that Andy needed any special +cheering up, but Mark did. In a few minutes they were seated on some +rugged rocks, and, with their life-torches stuck in cracks, so that the +perforated metal boxes of chemicals would be on a level with their +faces, they opened the baskets they had been fore-sighted enough to +bring with them. + +"Why, I feel better already," asserted Jack, as he munched some +sandwiches which Washington White had made. "As soon as we've finished +we'll have another hunt for the projectile, and I'll wager that we'll +find it." + +"I wouldn't finish if I were you," suggested Andy, who was eating +sparingly. + +"Finish what?" asked Jack. + +"All your lunch. You see," the old hunter went on, "we may find the +projectile, and, again, we may not. I'm inclined to think we're not so +very far from it, but we may be some time locating it in among all +these peaks and craters. So it will be the best plan to save some of +our lunch and drinking water until--well, until we're hungry again," +and he carefully put back into his basket the remains of the food. + +"You don't mean to say you think we'll be all day finding the +Annihilator, do you?" + +Jack paused, with a sandwich half way to his mouth as he asked this +question. + +"Well, it's best to be on the safe side," spoke Andy guardedly. "We may +find it, and, again, we may not. Save your powder against the time of +need, I say--by powder meaning victuals and drink. We can't drop in a +restaurant up here, and I don't see much game to shoot, and I should +hate to eat such fodder as this," and he poked with his foot some +sickly green vines, growing on the ground. + +The boys' faces, which had become more cheerful, assumed a serious +look. Jack stopped eating at once and placed back in the basket his +remaining sandwiches. He also corked up the bottle of water, which was +kept from freezing by means of a fur pouch in which it was carried. + +"If there's a possibility of being lost some time," spoke Mark, "we'd +better figure out just how long our food will last," and he examined +the contents of his basket. + +Fortunately Washington White, with a knowledge of the appetites of the +chums, had filled the baskets with lavish hands. There was, they found, +food enough to last them three days, if they ate sparingly, and there +was enough water for half that time, providing they only took small +sips when thirsty. But they had noticed, in one or two places, little +pools of liquid, which they had not tasted, but which might prove to be +drinking water. Certainly they would need more if they were destined to +remain away from the projectile for very long. + +"Well, then," observed Mark, when the food calculation was over, "it +appears that we can remain lost for about three days, at the most." + +"Oh, but we'll be back home--I mean in the projectile--long before +that," declared Jack. + +"I wish I was sure of that," murmured Andy with a dubious shake of his +head. + +"Well, let's move on again," suggested Jack. "We feel better now, and +maybe we'll have better luck." + +They started off, tramping over the rugged surface of the moon, while +the sun shone with tepid heat down on them. They had to go this way and +that to avoid the immense fissures in the ground or the yawning +craters, which loomed deep, and in awful silence, in their path. +Sometimes they climbed small mountains or crawled in and out of small +craters, slipping and stumbling. + +They were not cold, for their fur garments kept them comfortably warm, +and there was no wind to make the freezing temperature search through +the crevices of their clothing. But it was the desolate silence, the +utter absence of any form of life save the pale green vegetation that +got on their nerves. It was like being in a dead world--on a planet +that seemed about to dissolve into space. + +They began their further search for the projectile with hope in their +hearts, but this gradually gave way to despair as they wandered on over +the desolate surface, and saw nothing but the same rugged peaks, the +same yawning caverns and the innumerable craters, large and small. + +On they wandered, looking on all sides for the missing projectile, but +they had no glimpse of it. Even climbing to one of the high peaks, +whence they had a view of the surrounding country, afforded them no +trace of the _Annihilator_, They were utterly lost. + +Old Andy, who, by reason of his experience as a trapper and hunter, had +taken the lead, came to a halt. He looked around helplessly. He did not +know what to do. + +"Well, boys," he remarked at length, "I don't like to say it, but I +can't seem to get anywhere. I give up." + +"Give up?" murmured Jack, in blank dismay. + +"Yes, for the time being," said the old man. "I'm all played out. I +guess we all are. We must have a rest. Here's a sort of cave. Let's +crawl in and have a sleep. Then maybe we can do something to-morrow-- +no, not to-morrow, for they don't have that on the moon, where the day +is fourteen days long--but after we sleep we may be able to find our +way back. Anyhow, I've got to get some sleep," and without another word +the old hunter went into the cave, and, fixing his life-torch near his +head, where the fumes from it would dissipate the poisonous gases of +the moon, he closed his eyes, and was soon in slumber. + +"I--I guess we'd better do the same," said Jack, and Mark nodded. They +were both sick at heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE PETRIFIED CITY + + +For a time, after they had entered the cave, which was in the side of a +rugged mountain, the boys talked in low tones of their perilous +situation. For that it was perilous they both knew. Had they been on +the earth, lost in some desolate part of it, away from civilization, +their plight, would have been bad enough with what little food they +possessed. + +But on the far-off moon--the dead moon, which contained no living +creatures save themselves, as far as they could tell--with no form of +animal life that might serve to keep them from starving, with only the +scantiest of vegetation, their situation was most deplorable. + +"And then there's another thing," said Mark, as if he was cataloguing a +list of their troubles. + +"What is it?" asked Jack. "I guess we have all the troubles that belong +to us, and more, too." + +"Well, what are we going to do when the life-torches give out, and we +can't breathe any more?" asked Mark dubiously. + +"Well, I guess it'll be all up with us then, if we don't starve to +death in the meanwhile," answered Jack. "But I'm afraid we will get out +of food before the torches are exhausted. They were freshly filled +before we started out after that tool, and they'll last for two weeks. +So we don't have to worry about that. + +"By Jinks! this is all my fault, anyhow, it seems. If I hadn't seen +that item in the Martian paper about the diamonds, we never would have +come here, and if I hadn't left that tool on the ground outside of the +projectile we wouldn't have had to come back after it, and we wouldn't +have become lost. So I guess it's up to me, as the boys say." + +"Oh, nonsense!" exclaimed Mark, who, as soon as he heard his chum +blaming his own actions, was ready to shoulder part of the +responsibility himself. "We all wanted to come to the moon," he went +on, "and, as for leaving the tool and forgetting it, I'm as much at +fault as you are. Let's go to sleep, and maybe we'll feel better when +we wake up." + +It was a new role for Mark--to be cheerful in the face of difficulties +--and Jack appreciated it. They stretched out on the hard, rocky floor +of the cavern, taking care to fix their life-torches so that the fumes +would dispel the poisonous gases. Then the two lads joined Andy in +slumberland. + +Meanwhile, as may be imagined, those aboard the projectile were very +anxious about the fate of the two boys and the hunter. They could not +understand what delayed them, and, though they guessed the real cause, +after several hours had passed, there was nothing the two scientists +could do. + +They could not move the projectile until it had been repaired, and this +could not be done, without the tool--at least, they did not believe so +then. Nor did Mr. Henderson and the German think it would be safe to +start out in search of the wanderers. + +"For," said Mr. Henderson, "if we went we would easily get lost amid +these peaks ourselves, and they are so much alike and in such numbers +that there is no distinguishing feature about them. We had better stay +here in charge of the _Annihilator_ until the boys and Andy come back. +They can't be away much longer now." + +So worn out and exhausted were the boys and the hunter that they slept +for several hours in the cave, and the rest did them good. They awoke +in better spirits, and, after a frugal meal and a sip of the fast- +dwindling water, they started off once more to locate the projectile. + +"I'm a regular amateur hunter to go and lose my compass," complained +old Andy. "I ought to have it fastened to me, like a baby does the +rattle-box. I ought to kick myself," and he accepted all the blame for +their misadventure. But the boys would not suffer him to thus accuse +himself, and they insisted that they would shortly be with the two +professors and Washington in the _Annihilator_ once more. + +"Well, it can't come any too soon," said Jack, "for I am beginning to +feel the need of a square meal and a big drink of water." + +"So am I," said Mark, "but let's not think of it." + +All that day they wandered on, crossing the rugged mountains, climbing +towering peaks, and descending into deep valleys. At times they skirted +the lips of craters, to look shudderingly into the depths of which made +them dizzy, for the bottoms were lost to sight in the black gloom that +enshrouded the yawning holes. + +Their food was getting less and less, and what there was of it was most +unpalatable, for the bread was stale and dry, though the meat kept +perfectly in that freezing temperature. How they longed for a hot cup +of coffee, such as Washington used to make! and how they would have +even exchanged their chance of filling their pockets with the moon +diamonds for a good meal, such as was so often served in the +projectile! + +On and on they went. Once, as they were crossing the lip of a great +crater, Mark became dizzy, and would have fallen had not Jack caught +him. Mark had forgotten, for the moment, and had lowered his life- +torch, so that his mouth and nose were not enclosed in the film of +vapor that emanated from the perforated box. + +"You must be careful," Andy warned them. + +"What's the use?" asked Mark despondently. "I don't believe we'll ever +find the projectile." + +"Of course we will!" exclaimed Jack. "I know we can't be far from it, +only we can't see it because of the mountains. If we only had some way +of letting them know where we are, they could signal to us." + +"By gum!" suddenly exclaimed Andy. + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack, for the old hunter was capering about +like a boy. + +"Matter? Why, the matter is that I'm a double-barrelled dunce," was the +answer. "Look here; do you see that?" and he held up his rifle. + +"Sure," replied Jack, wondering if their sufferings and worry had made +the old hunter simple-minded. + +"What is it?" asked Andy, shaking it in the air. + +"Your rifle," answered Mark, looking at Jack in surprise. + +"Of course," answered the hunter, "and a rifle is made to be fired off, +and here I've been carrying mine for nearly three days now, and I +haven't shot it once. You wanted a signal to make the folks in the +projectile hear us. Well, here it is I I guess they can hear this, and +when they do they can come and get us, for we don't seem able to reach +them. I'll just fire some signal shots." + +"That's the stuff!" cried Jack, and Andy proceeded to discharge his +rifle. + +The report the gun made in that quiet place was tremendous, and the +effect was curious, for, there being no air in the ordinary acceptance +of the word, there was no echo. It was as if one had hit two shingles +together. Merely a loud, sharp sound, and then an utter silence, the +vibrations being swallowed up instantly. + +"Do you think they can hear that?" asked Andy. + +"It sounds loud enough," answered Jack. "Shoot some more," which the +old hunter did. They wandered on still farther, firing at intervals all +that day, but there came no answering report or calls to direct them to +the projectile. They climbed once more to the tops of towering peaks, +but there they found their range of vision limited by peaks still +higher, while there were great valleys, in one of which, whether near +or far they could not tell, they knew, the _Annihilator_ was hidden. + +They had almost lost track of time now, and they did not know how far +they had wandered. They had sought out lonely caves to sleep in when +they were so weary they could go no farther, and they had sat about on +bleak rocks shivering, and had eaten their scanty meals--shivering +because in spite of their fur garments they were cold, as they did not +eat enough to keep their blood properly circulating. They could not +when they did not have the food to eat! + +Andy used up all but a few of his cartridges in firing signals, but to +no purpose. Their water was all but gone, and of their food only enough +remained for a day longer, though their life-torches still gave forth +plenty of vapor. + +"Well, what's to be done?" asked Jack, as they sat about, looking +helplessly at one another. + +"Might as well give up," suggested Mark bitterly. + +"Give up? Not a bit of it!" cried Andy, as cheerfully as he could. +"Let's keep on. We'll find the projectile sooner or later." + +So they kept on. It was while making their way between two great +mountain peaks that towered above their heads on either side, thousands +of feet up, making a sort of natural gateway, that Jack, who was in the +lead, cried out in astonishment at the sight that met his gaze when he +had passed the pinnacles. + +"Look!" he shouted, pointing forward. + +What he indicated was a great crater--larger and deeper than any they +had yet met with. It seemed a mile across, and, if gloom and darkness +were any indications, it was a hundred miles deep. + +But it was not the size of the great hole in the ground, not its +fearful gloom, that attracted their attention. What did was a great +natural or artificial bridge of stone that was thrown across the middle +of it from edge to edge. A bridge of stone that spanned the abyss; a +roadway, fifty feet wide, which reached into some unknown land, +connecting it with the desolate country in which our friends had been +wandering. + +"A bridge of stone across the cavern," said Jack, "but see. Here is a +house of stone. This was the guard-house, I'll wager--the guardhouse at +the entrance to some city, and that bridge is the means by which the +inhabitants entered and left. Maybe we are at the edge of the inhabited +part of the moon!" + +His words thrilled them. They pressed forward to the beginning of the +bridge across the crater. They looked into the stone hut. Clearly it +had been made by hands, for it was composed of blocks of stone, neatly +fitted together. Jack's theory seemed confirmed. + +Mark peered into the house, and uttered a cry of alarm. + +"There's a petrified man in there!" he gasped. + +Jack and Andy looked in at the open window. They saw, sitting at a +table, which was also of rock, a man, evidently a soldier, or rather he +had been, for he was nothing but stone now, like the hut in which he +dwelt. + +The wanderers looked at each other with fear on their faces. What +dreadful mystery were they about to penetrate? "Let's cross the +bridge," suggested Jack, in a low voice. "Maybe this marks the end of +desolation. Perhaps we may find life and food across the crater." + +"But--but the petrified man!" gasped Mark. + +"What of it? He won't hurt us. Maybe there are live men, who will take +care of us, beyond there," and Jack pointed across the bridge of stone. + +There was nothing to keep them where they were--in the land of +desolation. They could not live much longer there, with no food and +water. To pass on over the crater seemed the only thing to do. + +"Come ahead," called Jack boldly. They followed him. They kept in the +middle of the road, for to approach the edge, where there was a sheer +descent of so many feet that it made them dizzy to think of it, filled +them with terror. On they hurried until, in a short time, they had +crossed the great chasm. + +The road over the crater came to an end between two peaks, similar to +those at the beginning. Jack was the first to pass them, and as he +emerged he once more uttered a cry--a cry of fear and wonder. + +And well he might, for in a valley below the wanderers there was a +city. A great city, with wonderful buildings, with wide streets well +laid out--a city in which figures of many men and women could be seen-- +little children too! A fair city, teeming with life, it seemed! + +But then, as they looked again, struck by the curious quiet that +prevailed, they knew that they were gazing down on a city of the dead-- +a city where the inhabitants had been turned to stone, even as had the +soldier on guard in his lonely hut. + +They had come upon a petrified city of the moon! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +SEEKING FOOD + + +"Well, if this isn't the limit!" burst out Jack, when he had stood and +contemplated the silent city for several moments, which also his +companions did. "After all our wanderings and troubles, when we do find +a place, it isn't any good to us. I don't suppose there is a square +meal in the whole town! Isn't it wonderful, though--every person turned +to stone!" + +"Wonderful!" gasped old Andy. "I never saw anything like it in all my +life! What do you reckon did it, boys?" + +"The same thing that turned the man in the hut, and the one Washington +thought was a ghost, into stone," answered Mark. "There was a rain of +some lime-water, or a liquid charged with similar chemicals, and the +people were turned to rocks." + +It was uncanny, and for a moment they hesitated on the edge of the +city, which lay in a sort of cup-like valley, surrounded on all sides +by towering peaks of the moon mountains. The bridge over which they had +come afforded the only entrance to the city, and in times of war +(provided the inhabitants of the moon ever fought) the passage must +have been well guarded. + +It was evidently a time of peace when the calamity that turned the +inhabitants to stone came upon them, for only one soldier was in the +guard hut--doubtless being there merely to give an alarm, or possibly +to keep out undesirable strangers. + +"Well, are we going to stand here all day?" asked Jack of his +companions, when they had contemplated the silent city for five minutes +longer. + +"I say, let's go down there and see what we can find. I'm getting +hungry." + +"There'll be nothing there to eat," declared Mark. "If there ever was +anything, it's now stone. Think of a loaf of bread like a brick, and a +chunk of meat like some great rock!" + +"Let's go down, anyhow," added Andy, and they advanced. + +As they got down into the streets, the weird effect came over them more +strongly. It was as if they had suddenly entered some large town, and +at their advent every living person had been turned into an image. + +"Wonderful, wonderful!" murmured Jack. + +"I've read of the uncovering of the ancient buried cities, and how they +found women in the kitchen baking bread, and men at their work, but +this goes ahead of that, for here the people are not dust--they are +statues!" + +"It certainly is wonderful," agreed Mark. "I only wish the two +professors could see this. They could write several books about it. +This proves that the moon was once inhabited, though it is dead now. +The projectile should have come to this part of the moon." + +"Maybe they'll bring it here, when we get back and tell them what we've +seen," suggested Jack. + +"Yes, if we ever do get back," went on his chum, with a return of his +gloomy thoughts. + +The strangeness of the scenes all about them can scarcely be imagined. +Think of looking at a city street teeming with life, men and women +hurrying here and there, dogs running about, children at their play, +and then suddenly seeing that same street become as dead as some +mountain, with the people represented as stones on that same mountain, +and you can get some idea of what our friends looked upon. + +Here was a woman, looking in a store window, probably at some bargains, +though even the very window and store itself was now stone, and the +woman was like a block of marble. Near her was a little child, also +turned to stone, and there were a number of men, standing together on a +street corner as if they had been talking politics when the calamity +overtook them. + +There were shops where the workers had been turned to stone at their +benches, there were houses at the windows of which stone faces peered +out, and there were parks on the benches of which sat men, women and +children, stiff and solid--creatures of stone! Truly it was a city of +the dead! + +The wanderers walked about, seeing new wonders on every side. They +spoke in whispers at times, as though at the sound of a loud voice the +silent ones would awaken and resume the occupations or pleasures they +had left off centuries ago. + +Another strange part of it was that the people were not so very +different from those of the earth. They were exactly the same in size +and feature, but their clothing, as nearly as could be told from the +stone garments, seemed of a bygone fashion, such as was in vogue +hundreds of years ago. There were no horses observed, though there were +stone dogs and cats, and the shops given over to the sale of food +contained in the windows what seemed to be chunks of meat, loaves of +bread, and pies and cakes, though now they were only pieces of rock. + +"It's just as if one of our cities and the people in it should be +suddenly petrified," said Mark. "It's almost like the earth up here; +only they don't seem to have gotten to trolley cars yet." + +"Maybe they would if the moon hadn't cooled off when it did, and killed +them all," suggested Jack. "But, I say, let's get down to something +more practical than theorizing." + +"What, for instance?" asked Mark. + +"Looking for something to eat," went on Jack. "I'm nearly starved, and +I have only half a sandwich left. I want to eat it, yet, if I do, I +don't know where I'm going to get more. And as for water, I'd give a +handful of diamonds, if I had them, for half a glass of even warm +water." + +"Yes, we do need food and water badly," said Andy. + +"Then let's look for it," suggested Jack. "If we can find food in any +of these houses or shops, I don't believe the people will care if we +take it." + +"Find food here?" cried Mark. "Why, you must be crazy! All the food is +turned to stone, and what isn't would be spoiled! Why, no one has been +alive here for thousands and thousands of years!" + +"That's nothing," asserted Jack. "Don't you remember reading how, in +the arctic regions, they have found the bodies of prehistoric elephants +and mastodons encased in blocks of ice, where they have been for +centuries. The meat is perfectly preserved because of the cold. And +what of the grains of wheat they find in the coffins of Egyptian +mummies? Some of that is three thousand years old, yet it grows when +they plant it, and they can make bread of it. + +"Now, maybe we can find some wheat or something to eat in some of these +houses. If there's meat, it will be perfectly preserved, for the +temperature is below freezing." + +"That may be," admitted Mark, convinced, in spite of himself, "but it's +turned to stone, I tell you." + +"The outside part may be," said Jack, "but if we can crack off the +outside layer of stone we may find some good meat inside. I'm going to +look, anyhow." + +"That's not a bad idea!" cried Andy with enthusiasm. "Think of having a +loaf of bread and some beefsteak thousands of years old. I suppose they +had beefsteak here," he added cautiously. + +"Some kind of meat, anyhow," agreed Jack. "Well, let's look for a place +that was once a restaurant or hotel, and we'll see what luck we have. +Come on." + +They walked along the silent streets, with their silent occupants, and +finally Jack found what he was seeking. It was an eating place, to +judge by the appearance, and at tables inside were seated stone men and +women. + +"Back to the kitchen!" cried Jack with enthusiasm. "There's where we'll +find food, if there is any!" + +"It'll be all stone," declared Mark, but he and Andy followed Jack. + +They came to the place where was what appeared to be a stove. It was +more like a brick oven, however, than a modern range, though in dishes +that were now stone something was being cooked when the catastrophe +occurred. + +"There's meat, I'll wager!" cried Jack, pointing to several objects on +a table. They looked like chunks of beef, but when Mark struck them +with the end of his life-torch they gave forth a sound as if a rock had +been tapped. + +"What did I tell you?" Mark asked, "Nothing but rocks. And the bread is +also a stone," he added bitterly. + +"You're right," admitted Jack, with a sigh. "And I'm getting hungrier +than ever." They all were. For days they had been without sufficient +food, and now, when it was almost within their reach, they were denied +it by this curious trick of nature. With pale and wan faces they gazed +at each other, wetting their parched lips, for they had some time since +taken the last of their scant supply of water, and they were very +thirsty. + +"I guess it's all up with us," murmured Mark. "We'll soon be like these +poor people here--blocks of stone." + +"If we only could change this meat back into it's original shape," +spoke Jack musingly, smiting his fist against a block of beef. + +Suddenly Andy uttered a cry. + +"I have it!" he fairly shouted. + +"What?" asked Jack. + +"I have a plan to get meat out of this hunk of stone!" + +The two boys gazed at the old hunter as though they thought he had lost +his reason, but, chuckling gleefully, Andy took from his pouch several +cartridges, and proceeded to remove the wads, and pour the powder from +the paper shells out on the stone table. + +"I'll have some meat for us," he muttered. "We shan't starve now!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE BLACK POOL + + +"What are you going to do, Andy?" asked Jack, as he watched the old +hunter. + +"What am I going to do? Why, I'm going to blast out some of this meat, +that's what I'm going to do! I heard you boys talking about elephants +and other things being preserved for centuries in a cake of ice, and, +if that's true, why won't the meat in this petrified city be preserved +just as well? It's always below freezing here, and that's cold enough." + +"But the meat has turned to stone," objected Mark. + +"Only the outside part of it, to my thinking," answered Andy. "I +believe that inside these lumps of rock we'll find good, fresh meat!" + +"But how are you going to get it?" asked Jack. + +"Just as I told you--blast it out with some of the powder from my +cartridges. I used to be a miner before I turned hunter, and when we +wanted gold we used to fire a charge in some rocks. Now we want meat, +and I'm going to do the same thing. I'll put some powder underneath +this block of stone that looks as if it was a chunk of roast beef, and +we'll see what happens. It's lucky I saved some of my cartridges." + +While he was talking the old hunter had taken some of the powder and +put it back in one of the paper shells. Then, making a fuse by twisting +some powder grains in a piece of paper he happened to have in his +pocket, he inserted it in the improvised bomb, using some dirt and +small stones with which to tamp down the charge. He discovered a crack +in the big stone, which they hoped would prove to be a chunk of roast +beef, and Andy put the cartridge in that. + +"Look out now, boys," he called, "I'm going to light the fuse. I didn't +make a heavy charge, but it might do some damage, so we'll go outside." + +They hurried from the place, with its silent guests and waiters, and +reached the street. A moment later there sounded a dull explosion. + +"Now, let's see what we've got!" called Jack. + +Back to the kitchen they ran, the two boys in the lead. + +"Why--why--the stone has disappeared!" cried Jack, in disappointment, +as he glanced all around. + +"Yes, but look here," added Mark. "Here are bits of meat," and he +picked up from the stone table some scraps of meat. + +"Is it really roast beef?" cried Jack. "Good to eat?" + +Mark smelled of it. Then he put the morsel cautiously to his lips. The +next instant it had disappeared. It was proof enough. + +"Good! I should say it was good!" exclaimed Mark. "I wish there was +more of it! What happened to the rock of meat, Andy?" + +"I used too heavy a charge, and it blew all to pieces. I'll know better +next time. There are lots more chunks of meat, and we'll soon have a +feast. I'll make another bombshell." + +He worked rapidly while Jack sampled some of the shreds of meat that +had been scattered about by the explosion. The beef was perfectly +cooked, and in spite of its great age it was as fresh and palatable as +frozen meat ever is. Besides the heat generated by the explosion had +partly thawed it, so that there was no trouble in chewing it. + +Once more came the explosion, a slight one this time, and when the +adventurers re-entered the kitchen they found that what had been a lump +of stone had been broken open, and the middle part, like the kernel of +a nut, was sweet and good. It was cooked, so they did not have to eat +it raw. + +"Say, maybe this isn't good!" exclaimed Jack, chewing away. "It's the +best ever!" + +"And there's enough in this city to keep us alive for months, if we +can't find the projectile in that time," declared Andy. + +"Don't you think we will?" asked Mark. + +"Of course, but I was only just mentioning it. Now, eat all you want, +boys, I have quite a few cartridges left. I didn't fire away as many as +I thought I did, and we can blast out a dinner any time we want it. So +eat hearty!" + +They needed no second invitation, and for the first time in several +days they had enough to eat. It was comfortable in the petrified +restaurant, too, for they could move about without carrying their life- +torches constantly in their hand. The gases from the perforated boxes +filled the rooms, and were not quickly dispelled by the poisonous +vapors as they were outside, so they could walk around in comparative +freedom. + +"Now, if we could only blast out a loaf of bread, we'd be all right," +said Jack. They found some petrified loaves, but on breaking one open +it was found to be stone all the way through. + +Spurred on by an overwhelming thirst, they wandered about the dead +city, but found no moisture. They tried to chew some of the pale green +vegetation that grew more plentiful on this side of the moon, but it +was exceedingly bitter, and they could not stand it, though there was +some juice in it. + +They crossed the city, and wandered out into the country beyond. It +appeared to have been a fertile land before the stone death settled +down on it. They saw farmers in the fields, turned into images, beside +the oxen with which they had been plowing. But nowhere was there a sign +of water. Had it not been for a frozen rice pudding, they would have +perished that first day in the stone city. + +As it was, they dragged out a miserable existence, eating from time to +time of the blasted meat. But even this palled on them after a while, +for their lips were parched and cracked, and their tongues were swollen +in their mouths. + +"I can't stand this any longer!" cried Jack. + +"What are you going to do?" asked Mark. + +"Go out and look for water. There must be some in the country outside +if there isn't any in this city. I'm going to have a look. Besides, if +I'm going to die, I might as well die while I'm busy. I'm not going to +sit here in this dreadful place and give up." + +His words urged them to follow him, and, with lagging steps, for they +were weak and faint, they went from the restaurant, which they had made +their home since coming to the petrified city. + +Out into the open fields they went, but their search seemed likely to +be in vain. Between times of looking for the water they scanned the sky +for a sight of the projectile, which, hoping against hope, they thought +they might see hovering over them. But there was no sight of it. + +They came to a vast, level plain, girt with mountains, a lonesome +place, where there was no sign of life. Listlessly they walked over it. + +Suddenly Andy, who was in the lead, uttered a cry and sprang forward. +The boys ran to him, and found the old hunter gazing into the depths of +a great black pool, which filled a depression in the surface of the +moon. It was a small crater, and was filled, nearly to the top, with +some black liquid, which gloomily reflected back the light of the sun. + +"I'm going to have a drink!" cried Andy, and before the boys could stop +him he threw himself face downward at the edge of the black pool. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE SIGNAL FAILS + + +"Stop! Don't drink that! It may be poison!" yelled Jack. + +"Pull him back!" shouted Mark, and together they advanced on the old +hunter. They tried to drag him away from the black pool, but Andy shook +them off. + +"Let--me--alone!" he gasped, as he bent over the uninviting liquid and +drank deeply. "It's water, I tell you--good water--and I'm almost-- +dead--from--thirst!" + +"Water? Is that water?" cried Jack. + +"Well, it's the nearest thing to it that I've tasted since I've been +lost on the moon," spoke Andy, as he slowly arose. "My, but that was +good!" he added fervently. + +"But--water?" gasped Mark. "How can there be water here?" + +"Taste and see," invited the old hunter. + +They hesitated a moment, and then followed his example. The liquid-- +water it evidently had once been--had a peculiar taste, but it was not +bad. By some curious chemical action, which they never understood, the +liquid had been prevented from evaporating, nor was it frozen or +petrified as was everything else on the moon. + +What gave the liquid its peculiar black color they could not learn. +Sufficient for them that it was capable of quenching their thirst, and +they all drank deeply and refilled their bottles. + +"Now, I feel like eating again," spoke Andy, "We can take some of this +back with us, and have a good meal on blasted meat. Whenever we get +thirsty we'll have to make a trip back here for water." + +The boys agreed with him. They examined the black pool. It appeared to +be filled by hidden springs, though there was no bubbling, and the +surface was as unruffled as a mirror. The liquid was not very inviting, +being as black as ink, but the color appeared to be a sort of +reflection, for when the water, if such it was, had been put into +bottles it at once became clear, nor did it stain their faces or hands. + +"Well, it's another queer thing in this queer moon," said Jack. "I wish +the two professors could see this place. They'd have lots to write +about." + +"I wonder if we'll ever see them again?" asked Mark. + +"Sure," replied Jack hopefully. "We'll fill our lunch baskets, take a +lot of water along, and have another hunt for the projectile soon." + +They did, but with no success. For several days more they lived in the +petrified city, the meat encased in its block of stone, which Andy +blasted from time to time, and the black water keeping them alive. From +time to time they went out in the surrounding country, looking for the +projectile. But they could not find the place where they had left it, +nor could they find even the place where they had picked up the lost +tool that had cost them so much suffering. They were more completely +lost than ever. They crossed back and forth on the bridge over the +crater chasm, and penetrated for many miles in a radius from that, +marking their way by chipping off pieces of the rocky pinnacles, as +they did not want to leave the petrified city behind. + +From some peaks they caught glimpses of other towns that had fallen +under the strange spell of the petrification. Some were larger and some +smaller than the one they called "home." + +Jack proposed visiting some of them, thinking they might find better +food, but Mark and Andy decided it was best to stay where they were, as +they were nearer the supposed location of the projectile. + +"I think they'll manage to fix it up somehow, so it will move," said +Andy, "and then they'll come to look for us. I hope it will be soon, +though." + +"Why?" asked Jack, struck by something in the tone of the old hunter. + +"Because," replied Andy, "I am afraid our life-torches won't last much +longer. Mine seems to be weakening. I have to hold it very close to my +face now to breathe in comfort, while at first the oxygen from it was +so strong that I could hold it two feet off and never notice the +poisonous moon vapors." + +This was a new danger, and, thinking of it, the faces of the boys +became graver than ever. Death seemed bound to get them somehow. + +Two more days went by. They had now been lost on the moon over a week. +Each one now noticed that his life-torch was weakening. How much longer +would they last? They dared not answer that question. They could only +hope. + +The sun, too, was moving away from them. Soon the long night would set +in. By Mark's computation there was only three more days of daylight +left. What would happen in the desolate darkness? + +As they were returning from the black pool, with their water bottles +filled, and put inside the fur bags to prevent the frost from reaching +them, Mark happened to gaze over across a line of towering peaks. What +he saw caused him to gasp in astonishment. + +"Jack! Andy! See!" he whispered hoarsely, pointing a trembling finger +at the sky. + +There, outlined against the cloudless heavens, was a long, black shape, +floating through the air about two miles distant. + +"The projectile! The _Annihilator!_" yelled Jack. "Shout! Call to them! +Wave your hands! Andy, fire your gun! They have started off, and they +can't see us. We must make them hear!" + +Together they raised their voices in a mighty shout. The old hunter +fired his gun several times. They waved their hands frantically. + +But the projectile never swerved from its course. On it moved slowly, +those in it paying no heed to the wanderers, for they did not hear +them. Andy fired his gun again, but the signal failed, and a few +minutes later the _Annihilator_ was lost to sight behind a great peak. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE FIELD OF DIAMONDS + + +Dumbly the wanderers gazed at each other. They could not comprehend it +at first. That the projectile, on which their very lives depended in +this dead world of the moon, should float away and leave them seemed +incredible. Yet they had witnessed it. + +"Do--do you really think we saw it--saw the _Annihilator_, Mark?" asked +Jack in a low voice, after several minutes had passed. + +"Saw it? Of course, we saw it. We've seen the last of it, I'm afraid. +But what do you mean?" + +"I--I thought maybe I was out of my head, and I only saw a vision," +answered Jack. "You know--a sort of mirage. It was real, then?" + +"Altogether too real," spoke Andy Sudds grimly. "They didn't see us nor +hear us. We're left behind!" + +"But can't we do something?" demanded Mark. "Let's start off and try to +catch them. They were going slow." + +"The wonder to me is how they moved at all," said Jack. "I thought the +machinery wouldn't work until we got back with the lost tool." + +"Probably the two professors found some way of patching up the motor," +was Mark's opinion, and later they found that this was so. + +For some time they remained staring in the direction in which the +projectile had vanished, as if they might see it reappear, but the +great steel shell did not poke its sharp nose in among the towering +peaks which hid it from view. Probably it was many miles away now. + +"Well," remarked old Andy at length, "we've got to make the best of it. +We won't have many more days of light, and we must gather what food we +can, put it where we can find it in the dark, and also bring in some +water from the black pool. We can store that in some of the stone +tables. By turning them upside down they will make good troughs, and it +won't freeze. We must work while we have light, for soon the long night +will come." + +The sight of the projectile going away seemed to take the heart out of +all of them, and they did not know what to do. For some time they +remained there idly, until Andy roused the boys to a sense of their +responsibility by urging upon them the necessity of getting together a +store of meat and water. + +As they had about exhausted the limited food supply in the ancient +restaurant, they sought and found another and larger one. There they +had the good fortune to come upon some whole sides of beef and lamb, +which were petrified on the outside, but which, when they had blasted +off the outer shell of stone, gave them good food. + +They made several trips to the black pool, and brought in all the +liquid they could, for they did not want to have to go outside the +petrified city into the wild and desolate country beyond, after the +dismal night had settled down. They feared they would become lost +again. + +Their lonely situation seemed to grow upon them. The appalling silence +all about terrified them. The weird sight of the petrified men and +women in the petrified city got on their nerves. + +They had done all they could. A store of meat had been blasted out and +put away. It would keep outside of the stone shell now, for the weather +was getting colder with the advent of the long night. + +This fact worried them. With the temperature at twenty-eight when the +sun was shining, what might it not fall to in the darkness? The +terrible cold of the arctic regions might be nothing compared to the +frostiness of the dead moon in the shadow. Their fur garments, thick as +they were, might be no more protection than so much paper. And they had +no means of making a fire, nor anything to burn on one had they been +capable of kindling it, for Andy had used the last of his cartridges to +blast with, and where everything was petrified there was no wood. + +Then, too, their life-torches were giving out. The emanations of oxygen +were weaker, and they had to hold them almost under their noses to +breathe the vital vapor. + +One day, or rather what corresponded to a day, for they had lost all +track of time, Andy Sudds arose from the stone bench on which their +meager meal had been served. He started from the restaurant where they +had taken up their abode. + +"Where are you going?" asked Jack. + +"I'm going to make one last attempt to find the projectile before it +gets too dark," answered the hunter. "We can go out, look around for +several hours, and get back before darkness sets in. We might as well +do it as sit here doing nothing. Then, too, we can bring in some more +water. We'll need all we can store away." + +"I'll go with you," volunteered Jack, and Mark, not wanting to be left +alone in the dead city, followed. Carrying their life-torches and +wrapping their fur garments closely about them, for it had grown much +colder, they sallied forth. + +They found a thin film of ice on the black pool, showing that it would +probably freeze when it got cold enough, though the ordinary +temperature of thirty-two degrees had not affected it. They filled +their water bottles, and then Andy proposed that they take a new path-- +one they had not tried before. + +They hardly knew where they were going, but ever as they tramped on +they cast anxious looks upward to see if they might descry the +projectile hovering over them. But they did not see it. + +Jack had taken the lead, and was walking along, glancing idly about. He +came to a place where two peaks were so close together that it was all +he could do to squeeze through. But the moment he had passed the defile +and looked out on a broad, level field, he came to a sudden stop. His +companions, who pressed after him, saw him rub his eyes and shake his +head, as if disbelieving the evidence of what lay before him. Then Jack +murmured: "It can't be true! It can't be true!" + +"What?" called Mark. + +"There! Those," answered his chum. "See, the field is covered with +diamonds! We have found the diamonds of the moon--the field of Reonaris +that the men of Mars discovered! There are the diamonds--millions of +them!" + +"Diamonds!" exclaimed Mark. He squeezed through the defile, and stood +beside Jack. Before him in the fading light of the sun was a broad +field, girt around with towering cliffs, and the surface of the field +was covered with white stones. + +Jack sprang forward and gathered up a double handful. He let them run +through his fingers in a sparkling stream. Old Andy came up to the +boys. + +"They're only glass or crystals," he said. + +"They are _not_ glass or crystals!" declared Mark, who had made a study +of gems. "I should say they were diamonds, probably meteoric diamonds, +very rare and valuable. Why, there is the ransom of a thousand kings +spread out before us!" + +He fell upon his knees and began to scoop up the gems. His chum was +making a little heap of the stones. + +"The ransom of a thousand kings!" murmured Jack. "More diamonds than in +all the world--and I'd give my share for a good ham sandwich!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +BACK TO EARTH--CONCLUSION + + +At any other time the discovery of such a vast store of wealth would +have set the wanderers half wild with joy. Now they only accepted the +fact dully, for the perils of their situation overburdened them. As +Jack had said, they needed food more than the gems, for at best the +supply they had blasted out could not last long, and when that was gone +where were they to get more, for there were no more cartridges, and the +rending force of powder was needed to open the rocky meat. + +"I knew we'd find the diamonds," murmured Jack, as he began to fill the +pockets of his fur coat. "I'm right, after all, Mark, you see." + +"Yes, but what good will it do us? What's the good of even carrying any +away. We can never use them." + +"That's so," agreed Jack, in a low voice. "I might as well leave them +here." + +But somehow the desire to pick up gems which, when they were cut and +polished, would rival many of the famous diamonds of history was too +strong to be resisted. Though he was afraid he would never get back to +earth to enjoy them, Jack could not help putting in his pockets a +goodly supply of the largest of the precious stones. Andy did the same, +and Mark, in spite of his gloomy feelings, stuffed his pockets. They +worked with their torches held close to their faces, and in the search +for the better stones they literally walked over millions of dollars' +worth of the gems. + +For there, stretched out before them, was an actual field of diamonds. +As Mark had said, they were of meteoric origin, that is, a meteor had +burst over that particular portion of the moon, and the chemical action +had created the diamonds, which had fallen in a shower in the field. + +"If you boys have all you want, then let's get back to the city," +suggested Andy. "No telling when it will be night now." + +They followed his advice, and soon were going back by way of the black +pool. It seemed more lonesome than ever, after the excitement of +discovering the field of diamonds, and even Jack, glad as he was to +have his theory vindicated, got tired of referring to it. His triumph +meant little to him now. + +They were at the entrance to the petrified city. As they were about to +go in, ready to hide themselves in the deepest part of the restaurant, +away from the terrible cold and appalling darkness they felt would soon +be upon them, Mark came to a sudden halt. He glanced quickly up into +the air and cried out: "Hark!" + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack, as they stood in a listening attitude. + +"I heard a noise," whispered Mark. "It sounded--I'm sure it sounded-- +like the crackling of the wireless motor waves of the projectile. +Listen!" + +Faintly through the silence came a sound as if there was a discharge of +an electric current. It increased in volume, and there was a faint +roaring in the atmosphere. + +"It's her--it's the _Annihilator!_" shouted Jack, leaping about. + +"Wait," counselled Andy, who dreaded the terrible disappointment should +the boys be mistaken. The sound came nearer. The crackling could +plainly be made out now. The sun was out of sight, but there was still +the glow which follows sunset. + +The boys were eagerly scanning the heavens, Their hearts beat high with +hope. Suddenly, in the olive-tinted sky just above a range of rugged +peaks, a black shape loomed. A black shape, as of a great cigar, +pointed at both ends. It shot into full view. + +"The projectile!" yelled Jack. + +"The _Annihilator!_" gasped Mark. + +"Thank Heaven, they have found us in time!" exclaimed Andy fervently, +and the three stretched out their arms toward the craft from which they +had been parted so long. It was as if they tried to pull it down to +them. + +"Do they see us?" + +"Will they pass us by?" + +"Make a noise so they'll hear us!" + +"Wave to them!" + +"Oh, if they leave us now!" + +Questions, ejaculations and entreaties came rapidly from the lips of +the wanderers. They raised their voices in a shout. They leaped up and +down. They wildly waved their hands and life-torches. + +Then, to their inexpressible joy, they saw the course of the projectile +change. It was headed toward them, and a few minutes later it settled +slowly to the ground about half a mile away. + +"Come on!" cried Jack! "We must hurry to them, or soon it will be too +dark to see them, or for them to find us. It's our last chance; don't +let's lose it!" + +He sprang forward, the others after him, and together they ran toward +the projectile. They could see the two professors and Washington White +emerging from the steel car, waving their hands. + +On rushed the lost wanderers, over the rough stones, skirting the great +cliffs, falling into small craters, crawling out again, just missing +several times being precipitated into yawning caverns, and stumbling +over petrified bodies that strewed the ground. + +Ever did they hasten onward though, increasing their speed. They came +to a great crater that lay between them and the projectile, but +fortunately there was across the middle of it a natural bridge of +stone. But it was narrow--scarcely wide enough for one at a time. + +"We can never cross on that!" cried Mark, halting. + +"We've got to!" shouted Jack, and he sprang fearlessly forward, fairly +running over the narrow path, which had a sheer descent of thousands of +feet on either side. + +Mark, though fearful that he would become dizzy and fall, followed +Andy. They were soon across the narrow bridge, and speeding on toward +the _Annihilator_. Five minutes later they had reached it, and were +being wildly welcomed by the two professors and Washington White, who +had advanced to meet them. + +"I 'clar t' goodness-gladness!" exclaimed the colored man, "I am +suttinly constrained t' espress my approbation ob de deleterous manner +in which yo' all has come back t' dis continuous territory." + +"Do you mean you're glad to see us, Wash?" asked Jack. + +"Dat's what I done said," was the answer, with a cheerful grin, "an' I +might also remark dat dinner am serbed in de dinin' car." + +"Hurrah!" cried Jack. "That's the best news I've heard in a week. No +more blasted beef for mine! Give me ham and eggs!" + +"But what happened to you? Where have you been? We have searched all +over for you, and were just giving you up for dead, and going back to +the earth," said Professor Henderson. "We caught sight of you at the +last minute." + +"Oh, you mustn't go back until you go to the field of diamonds!" cried +Jack, and then by turns he and Mark and Andy told of their terrible +adventures while they were lost on the moon. + +On their part Professors Roumann and Henderson stated how they had +waited in vain for the return of the wanderers, and had then, by +strenuous work, managed to make the necessary repairs without the +missing tool. Then they set out to discover the lost ones, but +succeeded only just in time, for it was now quite dusk. + +"An' did yo' all really discober dem sparklers?" asked Washington, as +he served what the boys thought was the finest dinner they had ever +tasted. + +"We sure did," replied Jack. "Here are a couple for that red necktie of +yours," and he passed over two big diamonds. + +It did not take long to move the projectile to the field of the +sparkling gems, and by means of a powerful search-light enough were +soon gathered up to satisfy even Washington White, who declared that he +would be the best decorated colored man in Bayside when they got back. +The two professors made what observations they could in the petrified +city in the fast-gathering darkness, and then, having taken a petrified +man into the projectile with them to deposit in a scientific museum in +which Professor Roumann was interested, the _Annihilator_ was sealed +shut. + +And it was only just in time, for with the suddenness of an eclipse +intense darkness settled down, and the temperature, as indicated by a +thermometer thrust outside, showed a drop of a hundred degrees. + +"We never could have lived out there," said Jack. + +"Well, we'll soon be back on earth," observed Mark, and a little later +the Cardite motor was out in operation, and the journey back to this +world begun. + +Little of moment happened on the return trip. The boys went more into +detail about their wanderings, and told how they had managed to live +during the time they were lost. The two professors and Washington spoke +of their worry and anxiety, and their vain search for the wanderers. + +As they were anxious to get back home, the motor was speeded to the +limit, and in much less time than they had made the trip to the moon +they had arrived in sight of the earth again. As they did not want to +create too much excitement, they hovered about in the air over Bayside +until dark, when they gently descended almost in the very spot from +which they had started. + +"Well," remarked Jack, as he stepped out on the earth once more, "it +was quite an experience to go to the moon, and I suppose being lost +there wasn't the worst thing that could happen to us, but all the same +I'm glad to be back." + +"So am I," declared Mark. "It was worth while going," and he felt of +his pocketful of diamonds. + +"We certainly made some very valuable scientific observations," +asserted Mr. Henderson, "and we will be able to prove that the moon was +once inhabited." + +Washington White was carefully lifting out his Shanghai rooster, which +was uttering loud crows. As soon as he had set the fowl on the ground, +the colored man started off. + +"Where are you going?" asked Mark. + +"I'm going t' a jewelery shop t' hab my diamonds made inter a stick-pin +fo' my red necktie," was the answer. + +"Oh, you'd better wait until morning," suggested Professor Henderson. + +They gathered about the table in the cozy dining room of their home, +while Washington got a meal ready. Every one was talking about what a +wonderful trip they had had. + +"The only trouble is," said Jack, "that we've been to about all the +interesting places in this universe now. I wonder where we can go +next?" + +"I'm going to bed right after supper," announced Mark. "Maybe I'll +discover a new land in my dreams." + +The moon voyagers had a great store of gems, and, as they did not wish +to bring down values by disposing of them, they only sold a few, which, +because of their great size and brilliancy, brought a large price. +Several jewelers wanted to know where the diamonds came from, but the +secret was well kept. Most of the gems were used for scientific +purposes, but Mark and Jack gave some to certain of their friends. + +The petrified man proved a great curiosity, and a history of it, in two +large volumes, can be seen in the museum where the body is exhibited. +Professor Henderson wrote the account, and also published quite an +extensive history of the trip to the moon, which was considered by +scientists and laymen to be a most remarkable journey. + +But, though our friends had been to many strange places, it was +reserved for them to have yet still more wonderful adventures, though +for a time after returning from the moon they remained at home, the two +professors busy over their scientific work, and the boys engaged with +their studies, while Andy occasionally went hunting, and Washington got +the meals and, between times, fed his rooster and admired the diamonds +in his red necktie. And now we will bid our friends good-by. + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lost on the Moon, by Roy Rockwood + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOST ON THE MOON *** + +This file should be named 7moon10.txt or 7moon10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7moon11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7moon10a.txt + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Tiffany Vergon, Joshua Hutchinson +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Lost on the Moon + or In Quest Of The Field of Diamonds + +Author: Roy Rockwood + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7473] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 6, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOST ON THE MOON *** + + + + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Tiffany Vergon, Joshua Hutchinson +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +LOST ON THE MOON +OR +IN QUEST OF THE FIELD OF DIAMONDS + +BY ROY ROCKWOOD + + + + +CHAPTER + + + I. A WONDERFUL STORY + II. SOMETHING ABOUT OUR HEROES + III. PREPARING FOR A VOYAGE + IV. AN ACCIDENT + V. THE WORK OF AN ENEMY + VI. ON THE TRACK + VII. MARK IS CAPTURED + VIII. JACK IS PUZZLED + IX. A DARING PLOT + X. "HOW STRANGE MARK ACTS" + XI. READY FOR THE MOON + XII. MARK'S ESCAPE + XIII. A DIREFUL THREAT + XIV. OFF AT LAST + XV. THE SHANGHAI MAKES TROUBLE + XVI. "WILL IT HIT US?" + XVII. TURNING TURTLE + XVIII. AT THE MOON + XIX. TORCHES OF LIFE + XX. ON THE EDGE OF A CRATER + XXI. WASHINGTON SEES A GHOST + XXII. A BREAKDOWN + XXIII. LOST ON THE MOON + XXIV. DESOLATE WANDERINGS + XXV. THE PETRIFIED CITY + XXVI. SEEKING FOOD + XXVII. THE BLACK POOL +XXVIII. THE SIGNAL FAILS + XXIX. THE FIELD OF DIAMONDS + XXX. BACK TO EARTH--CONCLUSION + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A WONDERFUL STORY + + +"Well, what do you think of it, Mark?" asked Jack Darrow, as he laid +aside a portion of a newspaper, covered with strange printed +characters. "Great; isn't it?" + +"You don't mean to tell me that you believe that preposterous story, do +you, Jack?" And Mark Sampson looked across the table at his companion +in some astonishment. + +"Oh, I don't know; it may be true," went on Jack, again picking up the +paper and gazing thoughtfully at it. "I wish it was." + +"But think of it!" exclaimed Mark. "Why, if such a thing exists, and if +we, or some one else, should attempt to bring all those precious stones +to this earth, it would revolutionize the diamond industry of the +world. It can't be true!" + +"Well, here It is, in plain print. You can read it for yourself, as you +know the Martian language as well as I do. It states that a large field +of 'Reonaris' was discovered on the moon near Mare Tranquilitatis (or +Tranquil Ocean, I suppose that could be translated), and that the men +of Mars brought back some of the Reonaris with them. Here, read it, if +you don't believe me." + +"Oh, I believe you, all right--that is, I think you have translated +that article as well as you can. But suppose you have made some error? +We didn't have much time to study the language of Mars while we were +there, and we might make some mistake in the words. That article might +be an account of a dog-fight on the red planet, instead of an account +of a trip to the moon and the discovery of a field of Reonaris; eh, +Jack?" + +"Of course, I'm likely to have made an error, for it isn't easy to +translate this stuff." And Jack gazed intently at the strangely printed +page, which was covered with characters not unlike Greek. "I may be +wrong," went on the lad, "but you must remember that I translated some +other articles in this paper, and Professor Henderson also translated +them substantially as I did, and Professor Roumann agreed with him. +There _is_ Reonaris on the moon, and I wish we could go there and +get some." + +"But maybe after you got the Reonaris it would turn out to be only +common crystals," objected Mark. + +"No!" exclaimed Jack. "Reonaris is what the Martians call it in their +language, and that means diamonds. I'm sure of it!" + +"Well, I don't agree with you," declared the other lad. + +"Don't be cranky and contrary," begged Jack. + +"I'm not; but what's the use of believing anything so wild and weird as +that? It's a crazy yarn!" + +"It's nothing of the sort! There are diamonds on the moon; and I can +prove it!" + +"Well, don't get excited," suggested Mark calmly. "I don't believe it; +that's all. You're mistaken about what Reonaris is; that's what you +are." + +"I am not!" Jack had arisen from his chair, and seemed much elated. In +his hand he held clinched the paper which had caused the lively +discussion. It was as near to a disagreement as Jack Darrow and Mark +Sampson had come in some time. + +"Sit down," begged Mark. + +"I'll not!" retorted Jack. "I'm going to prove to you that I'm right." + +"How are you going to do it?" + +"I'm going to get Professor Henderson and Professor Roumann to +translate this article for you, and then you can ask them what Reonaris +is. Guess that'll convince you; won't it?" + +"Maybe; but why don't you ask Andy Sudds or Washington White to give +their opinion?" + +"Don't get funny," advised the other lad sharply, and then, seeing that +his chum was smiling, Jack laughed, cooled down a bit, looked at the +paper which he had crumpled in his hand, and said: + +"I guess I _was_ getting a little too excited. But I'm sure I'm right. +Here's the paper I brought from Mars to prove it, and the only thing +there's any doubt about is whether or not Reonaris means diamonds. I'll +ask----" + +At that moment the door of the library, in which Jack and Mark were +seated, was cautiously opened, and a black, woolly head was thrust in. +Then two widely-opened eyes gazed at the boys. + +"What's the matter, Washington?" asked Jack, with a laugh. + +"'Scuse me, Massa Jack," answered the colored man, "but did I done heah +you' to promulgate some conversationess regarding de transmigatorability +ob diamonds?" + +"Do you mean, were we talking about diamonds?" inquired Mark. + +"Dat's what I done said, Massa Mark." + +"No, you _didn't_ say it, but you meant it, I guess," went on Jack. +"Yes, we _were_ talking about diamonds, Washington. I know a place +that's full of them." + +"Where?" inquired the colored man, thrusting his head farther into the +room, and opening his eyes to their fullest extent. "Ef it ain't +violatin' no confidences, Massa Jack, would yo' jest kindly mention it +to yo's truly," and Professor Henderson's faithful servant, who had +followed him into many dangers, looked at the two boys, who, of late +years, had shared the labors of the well-known scientist. "Where am +dose diamonds, Massa Jack?" + +"On the moon," was the answer. + +"On de moon? Ha! Ha! Dat's a joke!" And Washington began to laugh. "On +de moon! Ha! Ho!" + +"Well, you can read it for yourself," went on the lad, tossing the +paper over to the colored man. The latter picked it up, gazed at it, +first from one side, and then from the other. Next he turned it upside +down, but, as this did not make the article any clearer, he turned the +paper back again. Then he remarked, with a puzzled air: + +"Well, I neber could read without mah glasses, Massa Jack, so I guess +I'll hab t' let it go until annoder time. Diamonds on de moon, eh? +Dat's wonderful! I wonder what dey'll be doin' next? But I'se got t' +go. Diamonds on de moon, eh? Diamonds on de moon!" + +As Washington turned to leave the room, for he had entered it when Jack +and Mark were talking to aim, the latter lad asked: + +"Did you want to see us about anything particular, Wash?" + +"Why, I suah did," was the reply, "I did come t' tell yo' dat Perfesser +Henderson would be pleased to hold some conversations wid yo', but when +Massa Jack done mentioned about dem diamonds, I clean fo'got it. +Diamonds on de moon, eh?" + +"Well, if the professor wants us we'd better go," suggested Mark. "Come +on, Jack, and stop dreaming about Reonaris and the moonbeams. Get back +to earth." + +"All right; laugh if you want to," said Jack sturdily, "but the time +will come, Mark, when you'll find out that I'm right." + +"How?" asked Mark. + +"I don't know, but I'm sure I can prove what I say." + +The two boys were to have the wonderful diamond story demonstrated to +them sooner than either expected. Following the colored man, the lads, +Jack carrying the paper, made their way to the laboratory of Professor +Henderson. His door was open, and the aged man, whose hair and beard +were now white with age, was bending over a table covered with papers, +chemical apparatus, test tubes, alembecs, Bunsen burners, globes, and +various pieces of apparatus. Another man, not quite so old as was Mr. +Henderson, was on the point of leaving the apartment. + +"Ah, boys," remarked the older professor, as he caught sight of them, +"I hope I didn't disturb you by sending for you." + +"No; Jack and I were only having a red-hot discussion about diamonds on +the moon," said Mark, with a laugh. + +"Diamonds on the moon!" exclaimed Professor Henderson. + +"Diamonds on the moon?" repeated his friend, Prof. Santell Roumann. "Is +this a joke, boys?" + +"Mark thinks so, but I don't!" cried Jack, enthusiastically. "Look +here, Professor Henderson, and also Mr. Roumann. Here is one of the +newspapers that we brought back with us in our projectile, the +_Annihilator_, after our trip to Mars. I have been translating some of +the articles in it, and to-night I came across one that told of a trip +made by some of the inhabitants of Mars to the moon, in a sort of +projectile, like ours, only more on the design of an aeroplane. + +"They landed on the moon, the article states, and found a big field, or +deposit, of Reonaris, which I claim are diamonds. Mark says I'm wrong, +but, Professor Henderson, isn't Reonaris to the Martians what diamonds +are to us?" + +"It certainly is," agreed the older scientist, and he looked for +confirmation to his scholarly companion. + +"Reonaris is substantially a diamond," said Professor Roumann. "It has +the same chemical constitution, and also the diamond's hardness and +brilliancy. But I don't understand how any diamonds can be on the +moon." + +"You can read this for yourself," suggested Jack, passing over the +paper, which was one of some souvenirs brought back from what was the +longest journey on record, ever taken by human beings. + +Mr. Roumann adjusted his glasses, and carefully read the article that +was printed in such strange characters. As he perused it, he nodded his +head thoughtfully from time to time. Then he passed the paper to +Professor Henderson. + +The older scientist was somewhat longer in going over the article, but +when he had finished, he looked at the two boys, and said: "Jack is +right! This is an account of a trip made to the moon by some of the +Martians, who have advanced much further in the art of air navigation +than have we. Some of the words I am not altogether familiar with, but +in the main, that is what the paper states." + +"And doesn't it tell about them finding a field of Reonaris?" asked +Jack eagerly, for he was anxious to prove to his chum that he was +right. + +"Yes, it does," replied Mr. Henderson. + +"And Reonaris is diamonds, isn't it?" asked Jack. + +"It is," answered Professor Roumann gravely. + +"Then," cried Jack, "what's to hinder us from going to the moon, and +getting some of those diamonds? The Martians must have left some! Let's +go to the moon and get them! We can do it in the projectile with which +we made the journey to Mars. Let's start for the moon!" + +For a moment there was silence in the laboratory of the scientist. It +was broken by Washington White, who remarked: + +"Good land a' massy! Annodder ob dem trips through de air! Well, I +ain't goin' to no moon--no sah!! Ef I went dere, I'd suah get looney, +an' I has troubles enough now wid'out dat, I suah has!" And, shaking +his head dubiously, the colored man shuffled from the room. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SOMETHING ABOUT OUR HEROES + + +"Are you in earnest in proposing this trip?" asked Professor Henderson +of Jack. The lad, with flushed face and bright eyes, stood in the +centre of the apartment, holding the paper which the aged scientist had +returned to him. + +"I certainly am," was the reply. "It ought not to be a difficult +undertaking, after our trip to the North Pole through the air, the one +to the South Pole under water, our journey to the centre of the earth, +and our flight to Mars. Why, a trip to the moon ought to be a little +pleasure jaunt, like an automobile tour. Can't we go, Professor?" + +"From the standpoint of possibility, I presume we could make a trip to +the moon," the scientist admitted. "It would not take so long, nor +would it be as dangerous, as was our trip to Mars. And yet, I don't +know that I care to go. I am getting along in years, and I have money +enough to live on. Even a field of diamonds hardly sounds attractive to +me." Jack's face showed the disappointment he felt. + +"And yet," went on the aged scientist with a smile, "there are certain +attractions about another trip through space. I had hoped to settle +down in life now, and devote my time to scientific study and the +writing of books. But this is something new. We never have been to the +moon, and----" + +"There are lots of problems about it that are still unsolved!" cried +Jack eagerly. "You will be able to discover if the moon has an +atmosphere and moisture; and also what the other side--the one that is +always turned away from us--looks like." + +"It does sound tempting," went on the aged scientist slowly. "And we +could do it in our projectile, the _Annihilator_. It is in good working +order; isn't it, Professor Roumann?" + +"Couldn't be better. If you ask me, I, for one, would like to make a +trip to the moon. It would give me a better chance to test the powers +of Cardite, that wonderful red substance we brought from Mars. I can +use that in the Etherium motor. If you left it to me, I'd say, 'go to +the moon.'" + +"Well, perhaps we will," spoke Mr. Henderson thoughtfully. + +"You'll go, too, won't you, Mark?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, I'm not going to be left behind. I'll go if the rest do, but I +don't believe you'll find any diamonds on the moon. If there ever were +any, the Martians took them." For Mark had been partly convinced after +the confirmation by the two professors of Jack's translation. + +"I'll take a chance on the sparklers," said his chum. "But now, let's +go into details, and figure out when we can start. It ought not to take +very long to get ready." + +As has been explained in detail in the other books of this series, +Professor Amos Henderson and the two lads, Mark Sampson and Jack +Darrow, had undertaken many strange voyages together. Sometimes they +were accompanied by friends and assistants, while Washington White, a +sort of servant, helper, and man-of-all-work, and Andy Sudds, an old +hunter, always went with them. + +Mark and Jack were orphans, who had been adopted by Professor +Henderson, who spent all his time making wonderful machines for +transportation, or conducting strange experiments. + +The two boys had been rescued by Professor Henderson and Washington +White from a train wreck. Although both boys were badly hurt, they were +nursed back to health by the eminent scientist, who soon learned to +care for the lads as though they had been his own sons. + +They aided the professor, as soon as they were able, in constructing an +airship, called the _Electric Monarch_, in which Professor Henderson +hoped to be able to reach the North Pole. The boys thoroughly enjoyed +the trip through the air, and had many thrills fighting the savage +Eskimos. Finally, they succeeded in passing over the exact spot of the +North Pole during a violent snowstorm. + +Not satisfied with their experiences after conquering the North, the +adventurers set out for the Antarctic regions in a submarine boat. This +trip, even more remarkable than the first, took them to many strange +places in the South Atlantic. They were trapped for a time in the +Sargasso Sea, and they walked on the ocean floor in new diving suits, +one of the professor's marvelous inventions. + +It was on the voyage to the south that, coming to the surface one day, +the adventurers saw a strange island in the Atlantic Ocean, far from +the coast of South America. On it was a great whirlpool, into which the +_Porpoise_, their submarine boat, was nearly drawn by the powerful +suction. + +The chasm might lead to the center of the earth, it was suggested, and, +after thinking the matter over, on their return from the Antarctic, +Professor Henderson decided to build a craft in which they might solve +the mystery. + +The details of the voyage they took in the _Flying Mermaid_, are told +of in the third volume, entitled "Five Thousand Miles Underground." The +_Mermaid_ could sail on the water, or float in the air like a balloon. +In this craft the travellers descended into the centre of the earth, +and had many wonderful adventures. They nearly lost their lives, and +had to escape, after running through danger of the spouting water, +leaving their craft behind. + +For some time they undertook no further voyages, and the two boys, who +lived with Professor Henderson in a small town on the coast of Maine, +were sent to attend the Universal Electrical and Chemical College. +Washington remained at home to minister to the wants of the old +professor, and Andy Sudds went off on occasional hunting trips. + +But the spirit of adventure was still strong in the hearts of the boys +and the professor. One day, in the midst of some risky experiments at +college, Jack and Mark, as related in "Through Space to Mars," received +a telegram from Professor Henderson, calling them home. + +There they found their friend entertaining as a guest Professor Santell +Roumann, who was almost as celebrated as was Mr. Henderson, in the +matter of inventions. + +Professor Roumann made a strange proposition. He said if the old +scientist and his young friends would build the proper kind of a +projectile, they could make a trip to the planet Mars, by means of a +wonderful motor, operated by a power called Etherium, of which Mr. +Roumann held the secret. + +After some discussion, the projectile, called the _Annihilator_, from +the fact that it annihilated space, was begun. It was two hundred feet +long, ten feet in diameter in the middle, and shaped like a cigar. It +consisted of a double shell of strong metal, with a non-conducting gas +between the two sides. + +Within it were various machines, besides the Etherium motor, which +would send the projectile along at the rate of one hundred miles a +second. This great speed was necessary in order to reach the planet +Mars, which, at the time our friends started for it, was about thirty- +five millions of miles away from this earth. It has since receded some +distance farther than this. + +Finally all was in readiness for the start to Mars. Professor Roumann +wanted to prove that the planet was inhabited, and he also wanted to +get some of a peculiar substance, which he believed gave the planet its +rosy hue. He had an idea that it would prove of great value. + +But, though every precaution was taken, the adventurers were not to get +away from the earth safely. Almost at the last minute, a crazy +machinist, named Fred Axtell, who was refused work on the projectile, +tried to blow it up with a bomb. He partly succeeded, but the damage +was repaired, and the start made. + +Inside the projectile our friends shut themselves up, and the powerful +motors were started. Off it shot, at the rate of one hundred miles a +second, but the travellers were as comfortable as in a Pullman car. +They had plenty to eat and drink, they manufactured their own air and +water, and they slept when they so desired. + +But Axtell, the crazy machinist, had hidden himself aboard, and, in +mid-air, he tried to wreck the projectile. He was caught, and locked up +in a spare room, but, when Mars was reached, he escaped. + +The book tells how our friends were welcomed by the Martians, how they +learned the language, saw many strange sights, and finally got on the +track of the Cardite, or red substance, which the German professor, Mr. +Roumann, had come so far to seek. This Cardite was capable of great +force, and, properly controlled, could move great weights and operate +powerful machinery. + +Our friends wanted to take some back to earth with them, but when they +attempted to store it in their projectile, they met with objections, +for the Martians did not want them to take any. They had considerable +trouble, and the crazy machinist led an attack of the soldiers of the +red planet against our friends, the adventurers in the projectile. + +Among the other curiosities brought away by our friends, was a +newspaper printed in Mars, for the inhabitants of that place where much +further advanced along certain lines than we are on this earth, but in +the matter of newspapers they had little to boast of, save that the +sheets were printed by wireless electricity, no presses being needed. + +As told at the opening of this story, Jack had noticed on one of the +sheets they brought back, an account of how some of the Martians made a +trip to the moon, and discovered a field of Reonaris. This trip was +made shortly before our friends made their hasty departure, and it was +undertaken by some Martian adventurers on another part of the red +planet than where the projectile landed, and so Professor Henderson and +his friends did not hear of it at the time. + +"Well, then, suppose we make the attempt to go to the moon," said +Professor Roumann, after a long discussion in the laboratory. "It will +not take long to get ready." + +"I'd like to go," said Jack. "How about you, Professor Henderson? Oh, +by the way, Washington said you wanted to see Mark and me, but I was so +interested in this news item, that I forgot to ask what it as about." + +"I merely wanted to inquire when you and Mark thought of resuming your +studies at college," said the aged man, "but, since this matter has +come up, it will be just as well if you do not arrange to resume your +lessons right away." + +"We can study while making the trip to the moon," suggested Mark. + +"Not much," declared Jack, with a laugh. "There'll be too much to see." + +"Well, we'll discuss that later," went on Mr. Henderson. "Practically +speaking, I think the voyage can be made, and, the more I think of it, +the better I like the idea. We will look over the projectile in the +morning, and see what needs to be done to it to get it ready for +another trip through space." + +"Not much will have to be done, I fancy," remarked the German +scientist. "But I want to make a few improvements in the Cardite motor, +which I will use in place of the Etherium one, that took us to Mars." + +A little later there came a knock on the rear door of the rambling old +house where the professor lived and did much of his experimental work. + +"I'll go," volunteered Jack, and when he opened the portal there stood +on the threshold a small boy, Dick Johnson, one of the village lads. + +"What is it you want, Dick?" asked Mark. + +"Here's a note for you," went on the boy, passing over a slip of paper. +"I met a man down the road, and he gave me a quarter to bring it here. +He said it was very important, and he's waiting for you down by the +white bridge over the creek." + +"Waiting for who?" asked Jack. + +"For Mark, I guess; but I don't know. Anyhow, the note's for him." + +"Hum! This is rather strange," mused Mark. + +"What is it?" asked Jack. + +"Why, this note. It says: 'It is important that I see you. I will wait +for you at the white bridge.' That's all there is to it." + +"No name signed?" asked Jack. + +"Not a name. But I'll just take a run down and see what it is. I'll not +be long. Much obliged, Dick." + +The boy who had brought the note turned to leave the house, and Mark +prepared to follow. Jack said: + +"Let me see that note." + +He scanned it closely, and, as Mark was getting on his hat and coat, +for the night was chilly, his chum went on: + +"Mark, if I didn't know, that we had left Axtell, the crazy machinist, +up on Mars, I'd say that this was his writing. But, of course, it's +impossible." + +"Of course--impossible," agreed Mark. + +"But, there's one thing, though," continued Jack. + +"What's that?" asked Mark. + +"I don't like the idea of you going off alone in the dark, to meet a +man who doesn't sign his name to the note he wrote. So, if you have no +objections, I'll go with you. No use taking any chances." + +"I don't believe I run any risk," said Mark, "but I'll be glad of your +company. Come along. Maybe it's only a joke." And the two lads started +off together in the darkness toward the white bridge. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +PREPARING FOR A VOYAGE + + +"Seems like rather an odd thing; doesn't it?" remarked Jack, as he and +his chum walked along. + +"What?" + +"This note." + +"Oh, yes. But what made you think the writing looked like that of the +crazy machinist who tried to wreck the projectile?" + +"Because I once saw some of the crazy letters he sent us, and he wrote +just like the man who gave Dick this note. But come on, let's hustle, +and see what's up." + +In a few minutes they came in sight of the white bridge, which was +about a quarter of a mile down the road from the professor's house. The +two boys kept well together, and they were watching for a first sight +of the man in waiting. + +"See anything?" asked Jack. + +"No; do you?" + +"Not a thing. Wait until we get closer. He may be in the shadow. It's +dark now." + +Almost as Jack spoke, the moon, which had been hidden behind a bank of +clouds, peeped out, making the scene comparatively bright. The boys +peered once more toward the bridge, and, as they did so, they saw a +figure step from the shadows, stand revealed for an instant in the +middle of the structure, and then, seemingly after a swift glance +toward the approaching chums, the person darted off in the darkness. + +"Did you see that?" cried Jack. + +"Sure," assented Mark. "Guess he didn't want to wait for us. Why, he's +running to beat the band!" + +"Let's take after him," suggested Jack, and, nothing loath, Mark +assented. The two lads broke into a run, but, as they leaped forward, +the man also increased his pace, and they could hear his feet pounding +out a tattoo on the hard road. + +The two youths reached the bridge, and sped across it. They glanced +hastily on either side, thinking possibly the man might have had some +companions, but no one was in sight, and the stranger himself was now +out of view around a bend in the highway. + +"No use going any farther," suggested Jack, pulling up at the far side +of the bridge. "There are two roads around the bend, and we couldn't +tell which one he'd take. Besides, it might not be altogether safe to +risk it." + +Mark and Jack, on their return, told Professor Henderson and the German +scientist something of their little excursion. + +"But who could he have been?" asked Mr. Roumann. "Perhaps if you ask +the boy who brought the note he can tell you." + +"We'll do it in the morning," decided Mark. + +"It's peculiar that he wanted Mark to meet him," spoke Amos Henderson. +"Have you any enemies that you know of, Mark?" + +"Not a one. But what makes you think this man was an enemy, Professor?" + +"From the fact that he ran when he saw you and Jack together. Evidently +he expected to get Mark out alone." + +They discussed the matter for some time, and then the boys and the +scientists retired to bed, ready to begin active preparations on the +morrow, for their trip to the moon. + +There was much to be done, but their experience in making other +wonderful trips, particularly the one to Mars, stood the travellers in +good stead. They knew just how to go to work. + +To Washington was entrusted the task of preparing the food supply, +since he was to act as cook. Andy Sudds was instructed to look after +the clothing and other supplies, except those of a scientific nature, +while the two young men were to act as general helpers to the two +professors. + +As the _Annihilator_ has been fully described in the volume entitled, +"Through Space to Mars," there is no need to dwell at any length on the +construction of the projectile in which our friends hoped to travel to +the moon. Sufficient to say that it was a sort of enclosed airship, +capable of travelling through space--that is, air or ether--at enormous +speed, that there were contained within it many complicated machines, +some for operating the projectile, some for offence or defence against +enemies, such as electric guns, apparatus for making air or water, and +scores of scientific instruments. + +The _Annihilator_ was controlled either from the engine room, or from a +pilot house forward. As for the motive power it was, for the trip to +the moon, to be of that wonderful Martian substance, Cardite, which +would operate the motors. + +The projectile moved through space by the throwing off of waves of +energy, similar to wireless vibrations, from large plates of metal, and +these plates were the invention of Professor Roumann. + +Perhaps to some of my readers it may seem strange to speak so casually +of a trip to the moon, but it must be remembered that our friends had +already accomplished a much more difficult journey, namely, that to +Mars. So the moon voyage was not to daunt them. + +Mars, as I have said, was thirty-five millions of miles away from the +earth when the _Annihilator_ was headed toward it. To reach the moon, +however, but 252,972 miles, at the most, must be traversed--a little +more than a quarter of a million miles. As the distance from the earth +to the moon varies, being between the figures I have named, and 221,614 +miles, with the average distance computed as being 238,840 miles, it +can readily be seen that at no time was the voyage to be considered as +comparing in distance with the one to Mars. + +But there were other matters to be taken into consideration, and our +friends began to ponder on them in the days during which they made +their preparations. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +AN ACCIDENT + + +Washington White was kept busy getting together the food for the +voyage, and he had about completed his task, while Andy Sudds announced +one morning that his department was ready for inspection, and that he +thought he would go hunting until the projectile was ready to start. + +"Well, if you see anything of that queer man who sent me the note, just +ask him what he meant by it," suggested Mark, for inquiry from the boy +who had brought the message, developed the fact that Dick did not know +the man, nor had he ever seen him before. He was a stranger in the +neighborhood. But, as nothing more resulted from it, the two lads gave +the matter no further thought. + +"How soon before we will be ready to start?" asked Jack one day, while +he and his chum, with the two professors, were working over the +projectile, which was soon to be shot through space. + +"In about two weeks," replied Mr. Roumann. "I want to make a few +changes in the Cardite plates, which will replace the ones used on the +Etherium motor. Then I want to test them, and, if I find that they work +all right, as I hope, we will seal ourselves up in the _Annihilator_, +and start for the moon." + +"Are you going to try to go around it, and land on the side turned away +from us?" asked Mark, who had been studying astronomy lately. + +"What do you mean by that?" asked Jack. "Doesn't the moon turn around?" + +"Not as the earth does," replied his chum; "or, rather, to be more +exact, it rotates exactly as the earth does, on its axis; but, in doing +this it occupies precisely the same time that it takes to make a +revolution about our planet. So that, in the long run, to quote from my +astronomy, it keeps the same side always toward the earth; and today, +or, to be more correct, each night that the moon is visible, we see the +same face and aspect that Galileo did when he first looked at it +through his telescope, and, unless something happens, the same thing +will continue for thousands of years." + +"Then we've never seen the other side of the moon?" asked Jack. + +"Never; and that's why I wondered if the professor was going to attempt +to reach it. Perhaps there are people there, and air and water, for it +is practically certain that there is neither moisture nor atmosphere on +this side of Luna." + +"Wow! Then maybe we'd better not go," said Jack, with a shiver. "What +will we do, if we get thirsty?" + +"Oh, I guess we can manage, with all the apparatus we have, to distill +enough water," said Professor Henderson, with a smile. "Then, too, we +will take plenty with us, and, of course, tanks of oxygen to breathe. +But it will be interesting to see if there are people on the moon." + +"If there are any, they must have a queer time," went on Mark. + +"Why?" asked Jack, who wasn't very fond of study. + +"Why? Because the moon is only about one forty-ninth the size of the +earth. Its diameter is 2,163 miles--only a quarter of the earth's--and, +comparing the force of gravity, ours is much greater. A body that +weighs six pounds on the earth, would weigh only one pound on the moon, +and a man on the moon could jump six times as high as he can on this +earth, and throw a stone six times as far." + +"What's dat?" inquired Washington White quickly, nearly dropping some +packages he was carrying into the projectile. "What was yo' pleased t' +saggasiate, in remarkin' concernin' de untranquility ob the densityness +ob stones jumpin' ober a man what is six times high?" he asked. + +"Do you mean what did I say?" asked Mark solemnly. + +"Dat's what I done asked yo'," spoke the colored man gravely. + +"Well, you didn't, but perhaps you meant to," went on the youth, and he +repeated his remarks. + +"'Scuse me, I guess I'd better not go on dish yeah trip after all," +came from Washington. + +"Why not?" demanded Professor Henderson. + +"'Cause I ain't goin' t' no place whar ef yo' wants t' take a little +jump yo' has t' go six times as far as yo' does when yo' is on dis yeah +earth. An' s'posin' some ob dem moon men takes a notion t' throw a +stone at me? Whar'll I be, when a stone goes six times as far as it +does on heah? No, sah, I ain't goin'!" + +"But perhaps there are no men on the moon," said Mark quickly. "It is +only a theory of astronomers that I'm talking about." + +"Oh, only a theory; eh?" asked Washington quickly. + +"That's all." + +"Oh, if it's only a theory, den I reckons it's all right," came from +the colored man. "I didn't know it were a theory. Dat makes it all +right. It's jest in theory, am it, Massa Mark, dat a stone goes six +times as far?" + +"That's all." + +"Oh, well, den, why didn't yo' say so fust, dat it was only a theory? I +don't mind theories. I--I used t' eat 'em boiled an' roasted befo' de +wah." And, with a contented smile on his face, Washington went into the +projectile, to finish stowing things away in his kitchen lockers. + +The big projectile was housed in the shed where it had been +constructed, and the professor and the boys were working over it there, +carefully guarded from curious eyes, for the German inventor did not +want the secret of his Cardite motor to become known. + +The work went on from day to day, good progress being made. The boys +were of great assistance, for they were practical mechanics, and had +had considerable experience. + +"Well, I shall try the Cardite motor to-morrow," announced Professor +Roumann one night, after a hard day's work on the projectile. + +"Do you think it will work?" asked Mr. Henderson. + +"I think so, yes. My experiments have made me hopeful." + +"And if it does work, when can we start?" asked Jack. + +"Two days later; that is, if everything else is in readiness, the food +and other, supplies on board." + +"They are all ready to be stowed away," said Andy Sudds, who had been +hunting all day. + +It was an anxious assemblage that gathered inside the big shed the next +day, to watch Professor Roumann try the Cardite motor. Would it work as +well as had the Etherium one? Would it send them along through space at +enormous speed? True, they would not have to travel so far, nor so +fast, but more power would be needed, since, as it was feared no food, +water, nor air could be had on the moon, many more supplies were to be +taken along than on the trip to Mars, and this made the projectile +heavier. + +"We will test the Cardite in this small motor first," said Mr. Roumann, +as he pointed to a machine in the projectile used for winding a cable +around a windlass when there was necessity for hauling the _Annihilator_ +about, without sending it into the air. + +Into the receptacle of the motor, the German professor placed some of +the wonderful red substance he had secured from Mars. Then he closed +the heavy metal box that held it, and, looking about to see if all was +in readiness, he motioned to those watching him that he was about to +shift the lever that would start the motor. + +"If it works as well as I hope it will," he said, "it ought to pull the +projectile slowly across the shop--a task that would be impossible in a +motor of this size, if operated by electricity, gasoline, or any other +force at present in use. And, if this small motor will do that, I know +the large ones will send us through space to the moon. All ready, now." + +Slowly the professor shoved over the lever, while Jack, Mark and the +others watched him carefully. They were standing back of him, in the +engine room of the projectile. + +There was a clicking sound as the lever snapped into place. This was +succeeded by a buzzing hum, as the motor began to absorb the great +power from the red substance, which was not unlike radium in its +action. There was a trembling to the great projectile. + +"She's moving!" cried Jack. + +Hardly had he spoken when there was a flash of red fire, a sound as of +a bursting bomb, and everyone was knocked from his feet, over backward, +while Professor Roumann was hurled the entire length of the engine +room. + +"The Cardite motor has exploded!" cried Mark. "Professor Roumann is +killed!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE WORK OF AN ENEMY + + +Jack's first act, on arising from amid a mass of tools, into which he +had been tossed by the explosion, was to run to where Professor Roumann +lay in a semi-conscious condition. An instant later Mark slowly arose, +and made his way to where Professor Henderson was rubbing his forehead +in a dazed fashion. + +"Are you hurt?" asked Mark, of his aged friend. + +"I think not," answered Mr. Henderson slowly, "but I fear Mr. Roumann +is. See to him; I'm all right." + +"He's breathing," cried Jack, who had bent over the German. "He isn't +dead, at any rate." + +"But he may be, unless he gets attention," said Professor Henderson. +"Get my medicine chest, Mark, and we'll see what we can do for him." + +Jack had raised the head of the injured man on his arm, and was giving +him some water from a glass. This partially revived the German, and he +opened his eyes. He looked around, into the faces of his friends, as if +scarcely comprehending what had happened, and then, as his gaze +wandered toward the disabled Cardite motor, he exclaimed: + +"Some enemy has done this! The motor was tampered with. The resistance +block was loosened, and that caused the force of the Cardite to shoot +out at the rear. We must watch out for the work of this enemy!" + +"Don't distress yourself about that now," urged Mr. Henderson. "Are you +badly hurt? Do you need a doctor?" + +The German slowly drank the rest of the water which Jack gave him, and +then gradually arose to a standing position. + +"I am all right," he said faintly, "except that I feel a trifle dizzy. +Something hit me on the head, and the fumes from the Cardite took away +my breath for a moment. I think I shall be all right soon." + +"Here is the medicine chest!" exclaimed Mark, coming back into the +engine room. Mr. Henderson poured out some aromatic spirits of ammonia +into a graduated glass, added a little water, and gave it to his +fellow, inventor, who, after drinking it, declared that he felt much +better. There was a cut on his forehead, where a piece of the broken +motor had struck him, but, otherwise, he did not seem injured +externally. + +As for the boys, they were only stunned, nor was Mr. Henderson more +than momentarily shocked. In a few minutes the German professor was +almost himself again. + +"We must try to discover who our enemy is," he said earnestly, as he +looked over the disabled motor. "He might have blown up the whole +projectile by tampering as he did with the machinery. Had I been +testing the large, instead of the small motor, there would have been +nothing left of the _Annihilator_, or us, either. Who could have done +this? If that crazy machinist is around again----" + +"I don't believe he could get here from Mars," interrupted Jack, with a +smile. + +"Hardly," added Mark. + +"No, I guess he is still on the Red Planet, so it couldn't have been +him," went on Mr. Roumann. "But it was some one." + +Jack and Mark at once thought of the odd man who had sent Mark the +note, and then had run away. + +"Could it have been him?" suggested Jack. + +"It's possible," remarked Professor Henderson. "We must be on our +guard. I wonder if Washington----" + +At that moment there sounded a violent pounding on the exterior of the +projectile, and the voice of the colored man could be heard calling: + +"Am anything de mattah? Andy Sudds an' I is out heah, an' we heard +suffin goin' on in dere. Am anybody hurted?" + +"It's all over now, Wash," replied Jack, for the two boys, and the two +professors, had shut themselves up in the projectile while they +conducted the experiment. Jack opened the door of the _Annihilator_ +and stepped out, being met by the colored man and the old hunter. + +"You haven't seen any suspicious characters around, have you, Wash?" +asked Mark. "Some one has been tampering with a motor, and it +exploded." + +"Nobody's been around since I've been here," announced Andy Sudds, with +a significant glance at his gun. + +"Maybe it's some ob dem moon-men, what don't laik de idea ob us goin' +dere arter dere diamonds," volunteered the colored man. + +"Perhaps," admitted Jack, with a smile. "But certainly some one has +been around here who had no business to be, and we must find out who it +was. Better take a look around, Wash." + +"I'll help him," said Andy, and, with his rifle in readiness for any +intruders, the old hunter followed the colored man outside the big +shed. + +Meanwhile Professor Roumann and Mr. Henderson were carefully examining +the exploded motor. + +"I should have looked at the breech plug before turning on the power," +said the German, "but I had no reason to suspect that anything was +wrong." He went on to explain that the explosion was something like +that which occurs when the breech-block of a big navy gun is not +properly in place. The force of the Cardite, instead of being directed +against the piston-heads of the motor, shot out backward, and almost +into the face of the professor, who was operating the machine. + +"But what could be their object?" asked Mark. "Who would want to injure +us, or damage the projectile?" + +"Some enemy, of course," declared Jack. "But who? The crazy machinist +is out of it, and as for that man who sent the note to you, he seemed +too big a coward to attempt anything like this." + +"Some one evidently sneaked in here and loosened the breech-plug," went +on Mark, "and it was evidently done with the idea of delaying us. The +enemy could not have desired to utterly disable the projectile, or else +he would have tampered with the large motor, instead of the small one." + +"Yes, the object seems to have been to delay us," admitted Professor +Henderson; "yet, I can't understand why. Whoever did it evidently knows +something about machinery." + +"I hope they did not discover the secret of my Cardite motor," said +Professor Roumann quickly. + +"They hardly had time," declared Mark. "We have been in or around the +projectile nearly every minute of the day, and whoever it was, must +have watched his chance, slipped in, stayed a few seconds, and then +slipped out again." + +They went carefully over the entire projectile, but could find no +further damage done. Nor were there any traces of the person who had so +nearly caused a tragedy. Washington and Andy, after a careful search +outside the shed, had to admit that they had no clews. + +"Well, the only thing to do is to go to work and build a new small +motor," announced Professor Roumann, after once more looking over the +_debris_ of the one that had exploded. + +"Will it take long?" asked Jack. + +"About two weeks. Fortunately, I can use some of the parts of this one, +or we would be delayed longer." + +"Still two weeks is quite a while," suggested Mark. "Perhaps there'll +be no diamonds left on the moon when we get there, Jack," and he smiled +jokingly. + +"Oh, I fancy there will. The article in the paper from Mars says there +was a whole field of them." + +"This brings up another matter," said Professor Henderson. "What will +happen if we bring back bushels and bushels of diamonds?--which, in +view of what the paper says, may be possible. We will swamp the market, +and the value of diamonds will drop." + +"Then we must not throw them upon the market," decided Professor +Roumann. "The scarcity of an article determines its value. If we do +find plenty of diamonds, it will give me a chance to conduct some +experiments I have long postponed because of a lack of the precious +stones. We can use them for laboratory purposes, and need not sell +them. In fact, with the Cardite we brought back from Mars, we have no +lack of money, so we really do not need the diamonds." + +It was decided, in view of the shock and upset caused by the explosion, +that no further work would be done that day, and so, after carefully +locking the shed, and posting Andy on guard with his gun, the boys and +the professor went into the house to discuss matters, and plan for work +the next day. + +"Mark," said Jack in a low voice, as they followed the two scientists, +"I think it's up to us to try to find that mysterious man who sent the +note. I think he did this mean trick!" + +"So do I, and we'll have a hunt for him. Let's go now." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ON THE TRACK + + +The two boys gazed after Professors Henderson and Roumann. The +scientists were deep in a discussion of various technical matters, +which discussion, it was evident, made them oblivious to everything +else. + +"Shall we ask them?" inquired Jack in a whisper. + +"No; what's the use?" queried Mark. "Let's go off by ourselves, and +perhaps we can discover something. If we could once get on the trail of +the man who wrote the note, I think we could put our hands on the +person responsible for the blowing up of the motor." + +"I agree with you. We won't bother them about our plans," and he waved +his hand toward the scientists, who had, by this time, entered the +house. + +"In the first place," said Mark, as he and his chum turned from the +yard, and walked along a quiet country road, "I think our best plan +will be to find Dick Johnson, and ask him just where it was he met the +man who gave him a quarter to bring the note to me." + +"What for?" asked Jack. + +"Why, then, we can tell where to start from. Perhaps Dick can give us a +description of the man, or tell from what direction he came. Then we'll +know how to begin on the trail." + +"That's a good idea, I guess. We know where he disappeared to, or, +rather, in nearly what direction, so that will help some." + +"Sure. Well, then, let's find Dick." + +To the inquiries of the two lads from the projectile, Dick Johnson +replied that, as he had asserted once before, that the man was a +stranger to him. + +"He was tall, and had a big black mustache," Dick described, "but he +kept his hat pulled down over his eyes, so I couldn't see his face very +well. Anyhow, it was dark when I met him." + +"Where did you meet him?" asked Mark. + +"Not far from your house. He was standing on the corner, where you turn +down to go to the woollen mill, and, as I passed him, he asked me if I +wanted to earn a quarter." + +"Of course you said you did," suggested Jack. + +"Sure," replied Dick. "Then he gave me the note, and told me where to +take it, and I did. That wasn't wrong, was it?" + +"No; only there seems to be something queer about the man, and we want +to find out what it is," replied Mark. + +"What was the man doing when you saw him?" asked Jack. + +"Standing, and sort of looking toward your house." + +"Looking toward our house?" repeated Jack. "Was he anywhere near the +big shed where we build the machines?" + +"Well, I couldn't say. Maybe he might have been." + +"I guess that's all you can tell us," put in Mark, with a glance at his +chum, to warn him not to go too much into details with Dick, for they +did not want it known that some enemy had tried to wreck the +projectile. + +"Yes, I can't tell you any more," admitted the small lad. + +"Well, here's a quarter for what you did tell us," said Jack, "and if +you see that man again, and he gives you a note for us, just keep your +eye on him, watch where he goes, and tell us. Then you will get a half- +dollar." + +"Gee! I'll be on the watch," promised Dick, his eyes shining at the +prospect of so much money. + +"Come on," suggested Jack to his chum, after the small chap had +departed. "Let's go down by the white bridge and make some inquiries of +people living in that vicinity. They may have seen a stranger hanging +around, and, perhaps we can get on his trail that way." + +"All right," agreed Mark, and they walked on together. + +They had gone quite a distance away from the bridge, and had made +several inquiries, but had met with no success, and they were about to +give up and go back home. + +"I know one person we haven't inquired of yet," said Mark, as they +tramped along. + +"Who's that?" + +"Old Bascomb, who lives alone in a shack on the edge of the creek. You +know the old codger who traps muskrats." + +"Oh, sure; but I don't believe he'd know anything. If he did, he's so +cranky he wouldn't tell you." + +"Maybe he would, if we gave him a little money for some smoking +tobacco. It's worth trying, anyhow. Bascomb goes around a great deal, +and he may have met a strange man in his travels." + +"Well, go ahead; we'll ask him." + +The muskrat trapper did not prove to be in a very pleasant frame of +mind, but, after Mark had given him a quarter, Bascomb consented to +answer a few questions. The boys told him about looking for a strange +man, describing him as best they could, though they did not tell why +they wanted to find him. + +"Wa'al, now, I shouldn't be surprised but what I know the very fellow +you want," said the trapper. "I met him a couple of days back, an' I +think he's still hanging around. Fust I thought he was after some of my +traps, but when I found he wa'ant, I didn't pay no more attention to +him. He looked jest like you say." + +"Where was he?" asked Jack eagerly. + +"Walkin' along the creek, sort of absent-minded like." + +"You don't know where he lives, or whether he is staying in this +vicinity, do you?" inquired Mark. + +"Ya'as, I think I do," replied the trapper. + +"Where?" cried Jack eagerly. + +"Wa'al, you know the old Preakness homestead, down by the bend of the +creek, about four mile below here?" + +"Sure we know it," answered Mark. "We used to go in swimming not far +from there." + +"Wa'al, the old house has been deserted now for quite a spell," went on +the trapper, "and there ain't nobody lived in it but tramps. But the +other night, when I was comin' past, with a lot of rats I'd jest taken +out of my traps, I see a light in the old house. Thinks I, to myself, +that there's more tramps snoozin' in there, and I didn't reckon it was +none of my business, so I kept on. But jest as I was walking past the +main gate, some one come out of the house and hurried away. I had a +good look at him, an'----" + +"Who was it?" asked Mark impatiently, for the old trapper was a slow +talker. + +"It was the same man you're lookin' for," declared Bascomb. "I'm sure +of it, an' he's hangin' out in the old Preakness house. If you want t' +see him, why don't you go there?" + +"We will!" cried Jack. "Come on, Mark. I think we're on the trail at +last." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MARK IS CAPTURED + + +Eagerly the boys hurried forward, intent on making the best time +possible to the old Preakness homestead, which was a landmark for miles +around, and which, in its day, had been a handsome house and estate. +Now it was fallen into ruins, for there was a dispute among the heirs, +and the property was in the Chancery Court. + +"Do you think we'll find him there?" asked Mark, as they made their way +along the dusty highway. "Hard to tell. Yet, if he's hanging out in +this neighborhood, that would be as good a place as any, for him to +hide in." + +"I wonder who he can be, anyhow? And how he knows me?" + +"Give it up. Evidently he isn't a tramp, though he stays in a place +where there are plenty of the Knights of the Road." + +The boys increased their pace, and were soon on the main road leading +to the Preakness house, and about a mile away from it. "We'll soon be +there now," remarked Jack. "Then we'll see if we can find that man." + +As he spoke, the lad put his hand in his pocket, and, a moment later, +he uttered a startled cry. + +"What's the matter?" asked Mark, in some alarm. + +"Matter? Why, gee whiz! If I haven't forgotten to send that telegram +Professor Henderson gave me! It's to order some special tools to take +along on our trip to the moon. They didn't come, and the professor +wrote out a message urging the factory to hurry the shipment. He gave +it to me to send, just before the accident to the motor, but when that +happened it knocked it out of my mind, I guess. I stuck the telegram in +my pocket, and here it is yet," and Jack drew forth a crumpled paper. +"Wouldn't that make you tired?" he asked. "It's important, and ought to +go at once. The professor won't like it." + +"I'll tell you what to do," suggested Mark, after a moment's thought. +"The telegraph office isn't so far away from here. You can cut across +lots, and be there in fifteen or twenty minutes. Tell 'em to rush the +message, and it may be in time yet. Anyhow, we're going to be delayed +because of the accident to the motor, so it won't make so much +difference. But come on, let's start, and we can hurry back." + +"I guess that's the best plan," remarked Jack dubiously, for he did not +fancy a half-hour's tramp across the fields and back again. Then, as he +thought of something else, he called out: + +"Say, Mark, there's no use of both of us going to the telegraph office. +I'll go alone, as it's my fault, and you can stay here, and watch to +see if that strange man appears on the scene. I'll not be long, and you +can wait for me here." + +"How would it be if I went on a little nearer to the Preakness house?" +asked Mark. "I can meet you there just as well as here, and something +may develop." + +"Good idea! You go on, and when I come back, I'll take the road that +leads through the old slate quarry, and save some time that way. I'll +meet you right near the old barn that stands on the Gilbert property, +just before you reach the Preakness grounds." + +"All right; I'll be there, but don't run your legs off. We're out for +all day, and there isn't anything that needs to be done at home, or +around the projectile, so take your time." + +"Oh, I'll not go to sleep," declared Jack. "I want to see if we can't +solve the mystery of the man who writes such queer notes." + +Jack started off across the fields at a swift pace, while Mark strolled +on down the road, in the direction of the old Preakness house. He was +thinking of many things, chiefly of the wonderful journey that lay +before them, and he was wondering what the moon would look like when +they got to it. + +That it would be a wild, desolate place, he had no doubt, for the +evidences of the telescopes of astronomers pointed that way, and, as is +well known, the most powerful instruments can now bring the moon to +within an apparent distance of one hundred miles of the earth. This is +true of the Lick telescope, which has a magnifying power of 2,500 and +an object lens a yard across. + +But, with this powerful telescope, it has been impossible to +distinguish any such objects as forests, cities, or any evidences of +life on the moon--that is, on the side that has always been turned +toward us. + +Almost unconsciously, Mark went on faster than he intended, and, before +he knew it, he had arrived at the barn where he had promised to wait +for his chum. Mark looked at his watch, and found that he would still +have some time to linger before he could expect Jack to return. He sat +down on a stone beside the fence, and looked about him. The day was +warm for fall, and the last of the crickets were chirping away, while, +in distant fields, men could be seen husking corn, or drawing in loads +of yellow pumpkins. + +"I wonder if we'll have pumpkin pie on the moon," thought Mark. +"Though, of course, we won't. I guess all we'll have to eat will be +what Washington takes along in the projectile--that is, unless we find +people on the other side of the place." + +He sat on the stone for some minutes longer, and then, tiring of the +inactivity, he arose and strolled about. Something seemed to draw him +in the direction of the old house, which he knew was just around the +bend in the road. + +"I guess there wouldn't be any harm in my going along and taking a peep +at it," mused the lad. "It will be some time before Jack returns, and I +may be able to catch a glimpse of our man. I think I'll go up where I +can see the place, and I can come back in time to meet Jack. I'll do +it. Maybe the fellow might escape while I'm waiting." + +Mark thus tried to justify himself for his action in not keeping to his +agreement with his chum. Of course it was not an important matter, Mark +thought, though the results of his simple action were destined to be +more far-reaching than he imagined. He thought he would be back in time +to meet Jack, and so he strolled on, going more cautiously now, for, in +a few minutes he would come in sight of the old, deserted house, and he +did not know what he might find there. + +Mark's first sight of the Preakness homestead was of two old stone +posts, that had once formed a fine gateway. The posts were in ruins, +now, and half fallen down, being covered with Virginia creeper, the +leaves of which were now a vivid red, mingled with green. + +"Nothing very alarming there," said Mark, half aloud. He could just +catch a glimpse of the roof of the house over the tops of the trees, +which had not yet shed all their leaves. "Guess I'll go on a little +farther. Maybe our friend, the enemy, is sitting on the front porch, +sunning himself." + +Past the old gateway Mark continued, intending to proceed along the +highway until he got directly in front of the old mansion. There, he +knew, he would have a good view, unobstructed by trees or shrubbery. + +When the lad got to this place in the road, he paused, and stooped +over, as if tying the lace of his shoe, for it was his intention to +pass himself off, if possible, as a casual passer-by, so that in case +the mysterious man should be in the house, his suspicions would not be +aroused by seeing the youth to whom he had written the note staring in +at him. + +And, while he was apparently fussing with his shoe, Mark was narrowly +eying the old house. + +"Not a very inviting place," thought Mark. "I don't see why any man who +could afford anything better, would stay there--unless he has some +strong motive for lingering in this section. And that's probably what +this fellow has, and I'd like to discover it. Well, I don't see any +signs of him, so I guess I might as well go back, and wait for Jack. +He'll be along soon." + +He stood up, took a good look at the house, and was about to retrace +his steps down the highway, when he saw the sagging front door of the +old mansion slowly open. It creaked on the rusty hinges, and Mark +stared with all his might as he saw a man emerge, a man who did not +look like a tramp, for his clothes were of good material and cut, and +fit him well. Nor did he wear a stubbly growth of beard, but, on the +contrary, his face was clean shaven. The man was about Mark's size, +perhaps a little taller, and nearly as stout. He stood on the sagging +porch, and gazed off toward the road. + +"Well, if that's the man Dick Johnson got the note from he's changed +mightily in appearance," thought Mark, as he looked at the fellow. "He +isn't very tall, and he hasn't any black mustache. But of course he may +have shaved that off, and I suppose in the dark, and when one is in a +hurry to earn a quarter, it's hard to say whether a man is tall or +short. I wonder if this can be the person we're looking for?" + +Mark hardly knew what to do. He stood in the road, undecided, and +fairly stared at the man, who had left the porch, and was walking down +the weed-grown path. He was looking straight at Mark, but if the +stranger was the person who had written the note, and if he recognized +the lad, he gave no sign to that effect. + +"Good afternoon," said the man, as he paused at the gap in the front +wall, where once a gate had been. "Pleasant day, isn't it." + +"Ye--yes," stammered Mark, wondering what to say next. + +"Live around here?" went on the man. + +"Not very far off." + +"Ah, then you know this old shack?" + +"Well, I don't get over here, very often. Do you live here?" ventured +Mark boldly, determining to do some questioning on his own account. + +"Me live here?" cried the man, as if indignant "Well, hardly! I was +just passing, and, happening to see the old place, and having a +fondness for antiques, I stepped in. But it is in bad shape. I should +say tramps make it their hangout." + +"It has that name," said Mark. + +There was a pause for a moment, and the lad was a trifle embarrassed. +The man was gazing boldly at him. + +"I guess I've made a mistake," thought Mark. "This can't be the man we +want. He doesn't live here, and he doesn't look like him. I'd better be +getting back to meet Jack." + +"Are you engaged at anything in particular?" questioned the man taking +a few steps nearer the youth. + +"No, I'm not working, but I expect to take a trip, shortly, with some +friends of mine," answered Mark. + +"Ah, is that so?" and there was polite inquiry in the man's voice. "Are +you going far?" + +"Quite a distance." Mark wondered what the man would say if he told him +he was going to the moon. + +"I wonder if you would do me a favor?" went on the man. "As I was +passing through this old house I saw, on one of the outer doors, an +old-fashioned knocker. I am a collector of antiques, and I would very +much like to have that. But I need help in getting it off. I do not +intend to steal it, but if it is left here some tramp may destroy it, +and that would be too bad. I intend to remove it, and then hunt up the +owners of this place, and purchase it from them." + +"It will be hard to discover who are the owners," replied Mark, "as the +title is in dispute." + +"So much the better for me. Will you help me remove the knocker? I will +pay you for your time." + +Mark hesitated. He did not like the man's manner, and there was a +shifty, uneasy look about his eyes. Still he might be all right. But +Mark did not like the idea of going into the old house with him alone. +It might be safe, and, again, it might not. But the knocker was on an +outside door. There could be no harm in helping him, as long as it was +outside. The man saw the hesitation in the lad's manner. + +"It will not take us long," the stranger said. "I want you to help me +pry off the knocker, as I have no screw-driver to remove it. I will pay +you well." + +As he spoke he came nearer to Mark, and the lad noticed that the man's +right hand was held behind his back. This struck Mark as rather +suspicious. Suddenly he became aware of a peculiar odor in the air--a +sweet, sickish odor. He started back in alarm, all his former +suspicions aroused. The man seemed to leap toward him. + +"Look out!" suddenly cried the fellow. "Look behind you!" + +Involuntarily Mark turned. He saw nothing alarming. The next instant he +felt himself grasped in the strong arms of the man, and a cloth that +smelled strongly of the strange, sweetly sickish odor was pressed over +the lad's face. + +"Here! Stop! Let me go! Help! Help!" cried Mark. Then his voice died +out. He felt weak and sick, and sank back, an inert mass in the man's +arms. + +"I guess I've got you this time," whispered the fellow, as he gazed +down on Mark's white face. "I'll put you where you won't get away, +either," and, picking up the youth, he carried him a prisoner into the +deserted house. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +JACK IS PUZZLED + + +Whistling merrily, with his mind as much on the big field of diamonds +he expected to discover on the moon, as it was on anything else, Jack +Darrow crossed over the meadows toward the telegraph office. + +"By Jinks! It certainly will be great to fly through space once more," +he mused. "Of course it isn't much of a trip, only a quarter of a +million miles at most, but it will be a little outing for us, and then +those diamonds!" + +A trip of a quarter of a million miles only a little outing! But then +what can be expected of lads who had gone to Mars and back again? + +Jack lost no time in reaching the telegraph office, where he left the +message to be sent, urging the operator to "rush" it, which that +official promised to do. + +"'Twon't be no great hardship on me, neither," he said with a cheerful +grin, "seein' as how this is the only one I've had to send to-day. I'll +get it right off for you, Jack." + +Jack meant to hurry back, but, just as he was turning out of the main +village street, to cut across lots, and join Mark at the place agreed +upon, Jack saw two dogs fighting. It was with the best intentions in +the world that he ran toward them, for he wanted to separate them. +However a man was ahead of him, and soon had the two beasts apart. But +Jack lingered several moments to see if there would be a renewal of the +hostilities. There wasn't, and he hurried on. In a short time he was +within sight of the barn, where his chum had agreed to meet him. + +"Mark!" cried Jack, when he came within hailing distance. + +There was no response. + +"Maybe he's hiding to fool me," thought the lad, "I'll give him another +call." + +Neither was there a reply to this shout, and Jack, with a vague feeling +of fear in his heart, hurried forward, climbed the fence that separated +the field from the highway, and fairly ran toward the barn. + +A glance sufficed to show that Mark was not in sight, and, thinking +that his chum might be on the other side, Jack went around the +structure. + +"Oh, you Mark!" he called. "I'm back! Let's get a move on and go to the +old house." + +Silence was the only answer. + +"That's queer," murmured Jack, when he had made a circuit of the place, +and had seen no sight of his friend. "I wonder if anything could have +happened to him? Perhaps he went inside, and has fallen down the hay +mow. I'll take a look." + +He made a thorough inspection of the ramshackle old structure, but +there was no evidence that Mark had entered it, and Jack was soon quite +assured that no harm had befallen his friend in there. Then a sudden +thought came to him. + +"Why, of course!" he exclaimed aloud. "I should have thought of that +before. Mark got tired of waiting, and went on to the Preakness house. +I might have known. I'll go on and catch up to him there." + +Jack had reasoned correctly, but he could not know, what had taken +place with only the old, grim, deserted mansion for a witness. With a +lighter heart he set off down the road. + +It did not take him long, at the pace he kept up, to come within sight +of the old gateway, with the creeper twining over the pillars. Then he +caught a glimpse of the house, and he at once slackened his footsteps. + +"No use rushing into this thing," he reasoned in a whisper. "Mark may +be in hiding, taking an observation of the mysterious man, and I don't +want to spoil it, by butting in. Guess I'll lie low for a while, and +see what develops." + +Crouching down beside some bushes that lined the roadway Jack looked +toward the silent, tumbled-down house and waited. All was still. +Occasionally a shutter flapped in the wind, the hinges creaking +dismally, or some of the loose window-panes rattled as the sash was +blown to and fro. It was not a pleasant aspect, and as the afternoon +was waning, and the sun was going down, while a cool wind sprang up, +Jack was anything but comfortable in his place of observation. + +And the one objection to it was that there was nothing to observe. Not +a sign of life was to be seen about the place, and the broken windows, +like so many unblinking eyes, stared out on the fields and road. + +"Oh pshaw!" exclaimed Jack at length, "I'm not going to sit here this +way! I'm going up and take a look. It can't bite me, and if that man's +in there I can give him some sort of a talk that will make it look all +right. I'm going closer. Maybe Mark's inside there, waiting for me, +though it's queer why he didn't keep his agreement and wait for me at +the barn. Well, here goes." + +Though he spoke bravely, it was not without a little feeling of +apprehension that Jack started toward the old mansion. He kept a close +watch for the advent of any person or persons who might be in the +house, but, when he reached the front porch, and had seen no one, he +felt more at ease. + +"Hello, Mark!" he cried boldly. "Are you inside?" + +He paused for an answer. None came. + +"This is getting rather strange," murmured Jack, who was now quite +puzzled as to what to make of the whole matter. "Mark must be here, yet +why doesn't he answer me? Oh, you Mark!" he shouted at the top of his +voice. + +There was only silence, and, after waiting a few moments Jack made up +his mind that the best plan would be to enter the house and look +around. + +He made a hasty search through the lower rooms, but saw no sign of +Mark. It was the same upstairs, and on the third floor there was no +evidence of his chum. Jack called again, but got no reply. + +"The garret next, and then the cellar," he told himself, and these two +places, darker and more dismal than any other parts of the old mansion, +were soon explored. + +"Well, if Mark came here he's not here now," thought Jack, "and there's +no use in my staying any longer. Maybe something happened that he had +to go back home. Perhaps he's trailing the man. We should have made up +some plan to be followed in case anything like that happened." + +Deciding that the best thing he could do would be to go back home Jack +came out of the old house. As he did so he gave a final call: + +"Mark! Oh, you Mark! Are you anywhere about?" + +What was that? Was it an answer, or merely the echo of his own voice? +Jack started, and then, as he heard another sound, he said: + +"Only the wind squeaking a shutter. Mark isn't here." + +If Jack had only known! + +Through the quickly-gathering darkness Jack turned his steps toward +home. On the way along the country road he kept a sharp lookout for any +sign of his chum, and, also, he looked to see if he could catch a +glimpse of any person who might answer the description of the man they +suspected of tampering with the Cardite motor. + +But the road was deserted, save for an occasional farmer urging his +horses along, that be might the more quickly get home to supper. + +"It's mighty strange," mused Jack, as he kept on. "I don't think Mark +did just right, and yet, perhaps, when it's all explained, he may have +good reasons for what he did. Maybe I'm wrong to worry about him, and, +just as likely as not, he's safe home, wondering what kept me. But he +might have known that I'd come back to the barn where I said I'd meet +him. Of course that dog-fight delayed me a little, but not much." + +It was quite dark when Jack reached the house where he and his chum +lived with the two professors. There was a cheerful light glowing from +many windows, and Jack also noticed an illumination in the shed where +the projectile was housed. + +"Guess they're working on it, to get it in shape for the trip, sooner +than they expected," he mused. + +Jack was met at the door by Washington White. + +"Hello, Wash!" greeted the lad. + +"Good land a' massy! Where hab yo' been transmigatorying yo'se'f during +de period when the conglomeration of carbohydrates and protoids hab +been projected on to de interplanetary plane ob de rectangle?" + +"Do you mean where have I been while supper was getting ready?" asked +Jack. + +"Dat's 'zackly what I means, Massa Jack." + +"Then why don't you say it?" + +"I done did. Dat's what I done. Supper's cold. But where am Massa +Mark?" + +"What! Isn't Mark home?" cried Jack, starting back in alarm. + +"No, Massa Jack, we ain't seed him sence yo' two went off togedder. +Where yo' all been?" + +"Mark not home!" gasped Mark. "Where is Professor Henderson, Wash? I +must speak to him at once." + +"He am out in de shed wif Massa Roumann." + +With fear in his heart Jack dashed out toward the big shed. + +"Ain't yo' goin' t' hab some supper?" called Washington. + +"I don't want any supper--yet," flung back Jack over his shoulder. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A DARING PLOT + + +Mark Sampson lay an inert mass in the arms of the man who had attacked +him. Through the sagging door of the old, deserted house the captive +lad was carried, and up creaking stairs. + +"I guess no one saw me," whispered the man. "I'm safe, so far, and I +can work my scheme to perfection. Everything turned out well for me. I +was just wondering how I could get this youth in my power, and he +fairly walked into my hands! Now to keep him safe until I can take his +place in the projectile, and have my revenge. I have waited a long time +for it, but it has come at last!" + +Pausing at the head of the creaking stairs the man looked behind him, +to make sure that he was not being followed, but not a sound broke the +stillness of the old house, save the rattle and bang of the ruined +shutters. + +"I'm safe! Safe!" exulted the man, with a cruel chuckle. "Now to bind +him, and hide him in the secret chamber." + +He laid Mark down on a pile of bagging in a corner of a room at the +head of the stairs. Then, still glancing behind him, as if fearful of +being observed, the man walked over to a mantlepiece, fumbled about a +bit of carving that adorned the centre, and pressed on a certain spot. +A moment later the mantle seemed to swing out, and there was revealed a +secret room, the existence of which would never have been suspected by +the casual observer. + +Taking some of the bags from the pile where the unconscious lad was, +the man made a rude bed in the secret room. Then he carried Mark in, +and placed him in a fairly comfortable position, first taking the +precaution, however, of binding his hands and feet. + +"There," whispered the man, when he had finished, "I guess you'll not +get away in a hurry. Now I'll wait until dark, and then I'll give you +something to eat, for I don't want you to starve. But I must keep in +hiding, for, very likely, there'll be a search made for him. Guess I'd +better stay here, and see what happens," and the mysterious man pressed +the spring that sent the mantle back into place again, hiding all +traces of the secret room. + +"It's a good thing I stumbled upon this hiding place," he said to +himself. "It couldn't be better for what I want. Now to see what +happens next." + +He did not have long to wait, for in a short time Jack, as we have +seen, appeared on the scene, and began his search. At the sound of his +voice, calling for Mark, the man started in his hiding place, and +glanced uneasily at Mark. + +"He may hear, and wake up," he whispered. + +Jack came upstairs in the deserted house, and continued his search +there, calling from time to time. He gave one loud shout at the head of +the stairs, and the very thing that the man feared would happen came to +pass. + +The effect of the drug having worn off, Mark stirred uneasily, and +started up. He heard Jack's cry, and uttered a half-articulate answer. +In an instant the man was at his side, and had quickly gagged him. This +had the further effect of awakening the unfortunate lad; and he +struggled to loosen his bonds, but they were too strongly tied. He +endeavored to answer Jack, but only a meaningless mumble resulted, for +the gag was effective. + +"All you have to do is to keep quiet," urged the man, as he knelt +beside Mark in the darkness. "As soon as your chum goes, I'll take that +thing out of your mouth, and give you something to eat." + +Jack's voice died away, and presently, as the ears of the man told him, +the boy left the old house. Waiting some time, to make sure that he +would not return, the man removed the knot of rags from Mark's mouth, +and slightly loosened his bonds, first warning him, however, that if he +attempted to escape he would be harshly dealt with. + +"But what right have you to keep me here?" demanded the youth. "Who are +you, and what have I done to you, that you should treat me this way? +Are you crazy? Don't you know that you are liable to arrest for this?" + +"No one can arrest me," boasted the fellow. + +"But why have you made me a prisoner?" demanded Mark. + +"For reasons of my own. You'll see very soon." + +"But what have I done to you?" persisted the lad. "I never saw you +before, that I know of, unless you are the man who sent me the note, +and who ran when my chum and I came to the bridge to meet you." + +"I'm the man," was the answer, with a chuckle. + +"Then you must be the one who tried to wreck our projectile," went on +Mark. + +"Yes, I did that, and now I am sorry for it, for I have thought of a +much better scheme for getting even, and having my revenge on you." + +"But why do you want to be revenged on us?" + +"Because of what you have done!" and the man's voice took on an ugly +tone. + +"But what did we do?" begged Mark. + +"You'll know soon enough," was the answer, with a cunning laugh, and +then Mark was sure he had to deal with a lunatic. He ceased his +struggles to loosen the bonds, and resolved to meet cunning with +cunning. He would bide his time. + +"Will you promise to be quiet, and not kick up a fuss if I get you +something to eat?" asked the man. + +"Yes; but I'd rather have a drink of water first. I feel sick." + +"Very well, you shall have some water. I'll have to go out and get it, +but I must first blindfold you, so that you will not discover the +secret of this room." + +Mark could not help himself, for he was bound, and when the man had +tied a handkerchief over his eyes, Mark heard his captor moving about. + +Next there came a sound as of some heavy body, or object, being pushed +across the room. Mark felt a draught of wind on his face, but it ceased +instantly, and he knew that he was alone. He tried to work the bandage +from over his eyes, and he endeavored to loosen his bonds, for he did +not consider that this violated his promise. But it was of no effect. + +Presently he heard the moving, shoving sound again, and once more felt +the wind on his face. Then he heard the voice of his captor speaking. + +"Here is food and drink. I'm going to untie your hands so you can eat, +but mind, no fighting, for I'm a desperate man, and I won't stand any +nonsense!" + +He fumbled about the bonds, and soon Mark was free to stand up and use +his hands. The bandage was taken from his eyes, and he was able to peer +about his prison by the light of a candle which his captor had brought. + +Mark's first glance was at the man. He was the same one who had emerged +from the house to attack and drug him, but as for recognizing in him +the person who had been at the bridge, this was impossible. As far as +Mark could tell he had never seen the man before, nor did he answer the +description given by Dick Johnson. + +There was little danger that Mark would attempt violence. He was too +weak, and his jailer seemed a powerful fellow. Then, too, the lad felt +ill from the effects of the drug. + +"Drink some water, and eat a bit, and you'll feel better," urged the +man, which advice Mark followed, though, his appetite was not of the +best, and he was much worried as to what his friends would think about +his strange disappearance. + +"What do you intend to do with me?" asked Mark, when he felt a little +better from the effects of the food and drink. The man had sat on an +old soap box, and watched his captive while he ate. + +"Do with you? Why, I'm going to keep you here until your friends have +left in the projectile," was the answer. + +"But why don't you want me to go with them?" + +"Oh, I have my reasons. You'll find out soon enough. You can't go, +that's all." + +"But why do you take such an interest in me? Why didn't you capture my +chum Jack, too, while you were about it?" + +"Two reasons. One was that Jack wouldn't answer my purpose, and the +other was that I didn't have a chance to get him. You walked right into +my trap, just when I was doing my best to think of another plan to get +hold of you, since my first one failed." + +"But what is your purpose?" insisted the lad. "What do you want with +me?" He thought perhaps if he questioned the man closely enough he +might discover something that would give him a clew, or might aid him +to escape. + +"You'll learn soon enough," was the answer. + +"Will you tell me your name?" asked Marie quietly. + +"No--why should I?" was the quick reply. "If I told you who I was you +would at once know why I have made you a captive here. No; you shall +hear all in good time, but that will not be until I am ready. + +"Now," went on his captor, after a period of silence, "I shall have to +bind and blindfold you again." + +"Why?" asked Mark, in some alarm. + +"Because I don't want you to see how I get in and out of this room, and +that's the only way I can guard my secret. Though if you promise not to +remove the bandage from your eyes within five minutes from the time I +leave you, I will not have to tie your hands and feet. After I am gone +you may take the handkerchief off, but when you hear me rap on the +wall, ready to come back again, you must once more blindfold yourself. +Otherwise I shall have to tie you up." + +Mark considered a moment. It was not pleasant to be tied with the cruel +ropes, and he felt that in time he could penetrate the mystery of how +the room opened, even if he did not see his jailer enter and leave. + +"I promise," he said finally. + +"That's good. It simplifies matters. Now you can blindfold yourself, +and I trust to your honor. You may remove the bandage in five minutes, +but when you hear me knock, you must replace it until I am in the +apartment. Then you can take it off again." + +There was little choice but to obey, and Mark tied the handkerchief +over his eyes. He listened intently, heard the man moving about the +room, felt the wind on his cheeks, and then came silence. + +He waited until he thought five minutes had passed, and then took off +the bandage. The candle was burning where the man had set it, but the +fellow himself was gone. He had taken with him the broken dishes, and +remains of the food Mark had not eaten. The glass and a pitcher of +water stood on a broken table, and Mark took a big drink. + +"Now to see if I can't get out of this place," he murmured to himself. + +Mark had invented many pieces of apparatus, and he was considered a +good mechanician. Consequently he went about his task in a systematic +manner. He examined the walls carefully by the candle, which he carried +in his hand, but no opening was apparent. + +"Of course, there must be some secret spring to press," said the lad. +"That's how he gets in and out. A section of the wall moves, but where +it is I can't see. It will take time. I must look at every inch." + +He was in the midst of his investigations when there sounded on the +wall back of him three raps. + +"Ha! At least, that tells me where the opening is," thought the lad. +"It's on that side, but now I have to put that blamed bandage on. Well, +I may be able to escape yet." + +True to his promise, he blindfolded himself well, and presently he +heard a noise, felt a draught of air, and he knew his captor was in the +room. + +"You can now take off the handkerchief," said the man. "I have brought +you some more bags for bed clothing. It isn't much, but it is all I +have. They will keep you warm tonight." + +"Are you going to imprison me over night?" asked Mark. + +"Yes, and I'll stay here with you. No one can find us here. The secret +room is well hidden. But first I have another matter that needs +attention. I am going to ask you a question." + +"What?" asked the captive, wondering what strange request the mentally +unbalanced man would make now. + +The man leaned forward and whispered something in Mark's ear, as if he +was afraid the very walls would hear. + +"I'll not do it!" cried the youth. "I'll never aid you to deceive my +friends, for that is your object. I'll never do it!" + +"Then I shall have to use force," was the determined response. "You may +take your choice!" + +Poor Mark did not know what to do, yet there was little he could choose +between. The man had him in his power, yet the lad was terribly afraid +of the result of the daring scheme which he knew was in the mind of the +lunatic, for such he believed the man to be. + +"Will you not give up this plan?" begged Mark. "I know Professor +Henderson will pay you any sum in reason to let me go. You can become a +rich man." + +"I don't want riches--I want revenge!" exclaimed the man. And he glared +at Mark, while throughout the dismal, deserted house there sounded the +rattle and bang of the flapping shutters. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MARK'S STRANGE ACTIONS + + +Jack Darrow fairly burst into the big shed where the two scientists +were at work over the ruined motor. They looked up at his excitable +entrance, and Mr. Henderson called out: + +"Why, Jack, what's the matter?" + +"Quite a lot, I'm afraid," answered the lad, and there was that in his +voice which alarmed the professors. + +"What do you mean?" inquired Mr. Roumann, laying aside some of the +damaged motor plates. + +"Mark's gone!" gasped Jack. + +"Gone! Where?" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. + +"I don't know, but he went to the deserted house, where we thought the +mysterious man was hiding, and since then I can't find him." + +Then the frightened lad proceeded to explain what he and Mark had +undertaken, and the outcome of it; how his chum had failed to meet him +at the rendezvous, and how Jack had searched through the old house +without result. + +"There's but one thing to do," declared Professor Henderson, when he +had listened to the story. "We must go back there and make a more +thorough search." + +"What--to-night?" exclaimed the German. + +"Surely. Why not? We can't leave Mark there all alone. He may be hurt, +or in trouble." + +"That's what I think," said Jack. "I'll tell Washington and Andy, and +we'll go back and hunt for him. Poor Mark! If he had only waited for +me, perhaps this would never have happened, and if I hadn't stopped at +the dog-fight maybe Mark would have waited for me. Well, it's too late +to worry about that now. The thing is to find him; and I guess we can." + +Jack would not stop longer than to snatch a hasty bite of supper before +he joined the searching party. Washington and he carried lanterns, +while Andy Sudds had his trusty rifle, and the two professors brought +up in the rear, armed with stout clubs, for Jack's account of the +affair made them think that perhaps they might have to deal with a +violent man. + +"Hadn't you better notify the police?" suggested Andy. "A couple of +constables would be some help." + +"Not very much," declared Jack. "Besides, there are only two in +Bayside, and it's hard to locate either one when you want them. I guess +we can manage alone." + +"Yes, I would rather not notify the police if it can be avoided," said +Professor Henderson. + +The searching party hurried along the country highway, which was now +deserted, as it was quite dark. Their lanterns flashed from side to +side, but they had no hope of getting any trace of Mark until they came +to the old barn, at least, though Jack wished several times that he +might meet his chum running toward them along the road. + +They reached the barn in due course, and while Washington, Jack and +Andy began a search of it, the two scientists went up to the house of +the man who owned it and enlisted his aid. They asked him if he had +seen Mark around that afternoon, but the farmer had not. + +"But me an' my hired man'll come out and help you hunt through the +barn," he said. "I remember once, when I was a lad, that my brother +fell off the hay mow and lay unconscious in a manger for five hours +before we found him. Maybe that's what's happened to this young man," +suggested Mr. Hampton, which was the farmer's name. + +"I looked around pretty well this afternoon," explained Jack, when the +farmer and his man had reached the barn, "but, of course, I didn't know +all the nooks and corners." + +A thorough search of the structure, however, failed to reveal the +presence of Mark, and then the farmer volunteered to accompany the +party on to the old Preakness house. His offer was received with +thanks, and, bringing two more lanterns with them, Mr. Hampton and his +man added considerable to the illumination. + +They went through the old mansion from garret to cellar, and called +repeatedly, but there was no answer. And good reason, for in the secret +room, with his captive, the mysterious man heard the first approach of +the searching party; and he quickly bound Mark and gagged him, so that +he could not answer. + +There was nothing to do but to leave, and it was with sad hearts that +Jack and his friends departed, their search having been unavailing. +They turned toward home, which they reached quite late, but found +nothing disturbed. + +No one in Professor Henderson's house slept much that night, and in the +morning pale and wan faces looked at each other, all asking the same +question: "Where is Mark?" + +But no one could answer. + +They talked over the matter, and decided that Jack, with Andy and +Washington, should form a searching party to scour the surrounding +country. The two scientists were too old for such work, and, as the aid +of the police was not desired, it was felt that the three could do all +that was necessary. + +Accordingly, while Professor Henderson and his German friend went to +work on the damaged motor, which did not need as much repairing as at +first was thought to put it in working shape again, Jack and the two +men started off to hunt for Mark. + +They were gone all that day, returning very much discouraged at dusk, +saying that they could get no trace of him. + +"I don't see where he can be!" exclaimed Jack desperately, for, though +the two lads were not related, they had been friends so long, and had +shared so many pleasures and dangers together, that they were like +brothers. "You won't start for the moon until you find him, will you, +Professor?" asked Jack. + +"No, indeed; though we could start to-morrow if he was here," replied +the aged scientist. "The special tools came to-day, and the motor has +been repaired. We have tested it, and the Cardite power works even +better than did the Etherium apparatus." + +"Then we can start as soon as Mark is found?" asked Andy Sudds. + +"Yes, for everything has been put inside the projectile, and all that +remains is to haul it out of the shed, point it at the moon, and start +the motor." + +"Then I guess I'll give my gun a final cleaning, and get ready. There +may be good hunting on the moon," said the old hunter. + +Jack was tired from his long tramp that day, searching for his missing +chum, but before he went to bed he wanted to go out and take a look at +the big projectile, which was now ready to start for the moon. + +As he turned around the corner of the immense shed to enter the door, +he was startled by seeing a figure coming toward him. Jack started, +rubbed his eyes, and peered again. + +"Is it possible? Can I be mistaken?" he whispered. + +The figure came nearer. Jack, who had come to a halt, broke into a run. + +"Mark! Mark!" he cried joyously. "Oh, you've come back! Where have you +been?" + +Jack was about to clasp his chum in his arms when he saw that Mark's +arm was in a sling, and that his face was all bandaged up, so that +scarcely any of his features showed. Had it not been for the clothes, +and a certain stoutness of which Mark never could seem to get rid, Jack +would scarcely have known his friend. + +"Why, Mark, what happened?" cried Jack. "Have you met with an accident? +Where have you been? In a hospital? What became of you? Why didn't you +wait for me?" + +"I can't answer all those questions at once," was the reply, and Jack +thought Mark's voice was curiously muffled and hoarse, entirely unlike +his usual tones. But he ascribed that to the bandages around the mouth. + +"Well, answer one at a time then," said Jack, and there was an +undefinable, strange air about his chum which cooled Jack's first +impulse of gladness. "Whatever happened to you, Mark? Are you hurt?" + +"I was--yes," came the reply, in short, jerky tones. "I had an +accident, and I've been in a hospital. That's why I couldn't send you +word. But I'm all right now. When does the projectile start?" + +"To-morrow, now that you're here. But tell me more about it. Where were +you hurt?" + +"On my head and arm." + +"No; I mean where did the accident occur?" + +"Oh, in the old house where I went to--to look for that man." + +"Did you find him?" asked Jack eagerly. + +"No. He's not there now." + +"Well, never mind. We won't bother about him. Come on to the house. My, +but I'm glad to see you again! And so will the others be." + +In his enthusiasm at seeing his chum again Jack wanted to hug him. He +approached Mark, but the latter cried out: + +"Look out! Don't come too close!" + +"Why not? Have you caught some disease?" + +"No, but you might hurt my broken arm!" + +"Oh, is it broken? That's tough luck. Did you fall?" + +"Yes--in the old house. I fell down stairs." + +"And your head is all bandaged up, too," went on Jack, trying to peer +into his friend's face through the roll of bandages. + +"Look out! Don't come too near!" again warned the other. "You might +jostle against me, and knock off some of the bandages." + +"Did you lose some of your teeth, the reason your voice sounds so +funny?" asked Jack. + +"Yes, I did knock out a few when I tumbled. But don't bother about me. +I'll be all right soon. Let's go in the house. I want to go to bed." + +"But they'll all want to see you, and hear about the accident, Mark," +insisted Jack. "My, but we've been all worked up about you. How did you +happen to be taken to a hospital?" + +"A farmer came along, and I hailed him. Then I lost consciousness, and +couldn't let you know where I was. But never mind the details. I'm +anxious to get started on the trip to the moon. Couldn't we start +to-night?" + +"I don't believe so. You need rest. But come on in the house." Then +Jack hurried on ahead, calling: "Mark's found! Mark is back!" + +His cries brought all of the others out on the porch, and at first they +could scarcely believe the good news, but soon Jack and the new arrival +came in sight. As Jack had been, the two professors and the others were +startled when they saw how Mark was bundled up in bandages. + +"He fell down stairs," explained Jack. + +"Come over here where it's light, so I can see you," suggested +Professor Henderson. "Perhaps some of the bandages have slipped off +since you came from the hospital. Why did you come alone? Why didn't +you send us word where you were as soon as you were conscious, and we +would have come for you." + +"Oh, I didn't want to bother you," explained the bundled-up figure. "I +managed to walk it all right." + +"But your injuries may need attention," insisted Mr. Henderson. "I know +something about doctoring. Come here where I can see." + +"No--no--the--light hurts my eyes," was the hasty reply. "I guess I'll +go to bed, so as to be all ready to start in the morning. Why don't you +leave for the moon to-night, professor?" + +"There are still a few little details to look after. But are you sure +you are well enough to go with us? We may meet with hardships up on the +moon." + +"Oh, I'm all ready to go," was the answer. "I'd start to-night if I +could. But now I must get to bed." + +"Don't you want supper?" asked Jack. + +"No, I had some just before I left the hospital." + +"What hospital was it?" inquired Andy Sudds. "I was in one once, and I +didn't like it. There wa'nt enough air for me." + +"I forget the name of the place," came the reply. "I can't think +clearly. I need sleep." + +The newcomer kept in the shadows of the room, as if the light hurt his +eyes, and appeared restless and ill at ease. With the hand that was not +in a sling he pulled the bandages closer about his face. + +"Can't you tell us more about what happened?" asked Jack, for Mark was +not usually so reticent, and his chum noticed it. + +"There isn't much to tell," was the response. "I went to the old house, +and I was looking around when I happened to tumble down stairs. I must +have been knocked unconscious, but when I came to I crawled outside. A +farmer was driving past, and I asked him to take me to a hospital." + +"Why didn't you come home?" asked Mr. Henderson. + +"Oh, I didn't want to make any trouble and delay work on the +projectile. I figured that I could be with you in a few hours, and you +wouldn't worry. But they insisted that I must stay in the hospital when +they got me there. Then I lost consciousness again, and couldn't manage +to let you know where I was. But I'm all right now." + +"Why didn't you wait for me at the barn, when I went to send the +telegram, as you promised you would?" asked Jack, who felt a little +hurt at his chum's neglect. + +"Did I promise to wait for you at some barn?" + +"Yes; don't you remember?" and Jack gazed at the bandaged figure in +surprise. + +"Oh, yes--I--I guess I do. But I want to go to bed now," and pulling +the cloths closer about his face the injured one started from the +apartment. + +"Here. That's not the way up to your room. The stairs are over here," +called Jack, for he saw the newcomer taking the wrong direction. + +"Oh, yes. Guess my mind must be wandering," and with an uneasy laugh +the injured one turned about. They heard him going up stairs, and a +little later Jack followed. He found that Mark's room was not occupied. + +"Hi, Mark! Where are you?" he called, in some alarm. + +"Here," was the answer, and the voice came from Jack's own apartment. + +"Well, you're in the wrong bunk." + +"Am I? Well, I must have made another mistake. My head can't be right," +and with that the other came out and hastily went into the adjoining +apartment. + +For a moment Jack stood in the hall. He looked at the door that had +closed behind the bandaged figure. + +"There's something wrong," said Jack in a low voice. "How strange Mark +acts! I wonder what can be the matter?" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +READY FOR THE MOON + + +There were busy times for the moon-voyagers the next day. They were up +early, for at the last moment many little details needed to be settled. +The Cardite motor had been thoroughly repaired, for the damage caused +by the unknown enemy had done no permanent harm. + +When the injured one appeared the bandage on his head seemed larger +than ever, and his features were almost hidden. He still wore his arm +in a sling. + +"Well, how do you feel?" asked Jack, looking narrowly at the figure. He +could not get rid of a suspicion that something was wrong with Mark. + +"Oh, I'm feeling pretty fair," was the mumbled answer. "I didn't sleep +much, though." + +"Well, take care of yourself," advised Jack. "We are about ready to +start. We'll get off about noon, Professor Henderson says. Don't try to +do anything and injure your broken arm. You certainly had a tough time +of it." + +"Yes, I guess I did. I can't do much to help you." + +"You don't need to. We're all but finished. Just hang around and watch +me work. There isn't much to do." + +But though Jack gave an invitation to remain near him, the other seemed +to prefer being off by himself. He wandered in and out of the +projectile, now and then helping Andy or Washington to carry light +objects into the _Annihilator_. But all the while he was careful not to +disturb the bandage on his face, and several times he stopped to +readjust it. Nor did he talk much, which Jack ascribed to his statement +that his teeth hurt him. And when the bandaged figure did speak, it was +in mumbling tones, very different from Mark's usually cheerful ones. + +"Well," remarked Professor Roumann, after a final inspection of the big +Cardite motor--the one that was to be depended on to carry them to the +moon--"I think we are about ready to leave this earth. How about it, +Professor Henderson?" + +"Yes, I think so. Have you made any calculation as to speed?" + +"Yes, we will not have to move nearly as fast as we did when we went to +Mars. We only have to cover a quarter of a million of miles at the +most, and probably less than that. The motor will send us along at the +rate of about a mile a second, which is three thousand six hundred +miles an hour, or eighty-six thousand four hundred miles a--day. At +that rate we would be at the moon in less than three days. + +"But I don't want to travel as fast as that," the German went on. "I +want time to make some scientific observations on the way, and so I +have reduced the speed of the Cardite motor by half, though should we +need to hasten our trip we can do so." + +"Then we'll be about a week on the way?" asked Jack. + +"About that, yes," assented Mr. Roumann. + +"And could we go farther than to the moon if we wanted to?" inquired +the bandaged figure mumblingly. + +"Farther? What do you mean?" asked Professor Henderson quickly. + +"I mean could we go to Mars if we wanted to?" + +"You don't mean to say you want to go back there, and run the chance of +being attacked by the savage Martians, do you?" asked Jack. + +"No, I was only asking," and the other seemed confused. + +"Well, of course, we _could_ go there, as we have plenty of supplies +and enough of the Cardite," said Mr. Roumann. "But I think the moon +will be the limit of our trip this time." + +The work went on, the last things to be put aboard the projectile being +a number of scientific instruments. The injured one wandered in and +out, now being in the house and again in the big shed. He seemed +restless and ill at ease, and frequently he walked to the front gate +and gazed down the road. + +"You seem to be looking for some one," spoke Jack. "Are you expecting +your girl to come along and bid you good-by, Mark?" + +"Who--me? No, I--I was just looking to see if--if it was going to +rain." + +"Rain? Well, rain won't make much difference to us soon. We will be +outside of the earth's atmosphere in a jiffy after we have started, and +then rain won't worry us. Is your stateroom all fixed up?" + +"No, I didn't think of that. Guess I'd better look after it." + +The two started together for the projectile. The stout one entered +first, and made his way through the engine room and main cabin to the +compartment off which the staterooms opened. He entered one. + +"Here, that's not yours," cried Jack. "That's where Professor Henderson +sleeps. Yours is next to mine." + +"That's right; I forgot," mumbled the other. "I must be getting absent +minded since my accident. But I'll be all right soon. I'll get my room +to rights, and then probably we'll start." + +"I guess so," answered Jack, but he shook his head as he gazed after +his chum. "Mark has certainly changed," he murmured. "I wish he'd take +those bandages off, so I could get a look at his face." + +The last details were completed. The big _Annihilator_ had been run out +on trucks into the yard surrounding the shed, ready to be hurled +through the air. The shop, shed and house had been locked up and given +in charge of a caretaker, who would remain on guard until our friends +returned. + +"Are we all ready?" asked Professor Henderson, as he stood ready to +close the main entrance door and seal it hermetically. + +"All ready, I guess," answered Jack. The stout one had gone to his +stateroom, where he could be heard moving about. + +"I'm ready," announced Professor Roumann. "Say the word and I'll start +the motor." He was in the engine room, looking over the machinery. At +that moment there came a loud yell from the galley where Washington +White was. + +"Heah, heah! Come back!" cried the colored man. "My Shanghai rooster is +got loose!" he yelled, and, an instant later, the fowl came sailing out +of the projectile, with Washington in full chase after him. + +"I'll help you catch him," volunteered Jack, springing to the cook's +aid, while Professor Henderson laughed, and a bandaged figure, looking +from a stateroom port, wondered at the delay in starting the +projectile. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +MARK'S ESCAPE + + +Mark Sampson was alone in the deserted house. Bound hand and foot, +stripped of his clothing, and attired in some old garments that the +tramps who made a hanging-out place of the old mansion had cast aside, +the unfortunate lad was stretched on a pile of bagging, his heart +beating partly with fear and partly with rage over a desire to escape +and punish the scoundrel responsible for his plight. + +The man who had captured him, after taking away Mark's clothes, had +chuckled, as though at some joke. + +"You may think this is funny," spoke the lad bitterly, "but you won't +be so pleased when my friends get after you." + +"They'll never get after me," boasted the man. "This is a good joke. To +think that I can pass myself off as you; that I can join them in the +projectile, and they never will be the wiser!" + +"They'll soon discover that you are disguised as me," declared Mark, +"and when they do they'll have you arrested." + +"Yes, but they'll not discover it until we have left the earth, and are +on our way to the moon. Then it will be too late to turn back, and my +object will have been accomplished. I will be with them in the +_Annihilator_, and I'll have my revenge! The projectile is due to sail +to-morrow, and I'll be on hand. I'm going to leave you now. I have left +orders with a friend of mine that you are to be released to-morrow +night. In the meanwhile you will have to be as comfortable as you can. +I wish you no harm, but I must keep you here. + +"I will feed you well before I go, and put some water where you can get +it. But I must leave you tied. I'll not gag you, for, no matter how you +yell, no one will hear you. I have posted a notice in front of this +place that it is under the watch of the police, so no tramps will +venture in, and your friends will not come back. + +"Now, just make yourself comfortable here, and I'll go to the moon in +your place. I think I shall enjoy the trip. As I said, you will be +released to-morrow night, several hours after the projectile has left +the earth." + +"How do you know it is to start to-morrow morning?" asked Mark. + +"Oh, I have been spying around, and I overheard the professors talking. +I know a thing or two, and I'll be on hand, on time, in your place! +Now, I have to leave you. I've left ten dollars to pay for your suit, +which I need to disguise myself with." + +Then the man was gone, and Mark was left with his bitter thoughts to +keep him company. The whole daring scheme of the man had been revealed. +He did look something like Mark, and, attired in the lad's clothes, and +by keeping his face concealed, he might pass himself off as Jack's +chum; at least, until after the projectile had started. + +"And then, as he says, it will be too late to return to earth and get +me," thought Mark bitterly. "Oh, why did I ever try to learn this man's +secret? Who is he, anyhow? Why didn't I wait for Jack at the barn, as I +promised? It's all my fault. I wonder if I can't get loose?" + +Mark struggled several hours desperately and at last he felt the ropes +giving slightly. He redoubled his efforts. Strand by strand the cords +parted. He put all his efforts into one last attempt, and to his great +joy he felt his hands separate. He was partly free! + +But scarcely half his task was accomplished. He had yet to discover the +secret of the hidden room--a room, as he afterward learned, which had +been built during slavery days to conceal the poor black men who were +escaping from the South. + +"But now I have my hands to work with!" exulted Mark. + +Resting a bit after his strenuous labors, he took a long drink of water +and attacked the ropes on his feet. They were comparatively easy to +loosen, and soon he stood up unbound. + +"Now for the secret panel!" he exclaimed, for he was convinced that it +was by some such means that his captor had entered and left. As has +already been explained, Mark knew on which side of his prison the +opening was likely to be--it would be where the warning knocks had +sounded. He began a minute inspection of that wall. + +But if Mark hoped to speedily discover the secret he was doomed to +disappointment. He went over every inch of the surface, seemingly, and +pressed on every depression or projection that met his eye, as he +passed the candle flame along the wall. + +Success did not reward him, and, as hour after hour passed, and the +candle burned lower and lower, Mark began to despair. + +"I must escape before the projectile leaves," he murmured. "It will +never do to let them take that man with them under the impression that +they have me. I must escape! I will!" + +Once more he began the tiresome task of seeking the secret spring. The +candle was spluttering in the socket now. It would burn hardly another +minute. Desperately Mark sought. + +At last, just as the candle gave a dying gasp and flared brightly up +prior to going out, the lad saw a small screw head he had not noticed +before. It was sunk deep in a board. + +"I'll press that and see what happens!" he exclaimed. + +With a suddenness that was startling, he found himself in total +darkness. The candle had burned out, but he had his finger on the +screw. He pressed it with all his force. + +There was a rumbling sound in the darkness, a movement as if some heavy +body had slid out of the way, and Mark felt a breath of air on his +cheeks. Then he saw a dim light. + +"Oh, I'm out! I'm out!" he cried joyously, breathing a prayer of +thankfulness at his deliverance. "I'm free! I pushed on the right +spring, and the panel slid back!" + +He fairly leaped forward. The morning light was streaming in through +the broken windows. He saw himself in the old hall of the mansion, at +the head of the stairs, in a sort of anteroom, the mantle of which +apartment had swung aside to give him egress from the secret chamber +through a hole in the wall. He was free! + +"But am I in time?" he cried. "It is morning--and about ten o'clock, I +should judge. I've been working to get free all night. Will I be in +time?" + +He gave one last look behind at his prison and sprang down the rickety +stairs. He had but one thought--to reach home in time to unmask the +villain who was impersonating him--to be in time to make the journey to +the moon. + +"But it's several miles, and I can't walk very fast," murmured Mark. +"I'm too stiff and weak. How can I do it?" + +He thought of making his way to the nearest farm house, and asking for +the loan of a horse and carriage, but he looked so much like a tramp +that no farmer would lend him a horse. + +"And I need to make speed," he murmured. + +At that moment he heard a noise down the road. It was a steady "chug- +chug," like some distant motor-boat, but there was no water near at +hand. + +"A motorcycle!" exclaimed Mark. "Some one is coming on a motorcycle. +Oh, if I could only borrow it!" + +He ran down into the road. He could see the rider now. To his joy it +was Dick Johnson--the lad who had brought him the mysterious note. + +"Hi Dick! Dick! hold on!" cried Mark. + +The lad on the motor gave one glance at the ragged figure that had +hailed him. Then he turned on more power to escape from what he thought +was a savage tramp. + +"Wait! Stop! I want that motorcycle!" cried Mark. + +"Well, you're not going to get it!" yelled back Dick. "I'll send the +police after you." + +Mark couldn't understand. Then a glance down at his ragged garments +showed him what was the matter. + +"Wait! Hold on, Dick!" he cried, running forward. "I'm Mark Sampson! +I've had a terrible time! I was captured by that mysterious man, and +he's got my clothes. I must get home quick!" + +Dick heard, but scarcely understood. However, he comprehended that his +friend was in trouble, and he wanted to help him. He slowed up, and +Mark reached him. + +"Lend me your motorcycle, Dick," begged Mark. "I must get home in a +hurry to unmask a scoundrel. I'll leave your machine for you at our +house. I won't hurt it. I'm in a hurry! Get off!" + +Somewhat dazed, Dick dismounted, and Mark climbed into the saddle. He +began to pedal, and then threw in the gasolene and spark. The cycle +chugged off. + +"I'll leave it for you at our house," Mark called back. "I'm going on a +trip to the moon, and I don't want to be late." + +He was fast disappearing in a cloud of dust, while Dick, gazing after +him, remarked: + +"Well, I always thought those fellows were crazy to go off in +projectiles and things like that, and now I'm sure of it. Going to the +moon! Well, I only hope he doesn't take my motorcycle there!" + +Mark sped on, turning the handle levers to get the last notch of speed +out of the cycle. Would he be in time? + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A DIREFUL THREAT + + +Perhaps Washington White's Shanghai rooster did not care to make the +trip to the moon, or perhaps the fowl had not yet seen enough of this +earth. At any rate, when he flew from the projectile, uttering loud +crows, and landed some distance away, he began to run back toward the +coop in the rear of the yard. + +"Cotch him, cotch him!" yelled the colored man. "Dat's a valuable +bird!" + +"We'll get him when he goes in the coop," said Jack, who found it +difficult to run and laugh at the same time. + +"Shall I fire my rifle off and scare him?" asked Andy Sudds. + +"No, you might kill him or scare him t' death," objected Washington. + +"Come on, Mark, and help," cried Jack, looking toward the projectile, +where a figure was peering from the glass-covered port of the main +cabin. + +But the figure, whose hand was done up in voluminous bandages, did not +come out, and Jack wondered the more at what he thought was a growing +strangeness on the part of his chum. + +Jack, followed by Andy and Washington, raced off after the rooster, +while the two professors, somewhat amused, rather chaffed at the delay. +But afterward they were glad of it. + +"Just my luck!" muttered the bandaged one. "This delay comes at the +wrong time. Why don't they go on without that confounded rooster? If we +stay here too long, that fellow Mark may get loose and spoil the whole +thing, or Jenkins may go and release him before the time set. It would +be just like Jenkins! I've a good notion to start the projectile +myself. I know how to operate the Cardite motor. Only I suppose those +two professors are on guard in the engine room. I'll have to wait until +they catch that rooster, I guess, but I'd like to wring his neck!" + +The chase after the fowl was kept up. + +"I've got him now!" cried Jack a little later, as the fowl, evidently +now much exhausted, ran into another fence corner, where Jack caught +him, and shut him up in the coop in the projectile. + +"Yo' suttinly am de mos' contrary-minded specimen ob de chicken fambly +dat I eber seed," observed Washington, breathing heavily, for his run +had winded him. + +"Well, are we all ready to start now?" asked Professor Henderson. "No +more live stock loose, is there, Jack?" + +"I think not." + +"Where's Mark? Wasn't he helping you catch the rooster?" + +"No, he's inside. Shall I seal the door?" + +"Yes, and I'll tell Professor Roumann that we're about to start. All +ready for the moon trip!" + +Jack was pulling the steel portal toward him. An eager face, peering +from a port, waited anxiously for the tremor which would indicate that +the projectile had left the earth. In another moment they would be off. + +But what was that sound coming from down the highway. A steady chug- +chug--a sort of roar, as of a battery of rapid-fire guns going off in +double relays! And, mingled with the explosions, there was a voice +shouting: + +"Wait! Hold on! Don't go without me! I'm Mark Sampson! Don't start the +projectile!" + +"Somebody must be in a mighty hurry on a motorcycle," thought Jack, as +he paused a moment before fastening the door. Then the shouts came to +his ears. + +"Mark Sampson!" he cried. + +Again came the cry: "Wait! Wait! Don't go without me! You've got that +mysterious man on board!" + +"Mark Sampson!" murmured Jack again. "That's his voice sure enough! I +wonder--can it be possible--that man--with his head all bandaged up-- +his queer actions--I--I----" + +Words failed the youth. Throwing wide open the door, he sprang out of +the projectile. A moment later there dashed into the yard, where the +great projectile rested, a strange figure astride of a puffing +motorcycle. The figure was torn and, ragged, and the nondescript +garments were covered with dust, for Mark had had a fall. But there was +no mistaking the face that peered eagerly forward. + +"Jack!" cried the youth on the machine. + +"Mark!" ejaculated the lad who had sprung from the projectile. "What +has happened? Who is the fellow who has been masquerading as you?" + +"A scoundrel and a villain! Let me get at him!" and, slamming on the +brakes, as he shut off the power, Mark leaped from the motorcycle, +stood it up against the projectile, and clasped his chum by the hand. + +"What's the matter?" asked Professor Henderson, as he, too, ran out of +the _Annihilator_. "What does that tramp want, Jack? Give him some +money, and get back in here; we ought to have started long ago." He +looked at the ragged figure. + +"This isn't a tramp," cried Jack. "It's Mark!" + +"Mark! I thought----" + +"There have been strange doings," gasped the lad in tramp's garments. +"I have just escaped from being kept a prisoner. Where is the +mysterious man? Oh, I'm glad I arrived in time! Were you about to +start?" + +"That's what we were," replied Jack. "Oh, Mark, but I'm glad to see you +again! I didn't know what to think. You acted so strange--or, rather, +the fellow we thought was you had me guessing!" + +"Good land a' massy!" exclaimed Washington White, as he stood in the +doorway, with Andy Sudds behind him. "Am dere two Marks? What's up, +anyhow?" + +"Don't let that fellow get away--the fellow who passed himself off as +me!" shouted Mark. "Lock him up! There's some mystery about him that +must be explained. He's a dangerous man to be at large." + +Professor Henderson turned back to enter the projectile. Jack advised +Andy to get his gun ready, with which to threaten the scoundrel in case +of necessity. + +At that instant there sounded a crash of glass, and the whole front of +the big observation window in the side of the _Annihilator_ was smashed +to atoms. A figure leaped--a figure which no longer had its head +bandaged, and whose arm was no longer in a sling--the figure of a man-- +the mysterious man who had held Mark a prisoner! + +"There he goes!" shouted Jack. "Catch him, somebody! Andy, where's your +gun?" + +"I'll have it in a jiffy!" cried the hunter, as he dashed back to get +it. + +But the man did not linger. Scrambling to his feet after his fall, +caused by his leap from the broken window, which he had smashed with a +sledge hammer as soon as he understood that his game was up, he raced +out of the yard. He turned long enough to shake his fist at the group +assembled around the projectile, and then leaped away, calling out some +words which they could not hear. + +"Let's take after him," proposed Mark. + +"Come on," seconded Jack. + +"No, let him go; he's a desperate man, and you came just in time to +unmask him," said Professor Henderson. "He might harm you if you took +after him. Let him go. He has not done much damage. We can easily +replace the broken window. But I can't understand what his object was +in disguising himself as Mark. He certainly looked like you, Mark, +especially when he kept his face concealed. Why did he do it?" + +"He wanted to go to the moon in my place," answered the former prisoner +of the deserted house. + +"But why?" insisted Jack. + +"Because, I think, he's crazy, and he didn't really know what he did +want. But he certainly had me well concealed," spoke Mark. "I'm free +now, however, and as soon as I get some decent clothes on I'll go with +you to the moon. I wouldn't want the moon people to see me dressed this +way." + +"How did it happen?" asked Jack. "Tell us all about it. My! but I +certainly have been puzzled since you--or rather since the person we +thought was you--came back last night all bunged up. Give us the +story." + +"I will; give me a chance. I guess that villain is gone for good." Andy +Sudds came out with his gun, and insisted on taking a look down the +road and around the premises. The man was nowhere in sight. + +"Now we're in for another delay," remarked Jack ruefully, as he gazed +at the smashed window. "It seems as if we'd never get started for the +moon." + +"Oh, yes, we will," declared Professor Henderson. "We have some extra +heavy plate glass in the shop, and we can soon put in another +observation window." + +"Let's get right to work then," proposed Jack. "That man may come back. +Did you learn who he was, Mark?" + +"No, he wouldn't tell his name, and he said he was doing this to get +revenge on us for some fancied wrong. I can't imagine who he is. But +let's work and talk at the same time. I'll tell you all that happened +to me," which he did briefly. + +Mark soon got rid of the tramp clothes, and donned an extra suit which +had been packed in his trunk in the projectile. Then he helped replace +the broken window, which, in spite of their haste, took nearly all the +rest of the day to put in place. + +"Shall we wait and start to-morrow?" asked Jack, when four o'clock +came. "It will soon be dark." + +"Darkness will make no difference to us," announced Professor Roumann. +"Our Cardite motor will soon take us out of the shadow of the earth, +and we will be in perpetual sunshine until we reach the moon. As we are +all ready, we might as well start now." + +They all agreed with this, and, after a final inspection of the +projectile, the travellers entered it, and Jack was once more about to +seal the big door. + +Before he could do so there came riding into the yard, on his +motorcycle, which he had claimed that afternoon, Dick Johnson. + +"Wait a minute," he cried. "I've got a letter for you. It's from that +man!" + +"What--another thing to delay us?" cried Jack, but he called to +Professor Roumann not to start the motor, and ran to take from Dick the +letter which the lad held out. + +"That same man who gave me the one for Mark gave me this, and he paid +me a half a dollar to bring it here," said the boy. + +"All right," answered Jack impatiently. + +He looked at the note. It was addressed to the "Moon Travellers," and, +considering that he was one, the youth tore open the envelope. In the +dim light of the fading day he read the bold handwriting. + +"I have fixed you," the letter began. "You will never get to the moon. +I shall have my revenge. You took my brother Fred Axtell to Mars and +left him there. I determined to get him back, and to that end I +disguised myself as one of the boys, and got aboard. When we were +safely away from the earth, I would have compelled you to go to Mars +and rescue my brother. But my plan has failed. I will have my revenge, +though. You will never reach the moon, even if you do get started. +Beware! George, the brother of Fred Axtell, will avenge his fate!" + +"The brother of the crazy machinist!" gasped Jack. "Now I understand +his strange actions. He's crazy, too--he wanted to go to Mars--he says +we will never reach the moon! Say, look here!" cried Jack, raising his +voice. "Here's bad news! That scoundrel has put some game up on us! +Maybe he's tampered with the machinery! It won't be safe to start for +the moon until we've looked over everything carefully! He says he's +fixed us, and perhaps he has!" + +From the projectile came hurrying the would-be moon travellers, a vague +fear in their hearts. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +OFF AT LAST + + +In the gathering twilight Professor Henderson read slowly the note Dick +had brought. Then he passed it to Professor Roumann. The latter shook +his shaggy gray hair, and murmured something in German. + +"Where did you meet the man?" asked Jack of the young motorcyclist. + +"About two miles down the road. He was walking along, sort of talking +to himself, and I was afraid of him. He called to me, and offered me a +half a dollar to deliver this message. I didn't want to at first, but +he said if I didn't he'd hurt me, so I took it. Is it anything bad?" + +"We don't know yet," replied Mark. + +"No, that is the worst of it," added Professor Roumann. "He has made a +threat, but we can't tell whether or not he will accomplish it. We are +in the dark. He may have done some secret damage to our machinery, and +it will take a careful inspection to show it." + +"And will the inspection have to be made now?" asked Jack. + +"I think so," answered Professor Henderson gravely. "It would not be +safe to start for the moon and have a breakdown before we got there. We +must wait until morning to begin our trip." + +"It will be the safest," spoke the German, and the boys, in spite of +the fact that they were anxious to get under way, were forced to the +same conclusion. + +"Then if we're going to camp here for the night," proposed old Andy, +"what's the matter with me and the boys having a hunt for that man? +We've put up with enough from him, and it's time he was punished. If we +let him go on, he'll annoy us all the while, if not now, then after we +get back from the moon. I'm for giving him a chase and having him +arrested." + +"He certainly deserves some punishment, if only for the way he treated +Mark," was Jack's opinion, his chum having related how he was drugged +and kept a prisoner in the secret room, and how he escaped in time to +unmask the villain. + +"Well," said Professor Henderson, after some thought, "it might not be +a bad plan to see if you could get that scoundrel put in some safe +place, where he could make no more trouble for us. I guess the lunatic +asylum is where he belongs, though I can sympathize with him on account +of his brother. But it was not our fault that the crazy machinist went +with us to Mars. He was a stowaway, and went against our wishes, and +when he got there he tried to injure us." + +"Then may Mark, Andy and I see if we can find this man?" asked Jack. + +"Yes, but be careful not to get separated; and don't run any risks," +cautioned the professor. "Mr. Roumann and I, with the help of +Washington, will go carefully over all the machinery, and every part of +the projectile, to see if any hidden damage has been done. But don't +stay out too late. You had better notify the police. They may be able +to give you some aid, and I don't mind letting them know about it now, +as we will soon be away from here, because, no matter if they do send +detectives or constables spying about now, they can learn none of our +secrets." + +Waiting only to partake of a hasty meal, the two boys and the veteran +hunter set out, Andy with his gun over his shoulder and his sharp eyes +on the lookout for any sign of Axtell, though they hardly expected to +find him in the vicinity of the projectile. + +Taking the road, on which Dick Johnson said he had encountered the man, +the two lads and Andy proceeded, making inquiries from time to time of +persons they met. But no one had seen Axtell, and the insane man, for +such he seemed to be, appeared to have dropped out of sight. + +On into the village the searchers went, and there they reported matters +to the chief of police, telling him only so much as was necessary to +give him an understanding of the situation. + +"I'll send a couple of my best constables right out on the case," said +the chief. "We've just appointed two new ones, and I guess they'll be +glad to arrest somebody." + +"Let them look out that this fellow doesn't drug them and carry them +away," cautioned Mark. + +"Oh, I guess my constables can look out for theirselves," spoke the +chief proudly. + +Once more the trailers sallied forth to renew their search. They +thought perhaps they might find their man lingering in the town, but a +search through the principal streets did not disclose him, and Mark +proposed that they return to their home for the night, as he was tired +and weary from his experience in the deserted house. + +As they were turning out of the town, their attention was attracted by +a disturbance on the street just ahead of them. A woman screamed, and +men's voices were heard. Then came cries of: "Police! Police!" + +"Some one's in trouble!" exclaimed Jack. "Let's go see what it is." + +They broke into a run, and, as they approached, they saw a crowd +quickly collect. It seemed to center about a man who was being held by +two others, though he struggled to get away. + +"Here, what's the trouble?" the boys heard a constable ask as he +shouldered his way into the throng. + +"This fellow tried to snatch this lady's purse and run away with it," +explained one of the men who had grabbed the scoundrel. "Stand still, +you brute!" he shouted at him, "or I'll shake you to pieces! Such +fellows as you ought to go to the whipping-post!" + +"I'll take charge of him," announced the officer. "Who is he? Does any +one know?" + +"Stranger in town, I guess," volunteered the other man, who had helped +capture him. "Need any help, officer?" + +"No, I guess I can manage him. Come along now, and behave yourself, or +I'll use my club. It hasn't been tried on any one yet." + +"That's one of the new constables, I guess," said Mark, and Jack +nodded. + +The crowd separated to allow the officer to take out his prisoner. As +the latter walked forward in the grip of the constable, he remarked in +a mild voice totally at variance with his bold act: + +"Why, I only wanted a little change to pay my fare to the moon. I'm +going there to look for my brother." + +"Crazy as a loon," said one of the men. + +"Or pretending that he is," added the officer. + +"Mark!" cried Jack, pointing at the prisoner, "look!" + +"The man who held me captive!" gasped Mark. "And he's wearing my +clothes yet! But he's in custody now, and we needn't fear any more from +him." + +"Unless he gets away," said Jack. + +"We'll go tell the chief who he is, and he'll keep him safe," suggested +Mark, and they hurried to headquarters, reaching there just before the +prisoner was brought in. The boys were assured by the chief that the +man, who was evidently a dangerous lunatic, would be kept where he +could do no harm. He would be arraigned later on the serious charge of +attempted highway robbery, as well as of being a dangerous lunatic at +large. When the boys and Andy got back, they found the two professors +and Washington still going over the machinery in detail. + +"Find anything wrong?" asked Jack, after they had told of the arrest of +Axtell. + +"No, but we will have another look in the morning," said Mr. Henderson. +"Then, if we find nothing out of order, I think we will take a chance +and start." + +A thorough inspection by all hands the next day did not disclose +anything wrong, and, a test of the motors and other machinery having +shown that it was in good working shape, it was decided to leave the +earth. + +"At last, I think, we are really going to get under way to the moon," +said Jack, as he closed the big main door. This time it was not +reopened. All the stores and supplies were in place. The two professors +were in the engine room. Washington White was in his galley, getting +ready to serve the first meal in the air. Jack and Mark were in the +pilot house, ready to do whatever was necessary and anxious to feel the +thrill that would tell them the projectile had left the earth. + +"All ready?" asked Professor Henderson. + +"All ready," replied his German assistant. + +"Then here we go!" announced the aged scientist. + +He pulled toward him the main starting lever of the Cardite motor, +while Professor Roumann opened the valve which admitted to the plates +and cylinders the mysterious force that was to send them on their way. + +"Elevate the bow!" called Professor Henderson. + +"Elevated it is," answered the German, as he turned a wheel which +directed the negative gravity force against the surface of the ground +and tilted up the nose of the _Annihilator_, as a skyrocket is slanted +in a trough before the fuse is ignited. + +"Throw over the switch," directed Mr. Henderson, and the other +scientist, with a quick motion, snapped it into place, amid a shower of +vicious electric sparks that hissed as when hot iron is thrust into +water. + +"Steer straight ahead!" called Professor Henderson to Mark and Jack, +who were in the pilot house. "We'll head for the moon later." + +"Straight ahead it is," answered Jack. + +There was a trembling to the great projectile. Up rose her sharp- +pointed bow. She swayed slightly in the air. The trembling increased. +The great Cardite motor hummed and throbbed. There was a crackling as +from a wireless apparatus. + +Then, with a rush and a roar, the big steel car, resembling an enormous +cigar, soared away from the earth, like some gigantic piece of +fireworks, and shot toward the sky. + +"We're off!" shouted Mark. + +"For the moon!" added Jack. + +And the _Annihilator_ soared upward and onward, while those in her +never dreamed of the fearful adventures that were to befall them ere +they would again be headed toward the earth. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE SHANGHAI MAKES TROUBLE + + +Remaining in the engine room long enough to see that all the motors and +apparatus were working smoothly, Professor Henderson made his way to +the pilot house forward, where Mark and Jack were in charge of the +steering gears. The projectile could be started and stopped from there, +as well as from the engine room, once the motor was set going. + +"Well, boys, how does it feel to be in space once more?" asked the +scientist. + +"Fine," answered Mark. "But while I was shut up in that old house I +feared I'd never have this chance again." + +"It seems like old times again, to be flying through space," remarked +Jack. "My! but we aren't making half the speed of which the projectile +is capable. Why, we're only going about twenty miles a second," and he +spoke as if that was a mere nothing. + +"Twenty miles is some speed," observed Mark. + +"The earth goes around the sun at the rate of nineteen miles a second, +or about seventy-five times as fast as the swiftest cannon-ball, so you +see, Jack, you are 'going some,' as the boys say." + +"Yes, but we went much faster when we went to Mars. Still, no matter +how fast we travel, you'd never realize it inside here." + +This was true. So well balanced was the projectile, and so delicately +poised was the machinery, that the terrifically fast rate of travel, +rivalling that of the earth, was no more noticed than we, on this +globe, notice our pace of nineteen miles a second around the sun. + +"Everything seems to be all right," observed Professor Henderson, as he +looked out of the plate-glass window of the pilot house into a sea of +rolling mist, which represented the ether, for they had soon passed +through the atmosphere of the earth, which scientists estimate to be +two hundred miles in thickness. + +"Are we going to move any faster than this?" asked Jack, who seemed +possessed of a speed mania. + +"Not right away," replied Mr. Henderson. "Professor Roumann wants to +thoroughly test the Cardite motor first. Then, when he finds that it +works all right, we may go faster. But we will be at the moon soon +enough as it is. It is time we headed more directly on our proper way, +though, so I think I will ask Mr. Roumann to step here and aid me in +getting the projectile on the right course. You boys had better remain +also and learn how it is done. You may need to know some time." + +"I'll call the professor here, if he can leave the engine room," said +Mark, and he found the German bending over some complicated apparatus. +The scientist announced that the machines would run themselves +automatically for a while, so he accompanied the lad back to the pilot- +house. + +There, consulting big charts of the heavens, and by making some +intricate calculations, which the boys partly understood, the German +and Mr. Henderson were able to locate the exact position of the moon, +though that body was not then in sight, being behind the earth. + +"That ought to bring us there inside of a week," announced Mr. +Henderson, as he fastened the automatic steering apparatus in place. +"The projectile will now be held on a straight course, and I hope we +shall not have to change it." + +"Could anything cause us to swerve to one side?" asked Jack. + +"Sure," replied Mark. "Don't you remember how, in the trip to Mars, we +nearly collided with the comet? If we are in danger of hitting another +one of those things, or even a meteor, we'll steer out of the way, +won't we?" + +"Of course. I forgot about that," admitted Jack. + +"Yes," declared Professor Roumann, "we'll have to be on the lookout for +wandering meteors or other stray heavenly bodies. But our instruments +will give us timely warning of them. Now, I think we can leave the +projectile to herself while I make sure that all the machinery is +running smoothly. You boys may stay here if you like, though there +isn't much to see." + +There wasn't. It was totally unlike taking a trip on earth, where the +ever-varying scenery makes a journey pleasant. There was no landscape +to greet the eye now. It was even unlike a trip in a balloon, for in +that sort of air-craft, at least for a time, a glimpse of the earth can +be had. Now there was nothing but a white blanket of mist to be seen, +which rolled this way and that. Occasionally it was dispelled, and the +full, golden sunlight bathed the projectile. The earth had long since +dropped out of sight, for it required only a few seconds to put the +_Annihilator_ high up in a position where even the most intrepid +balloonist had never ventured. + +Mark and Jack sat for a few minutes in the pilot-house, looking out +into the ether. But they soon tired of seeing absolutely nothing. + +"I wonder what we'll do when we get to the moon?" asked Jack of his +chum. + +"Why, I suppose you'll make a dive for a hatful of diamonds, won't you? +That is, if you still believe that Martian newspaper account." + +"I sure do." + +The boys found the two professors busy adjusting some of the delicate +scientific instruments with which they expected to make observations on +the trip, and after they reached the moon. + +"What is your opinion, Professor Roumann, of the temperature at the +moon's surface?" asked Mr. Henderson. + +"I am in two minds about it," was the reply. "A few years ago, I see by +an astronomy, Lord Rosse inferred from his observations that the +temperature rose at its maximum (or about three days after full moon) +far above that of boiling water." + +"Boiling water!" ejaculated Mark. "Wow! That won't be very nice. I +don't want to be boiled like a lobster!" + +"Wait a moment," cautioned Mr. Roumann, with a smile. "Later, Lord +Rosse's own investigations, and those of Langley, threw some doubts on +this. There is said to be no air blanket about the moon, as there is +about the earth, so that the moon loses heat as fast as it receives it; +and it now seems more probable that the temperature never rises above +the freezing point of water, just as is the case on our highest +mountains." + +"That's better," came from Jack. "We can stand a low temperature more +easily than we can to be boiled; eh, Jack?" + +"Sure. But I don't want to be frozen or boiled either, if I can help +it. Guess I'll wear my fur suit that we brought back from the North +Pole with us." + +"I agree with you, Professor Roumann, about the temperature," announced +Mr. Henderson, "so we must make up our minds to shiver, rather than +melt. But we are prepared for that." + +"What about there being no air on the moon?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, we can manufacture our own oxygen," said Mark. "We can walk around +with an air tank on our shoulders, as we did when we went beneath the +surface of the ocean. Now, I guess----" + +"Dinner am served in de dining car!" interrupted Washington White, his +black face grinning cheerfully. He used to be a waiter in a Pullman, +and he was proud of it. "First call fo' dinner!" he went on. "Part ob +it am boiled, part am roasted, laik I done heah yo' talkin' 'bout jest +now, an' part am frozed--dat's de ice cream," he added hastily, lest +there be a mistake about it. + +"Well, that sounds good," observed Mark. "Come on, everybody," and he +led the way to the dining cabin. + +They had not been at the table more than a few minutes, and had begun +on the "boiled" part of the meal, which was the soup, when from the +engine room there came a curious, whining noise, as when an electric +motor slows up. + +"What's that?" cried Professor Henderson, jumping up from his seat in +alarm. + +"Something wrong in the engine room," cried Mr. Roumann. + +The two scientists, followed by the boys, hurried to where the various +pieces of apparatus were sending the projectile forward through space. +Already there was an appreciable slackening of speed. + +"The Cardite motor has stopped!" cried Mr. Roumann. "Something has +happened to it!" + +"Can it be the result of the damage which that lunatic did?" asked Mr. +Henderson. + +"Perhaps," spoke Jack. "If I had him here----" + +"We are falling!" shouted Mark, looking at an indicator which marked +their speed and motion. + +"Can't we start some other motor?" asked Jack. + +At that instant from beneath the now silent Cardite machine there came +a prolonged crow. + +"My Shanghai rooster!" shouted Washington. "He am in dar!" + +A second later the rooster scrambled out, scratching vigorously. Grains +of corn were scattered about. The motor started up again, and the +projectile resumed its onward way. + +"The rooster stopped it!" cried Jack. "He went under it to get some +corn, and he must have deranged one of the levers. Oh, you old +Shanghai, you nearly gave us all heart disease!" + +And the rooster crowed louder than before, while his colored owner +"shooed" him out of the engine room. The trouble was over speedily, and +the _Annihilator_ was once more speeding toward the moon. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +"WILL IT HIT US?" + + +"Well, for a trouble-maker, give me a rooster every time," spoke Jack, +as, after an examination of the machinery, it was found that nothing +was out of order. "How do you think it happened, Professor Henderson?" + +"It never could have happened except in just that way," was the reply +of Mr. Roumann. "Underneath the motor, where they are supposed to be +out of all reach, are several self-adjusting levers. They control the +speed, and also, by being moved in a certain direction, they will shut +down the apparatus. The rooster crawled beneath the machine, an act +that I never figured on, for I knew it was too small for any of us to +reach with our hands or arms, even had we so desired. But the +Shanghai's feathers must have brushed against the levers, and that +stopped the action of the Cardite motor. However, I'm glad it was no +worse." + +"Yes, let's finish dinner now, if everything is all right," proposed +Mark. + +"How did the rooster get in here?" asked Jack. + +"I 'spects dat's my fault," answered Washington. "I took him out ob his +coop fo' a little exercise dis mawnin', an' he run in heah." + +"That explains it, I think," said Mr. Roumann. "Well, Washington, don't +let it happen again. We don't want to be dashed downward through space +all on account of a rooster." + +"No, indeedy; I'll lock him up good an' tight arter dis," promised the +colored man. + +They resumed the interrupted dinner, discussing the possibility of what +might have happened, and congratulating themselves that it did not take +place. + +"It certainly seems like old times to be eating while travelling along +like a cannon-ball," remarked Jack. "I declare, it gives me an +appetite!" + +"You didn't need any," retorted his chum. "But say! maybe things don't +taste good to me, after what I got while that fellow Axtell had me a +prisoner! Jack, I'll have a little more of that cocoanut pie, if you +don't mind." + +Jack passed over the pastry, and Mark took a liberal piece. Then +Washington brought in the ice cream, which was frozen on board by means +of an ammonia gas apparatus, the invention of Professor Henderson. The +novelty of dining as comfortably as at home, yet being thousands of +miles above the earth, and, at the same time, speeding along like a +cannon-ball, did not impress our friends as much as it had during their +trip to Mars. + +"Well, we're making a little better time now," observed Mark, as he and +the others rose from the table and went to the engine room. "The gauge +shows that we're making twenty-five miles a second." + +"We will soon go much faster," announced Professor Roumann. "I have not +yet had a chance to test my Cardite motor to its fullest speed, and I +think I will do so. I wish to see if it will equal my Etherium machine. +I'll turn on the power gradually now, and we'll see what happens." + +"How fast do you think it ought to send us along?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, perhaps one hundred and twenty-five miles a second. You know we +went a hundred miles a second when we headed for Mars. I would not be +surprised if we made even one hundred and thirty miles a second with +the Cardite." + +"Whew! If we ever hit anything going like that!" exclaimed old Andy +Sudds. + +"We'd go right through it," finished Jack fervently. The professor was +soon ready for the test. Slowly he shoved over the controlling lever. +The Cardite motor hummed more loudly, like some great cat purring. +Louder snapped the electrical waves. The air vibrated with the enormous +speed of the valve wheels, and there was a prickling sensation as the +power flowed into the positive and negative plates, by which the +projectile was moved through space. + +"Watch the hand of the speed indicator, boys," directed Professor +Roumann, "while Professor Henderson and I manipulate the motor. Call +out the figures to us, for we must keep our eyes on the valves." Slowly +the speed indicator hand, which was like that of an automobile +speedometer, swept over the dial. + +"Fifty miles a second," read off Mark. The two professors shoved the +levers over still more. + +"Seventy-five," called Jack. + +"Give it a little more of the positive current," directed Mr. Roumann. + +"Ninety miles a second," read Mark a few moments later. + +"We are creeping up, but we have not yet equalled our former speed," +spoke Mr. Henderson. The motor was fairly whining now, as if in +protest. + +"One hundred and five miles," announced Jack. + +"Ha! That's some better!" ejaculated the German. "I think we shall do +it." Once more he advanced the speed lever a notch. + +"One hundred and thirty!" fairly shouted Mark. "We are beating all +records!" + +"And we will go still farther beyond them!" cried Mr. Roumann. "Watch +the gauge, boys!" + +To the last notch went the speed handle. There was a sharp crackling, +snapping sound, as if the metal of which the motor was composed was +strained to the utmost. Yet it held together. + +The hand of the dial quivered. It hung on the one hundred and thirty +mark for a second, as if not wanting to leave it, and then the steel +pointer swept slowly on in a circle, past point after point. + +"One hundred and thirty-five--one hundred and forty," whispered Jack, +as if afraid to speak aloud. The two professors did not look up from +the motor. They looked at the oil and lubricating cups. Already the +main shaft was smoking with the heat of friction. + +"Look! look!" whispered Mark hoarsely. + +"One hundred and fifty-three miles a second!" exclaimed Jack. "You've +done it, Professor Roumann!" + +"Yes, I have," spoke the German, with a sigh of satisfaction. "That is +faster than mortal man ever travelled before, and I think no one will +ever equal our speed. We have broken all records--even our own. Now I +will slow down, but we must do it gradually, so as not to strain the +machinery." + +He slipped back the speed lever, notch by notch. The hand of the dial +began receding, but it still marked one hundred and twenty miles a +second. + +Suddenly, above the roar and hum of the motor, there sounded the voice +of Andy. + +"Professor!" he shouted. "We're heading right toward a big, black +stone! Is that the moon?" + +"The moon? No, we are not half way there," said Mr. Henderson. "Are you +sure, Andy?" + +"Sure? Yes! I saw it from the window in the pilot-house. We are +shooting right toward it." + +"Look to the motor, and I'll see what it is," directed Mr. Henderson to +his friend. Followed by the boys, he hurried to the steering tower. His +worst fears were confirmed. + +Speeding along with a swiftness unrivalled even by some stars, the +projectile was lurching toward a great, black heavenly body. "It's a +meteor! An immense meteor!" cried Professor Henderson, "and it's coming +right toward us." + +"Will it hit us?" gasped Mark and Jack together. + +"I don't know. We must try to avoid it. Boys, notify Professor Roumann +at once. We are in grave danger!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +TURNING TURTLE + + +Together Mark and Jack leaped for the engine room. Their faces showed +the fear they felt. Even before they reached it, they realized that, at +the awful speed at which they were travelling, and the fearful velocity +of the meteor, there might be a crash in mid-air which would destroy +the projectile and end their lives. + +"I wonder if we can steer clear of it?" gasped Jack. + +"If it's possible the professor will do it," responded his chum. + +The next instant they were in the engine room, where Mr. Roumann was +bending over the Cardite motor. + +"Shut off the power!" yelled Jack. + +"We are going to hit a meteor!" gasped Mark. + +The German looked up with a startled glance. + +"Slow down?" he repeated. "It is impossible to slow down at once! We +are going ninety miles a second!" He pointed to the speed gauge. + +"Then there's going to be a fearful collision!" cried Jack, and he +blurted out the fact of the nearness of the heavenly wanderer. + +"So!" exclaimed Professor Roumann. "Dot is bat! ferry bat!" and he +lapsed into the broken language that seldom marked his almost perfect +English. Then, murmuring something in his own tongue, he leaped away +from the motor, calling to the boys: + +"Slow it down gradually! Keep pulling the speed lever toward you! I +will set in motion the repelling apparatus and go to help Professor +Henderson steer out of the way. It is our only chance!" + +Mark and Jack took their places beside the Cardite motor, which was +still keeping up a fearful speed, though not so fast as at first. To +stop it suddenly would mean that the cessation of strain could not all +be diffused at once, and serious damage might result. + +The only way was to come gradually down to the former speed, and, while +Mark kept his eyes on the indicator, Jack pulled the lever toward him, +notch by notch. + +"She's down to seventy-five miles a second," whispered Mark. They were +as anxious now to reduce speed as they had been before to increase it. + +Meanwhile Professor Roumann had set in motion a curious bit of +apparatus, designed to repel stray meteors or detached bits of comets. +As is well known, bodies floating in space, away from the attraction of +gravitation, attract or repel each other as does a magnet or an +electrically charged object. + +Acting on this law of nature, Professor Roumann had, with the aid of +Mr. Henderson, constructed a machine which, when a negative current of +electricity was sent into it, would force away any object that was +approaching the _Annihilator_. In a few moments the boys at the +Cardite motor heard the hum, the throb and crackling that told them +that the repelling apparatus was at work. + +But would it act in time? Or would the meteor prove too powerful for +it? And, if it did, would the two scientists be able to steer the +swiftly moving projectile out of the way of the big, black stone, as +the old hunter called it? + +These were questions that showed on the faces of the two lads as they +bent over the motor. + +"We're only going fifty miles a second now," whispered Jack. + +Mark nodded his head. "Can't you pull the lever over faster?" he asked. + +"I don't dare," replied his chum. There was nothing to do but to wait +and gradually slow up the projectile as much as possible. The boys +could hear the professors in the pilothouse shifting gears, valves and +levers to change the course of the projectile. Andy Sudds and +Washington White, with fear on their faces, looked into the engine +room, waiting anxiously for the outcome. + +"Hab--hab we hit it yet?" asked Washington, moving his hands nervously. + +"I reckon not, or we'd know it," said the hunter. + +"No, not yet," answered Jack, in a low voice. "How much are we making +now, Mark?" + +"Only thirty a second." + +"Good! She's coming down." + +Hardly had he spoken than there sounded a noise like thunder, or the +rushing of some mighty wind. The projectile, which was trembling +throughout her length from the force of the motor, shivered as though +she had plunged into the unknown depths of some mighty sea. The roaring +increased. Mark and Jack looked at each other. Washington White fell +upon his knees and began praying in a loud voice. Old Andy grasped his +gun, as though to say that, even though on the brink of eternity, he +was ready. + +Then, with a scream as of some gigantic shell from a thousand-inch +rifle, something passed over the _Annihilator_; something that shook +the great projectile like a leaf in the wind. And then the scream died +away, and there was silence. For a moment no one spoke, and then Jack +whispered hoarsely: + +"We've passed it." + +"Yes," added Mark, "we're safe now." + +"By golly! I knowed we would!" fairly yelled Washington, leaping to his +feet. "I knowed dat no old meteor could kerflumox us! Perfesser +Henderson he done jumped our boat ober it laik a hunter jumps his boss +ober a fence. Golly! I'se feelin' better now!" + +"How did you avoid it?" asked Mark of the professor. + +"With the help of the repelling machine and by changing our course. But +we did it only just in time. It was an immense meteor, much larger than +at first appeared, and it was blazing hot. Had it struck us, there +would have been nothing left of us or the projectile either but star +dust. But we managed to pass beneath it, and now we are safe." + +They congratulated each other on their lucky escape, and then busied +themselves about various duties aboard the air-craft. The rest of the +day was spent in making minor adjustments to some of the machines, +oiling others, and in planning what they would do when they reached the +moon. + +In this way three days and nights passed, mainly without incident. They +slept well on board the _Annihilator_, which was speeding so swiftly +through space--slept as comfortably as they had on earth. Each hour +brought them nearer the moon, and they figured on landing on the +surface of that wonderful and weird body in about three days more. + +It was on the morning of the fourth day when, as Mark and Jack were +taking their shift in the engine room, that Jack happened to glance +from the side observation window, which was near the Cardite motor. +What he saw caused him to cry out in surprise. + +"I say, Mark, look here! There's the moon over there. We're not heading +for it at all!" + +"By Jove! You're right!" agreed his chum. "We're off our course!" + +"We must tell Professor Henderson!" cried Jack. "I'll do it. You stay +here and watch things." + +A few seconds later a very much alarmed youth was rapidly talking to +the two scientists, who were in the pilot-house. + +"Some unknown force must have pulled us off our course," Jack was +saying. "The moon is away off to one side of us." + +To his surprise, instead of being alarmed, Mr. Roumann only smiled. + +"It's true," insisted Jack. + +"Of course, it is," agreed Mr. Henderson. "We can see it from here, +Jack," and he pointed to the observation window, from which could be +noticed the moon floating in the sky at the same time the sun was +shining, a phenomenon which is often visible on the earth early in the +morning at certain of the moon's phases. + +"Will we ever get there?" asked Jack. + +"Of course," replied Mr. Roumann. "You must remember, Jack, that the +moon is moving at the same time we are. Had I headed the projectile for +Luna, and kept it on that course, she would, by the time we reached +her, been in another part of the firmament, and we would have overshot +our mark. So, instead, I aimed the _Annihilator_ at a spot in the +heavens where I calculated the moon would be when we arrived there. +And, if I am not mistaken, we will reach there at the same time, and +drop gently down on Luna." + +"Oh, is that it?" asked the lad, much relieved. + +"That's it," replied Mr. Henderson. "And that's why we seem to be +headed away from the moon. Her motion will bring her into the right +position for us to land on when the time comes." + +"Then I'd better go tell Mark," said the lad. "He's quite worried." He +soon explained matters to his chum, and together they discussed the +many things necessary to keep in mind when one navigates the heavens. + +That day saw several thousand more miles reeled off on the journey to +the moon, and that evening (or rather what corresponded to evening, for +it was perpetual daylight) they began to make their preparations for +landing. Their wonderful journey through space was nearing an end. + +"I guess that crazy Axtell fellow was only joking when he said we'd +never reach the moon," ventured Jack. "Nothing has happened yet." + +"Only the meteor," said Mark, "and he couldn't know about that. I guess +he didn't get a chance to damage any of the machinery." + +"No, we seem to be making good time," went on his chum. "I think I'll +go and----" + +Jack did not finish his sentence. Instead he stared at one of the +instruments hanging from the walls of the engine room. It was a sort of +barometer to tell their distance from the earth, and it swung to and +fro like a pendulum. Now the instrument was swinging out away from the +wall to which it was attached. Further and further over it inclined. +Jack felt a curious sensation. Mark put his hand to his head. + +"I feel--feel dizzy!" he exclaimed. "What is the matter?" + +"Something has happened," cried Jack. + +The instrument swung over still more. Some tools fell from a work +bench, and landed on the steel floor with a crash. The boys were +staggering about the engine room, unable to maintain their balance. + +There came cries of fear from the galley, where Washington White was +rattling away amid his pots and pans. Andy Sudds was calling to some +one, and from the pilot-house came the excited exclamations of +Professors Henderson and Roumann. + +"We're turning turtle!" suddenly yelled Jack. "The projectile is +turning over in the air! Something has gone wrong! Perhaps this is the +revenge of that crazy man!" and, as he spoke, he fell over backward, +Mark following him, while the _Annihilator_ was turned completely over +and seemed to be falling down into unfathomable depths. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +AT THE MOON + + +Confusion reigned aboard the _Annihilator_. It had turned completely +over, and was now moving through space apparently bottom side up. Of +course, being cigar shaped, this did not make any difference as far as +the exterior was concerned, but it did make a great difference to those +within. + +The occupants of the great shell had fallen and slid down the rounded +sides of the projectile, and were now standing on what had been the +ceiling. Objects that were not fast had also followed them, scattering +all about, some narrowly missing hitting our friends. Of course, the +machinery was now in the air, over the heads of the travellers. + +This was one of the most serious phases of the accident, for the great +Cardite motor was built to run while in the other position, and when it +was turned upside down it immediately stopped, and the projectile, +deprived of its motive power, at once began falling through space. + +"What has happened? What caused it?" cried Mark, as he crawled over to +where Jack sat on the ceiling, with a dazed look on his face. + +"I don't know. Something went wrong. Here comes Professor Henderson and +Mr. Roumann. We'll ask them." + +The two scientists were observed approaching from the pilot-house. They +walked along what had been the ceiling, and when they came to the +engine room they had to climb over the top part of the door frame. + +"What's wrong?" asked Jack. + +"Our center of gravity has become displaced," answered Mr. Henderson. +"The gravity machine has either broken, or some one has been tampering +with it. Did either of you boys touch it?" + +"No, indeed!" cried Mark, and his chum echoed his words. + +"I wonder if Washington could have meddled with it?" went on the +scientist. + +At that moment the colored cook came along, making his way cautiously +into the engine room. He was an odd sight. Bits of carrots, turnips and +potatoes were in his hair, while from one ear dangled a bunch of +macaroni, and his clothes were dripping wet. + +"My kitchen done turned upside down on me!" wailed Washington, "an' a +whole kettle ob soup emptied on my head! Oh, golly! What happened?" + +The aged scientist looked toward the German. The latter was gazing up +at the motionless Cardite motor over his head. + +"There is but one way," he answered. "We must restore our centre of +gravity to where it was before. Then the projectile will right +herself." + +"Can it be done?" asked Mark. + +"It will be quite an undertaking, but we must attempt it. Bring some +tables and chairs, so I can stand up and reach the equilibrium +machine." + +From where they had fallen to the ceiling, which was now the floor, +Jack and Mark brought tables and chairs, and made a sort of stepladder. +On this Professor Roumann mounted, and at once began the readjusting of +the centre of gravity. + +It was hard work, for he had to labor with his arms stretched up in the +air, and any one who has even put up pictures knows what that means. +The muscles are unaccustomed to the strain. The German scientist, +though a strong man, had to rest at frequent intervals. + +"We're falling rapidly," announced Jack, in a low voice, as he looked +at the height gauge. + +"I am doing all I can," answered Mr. Roumann. "I think I will soon be +able to right the craft." + +He labored desperately, but he was at a disadvantage, for the +_Annihilator_ was not now moving smoothly through space. With the +stopping of the motor she was falling like some wobbly balloon, swaying +hither and thither in the ether currents. + +But Professor Roumann was not one to give up easily. He kept at his +task, aided occasionally by Professor Henderson and by the boys +whenever they could do anything. + +Finally the German cried out: + +"Ah, I have discovered the trouble. It is that scoundrel Axtell! See!" +And reaching into the interior of the machine he pulled out a small +magnet. To it was attached a card, on which was written: + +"I told you I would have my revenge!" It was signed with Axtell's name. + +"This was the dastardly plot he evolved," said Professor Roumann. "He +slipped this magnet into the equilibrium machine, knowing that in time +it would cause a deflection of the delicate needles, and so shift the +centre of gravity. He must have done this as a last resort, and to +provide for his revenge in case we discovered him on board after we +started. It was a cruel revenge, for had I not discovered it we would +soon all be killed." + +"Is the machine all right now?" asked Jack. + +"It will be in a few minutes. Here, take this magnet and put it as far +away from the engine room as possible." + +It was the work of but a few minutes, now that the disturbing element +was removed, to readjust the gravity machine, and Mr. Roumann called: + +"Look out, now, everybody! We're going to turn right side up again!" + +As he spoke he turned a small valve wheel. There was a clanging of +heavy ballast weights, which slid down their rods to the proper places. +Then, like some great fish turning over in the water, the _Annihilator_ +turned over in the ether, and was once more on her proper keel, if such +a shaped craft can be said to have a keel. + +Of course, the occupants of the space ship went slipping and sliding +back, even as they had fallen ceilingward before, but they were +prepared for it, and no one was hurt. From the galley came a chorus of +cries, as pots and pans once more scattered about Washington, but there +was no more soup to spill. + +As soon as the _Annihilator_ was righted, the Cardite motor began to +work automatically, and once more the projectile, with the seekers of +the moon, was shooting through space at their former speed. They had +lost considerable distance, but it was easy to make it up. + +"Well, that _was_ an experience," remarked Jack, as he and his chum +began picking up the tools and other objects that were scattered all +about by the change in equilibrium. + +"I should say yes," agreed Mark. "I'm glad it didn't happen at dinner +time. That fellow Axtell is a fiend to think of such a thing." + +"Indeed, he is! But we're all right now, though it did feel funny to be +turned upside down." + +An inspection of the projectile was made, but they could discover no +particular damage done. She seemed to be moving along the same as +before, and, except for the upsetting of things in the store-room, it +would hardly have been known, an hour later, that a dreadful accident +was narrowly averted. + +Washington made more soup, and soon had a fine meal ready, over which +the travellers discussed their recent experience. + +"And when do you think we will arrive?" asked Jack of Mr. Henderson. + +"We ought to be at the moon inside of two days now. We have not made +quite the speed we calculated on, but that does not matter. I think we +will go even more slowly on the remainder of the trip, as I wish to +take some scientific observations." + +"Yes, and so do I," added Mr. Roumann. "I think if we make fifteen +miles a second from now on we will be moving fast enough." + +Accordingly the Cardite motor was slowed down, and the projectile shot +through space at slightly reduced speed, while the two scientists made +several observations, and did some intricate calculating about ether +pressure, the distance of heavenly bodies and other matters of interest +only to themselves. + +It was on the afternoon of the third day following the turning turtle +of the _Annihilator_ that Mark, who was looking through a telescope in +the pilot-house, called out: "I say, Jack, look here!" + +"What's the matter?" asked his chum. + +"Why, we're rushing right at the moon! I can see the mountains and +craters on it as plain as though we were but five miles away!" + +"Then we must be nearly there," observed Jack. "Let's tell the others, +Mark." + +They hurried to inform the two professors, who at once left their +tables of figures and entered the steering chamber. Then, after gazing +through the glass, Mr. Henderson announced: "Friends, we will land on +the moon in half an hour. Get ready." + +"Are we really going to be walking around the moon inside of thirty +minutes?" asked Mark. + +"I don't know about walking around on it," answered the German. "We +first have to see if there is an atmosphere there for us to breathe, +and whether the temperature is such as we can stand. But the +Annihilator will soon be there." + +The speed of the Cardite motor was increased, and so rapidly did the +projectile approach Luna that glasses were no longer needed to +distinguish the surface of the moon. + +There she floated in space, a great, silent ball, but not like the +earth, pleasantly green, with lakes and rivers scattered about in +verdant forests. No, for the moon presented a desolate surface to the +gaze of the travellers. Great, rugged mountain peaks arose all about +immense caverns that seemed hundreds of miles deep. The surface was +cracked and seamed, as if by a moonquake. Silence and terrible +loneliness seemed to confront them. + +"Maybe it's better on some other part of the surface," said Jack, in a +low voice. + +"Perhaps," agreed Mark. "It's certainly not inviting there." + +Nearer and nearer they came to the moon. It no longer looked like a +great sphere, for they were so close that their vision could only take +in part of the surface, and it began to flatten out, as the earth does +to a balloonist. + +And the nearer they came to it the more rugged, the more terrible, the +more desolate did it appear. Would they be able to find a place to +land, or would they go hurtling down into some awful crater, or be +dashed upon the sharp peak of some mountain of the moon? + +It was a momentous question, and anxious were the faces of the two +professors. + +"Mr. Henderson, if you will undertake to steer to some level place, I +will take charge of the motor," suggested Mr. Roumann. "I will +gradually reduce the speed, and get the repelling machine in readiness, +so as to render our landing gentle." + +"Very well," responded the aged scientist, as he grasped the steering +wheel. + +The progress of the _Annihilator_ was gradually checked. More and more +slowly it approached the moon. The mountains seemed even higher now, +and the craters deeper. + +"What a terrible place," murmured Jack. "I shouldn't want to live +there." + +"Me either," said Mark. + +"Can you see a place to land?" called Professor Roumann through the +speaking-tube from the engine room to the steering tower. + +"Yes, we seem to be approaching a fairly level plateau," was Mr. +Henderson's reply. + +"Very well, then, I'll start the repelling machine." + +The Cardite motor was stopped. The projectile was now being drawn +toward the moon by the gravity force of the dead ball that once had +been a world like ours. Slowly and more slowly moved the great +projectile. + +There was a moment of suspense. Mr. Henderson threw over the steering +wheel. The _Annihilator_ moved more slowly. Then came a gentle shock. +The dishes in the galley rattled, and there was the clank of machinery. +The Shanghai rooster crowed. + +"We're on the moon at last!" cried jack, peering from an observation +window at the rugged surface outside. + +"Yes; and now to see what it's like," added Mark. "We'll go outside, +and----" + +"Wait," cautioned Professor Roumann. "First we must see if we can +breathe on the moon, and whether the temperature will support life. I +must make some tests before we venture out of the projectile." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +TORCHES OF LIFE + + +The natural inclination of the boys to rush out on the surface of the +moon to see what it was like was checked by the words of caution from +Professor Roumann. + +"Do you think it would be dangerous to venture outside the projectile?" +asked Jack, as he looked from the window and noted the rugged, uneven +surface of the moon. + +"Very much so," was the answer. "According to most astronomers, there +is absolutely no air on the moon, also no moisture, and the temperature +is either very high or around the freezing point. We must find out what +it is." + +"How can we?" inquired Mark. + +"I'll soon show you," went on the German. "Professor Henderson, will +you kindly assist me." + +When it had been decided to come to the moon in quest for the field of +diamonds, certain changes had been made in the _Annihilator_ to fit it +for new conditions that might be met. One of these consisted of an +aperture in the two sides of the projectile permitting certain delicate +instruments to be thrust out, so that the conditions they indicated +could be read on dials or graduated scales from within. + +"We will first make a test of the temperature," said Mr. Roumann, "as +that will be the easiest." Accordingly a thermometer was put outside, +and those in the air-craft anxiously watched the red column of spirits. +The temperature was marked as seventy-five inside the _Annihilator_, +but the thermometer had not been outside more than a second before +it began falling. + +"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson, as he noted it. "The temperature is +going down. I'd rather have it too cold than too hot. We can stand a +minus fifty of cold better than two hundred and twelve of heat. We have +fur garments with us." + +"It is still going down," remarked Jack, as he saw the red column drop +down past the thirty mark. + +"Below freezing," added Mark. + +The spirits fell in the tube until they touched twenty-eight degrees, +and there they remained. + +"Twenty-eight degrees," remarked Professor Henderson. "That isn't so +bad. At least, we can stand that if we are warmly clad." + +"Yes, but it will be colder to-night," said Jack. For they had landed +on the moon in bright sunlight. + +"To-night?" questioned the German scientist, with a smile. + +"Yes, it's always colder when the sun goes down," went on the lad. + +"You have forgotten one thing," said Mr. Henderson, with a smile at his +young protégé. "You must remember, Jack, that the nights and days here +are each fourteen days long--that is, fourteen of our days." + +"How's that?" asked Jack. + +"Why," broke in Mark, who was a trifle better student than was his +chum, "don't you remember that the moon rotates on its axis once a +month, or in about twenty-eight days, to be exact, and so half of that +time is day and half night, just as on our earth, when it revolves on +its axis in twenty-four hours, half the time is day and half the time +is night." + +"Sure, I ought to have remembered," declared Jack. + +"Mark is right," added Mr. Henderson. "And, as we have most fortunately +arrived on the moon at the beginning of the long day, we will have +fourteen days of sunshine, during which we may expect the temperature +to remain at about twenty-eight degrees. But now about the atmosphere." +"We will test that directly," went on the German. "It will take some +time longer, though." + +Various instruments were brought forth and thrust out of the opening in +the side of the projectile, which opening was so arranged that it was +closed hermetically while the instruments were put forth. Then the +readings of the dials or scales were taken, and computations made. In +fact, some of what corresponded to the moon's atmosphere was secured in +a hollow steel cup and brought inside the _Annihilator_ for analysis. + +"Well," remarked Professor Roumann, as he bent over a test tube, the +contents of which he had put through several processes, "I am afraid we +cannot breathe on the moon." + +"Can't breathe on it?" gasped Jack. "Then we can't go out and walk +around it." + +"I didn't say that," resumed the German, with a smile. "I said we +couldn't breathe the moon's atmosphere. In fact there is nothing there +that we would call atmosphere. There is absolutely no oxygen, and there +are a number of poisonous gases that would instantly cause death if +inhaled." + +"Then how are we to get out and hunt for those diamonds, Professor?" +went on Jack. "Gee whiz! if I'd known that, I wouldn't have come. This +is tough luck!" + +"Maybe the professor can suggest a way out of the difficulty, boys," +spoke Mr. Henderson. "It certainly would be too bad if, after our +perilous trip, we couldn't get out of our cage and walk around the +moon." + +"I think perhaps I can discover a way so that it will be safe to +venture forth," said Mr. Roumann. "But I must first conduct some +further experiments. In the meanwhile suppose you boys get out some +fur-lined garments, for, though it is only twenty-eight degrees, we +will need to be well clad after the time spent inside this warm +projectile." + +"It does look as if he expected to get us out," remarked Jack, as he +and his chum went to where Andy Sudds was. + +"Yes, you'll get a chance to pick up diamonds after all, Jack. That is, +if there are any here." + +"Of course there are diamonds. You wait and see," and then, with the +help of the old hunter, they took from the store-room their fur +garments. + +It was half an hour before the warm clothes were sorted out, and then +the boys went back to where the two professors were. + +"Well," asked Jack cautiously, "can we go outside?" + +"I think so," answered the German cheerfully. "But you must always be +careful to carry one of these with you," and he handed to each of the +boys a steel rod about two feet long, at the end of which was a small +iron box, with perforations in the sides and top. + +"What is this?" asked Jack. "It looks like a magician's wand." + +"And that is exactly what it is," said Mr. Henderson. "As there is no +atmosphere fit to breathe on the moon, we have been forced to make our +own, boys. You each hold what may be called torches of life. To venture +out without them would mean instant death by suffocation or poison." + +"And will these save our lives?" asked Mark. + +"Yes," said Mr. Roumann. "In the iron boxes on those rods are certain +chemicals, rich in oxygen and other elements, which, when brought in +contact with the gases on the moon, will dispel a cloud of air about +whoever carries them--air such as we find on our earth. So, boys, be +careful never to venture out without the torches of life. I had them +prepared in anticipation of some such emergency as this, and all that +was necessary was to put in the chemicals. This I have done, and now, +if you wish, you may go out and stroll about the moon." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ON THE EDGE OF A CRATER + + +There was a little hesitation after Professor Roumann had spoken. Even +though he assured them all that it would be safe to venture out on the +surface of the moon, with its chilling temperature and its poisonous +"atmosphere" (if such it can be termed), there was an uncanny feeling +about stepping forth into the midst of the desolation that was on every +side. + +For it was desolate--terribly so! Not a sound broke the stillness. +There was no life--no motion--as far as could be seen. Not a tree or +shrub relieved the rugged monotony of the landscape. It was like a dead +world. + +"And to think that people may have once lived here," observed Jack, in +a low voice. + +"Yes, and to think that there may be people on the other side of the +moon even now," added Mark. "We must take a look if it's possible." + +"Well," remarked Mr. Henderson, after a while, "are we going out and +see what it's like or not." + +"Of course, we are," said Jack. "Come on, Mark, I'm not afraid." + +"Me either. Do we have to do anything to the torches to make them +operate, Professor Roumann?" + +"Merely press this lever," and the scientist showed them where there +was one in the handle of the steel rod. "As soon as that is pressed, it +admits a liquid to the chemicals and the oxygen gas is formed, rising +all around you, like a protecting vapor. After that it is automatic." + +"How long will the supply of chemical last?" inquired Jack. + +"Each one is calculated to give out gas for nearly two weeks," was the +reply; "possibly for a little longer. But come, I want to see how they +work. Here is your life-torch, Professor Henderson, and there is one +for you, too, Andy, and Washington." + +"'Scuse me!" exclaimed the colored man hastily, as he started back +toward the kitchen. + +"Why, what's the matter?" asked Jack. "Don't you want to go out, and +walk around the moon, and pick up diamonds?" + +"Diamonds am all right," answered Washington, "but I jest done fo'got +dat I ain't fed my Shanghai rooster to-day, an' I 'spects he's mighty +hungry. You folks go on out an' pick up a few obde sparklers, an' when +I gits de Shanghai fed I'll prognosticate myse'f inter conjunction wif +yo' all." + +"You mean you'll join us?" asked Mark. + +"Dat's what I means, suah." + +"Why, I do believe Washington's afraid!" cried Jack jokingly. + +"Askeered! Who's afraid?" retorted the colored man boldly. "Didn't I +done tole yo' dat I got t' feed my rooster? Heah him crowin' now? Yo' +all go 'long, an' I'll meet yo' later," and with that Washington +disappeared quickly. + +"Well, he'll soon pluck up courage and come out," declared Professor +Henderson. "Let him go now, and we'll go out and see what it is like on +the moon." + +"I hope we find those diamonds," murmured Jack, and Mark smiled. + +In order not to admit the poisonous gases into the projectile, it was +decided to leave the Annihilator and return to it by means of a double +door, forming a sort of air lock. It was similar to the water lock used +on the submarine. That is, the adventurers entered a chamber built in +between the two steel walls of their craft. The interior door was then +sealed shut automatically. Next the outer door was opened, and they +could step directly to the surface of the moon and into the deadly +atmosphere. + +"Well, are we all ready?" asked Mr. Roumann, as he picked up one of the +chemical torches. + +"I guess so," responded Andy Sudds, who had his gun with him. "I hope I +see some game. I haven't had a shot in a long while." + +"You're not likely to up here," spoke Mr. Henderson. "Game is scarce on +the moon, unless it's some of that green cheese Washington talked +about." + +They entered the air lock and fastened the door behind them. Then +Professor Roumann pressed on the lever that swung open the outer +portal. + +"Hold your torches close to your head," he called. "The moon atmosphere +may be too strong for us at first until we create a mist of oxygen +about us." + +Out upon the surface of the moon they stepped, probably the first earth +beings so to do, though they had evidence that the inhabitants of Mars +had preceded them. + +For a moment they all gasped for breath, but only for a moment. Then +the gas began to flow from the life-torches, and they could breathe as +well as they had done while in the projectile, or while on the earth. + +"Well, if this isn't great!" cried Jack, gazing about him. + +"It certainly beats anything I ever saw," came from Mark. + +"Wonderful, wonderful," murmured Professor Henderson. "We will be able +to gain much valuable scientific knowledge here, Professor Roumann. We +must at once begin our observations." + +"I agree with you," spoke the German. + +Andy Sudds said nothing. He was looking around for a sight of game, +with his rifle in readiness. But not a sign of life met his eager eyes. + +Once they were outside the projectile it was even more desolate than it +had seemed when they looked from the observation windows. It was +absolutely still. Not a breath of wind fanned their cheeks, for where +there is no air to be heated and cooled there could be no wind which is +caused by the differences of temperature of the air, the cold rushing +in to fill the vacuum caused by the rising of the hot vapors. Clad in +their fur-lined garments, which effectually defied the cold, the +adventurers stepped out. + +Over the rugged ground they went, gazing curiously about them. It was +like being in the wildest part of the Canadian Rocky Mountains of our +earth, and, in fact, the surface of the moon was not unlike the +mountainous and hilly sections of the earth. There were no long ranges +of rugged peaks, though, but rather scattered pinnacles and deep +hollows, great craters adjoining immense, towering steeples of rocks, +with comparatively level ground in between. + +The life-torches worked to perfection. As our friends carried them, +there arose about their bodies a cloud of invisible vapor, which, +however, was as great a protection from the poisonous gases as a coat +of mail would have been. + +"This is great!" exclaimed Jack. "It's much better than to have to put +on a diving-suit and carry a cylinder of oxygen or compressed air about +on our shoulders." + +They strolled away from the projectile and gazed back at it. Nothing +moved--not a sound broke the stillness. There was only the blazing +sunlight, which, however, did not seem to warm the atmosphere much, for +it was very chilly. On every side were great rocks, rugged and broken, +with here and there immense fissures in the surface of the moon, +fissures that seemed miles and miles long. + +"Well, here's where I look for diamonds," called Jack, as he stepped +boldly out, followed by Mark. "Let's see who'll find the first +sparkler." + +"All right," agreed his chum, and they strolled away together, slightly +in advance of the two professors and Andy, who remained together, the +scientist discussing the phenomena on every side and the hunter looking +in vain for something to shoot. But he had come to a dead world. + +Almost before they knew it Jack and Mark had gone on quite some +distance. Though they were not aware of it at that moment, it was much +easier to walk on the moon than it was on the earth, for they weighed +only one sixth as much, and the attraction of gravitation was so much +less. + +But suddenly Jack remembered that curious fact, and, stooping, he +picked up a stone. He cast it from him, at the same time uttering a +yell. + +"What's the matter?" called Mark. + +"Look how far I fired that rock!" shouted Jack. "Talk about it being +easy! why, I believe I could throw a mile if I tried hard!" + +"It goes six times as far as it would on the earth," spoke his chum, +"and we can also jump six times as far." + +"Then let's try that!" proposed Jack. "There's a nice level place over +there. Come on, I'll wager that I can beat you." + +"Done!" agreed Mark, and they hurried to the spot, their very walking +being much faster than usual. + +"I'll go first," proposed Jack, "and you see if you can come up to me." +He poised himself on a little hummock of rock, balanced himself for a +moment, and then hurled himself through space. + +Prepared as he was, in a measure, for something strange, he never +bargained for what happened. It was as if he had been fired from some +catapult of the ancient Romans. Through the air he hurtled, like some +great flying animal, covering fifty feet from a standing jump. + +"Say, that's great!" yelled Mark. "Here I come, and I'll beat----" + +He did not finish, for a cry of horror came from Jack. + +"I'm going to fall into a crater--a bottomless pit! I'm on the edge of +it!" yelled the lad who had jumped. + +And, with horror-stricken eyes, Mark saw his chum disappear from sight +beyond a pile of rugged rocks, toward which he had leaped. The last +glimpse Mark had was of the life-torch, which Jack held up in the air, +close to his head. + +"Jack--in a crater!" gasped Mark, as he ran forward, holding his own +life-torch close to his mouth and nose. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +WASHINGTON SEES A GHOST + + +Advancing by leaps and bounds, and getting over the ground in a manner +most surprising, Mark soon found himself on the edge of the great, +yawning crater, into which his chum Jack had started to slide. I say +started, for, fortunately, the lad had been saved from death but by a +narrow margin. + +As Mark gazed down into the depths, which seemed fathomless, and which +were as black as night, he saw his friend clinging to a rocky +projection on the side of the extinct volcano. Jack had managed to +grasp a part of the rough surface as he slid down it after his reckless +jump. He looked up and saw Mark. + +"Oh, Mark, can't you save me?" he gasped. "Call Professor Henderson!" + +"I'll get you up, don't worry!" called Mark, as confidently as he +could. "Hold tight, Jack. What has become of your life-torch?" + +"I have it here by me. I didn't drop it, and it's on a piece of the +rock near my head. Otherwise I couldn't breathe. Oh, this place is +fearfully deep. I guess it hasn't any bottom." + +"Now, keep still, and don't think about that. Save your strength, hold +fast, and I'll get you up." + +But, having said that much, Mark was not so sure how next to proceed. +It was going to be no easy task to haul up Jack, and that without ropes +or other apparatus. Another matter that added to the danger was the +necessity of keeping the life-torch close to one's face in order to +prevent death by the poisonous gases. + +Mark's first impulse was to hasten back and call the two professors, +but he looked over the desolate landscape, and could not see them, and +he feared that if he went away Jack might slip and fall into the +unknown depths of the crater. + +"I've got to get him out alone," decided Mark. "But how can I do it?" + +He crawled cautiously nearer to the edge of the extinct volcano and +looked down. A few loose stones, dislodged by his weight, rattled down +the sides. + +"Look out!" cried Jack quickly, "or you'll fall, too!" + +"I'll be careful," answered Mark, and then he drew away out of danger, +with a queer feeling about his heart, which was beating furiously. Mark +had hoped to be able to make his way down the side of the crater to +where his chum was and help him up. But a look at the steep sides and +the uncertain footing afforded by the loose rocks of lava-like +formation showed that this could not be done. + +"I've got to think of a different scheme," decided Mark, and, spurred +on by the necessity of acting quickly if he was to save Jack, he fairly +forced his brain to work. For he saw by the strained look on his chum's +face that Jack could not hold out much longer. + +"I have it!" cried Mark at length. "My fur coat! I can cut it into +strips of hide and make a rope. Then I can lower it down to Jack and +haul him up." + +He did not think, for the moment, of the cold he would feel when he +stripped off the fur garment, and when it did come to him in a flash he +never hesitated. + +"After all, I've often been out without an overcoat on cold days," he +said to himself. "I guess I can stand it for a while, and when Jack is +up I can run back to the projectile and keep warm that way." + +To think was to act, and Mark laid down his life-torch to take off the +big fur coat. The next instant he had toppled over, almost in a faint, +and, had he not fallen so that his head was near the small perforated +box on the end of the steel rod, whence came the life-giving gas, the +lad might have died. + +He had forgotten, for the instant, the necessity of always keeping the +torch close to his face to prevent the poisonous gases of the moon from +overpowering him. Mark soon revived while lying on the ground, and, +rising, with his torch in his hand, he looked about him. + +"I've got to have my two hands to work with," he mused, "and yet I've +got to hold this torch close to my face. Say, a fellow ought to have +three hands if he's going to visit the moon. What can I do?" + +In an instant a plan came to him. He thrust the pointed end of the +steel rod in the crevice of some rocks, and it stood upright, so that +the perforated box of chemicals was on a level with his face. + +"There," said Mark aloud, "I guess that will work. I can use both my +hands now." The plan was a good one. Next, taking off his coat, the lad +proceeded to cut it into strips, working rapidly. He called to Jack +occasionally, bidding him keep up his courage. "I'll soon have you +out," he said cheeringly. + +In a few minutes Mark had a long, stout strip of hide, and, taking his +life-torch with him, he advanced once more to the edge of the crater. +He stuck the torch in between some rocks, as before, and looked down at +Jack. + +"I--I can't hold on much longer," gasped the unfortunate lad. "Hurry, +Mark!" + +"All right. I'm going to haul you up now. Can you hold on with one hand +long enough to slip the loop of this rope over your shoulders?" + +"I guess so. But where did you get a rope?" + +"I made it--cut up my fur coat." + +"But you'll freeze!" + +"Oh, I guess not. Here it comes, Jack. Get ready!" + +Mark lowered the hide rope to his chum. The latter, who managed to get +one toe on a small, projecting rock, while he held on with his right +hand, used his left to adjust the loop over his shoulders and under his +arms. + +"Are you all ready?" asked Mark. + +"Yes, but can you pull me up?" + +"Sure. I'm six times as strong as when on the earth. Hold steady now, +and keep the torch close to your face." + +Mark had placed some pieces of his fur coat under the rope where it +passed over the edge of the mouth of the crater to prevent the jagged +rocks from cutting the strips of hide. + +"Here you come!" he cried to Jack, and he began to haul, taking care to +keep his own head near his torch, which was stuck upright. Mark had +spoken truly when he said he possessed much more than his usual +strength. Any one who has tried to haul up a person with a rope from a +hole, and with no pulleys to adjust the strain of the cable, knows what +a task it is. But to Mark, on the moon, it was comparatively easy. + +Hand over hand he pulled on the hide rope until, with a final heave, he +had Jack out of his perilous position. He had pulled him up from the +mouth of the crater, and the thick fur coat Jack wore had prevented the +sharp rocks from injuring him. In another moment he stood beside Mark, +a trifle weak and shaky from his experience, but otherwise unhurt. + +"How did you happen to go down there?" asked Mark. + +"Not from choice, I assure you," answered Jack. "I couldn't see the +crater when I jumped, as it was hidden by some rocks, and I was into it +before I knew it. But don't stand talking here. Put on my coat. I don't +need it. I'm warm." + +"I will not. I'm not a bit cold. But we may as well get back to the +projectile, for they'll be worrying about us." Thereupon Mark broke +into a run, for, now that the exertion of hauling up Jack was over, he +began to feel cool, and the chilling atmosphere of the moon struck +through to his bones. + +In a short time the two lads were back at the _Annihilator_, where +they found Professors Roumann and Henderson getting a bit anxious about +them. Their adventure was quickly related, and the boys were cautioned +to be more careful in the future. + +"This moon is a curious, desolate place," said Mr. Henderson, "and you +can't behave on it as you would on the earth. We have discovered some +curious facts regarding it, and when we get back I am going to write a +book on them. But I think we have seen enough for the present, so we'll +stay in the rest of the day and plan for farther trips." + +"Aren't we going to look for those diamonds?" asked Jack, who had +almost fully recovered from his recent experience. + +"Oh, yes, we will look around for them," assented Mr. Roumann. "I +think, after a day or so, we will move our projectile to another part +of the moon. We want to see as much of it as possible." + +They sat discussing various matters, and, while doing so, Washington +White peered into the living cabin. + +"Has yo' got one ob dem torch-light processions t' spare?" he asked. + +"Torch-light processions?" queried Mark. "What do you think this is, an +election, Wash?" + +"I guess he means a life-torch," suggested Jack. "Are you going out, +Wash?" + +"Yais, sah, I did think I'd take a stroll around. Maybe I kin find a +diamond fo' my tie." + +Laughing, Jack provided the colored man with one of the torches, +instructing him how to use it, and presently Washington was seen +outside, walking gingerly around, as though he expected to go through +the crust of the moon any moment. Pretty soon, however, he got more +courage and tramped boldly along, peering about on the ground for all +the world, as Mark said, as if he was looking for chestnuts. + +They paid no attention to the cook for some little time until, when the +boys and the two professors were in the midst of a discussion as to +where would be the best place to move the projectile next, they heard +him running along the corridor toward the cabin. + +"Wash is in a hurry," observed Jack. + +The next instant they sprang to their feet at the sight of the +frightened face of the colored man peering in on them. He was as near +white as a negro can ever be, which is a sort of chalk color, and his +eyes were wide open with fear. + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack. + +"A ghost! I done seen de ghost ob a dead man!" gasped the colored man. + +"A ghost?" repeated Mark. + +"Yais, sah, right out yeah! He's lyin' down in a hole--a dead man. +Golly! but I'se a scared coon, I is!" and Washington looked over his +shoulder as though he feared the "ghost" had followed him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A BREAKDOWN + + +At first they were inclined to regard the announcement of Washington +lightly, but the too evident fright of the colored man showed that +there was some basis for his fear. + +"Tell us just what you saw, and where it was," said Mr. Henderson. "Was +the man alive, Washington?" + +"No, sah. How could a ghost be alive? Dey is all dead ones, ghosts am!" + +"There are no such things as ghosts," said Mr. Henderson sternly. + +"Den how could I see one?" demanded the cook triumphantly, as if there +was no further argument. + +"Well, tell us about it," suggested Jack. + +"It were jest dis way," began Washington earnestly, and with occasional +glances over his shoulder, "I were walkin' along, sort ob lookin' fer +dem sparklin' diamonds, an' I didn't see none, when all on a suddint I +looked down in a hole, and dere I seen HIM!" and he brought out the +word with a jerk. + +"Saw what--who?" asked Mr. Roumann. + +"De ghost--de dead man. He were lyin' all curled up, laik he were +asleep, an' when I seed him, I didn't stop t' call him t' dinner, yo' +can make up yo' minds t' dat all." + +"Can you show us the place?" inquired Jack. + +"Yais, sah, massa Jack, dat's what I kin. I'll point it out from dish +yeah winder, but I ain't g'wine dar ag'in; no, sah, 'scuse me!" + +"Well, show us then," suggested Mark. "I wonder what it can be?" he +went on. + +"Maybe one of the people who came from Mars after the diamonds, who was +forgotten and left here, and who died," said Jack. + +"It's possible," murmured Mr. Henderson. "However, we'll go take a +look. Get on your fur coats, boys, and take the life-torches. Will you +come, Andy?" + +"Sure. It's got to be more than a ghost to scare me," said the hunter. + +They emerged from the projectile and walked in the direction Washington +had pointed, holding their gas torches near their heads and talking of +what they might see. + +"This will be evidence in favor of my diamond theory," declared Jack. +"It shows that the Martians were here." + +"Wait and see what it is," suggested his chum. + +They walked along a short distance farther, and then Mark spoke. + +"That ought to be the place over there," he said, pointing to a +depression between two tall pinnacles of black rock. + +Jack sprang forward, and a moment later uttered a cry of astonishment. + +"Here it is!" he called. "A dead man!" + +"A dead man?" echoed Professor Henderson. + +"A petrified man," added Jack, in awe-struck tones. "He's turned to +stone." + +A few seconds later they were all grouped around the strange object--it +was a man no longer, but had once been one. It was a petrified human +being, a full-grown man, to judge by the size, and it was a solid image +in stone, even the garments with which he had been clothed being turned +to rock. + +For a moment no one spoke, and they gazed in silence at what was an +evidence of former life on the moon. The man was huddled up, with the +knees drawn toward the stomach and the arms bent around the body, as if +the man had died in agony. The features were scarcely distinguishable. + +"That man was never an inhabitant of Mars," spoke Professor Henderson, +in a low voice. "He is much too large, and he has none of the +characteristics of the Martians." + +"I agree with you," came from Mr. Roumann. + +"Then who is he?" asked Jack. + +"I think," said the aged scientist, "that we are now gazing on all that +was once mortal of one of the inhabitants of the moon." + +"An inhabitant of the moon?" gasped Mark. + +"Yes; why not?" went on Mr. Henderson. "I believe the moon was once a +planet like our earth--perhaps even a part of it, and I think that it +was inhabited. In time it cooled so that life could no longer be +supported, or, at least, this side of the moon presents that +indication. The people were killed--frozen to death, and by reason of +the chemical action of the gases, or perhaps from the moon being +covered with water in which was a large percentage of lime, they were +turned to stone. That is what happened to this poor man." + +"Such a thing is possible," admitted Professor Roumann gravely. + +And, indeed, it is, as the writer can testify, for in the Metropolitan +Museum in New York there are the remains of an ancient South American +miner, whose body has been turned into solid copper. The corpse, of +which the features are partly distinguishable, was found four hundred +feet down in an old copper mine, where the dripping from hidden +springs, the waters of which were rich in copper sulphate, had +converted the man's body into a block of metal, retaining its natural +shape. The body is drawn up in agony, and there is every indication +that the man was killed by a cave-in of the mine. Some of his tools +were found near him. + +They remained gazing at the weird sight of the petrified man for some +time. + +"Then the moon was once inhabited?" asked Jack at length. + +"I believe so--yes," answered Professor Henderson. + +"Then where are the other people?" asked Mark. "There must be more than +one left. Why was this man off here alone?" + +"We don't know," responded the German scientist. "Perhaps he was off +alone in the mountains when death overtook him, or perhaps all his +companions were buried under an upheaval of rock. We can only +theorize." + +"It will be something else to put in the book I am to write," said Mr. +Henderson. "But, now that we have evidence of former life on the moon, +we must investigate further. We will make an attempt to go to the other +side of the country, and to that end I suggest that we set our +projectile in motion and travel a bit. There is little more to see +here." + +This plan met with general approval, and, after some photographs had +been taken of the petrified man, and the professors had made notes, and +set down data regarding him, and had tried to guess how long he had +been dead, they went back to the _Annihilator_. + +"Well, did yo' all see him?" asked Washington. + +"We sure did," answered Jack. "You weren't mistaken that time." + +They got ready to move the projectile, but decided to remain over night +where they were. "Over night" being the way they spoke of it, though, +as I have said, there was perpetual daylight for fourteen days at a +time on the moon. + +Professors Roumann and Henderson made a few more observations for +scientific purposes. They found traces of some vegetation, but it was +of little value for food, even to the lower forms of animal life, they +decided. There was also a little moisture; noticed at certain hours of +the day. But, in the main, the place where they had landed was most +desolate. + +"I hope we get to a better place soon," said Jack, just before they +sealed themselves up in the projectile to travel to a new spot. + +As distance was comparatively small on the moon, for her diameter is +only a little over two thousand miles and the circumference only about +six thousand six hundred miles, the _Annihilator_ could not be speeded +up. If it went too fast, it would soon be off the moon and into space +again. + +Accordingly the Cardite motor was geared to send the big craft along at +about forty miles an hour, and at times they went even slower than +that, when they were passing over some part of the surface which the +professors wished to photograph or observe closely. + +They did not rise high into the air, but flew along at an elevation of +about two hundred feet, steering in and out to avoid the towering peaks +scattered here and there. Occasionally they found themselves over +immense craters that seemed to have no bottom. + +For two days they moved here and there, finding no further signs of +life, neither petrified nor natural, though they saw many strange +sights, and some valuable pictures and scientific data was obtained. + +It was on the third day, when they were approaching the side of the +moon which from time immemorial has been hidden from view of the +inhabitants of the earth, that Jack, who was with Mark in the engine +room, while the two professors were in the pilot-house, remarked to his +chum: "Mark, doesn't it strike you that the water pump and the air +apparatus aren't working just right?" + +"They don't seem to be operating very smoothly," admitted Mark, after +an examination. + +"That's what I thought. Let's call Mr. Henderson. The machinery may +need adjusting." + +Jack started from the engine room to do this, and as he paused on the +threshold there was a sudden crash. Part of the air pump seemed to fly +off at a tangent, and a second later had smashed down on the Cardite +motor. This stopped in an instant, and the projectile began falling. +Fortunately it was but a short distance above the moon's surface, and +came down with a jar, which did not injure the travellers. + +But there was sufficient damage done to the machinery, for with the +breaking of the air pump the water apparatus also went out of +commission, and together with the breakdown of the Cardite motor had +fairly stalled the _Annihilator_. + +"What's the matter?" cried Professor Henderson, running in from the +pilot-house, for an automatic signal there had apprised him that +something was wrong. + +"There's a bad break," said Jack ruefully. + +"A bad break! I should say there was," remarked the scientist. "I think +we'll have to lay up for repairs." And he called Mr. Roumann. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +LOST ON THE MOON + + +Notwithstanding that they were somewhat accustomed to having accidents +happen, it was not with the most pleasant feelings in the world that +the moon travellers contemplated this one. It meant a delay, and a +delay was the one thing they did not want just now. + +They desired to get to the other side of the moon while the long period +of sunshine gave them an opportunity for observation. True there was +some time yet ere the long night of fourteen days would settle down, +but they felt that they would need every hour of sunshine. + +"Well, it's tough luck, but it can't be helped," said Mark. + +"No, let's get right to work," suggested Jack. + +They got out their tools and started to repair the two pumps. It was +found that the Cardite motor was not badly damaged, one of the negative +electrical plates merely having been smashed by a piece of the broken +connecting rod of the air pump. It was only a short time before the +motor was ready to run again. + +But it could not be successfully operated without the air and water +pumps, and it was necessary to fix them next. New gaskets were needed, +while an extra valve and some sliding gears had to be replaced. + +"It's an all day's job," remarked Professor Henderson. + +But many hands made light work, and even Washington and Andy were +called upon to do their share. By dinner time the work was more than +half done, and Professor Roumann, announced that he and Mr. Henderson +would finish it if Jack and Mark would take a look at the exterior of +the projectile, to see if any repairs were needed to that. + +The boys found that some of the exterior piping had become loosed at +the joints, because of the jar of the sudden descent, and, taking the +necessary tools outside, while they stuck their life-torches upright +near them, they labored away. + +At four o'clock the two lads had their task completed, and at the same +time Professor Henderson announced that the air and water pumps were +now in good shape again. + +"Then let's get under way at once," suggested Mr. Roumann. "We have +lost enough time as it is. Hurry inside, boys, and we'll start." + +The two chums were glad enough to do so, and in a few minutes they were +again moving through the air toward the unknown portion of the moon. + +Below the travellers, as they could see by looking down through a +plate-glass window in the floor of the projectile, were the same rugged +peaks, the same large and small craters that had marked the surface of +the moon from the time they had first had a glimpse of it. There was an +uninteresting monotony about it, unrelieved by any save the very +sparest vegetation. + +"I am beginning to think more and more that we will find people on the +other side of this globe," remarked Mr. Roumann, as he made an +observation through a telescope. + +"What strengthens your belief?" inquired Mr. Henderson. + +"The fact that the vegetation is growing thicker. There are many more +plants below us now than there were before. This part of the moon is +better able to support life than the portion we have just come from." + +This seemed to be so, but they were still some distance from the +opposite side of the moon. + +"I don't see anything of those diamonds you talked so much about, +Jack," said Mark, with a smile, a little later. "I guess all the +Reonaris you get you can put in a hollow tooth." + +"You wait," was all Jack replied. + +The projectile was slowed up to permit the two professors to make some +notes regarding a particularly large and deep crater, and a few minutes +later when Mark, who was in the engine room, attempted to speed up the +Cordite motor it would not respond. + +"Humph! I wonder what's wrong?" he asked of Jack. + +"Better call Mr. Roumann, and not try to fix it yourself," suggested +his chum, when, in response to various movements of the lever, the +machine seemed to go slower and slower. + +The German came in answer to the summons. + +"Ha!" he exclaimed, "that motor is broken again. We shall have to stop +once more for repairs. I shall need to take it all apart, I fear. Get +me the negative plate remover, will you, Mark?" + +The lad went to the tool chest for it. He opened the lid and fumbled +about inside. + +"It doesn't seem to be here," he announced. + +"What! the negative plate remover not there?" cried the professor. +"Why, it must be. It is one of the new tools we got, and it has not +been used for anything; has it?". + +"Oh, by Jinks!" cried Jack suddenly. + +"What's the matter?" asked his chum. + +"That plate remover! Don't you remember you and I had it when we were +fixing the pipes outside the projectile, when we had the other +breakdown? We must have left it back there on the ground." + +Jack and his chum gazed blankly at each other. + +"I guess we did," admitted Mark dubiously. + +"And it is the only one we have," said Mr. Roumann. "We need it very +much, too, for the projectile can't very well be moved without it." + +"How can we get it?" asked Jack. "I'm sorry. It was my fault." + +"It was as much mine as yours," asserted Mark. "I guess it's up to us +to go back after it. It isn't far. We can easily walk it." + +There seemed to be nothing else to do, and, after some discussion, it +was decided to have the two boys walk back after the missing tool, +which was a very valuable one. + +"Take fresh life-torches with you," advised Mr. Henderson, "and you had +better carry some food with you. It may be farther back than you think, +and you may get hungry." + +"I guess it will be a good thing to take some lunch along," admitted +Jack. "And some water, too. We can't get a drink here unless we come to +a spring, and we haven't seen any since we arrived." + +"I'll go with you, if you don't mind," said Andy. "I may see something +to shoot." + +The three of them, each one carrying a freshly charged vapor-torch, a +basket of food and a bottle of water, started off, well wrapped in +their fur coats. Andy had a compass to enable them to make their way +back to where the tool was left, for, amid the towering peaks and the +valley-like depressions, very little of the level surface of the moon +could be seen at a time. + +They walked on for several hours, every now and then hoping that they +had reached the place where the projectile had been halted, and where +they expected to find the tool. But so many places looked alike that +they were deceived a number of times. + +At length, however, they reached the spot and found the instrument +where Jack had carelessly dropped it. They picked it up and turned to +go back, when Andy Sudds saw a large crater off to one side. + +"Boys, I'm going to have a look down that," he said. "It may contain a +bear or wildcat, and I can get a shot." + +"Guess there isn't much danger of a bear being on the moon," said Mark, +but the old hunter leaned as far over the edge of the crater as he +dared. + +"No, there's nothing here," he announced, with almost a sigh, and he +straightened up. As he did so there came a tinkling sound, as if some +one had dropped a piece of money. + +"What's that?" asked Jack. + +"By heck! It's the compass!" cried Andy. "It slipped from my pocket +when I stooped over. Now it's gone!" + +There was no question of that. They could hear the instrument tinkling +far down in the unfathomable depths, striking from side to side of the +crater as it went down and down. + +"We'll never see that again," spoke Mark dubiously. "Can we get back to +the projectile without it?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, I fancy I can pick my trail back," answered the hunter. "It isn't +going to be easy, for there are no landmarks to guide me, but I'll do +my best. I ought to have known better than to put a compass in that +pocket." + +It was not with very light hearts that they started back, and for a +time they went cautiously. Then, as they seemed to get on familiar +ground, they increased their pace and covered several miles. + +"Say," remarked. Jack, as he sat down on a big stone. "I don't know how +the rest of you feel, but I'm tired. We've come quite a distance since +we picked up that tool." + +"Yes, farther than it took us to find it after we left the projectile," +added Mark. "I wonder if we're going right?" + +The two boys looked at Andy. He scratched his head in perplexity. + +"I can't be sure, but it seems to me that we came past here," he said. +"I seem to remember that big rock." + +"There are lots like it," observed Jack. + +"Suppose we try over to the left," spoke Mark, after they had rested +for ten minutes. + +They swerved in that direction, and, after keeping on that trail for +some time, and becoming more and more convinced that it was the wrong +one, they turned to the right. That did not bring them to familiar +ground, and there was no sight of the projectile. + +"Let's go straight ahead," suggested Andy, after a puzzled pause. "I +think that will be best." + +"Well, which way is straight ahead?" asked Mark. + +"That's so, it is hard to tell," admitted the hunter. "I wish I hadn't +lost that compass." + +They wandered about for an hour longer. They could seem to make no +progress, though they covered much ground. Suddenly Jack called out: + +"Say, we've been going around in a circle!" + +"In a circle?" asked Mark. + +"Yes," went on his chum. "Here's the very rock I sat down on a while +ago. I remember it, for I scratched my initials on it." + +Jack pointed out the letters. There was no disputing it. They had made +a complete circle. For a moment they maintained silence in the face of +this alarming fact. Then Mark exclaimed: + +"I guess we're lost!" + +"Lost on the moon!" added Jack, in an awestruck voice, and he gazed on +the chill and desolate scene all about them; the great pinnacles of +rocks, in fantastic form; the immense black caverns of craters on +either hand; the sickly green vegetation. + +"Lost on the moon!" whispered Mark, and there was not even an echo of +his voice to keep them company. Only a chill, desolate silence! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +DESOLATE WANDERINGS + + +For a moment the three stood helplessly there and stared at each other. +They could scarcely comprehend their situation at first. Then, with a +glance at the cold and quiet scene all about them, a look up at the +sun, which was the only cheerful object in the whole landscape, Jack +observed: "Oh, I say, come on now, don't let's give up this way! We +have only taken a wrong turn, and I'll wager that the projectile will +be just around the corner. Come on," and he started off. + +"Yes," said Mark, "that's the trouble. There are so many corners, and +we have taken so many wrong turns, that we're all confused. I think the +best thing to do will be to stay here a while and pull ourselves +together." + +"That's right," spoke old Andy. "Many a time in the woods I've got all +confused-like, and then I'd sit down and think, and I'd get on the +right path in a few minutes after." + +"The trouble here is," said Jack, "that there are no woods. If there +were we might know how to get out of them. But think of it! Lost on +the moon, in the midst of a whole lot of queer mountain peaks, and big +holes that would hold half a dozen cities of the United States at the +same time, and never know it! This is a fearful place to be lost in!" + +"I'm not going to admit that we're lost," declared Mark stoutly. + +"Hu! You're like the Indian," spoke Jack. "The Indian who got lost in +the woods. He insisted that it wasn't he who was lost, that it was his +wigwam that couldn't be found. He knew where he himself was all the +while. That's our case, I suppose. We're here, but the projectile is +lost." + +"Ha! ha!" laughed Andy Sudds. "That's a pretty good joke!" + +"But not being able to find the projectile is no joke," went on Mark, +who always took matters more seriously than did his chum. "What are we +going to do?" he added. "We can't stay here like this." + +"Maybe we'll have to," declared Jack. "We certainly can't get off the +moon--at least, not until we reach the projectile, and I'd like to +discover those diamonds before we go back." + +"Hu! Those diamonds!" exploded Mark. "I think this whole thing is a +wild-goose chase, anyhow! If it hadn't been for those diamonds we +wouldn't have come to the moon. I don't believe there are any diamonds +here, anyhow." + +"Well, I can't prove it to you now, but I will before we get back," +asserted Jack. "We'll be wearing diamonds, as the song says." + +"Diamonds aren't going to keep us warm when we're freezing," went on +Mark, who seemed bound to look on the dark side, "and we can't eat 'em +when we're hungry. A lot of good they'll do us if we do find them!" + +"Oh, cheer up!" suggested Jack cheerfully. "And, speaking of eating, +what's the matter with having some lunch? What did we bring it along +for if we're not going to eat? Let's begin." + +His good spirits were contagious, not that Andy needed any special +cheering up, but Mark did. In a few minutes they were seated on some +rugged rocks, and, with their life-torches stuck in cracks, so that the +perforated metal boxes of chemicals would be on a level with their +faces, they opened the baskets they had been fore-sighted enough to +bring with them. + +"Why, I feel better already," asserted Jack, as he munched some +sandwiches which Washington White had made. "As soon as we've finished +we'll have another hunt for the projectile, and I'll wager that we'll +find it." + +"I wouldn't finish if I were you," suggested Andy, who was eating +sparingly. + +"Finish what?" asked Jack. + +"All your lunch. You see," the old hunter went on, "we may find the +projectile, and, again, we may not. I'm inclined to think we're not so +very far from it, but we may be some time locating it in among all +these peaks and craters. So it will be the best plan to save some of +our lunch and drinking water until--well, until we're hungry again," +and he carefully put back into his basket the remains of the food. + +"You don't mean to say you think we'll be all day finding the +Annihilator, do you?" + +Jack paused, with a sandwich half way to his mouth as he asked this +question. + +"Well, it's best to be on the safe side," spoke Andy guardedly. "We may +find it, and, again, we may not. Save your powder against the time of +need, I say--by powder meaning victuals and drink. We can't drop in a +restaurant up here, and I don't see much game to shoot, and I should +hate to eat such fodder as this," and he poked with his foot some +sickly green vines, growing on the ground. + +The boys' faces, which had become more cheerful, assumed a serious +look. Jack stopped eating at once and placed back in the basket his +remaining sandwiches. He also corked up the bottle of water, which was +kept from freezing by means of a fur pouch in which it was carried. + +"If there's a possibility of being lost some time," spoke Mark, "we'd +better figure out just how long our food will last," and he examined +the contents of his basket. + +Fortunately Washington White, with a knowledge of the appetites of the +chums, had filled the baskets with lavish hands. There was, they found, +food enough to last them three days, if they ate sparingly, and there +was enough water for half that time, providing they only took small +sips when thirsty. But they had noticed, in one or two places, little +pools of liquid, which they had not tasted, but which might prove to be +drinking water. Certainly they would need more if they were destined to +remain away from the projectile for very long. + +"Well, then," observed Mark, when the food calculation was over, "it +appears that we can remain lost for about three days, at the most." + +"Oh, but we'll be back home--I mean in the projectile--long before +that," declared Jack. + +"I wish I was sure of that," murmured Andy with a dubious shake of his +head. + +"Well, let's move on again," suggested Jack. "We feel better now, and +maybe we'll have better luck." + +They started off, tramping over the rugged surface of the moon, while +the sun shone with tepid heat down on them. They had to go this way and +that to avoid the immense fissures in the ground or the yawning +craters, which loomed deep, and in awful silence, in their path. +Sometimes they climbed small mountains or crawled in and out of small +craters, slipping and stumbling. + +They were not cold, for their fur garments kept them comfortably warm, +and there was no wind to make the freezing temperature search through +the crevices of their clothing. But it was the desolate silence, the +utter absence of any form of life save the pale green vegetation that +got on their nerves. It was like being in a dead world--on a planet +that seemed about to dissolve into space. + +They began their further search for the projectile with hope in their +hearts, but this gradually gave way to despair as they wandered on over +the desolate surface, and saw nothing but the same rugged peaks, the +same yawning caverns and the innumerable craters, large and small. + +On they wandered, looking on all sides for the missing projectile, but +they had no glimpse of it. Even climbing to one of the high peaks, +whence they had a view of the surrounding country, afforded them no +trace of the _Annihilator_, They were utterly lost. + +Old Andy, who, by reason of his experience as a trapper and hunter, had +taken the lead, came to a halt. He looked around helplessly. He did not +know what to do. + +"Well, boys," he remarked at length, "I don't like to say it, but I +can't seem to get anywhere. I give up." + +"Give up?" murmured Jack, in blank dismay. + +"Yes, for the time being," said the old man. "I'm all played out. I +guess we all are. We must have a rest. Here's a sort of cave. Let's +crawl in and have a sleep. Then maybe we can do something to-morrow-- +no, not to-morrow, for they don't have that on the moon, where the day +is fourteen days long--but after we sleep we may be able to find our +way back. Anyhow, I've got to get some sleep," and without another word +the old hunter went into the cave, and, fixing his life-torch near his +head, where the fumes from it would dissipate the poisonous gases of +the moon, he closed his eyes, and was soon in slumber. + +"I--I guess we'd better do the same," said Jack, and Mark nodded. They +were both sick at heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE PETRIFIED CITY + + +For a time, after they had entered the cave, which was in the side of a +rugged mountain, the boys talked in low tones of their perilous +situation. For that it was perilous they both knew. Had they been on +the earth, lost in some desolate part of it, away from civilization, +their plight, would have been bad enough with what little food they +possessed. + +But on the far-off moon--the dead moon, which contained no living +creatures save themselves, as far as they could tell--with no form of +animal life that might serve to keep them from starving, with only the +scantiest of vegetation, their situation was most deplorable. + +"And then there's another thing," said Mark, as if he was cataloguing a +list of their troubles. + +"What is it?" asked Jack. "I guess we have all the troubles that belong +to us, and more, too." + +"Well, what are we going to do when the life-torches give out, and we +can't breathe any more?" asked Mark dubiously. + +"Well, I guess it'll be all up with us then, if we don't starve to +death in the meanwhile," answered Jack. "But I'm afraid we will get out +of food before the torches are exhausted. They were freshly filled +before we started out after that tool, and they'll last for two weeks. +So we don't have to worry about that. + +"By Jinks! this is all my fault, anyhow, it seems. If I hadn't seen +that item in the Martian paper about the diamonds, we never would have +come here, and if I hadn't left that tool on the ground outside of the +projectile we wouldn't have had to come back after it, and we wouldn't +have become lost. So I guess it's up to me, as the boys say." + +"Oh, nonsense!" exclaimed Mark, who, as soon as he heard his chum +blaming his own actions, was ready to shoulder part of the +responsibility himself. "We all wanted to come to the moon," he went +on, "and, as for leaving the tool and forgetting it, I'm as much at +fault as you are. Let's go to sleep, and maybe we'll feel better when +we wake up." + +It was a new role for Mark--to be cheerful in the face of difficulties +--and Jack appreciated it. They stretched out on the hard, rocky floor +of the cavern, taking care to fix their life-torches so that the fumes +would dispel the poisonous gases. Then the two lads joined Andy in +slumberland. + +Meanwhile, as may be imagined, those aboard the projectile were very +anxious about the fate of the two boys and the hunter. They could not +understand what delayed them, and, though they guessed the real cause, +after several hours had passed, there was nothing the two scientists +could do. + +They could not move the projectile until it had been repaired, and this +could not be done, without the tool--at least, they did not believe so +then. Nor did Mr. Henderson and the German think it would be safe to +start out in search of the wanderers. + +"For," said Mr. Henderson, "if we went we would easily get lost amid +these peaks ourselves, and they are so much alike and in such numbers +that there is no distinguishing feature about them. We had better stay +here in charge of the _Annihilator_ until the boys and Andy come back. +They can't be away much longer now." + +So worn out and exhausted were the boys and the hunter that they slept +for several hours in the cave, and the rest did them good. They awoke +in better spirits, and, after a frugal meal and a sip of the fast- +dwindling water, they started off once more to locate the projectile. + +"I'm a regular amateur hunter to go and lose my compass," complained +old Andy. "I ought to have it fastened to me, like a baby does the +rattle-box. I ought to kick myself," and he accepted all the blame for +their misadventure. But the boys would not suffer him to thus accuse +himself, and they insisted that they would shortly be with the two +professors and Washington in the _Annihilator_ once more. + +"Well, it can't come any too soon," said Jack, "for I am beginning to +feel the need of a square meal and a big drink of water." + +"So am I," said Mark, "but let's not think of it." + +All that day they wandered on, crossing the rugged mountains, climbing +towering peaks, and descending into deep valleys. At times they skirted +the lips of craters, to look shudderingly into the depths of which made +them dizzy, for the bottoms were lost to sight in the black gloom that +enshrouded the yawning holes. + +Their food was getting less and less, and what there was of it was most +unpalatable, for the bread was stale and dry, though the meat kept +perfectly in that freezing temperature. How they longed for a hot cup +of coffee, such as Washington used to make! and how they would have +even exchanged their chance of filling their pockets with the moon +diamonds for a good meal, such as was so often served in the +projectile! + +On and on they went. Once, as they were crossing the lip of a great +crater, Mark became dizzy, and would have fallen had not Jack caught +him. Mark had forgotten, for the moment, and had lowered his life- +torch, so that his mouth and nose were not enclosed in the film of +vapor that emanated from the perforated box. + +"You must be careful," Andy warned them. + +"What's the use?" asked Mark despondently. "I don't believe we'll ever +find the projectile." + +"Of course we will!" exclaimed Jack. "I know we can't be far from it, +only we can't see it because of the mountains. If we only had some way +of letting them know where we are, they could signal to us." + +"By gum!" suddenly exclaimed Andy. + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack, for the old hunter was capering about +like a boy. + +"Matter? Why, the matter is that I'm a double-barrelled dunce," was the +answer. "Look here; do you see that?" and he held up his rifle. + +"Sure," replied Jack, wondering if their sufferings and worry had made +the old hunter simple-minded. + +"What is it?" asked Andy, shaking it in the air. + +"Your rifle," answered Mark, looking at Jack in surprise. + +"Of course," answered the hunter, "and a rifle is made to be fired off, +and here I've been carrying mine for nearly three days now, and I +haven't shot it once. You wanted a signal to make the folks in the +projectile hear us. Well, here it is I I guess they can hear this, and +when they do they can come and get us, for we don't seem able to reach +them. I'll just fire some signal shots." + +"That's the stuff!" cried Jack, and Andy proceeded to discharge his +rifle. + +The report the gun made in that quiet place was tremendous, and the +effect was curious, for, there being no air in the ordinary acceptance +of the word, there was no echo. It was as if one had hit two shingles +together. Merely a loud, sharp sound, and then an utter silence, the +vibrations being swallowed up instantly. + +"Do you think they can hear that?" asked Andy. + +"It sounds loud enough," answered Jack. "Shoot some more," which the +old hunter did. They wandered on still farther, firing at intervals all +that day, but there came no answering report or calls to direct them to +the projectile. They climbed once more to the tops of towering peaks, +but there they found their range of vision limited by peaks still +higher, while there were great valleys, in one of which, whether near +or far they could not tell, they knew, the _Annihilator_ was hidden. + +They had almost lost track of time now, and they did not know how far +they had wandered. They had sought out lonely caves to sleep in when +they were so weary they could go no farther, and they had sat about on +bleak rocks shivering, and had eaten their scanty meals--shivering +because in spite of their fur garments they were cold, as they did not +eat enough to keep their blood properly circulating. They could not +when they did not have the food to eat! + +Andy used up all but a few of his cartridges in firing signals, but to +no purpose. Their water was all but gone, and of their food only enough +remained for a day longer, though their life-torches still gave forth +plenty of vapor. + +"Well, what's to be done?" asked Jack, as they sat about, looking +helplessly at one another. + +"Might as well give up," suggested Mark bitterly. + +"Give up? Not a bit of it!" cried Andy, as cheerfully as he could. +"Let's keep on. We'll find the projectile sooner or later." + +So they kept on. It was while making their way between two great +mountain peaks that towered above their heads on either side, thousands +of feet up, making a sort of natural gateway, that Jack, who was in the +lead, cried out in astonishment at the sight that met his gaze when he +had passed the pinnacles. + +"Look!" he shouted, pointing forward. + +What he indicated was a great crater--larger and deeper than any they +had yet met with. It seemed a mile across, and, if gloom and darkness +were any indications, it was a hundred miles deep. + +But it was not the size of the great hole in the ground, not its +fearful gloom, that attracted their attention. What did was a great +natural or artificial bridge of stone that was thrown across the middle +of it from edge to edge. A bridge of stone that spanned the abyss; a +roadway, fifty feet wide, which reached into some unknown land, +connecting it with the desolate country in which our friends had been +wandering. + +"A bridge of stone across the cavern," said Jack, "but see. Here is a +house of stone. This was the guard-house, I'll wager--the guardhouse at +the entrance to some city, and that bridge is the means by which the +inhabitants entered and left. Maybe we are at the edge of the inhabited +part of the moon!" + +His words thrilled them. They pressed forward to the beginning of the +bridge across the crater. They looked into the stone hut. Clearly it +had been made by hands, for it was composed of blocks of stone, neatly +fitted together. Jack's theory seemed confirmed. + +Mark peered into the house, and uttered a cry of alarm. + +"There's a petrified man in there!" he gasped. + +Jack and Andy looked in at the open window. They saw, sitting at a +table, which was also of rock, a man, evidently a soldier, or rather he +had been, for he was nothing but stone now, like the hut in which he +dwelt. + +The wanderers looked at each other with fear on their faces. What +dreadful mystery were they about to penetrate? "Let's cross the +bridge," suggested Jack, in a low voice. "Maybe this marks the end of +desolation. Perhaps we may find life and food across the crater." + +"But--but the petrified man!" gasped Mark. + +"What of it? He won't hurt us. Maybe there are live men, who will take +care of us, beyond there," and Jack pointed across the bridge of stone. + +There was nothing to keep them where they were--in the land of +desolation. They could not live much longer there, with no food and +water. To pass on over the crater seemed the only thing to do. + +"Come ahead," called Jack boldly. They followed him. They kept in the +middle of the road, for to approach the edge, where there was a sheer +descent of so many feet that it made them dizzy to think of it, filled +them with terror. On they hurried until, in a short time, they had +crossed the great chasm. + +The road over the crater came to an end between two peaks, similar to +those at the beginning. Jack was the first to pass them, and as he +emerged he once more uttered a cry--a cry of fear and wonder. + +And well he might, for in a valley below the wanderers there was a +city. A great city, with wonderful buildings, with wide streets well +laid out--a city in which figures of many men and women could be seen-- +little children too! A fair city, teeming with life, it seemed! + +But then, as they looked again, struck by the curious quiet that +prevailed, they knew that they were gazing down on a city of the dead-- +a city where the inhabitants had been turned to stone, even as had the +soldier on guard in his lonely hut. + +They had come upon a petrified city of the moon! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +SEEKING FOOD + + +"Well, if this isn't the limit!" burst out Jack, when he had stood and +contemplated the silent city for several moments, which also his +companions did. "After all our wanderings and troubles, when we do find +a place, it isn't any good to us. I don't suppose there is a square +meal in the whole town! Isn't it wonderful, though--every person turned +to stone!" + +"Wonderful!" gasped old Andy. "I never saw anything like it in all my +life! What do you reckon did it, boys?" + +"The same thing that turned the man in the hut, and the one Washington +thought was a ghost, into stone," answered Mark. "There was a rain of +some lime-water, or a liquid charged with similar chemicals, and the +people were turned to rocks." + +It was uncanny, and for a moment they hesitated on the edge of the +city, which lay in a sort of cup-like valley, surrounded on all sides +by towering peaks of the moon mountains. The bridge over which they had +come afforded the only entrance to the city, and in times of war +(provided the inhabitants of the moon ever fought) the passage must +have been well guarded. + +It was evidently a time of peace when the calamity that turned the +inhabitants to stone came upon them, for only one soldier was in the +guard hut--doubtless being there merely to give an alarm, or possibly +to keep out undesirable strangers. + +"Well, are we going to stand here all day?" asked Jack of his +companions, when they had contemplated the silent city for five minutes +longer. + +"I say, let's go down there and see what we can find. I'm getting +hungry." + +"There'll be nothing there to eat," declared Mark. "If there ever was +anything, it's now stone. Think of a loaf of bread like a brick, and a +chunk of meat like some great rock!" + +"Let's go down, anyhow," added Andy, and they advanced. + +As they got down into the streets, the weird effect came over them more +strongly. It was as if they had suddenly entered some large town, and +at their advent every living person had been turned into an image. + +"Wonderful, wonderful!" murmured Jack. + +"I've read of the uncovering of the ancient buried cities, and how they +found women in the kitchen baking bread, and men at their work, but +this goes ahead of that, for here the people are not dust--they are +statues!" + +"It certainly is wonderful," agreed Mark. "I only wish the two +professors could see this. They could write several books about it. +This proves that the moon was once inhabited, though it is dead now. +The projectile should have come to this part of the moon." + +"Maybe they'll bring it here, when we get back and tell them what we've +seen," suggested Jack. + +"Yes, if we ever do get back," went on his chum, with a return of his +gloomy thoughts. + +The strangeness of the scenes all about them can scarcely be imagined. +Think of looking at a city street teeming with life, men and women +hurrying here and there, dogs running about, children at their play, +and then suddenly seeing that same street become as dead as some +mountain, with the people represented as stones on that same mountain, +and you can get some idea of what our friends looked upon. + +Here was a woman, looking in a store window, probably at some bargains, +though even the very window and store itself was now stone, and the +woman was like a block of marble. Near her was a little child, also +turned to stone, and there were a number of men, standing together on a +street corner as if they had been talking politics when the calamity +overtook them. + +There were shops where the workers had been turned to stone at their +benches, there were houses at the windows of which stone faces peered +out, and there were parks on the benches of which sat men, women and +children, stiff and solid--creatures of stone! Truly it was a city of +the dead! + +The wanderers walked about, seeing new wonders on every side. They +spoke in whispers at times, as though at the sound of a loud voice the +silent ones would awaken and resume the occupations or pleasures they +had left off centuries ago. + +Another strange part of it was that the people were not so very +different from those of the earth. They were exactly the same in size +and feature, but their clothing, as nearly as could be told from the +stone garments, seemed of a bygone fashion, such as was in vogue +hundreds of years ago. There were no horses observed, though there were +stone dogs and cats, and the shops given over to the sale of food +contained in the windows what seemed to be chunks of meat, loaves of +bread, and pies and cakes, though now they were only pieces of rock. + +"It's just as if one of our cities and the people in it should be +suddenly petrified," said Mark. "It's almost like the earth up here; +only they don't seem to have gotten to trolley cars yet." + +"Maybe they would if the moon hadn't cooled off when it did, and killed +them all," suggested Jack. "But, I say, let's get down to something +more practical than theorizing." + +"What, for instance?" asked Mark. + +"Looking for something to eat," went on Jack. "I'm nearly starved, and +I have only half a sandwich left. I want to eat it, yet, if I do, I +don't know where I'm going to get more. And as for water, I'd give a +handful of diamonds, if I had them, for half a glass of even warm +water." + +"Yes, we do need food and water badly," said Andy. + +"Then let's look for it," suggested Jack. "If we can find food in any +of these houses or shops, I don't believe the people will care if we +take it." + +"Find food here?" cried Mark. "Why, you must be crazy! All the food is +turned to stone, and what isn't would be spoiled! Why, no one has been +alive here for thousands and thousands of years!" + +"That's nothing," asserted Jack. "Don't you remember reading how, in +the arctic regions, they have found the bodies of prehistoric elephants +and mastodons encased in blocks of ice, where they have been for +centuries. The meat is perfectly preserved because of the cold. And +what of the grains of wheat they find in the coffins of Egyptian +mummies? Some of that is three thousand years old, yet it grows when +they plant it, and they can make bread of it. + +"Now, maybe we can find some wheat or something to eat in some of these +houses. If there's meat, it will be perfectly preserved, for the +temperature is below freezing." + +"That may be," admitted Mark, convinced, in spite of himself, "but it's +turned to stone, I tell you." + +"The outside part may be," said Jack, "but if we can crack off the +outside layer of stone we may find some good meat inside. I'm going to +look, anyhow." + +"That's not a bad idea!" cried Andy with enthusiasm. "Think of having a +loaf of bread and some beefsteak thousands of years old. I suppose they +had beefsteak here," he added cautiously. + +"Some kind of meat, anyhow," agreed Jack. "Well, let's look for a place +that was once a restaurant or hotel, and we'll see what luck we have. +Come on." + +They walked along the silent streets, with their silent occupants, and +finally Jack found what he was seeking. It was an eating place, to +judge by the appearance, and at tables inside were seated stone men and +women. + +"Back to the kitchen!" cried Jack with enthusiasm. "There's where we'll +find food, if there is any!" + +"It'll be all stone," declared Mark, but he and Andy followed Jack. + +They came to the place where was what appeared to be a stove. It was +more like a brick oven, however, than a modern range, though in dishes +that were now stone something was being cooked when the catastrophe +occurred. + +"There's meat, I'll wager!" cried Jack, pointing to several objects on +a table. They looked like chunks of beef, but when Mark struck them +with the end of his life-torch they gave forth a sound as if a rock had +been tapped. + +"What did I tell you?" Mark asked, "Nothing but rocks. And the bread is +also a stone," he added bitterly. + +"You're right," admitted Jack, with a sigh. "And I'm getting hungrier +than ever." They all were. For days they had been without sufficient +food, and now, when it was almost within their reach, they were denied +it by this curious trick of nature. With pale and wan faces they gazed +at each other, wetting their parched lips, for they had some time since +taken the last of their scant supply of water, and they were very +thirsty. + +"I guess it's all up with us," murmured Mark. "We'll soon be like these +poor people here--blocks of stone." + +"If we only could change this meat back into it's original shape," +spoke Jack musingly, smiting his fist against a block of beef. + +Suddenly Andy uttered a cry. + +"I have it!" he fairly shouted. + +"What?" asked Jack. + +"I have a plan to get meat out of this hunk of stone!" + +The two boys gazed at the old hunter as though they thought he had lost +his reason, but, chuckling gleefully, Andy took from his pouch several +cartridges, and proceeded to remove the wads, and pour the powder from +the paper shells out on the stone table. + +"I'll have some meat for us," he muttered. "We shan't starve now!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE BLACK POOL + + +"What are you going to do, Andy?" asked Jack, as he watched the old +hunter. + +"What am I going to do? Why, I'm going to blast out some of this meat, +that's what I'm going to do! I heard you boys talking about elephants +and other things being preserved for centuries in a cake of ice, and, +if that's true, why won't the meat in this petrified city be preserved +just as well? It's always below freezing here, and that's cold enough." + +"But the meat has turned to stone," objected Mark. + +"Only the outside part of it, to my thinking," answered Andy. "I +believe that inside these lumps of rock we'll find good, fresh meat!" + +"But how are you going to get it?" asked Jack. + +"Just as I told you--blast it out with some of the powder from my +cartridges. I used to be a miner before I turned hunter, and when we +wanted gold we used to fire a charge in some rocks. Now we want meat, +and I'm going to do the same thing. I'll put some powder underneath +this block of stone that looks as if it was a chunk of roast beef, and +we'll see what happens. It's lucky I saved some of my cartridges." + +While he was talking the old hunter had taken some of the powder and +put it back in one of the paper shells. Then, making a fuse by twisting +some powder grains in a piece of paper he happened to have in his +pocket, he inserted it in the improvised bomb, using some dirt and +small stones with which to tamp down the charge. He discovered a crack +in the big stone, which they hoped would prove to be a chunk of roast +beef, and Andy put the cartridge in that. + +"Look out now, boys," he called, "I'm going to light the fuse. I didn't +make a heavy charge, but it might do some damage, so we'll go outside." + +They hurried from the place, with its silent guests and waiters, and +reached the street. A moment later there sounded a dull explosion. + +"Now, let's see what we've got!" called Jack. + +Back to the kitchen they ran, the two boys in the lead. + +"Why--why--the stone has disappeared!" cried Jack, in disappointment, +as he glanced all around. + +"Yes, but look here," added Mark. "Here are bits of meat," and he +picked up from the stone table some scraps of meat. + +"Is it really roast beef?" cried Jack. "Good to eat?" + +Mark smelled of it. Then he put the morsel cautiously to his lips. The +next instant it had disappeared. It was proof enough. + +"Good! I should say it was good!" exclaimed Mark. "I wish there was +more of it! What happened to the rock of meat, Andy?" + +"I used too heavy a charge, and it blew all to pieces. I'll know better +next time. There are lots more chunks of meat, and we'll soon have a +feast. I'll make another bombshell." + +He worked rapidly while Jack sampled some of the shreds of meat that +had been scattered about by the explosion. The beef was perfectly +cooked, and in spite of its great age it was as fresh and palatable as +frozen meat ever is. Besides the heat generated by the explosion had +partly thawed it, so that there was no trouble in chewing it. + +Once more came the explosion, a slight one this time, and when the +adventurers re-entered the kitchen they found that what had been a lump +of stone had been broken open, and the middle part, like the kernel of +a nut, was sweet and good. It was cooked, so they did not have to eat +it raw. + +"Say, maybe this isn't good!" exclaimed Jack, chewing away. "It's the +best ever!" + +"And there's enough in this city to keep us alive for months, if we +can't find the projectile in that time," declared Andy. + +"Don't you think we will?" asked Mark. + +"Of course, but I was only just mentioning it. Now, eat all you want, +boys, I have quite a few cartridges left. I didn't fire away as many as +I thought I did, and we can blast out a dinner any time we want it. So +eat hearty!" + +They needed no second invitation, and for the first time in several +days they had enough to eat. It was comfortable in the petrified +restaurant, too, for they could move about without carrying their life- +torches constantly in their hand. The gases from the perforated boxes +filled the rooms, and were not quickly dispelled by the poisonous +vapors as they were outside, so they could walk around in comparative +freedom. + +"Now, if we could only blast out a loaf of bread, we'd be all right," +said Jack. They found some petrified loaves, but on breaking one open +it was found to be stone all the way through. + +Spurred on by an overwhelming thirst, they wandered about the dead +city, but found no moisture. They tried to chew some of the pale green +vegetation that grew more plentiful on this side of the moon, but it +was exceedingly bitter, and they could not stand it, though there was +some juice in it. + +They crossed the city, and wandered out into the country beyond. It +appeared to have been a fertile land before the stone death settled +down on it. They saw farmers in the fields, turned into images, beside +the oxen with which they had been plowing. But nowhere was there a sign +of water. Had it not been for a frozen rice pudding, they would have +perished that first day in the stone city. + +As it was, they dragged out a miserable existence, eating from time to +time of the blasted meat. But even this palled on them after a while, +for their lips were parched and cracked, and their tongues were swollen +in their mouths. + +"I can't stand this any longer!" cried Jack. + +"What are you going to do?" asked Mark. + +"Go out and look for water. There must be some in the country outside +if there isn't any in this city. I'm going to have a look. Besides, if +I'm going to die, I might as well die while I'm busy. I'm not going to +sit here in this dreadful place and give up." + +His words urged them to follow him, and, with lagging steps, for they +were weak and faint, they went from the restaurant, which they had made +their home since coming to the petrified city. + +Out into the open fields they went, but their search seemed likely to +be in vain. Between times of looking for the water they scanned the sky +for a sight of the projectile, which, hoping against hope, they thought +they might see hovering over them. But there was no sight of it. + +They came to a vast, level plain, girt with mountains, a lonesome +place, where there was no sign of life. Listlessly they walked over it. + +Suddenly Andy, who was in the lead, uttered a cry and sprang forward. +The boys ran to him, and found the old hunter gazing into the depths of +a great black pool, which filled a depression in the surface of the +moon. It was a small crater, and was filled, nearly to the top, with +some black liquid, which gloomily reflected back the light of the sun. + +"I'm going to have a drink!" cried Andy, and before the boys could stop +him he threw himself face downward at the edge of the black pool. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE SIGNAL FAILS + + +"Stop! Don't drink that! It may be poison!" yelled Jack. + +"Pull him back!" shouted Mark, and together they advanced on the old +hunter. They tried to drag him away from the black pool, but Andy shook +them off. + +"Let--me--alone!" he gasped, as he bent over the uninviting liquid and +drank deeply. "It's water, I tell you--good water--and I'm almost-- +dead--from--thirst!" + +"Water? Is that water?" cried Jack. + +"Well, it's the nearest thing to it that I've tasted since I've been +lost on the moon," spoke Andy, as he slowly arose. "My, but that was +good!" he added fervently. + +"But--water?" gasped Mark. "How can there be water here?" + +"Taste and see," invited the old hunter. + +They hesitated a moment, and then followed his example. The liquid-- +water it evidently had once been--had a peculiar taste, but it was not +bad. By some curious chemical action, which they never understood, the +liquid had been prevented from evaporating, nor was it frozen or +petrified as was everything else on the moon. + +What gave the liquid its peculiar black color they could not learn. +Sufficient for them that it was capable of quenching their thirst, and +they all drank deeply and refilled their bottles. + +"Now, I feel like eating again," spoke Andy, "We can take some of this +back with us, and have a good meal on blasted meat. Whenever we get +thirsty we'll have to make a trip back here for water." + +The boys agreed with him. They examined the black pool. It appeared to +be filled by hidden springs, though there was no bubbling, and the +surface was as unruffled as a mirror. The liquid was not very inviting, +being as black as ink, but the color appeared to be a sort of +reflection, for when the water, if such it was, had been put into +bottles it at once became clear, nor did it stain their faces or hands. + +"Well, it's another queer thing in this queer moon," said Jack. "I wish +the two professors could see this place. They'd have lots to write +about." + +"I wonder if we'll ever see them again?" asked Mark. + +"Sure," replied Jack hopefully. "We'll fill our lunch baskets, take a +lot of water along, and have another hunt for the projectile soon." + +They did, but with no success. For several days more they lived in the +petrified city, the meat encased in its block of stone, which Andy +blasted from time to time, and the black water keeping them alive. From +time to time they went out in the surrounding country, looking for the +projectile. But they could not find the place where they had left it, +nor could they find even the place where they had picked up the lost +tool that had cost them so much suffering. They were more completely +lost than ever. They crossed back and forth on the bridge over the +crater chasm, and penetrated for many miles in a radius from that, +marking their way by chipping off pieces of the rocky pinnacles, as +they did not want to leave the petrified city behind. + +From some peaks they caught glimpses of other towns that had fallen +under the strange spell of the petrification. Some were larger and some +smaller than the one they called "home." + +Jack proposed visiting some of them, thinking they might find better +food, but Mark and Andy decided it was best to stay where they were, as +they were nearer the supposed location of the projectile. + +"I think they'll manage to fix it up somehow, so it will move," said +Andy, "and then they'll come to look for us. I hope it will be soon, +though." + +"Why?" asked Jack, struck by something in the tone of the old hunter. + +"Because," replied Andy, "I am afraid our life-torches won't last much +longer. Mine seems to be weakening. I have to hold it very close to my +face now to breathe in comfort, while at first the oxygen from it was +so strong that I could hold it two feet off and never notice the +poisonous moon vapors." + +This was a new danger, and, thinking of it, the faces of the boys +became graver than ever. Death seemed bound to get them somehow. + +Two more days went by. They had now been lost on the moon over a week. +Each one now noticed that his life-torch was weakening. How much longer +would they last? They dared not answer that question. They could only +hope. + +The sun, too, was moving away from them. Soon the long night would set +in. By Mark's computation there was only three more days of daylight +left. What would happen in the desolate darkness? + +As they were returning from the black pool, with their water bottles +filled, and put inside the fur bags to prevent the frost from reaching +them, Mark happened to gaze over across a line of towering peaks. What +he saw caused him to gasp in astonishment. + +"Jack! Andy! See!" he whispered hoarsely, pointing a trembling finger +at the sky. + +There, outlined against the cloudless heavens, was a long, black shape, +floating through the air about two miles distant. + +"The projectile! The _Annihilator!_" yelled Jack. "Shout! Call to them! +Wave your hands! Andy, fire your gun! They have started off, and they +can't see us. We must make them hear!" + +Together they raised their voices in a mighty shout. The old hunter +fired his gun several times. They waved their hands frantically. + +But the projectile never swerved from its course. On it moved slowly, +those in it paying no heed to the wanderers, for they did not hear +them. Andy fired his gun again, but the signal failed, and a few +minutes later the _Annihilator_ was lost to sight behind a great peak. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE FIELD OF DIAMONDS + + +Dumbly the wanderers gazed at each other. They could not comprehend it +at first. That the projectile, on which their very lives depended in +this dead world of the moon, should float away and leave them seemed +incredible. Yet they had witnessed it. + +"Do--do you really think we saw it--saw the _Annihilator_, Mark?" asked +Jack in a low voice, after several minutes had passed. + +"Saw it? Of course, we saw it. We've seen the last of it, I'm afraid. +But what do you mean?" + +"I--I thought maybe I was out of my head, and I only saw a vision," +answered Jack. "You know--a sort of mirage. It was real, then?" + +"Altogether too real," spoke Andy Sudds grimly. "They didn't see us nor +hear us. We're left behind!" + +"But can't we do something?" demanded Mark. "Let's start off and try to +catch them. They were going slow." + +"The wonder to me is how they moved at all," said Jack. "I thought the +machinery wouldn't work until we got back with the lost tool." + +"Probably the two professors found some way of patching up the motor," +was Mark's opinion, and later they found that this was so. + +For some time they remained staring in the direction in which the +projectile had vanished, as if they might see it reappear, but the +great steel shell did not poke its sharp nose in among the towering +peaks which hid it from view. Probably it was many miles away now. + +"Well," remarked old Andy at length, "we've got to make the best of it. +We won't have many more days of light, and we must gather what food we +can, put it where we can find it in the dark, and also bring in some +water from the black pool. We can store that in some of the stone +tables. By turning them upside down they will make good troughs, and it +won't freeze. We must work while we have light, for soon the long night +will come." + +The sight of the projectile going away seemed to take the heart out of +all of them, and they did not know what to do. For some time they +remained there idly, until Andy roused the boys to a sense of their +responsibility by urging upon them the necessity of getting together a +store of meat and water. + +As they had about exhausted the limited food supply in the ancient +restaurant, they sought and found another and larger one. There they +had the good fortune to come upon some whole sides of beef and lamb, +which were petrified on the outside, but which, when they had blasted +off the outer shell of stone, gave them good food. + +They made several trips to the black pool, and brought in all the +liquid they could, for they did not want to have to go outside the +petrified city into the wild and desolate country beyond, after the +dismal night had settled down. They feared they would become lost +again. + +Their lonely situation seemed to grow upon them. The appalling silence +all about terrified them. The weird sight of the petrified men and +women in the petrified city got on their nerves. + +They had done all they could. A store of meat had been blasted out and +put away. It would keep outside of the stone shell now, for the weather +was getting colder with the advent of the long night. + +This fact worried them. With the temperature at twenty-eight when the +sun was shining, what might it not fall to in the darkness? The +terrible cold of the arctic regions might be nothing compared to the +frostiness of the dead moon in the shadow. Their fur garments, thick as +they were, might be no more protection than so much paper. And they had +no means of making a fire, nor anything to burn on one had they been +capable of kindling it, for Andy had used the last of his cartridges to +blast with, and where everything was petrified there was no wood. + +Then, too, their life-torches were giving out. The emanations of oxygen +were weaker, and they had to hold them almost under their noses to +breathe the vital vapor. + +One day, or rather what corresponded to a day, for they had lost all +track of time, Andy Sudds arose from the stone bench on which their +meager meal had been served. He started from the restaurant where they +had taken up their abode. + +"Where are you going?" asked Jack. + +"I'm going to make one last attempt to find the projectile before it +gets too dark," answered the hunter. "We can go out, look around for +several hours, and get back before darkness sets in. We might as well +do it as sit here doing nothing. Then, too, we can bring in some more +water. We'll need all we can store away." + +"I'll go with you," volunteered Jack, and Mark, not wanting to be left +alone in the dead city, followed. Carrying their life-torches and +wrapping their fur garments closely about them, for it had grown much +colder, they sallied forth. + +They found a thin film of ice on the black pool, showing that it would +probably freeze when it got cold enough, though the ordinary +temperature of thirty-two degrees had not affected it. They filled +their water bottles, and then Andy proposed that they take a new path-- +one they had not tried before. + +They hardly knew where they were going, but ever as they tramped on +they cast anxious looks upward to see if they might descry the +projectile hovering over them. But they did not see it. + +Jack had taken the lead, and was walking along, glancing idly about. He +came to a place where two peaks were so close together that it was all +he could do to squeeze through. But the moment he had passed the defile +and looked out on a broad, level field, he came to a sudden stop. His +companions, who pressed after him, saw him rub his eyes and shake his +head, as if disbelieving the evidence of what lay before him. Then Jack +murmured: "It can't be true! It can't be true!" + +"What?" called Mark. + +"There! Those," answered his chum. "See, the field is covered with +diamonds! We have found the diamonds of the moon--the field of Reonaris +that the men of Mars discovered! There are the diamonds--millions of +them!" + +"Diamonds!" exclaimed Mark. He squeezed through the defile, and stood +beside Jack. Before him in the fading light of the sun was a broad +field, girt around with towering cliffs, and the surface of the field +was covered with white stones. + +Jack sprang forward and gathered up a double handful. He let them run +through his fingers in a sparkling stream. Old Andy came up to the +boys. + +"They're only glass or crystals," he said. + +"They are _not_ glass or crystals!" declared Mark, who had made a study +of gems. "I should say they were diamonds, probably meteoric diamonds, +very rare and valuable. Why, there is the ransom of a thousand kings +spread out before us!" + +He fell upon his knees and began to scoop up the gems. His chum was +making a little heap of the stones. + +"The ransom of a thousand kings!" murmured Jack. "More diamonds than in +all the world--and I'd give my share for a good ham sandwich!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +BACK TO EARTH--CONCLUSION + + +At any other time the discovery of such a vast store of wealth would +have set the wanderers half wild with joy. Now they only accepted the +fact dully, for the perils of their situation overburdened them. As +Jack had said, they needed food more than the gems, for at best the +supply they had blasted out could not last long, and when that was gone +where were they to get more, for there were no more cartridges, and the +rending force of powder was needed to open the rocky meat. + +"I knew we'd find the diamonds," murmured Jack, as he began to fill the +pockets of his fur coat. "I'm right, after all, Mark, you see." + +"Yes, but what good will it do us? What's the good of even carrying any +away. We can never use them." + +"That's so," agreed Jack, in a low voice. "I might as well leave them +here." + +But somehow the desire to pick up gems which, when they were cut and +polished, would rival many of the famous diamonds of history was too +strong to be resisted. Though he was afraid he would never get back to +earth to enjoy them, Jack could not help putting in his pockets a +goodly supply of the largest of the precious stones. Andy did the same, +and Mark, in spite of his gloomy feelings, stuffed his pockets. They +worked with their torches held close to their faces, and in the search +for the better stones they literally walked over millions of dollars' +worth of the gems. + +For there, stretched out before them, was an actual field of diamonds. +As Mark had said, they were of meteoric origin, that is, a meteor had +burst over that particular portion of the moon, and the chemical action +had created the diamonds, which had fallen in a shower in the field. + +"If you boys have all you want, then let's get back to the city," +suggested Andy. "No telling when it will be night now." + +They followed his advice, and soon were going back by way of the black +pool. It seemed more lonesome than ever, after the excitement of +discovering the field of diamonds, and even Jack, glad as he was to +have his theory vindicated, got tired of referring to it. His triumph +meant little to him now. + +They were at the entrance to the petrified city. As they were about to +go in, ready to hide themselves in the deepest part of the restaurant, +away from the terrible cold and appalling darkness they felt would soon +be upon them, Mark came to a sudden halt. He glanced quickly up into +the air and cried out: "Hark!" + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack, as they stood in a listening attitude. + +"I heard a noise," whispered Mark. "It sounded--I'm sure it sounded-- +like the crackling of the wireless motor waves of the projectile. +Listen!" + +Faintly through the silence came a sound as if there was a discharge of +an electric current. It increased in volume, and there was a faint +roaring in the atmosphere. + +"It's her--it's the _Annihilator!_" shouted Jack, leaping about. + +"Wait," counselled Andy, who dreaded the terrible disappointment should +the boys be mistaken. The sound came nearer. The crackling could +plainly be made out now. The sun was out of sight, but there was still +the glow which follows sunset. + +The boys were eagerly scanning the heavens, Their hearts beat high with +hope. Suddenly, in the olive-tinted sky just above a range of rugged +peaks, a black shape loomed. A black shape, as of a great cigar, +pointed at both ends. It shot into full view. + +"The projectile!" yelled Jack. + +"The _Annihilator!_" gasped Mark. + +"Thank Heaven, they have found us in time!" exclaimed Andy fervently, +and the three stretched out their arms toward the craft from which they +had been parted so long. It was as if they tried to pull it down to +them. + +"Do they see us?" + +"Will they pass us by?" + +"Make a noise so they'll hear us!" + +"Wave to them!" + +"Oh, if they leave us now!" + +Questions, ejaculations and entreaties came rapidly from the lips of +the wanderers. They raised their voices in a shout. They leaped up and +down. They wildly waved their hands and life-torches. + +Then, to their inexpressible joy, they saw the course of the projectile +change. It was headed toward them, and a few minutes later it settled +slowly to the ground about half a mile away. + +"Come on!" cried Jack! "We must hurry to them, or soon it will be too +dark to see them, or for them to find us. It's our last chance; don't +let's lose it!" + +He sprang forward, the others after him, and together they ran toward +the projectile. They could see the two professors and Washington White +emerging from the steel car, waving their hands. + +On rushed the lost wanderers, over the rough stones, skirting the great +cliffs, falling into small craters, crawling out again, just missing +several times being precipitated into yawning caverns, and stumbling +over petrified bodies that strewed the ground. + +Ever did they hasten onward though, increasing their speed. They came +to a great crater that lay between them and the projectile, but +fortunately there was across the middle of it a natural bridge of +stone. But it was narrow--scarcely wide enough for one at a time. + +"We can never cross on that!" cried Mark, halting. + +"We've got to!" shouted Jack, and he sprang fearlessly forward, fairly +running over the narrow path, which had a sheer descent of thousands of +feet on either side. + +Mark, though fearful that he would become dizzy and fall, followed +Andy. They were soon across the narrow bridge, and speeding on toward +the _Annihilator_. Five minutes later they had reached it, and were +being wildly welcomed by the two professors and Washington White, who +had advanced to meet them. + +"I 'clar t' goodness-gladness!" exclaimed the colored man, "I am +suttinly constrained t' espress my approbation ob de deleterous manner +in which yo' all has come back t' dis continuous territory." + +"Do you mean you're glad to see us, Wash?" asked Jack. + +"Dat's what I done said," was the answer, with a cheerful grin, "an' I +might also remark dat dinner am serbed in de dinin' car." + +"Hurrah!" cried Jack. "That's the best news I've heard in a week. No +more blasted beef for mine! Give me ham and eggs!" + +"But what happened to you? Where have you been? We have searched all +over for you, and were just giving you up for dead, and going back to +the earth," said Professor Henderson. "We caught sight of you at the +last minute." + +"Oh, you mustn't go back until you go to the field of diamonds!" cried +Jack, and then by turns he and Mark and Andy told of their terrible +adventures while they were lost on the moon. + +On their part Professors Roumann and Henderson stated how they had +waited in vain for the return of the wanderers, and had then, by +strenuous work, managed to make the necessary repairs without the +missing tool. Then they set out to discover the lost ones, but +succeeded only just in time, for it was now quite dusk. + +"An' did yo' all really discober dem sparklers?" asked Washington, as +he served what the boys thought was the finest dinner they had ever +tasted. + +"We sure did," replied Jack. "Here are a couple for that red necktie of +yours," and he passed over two big diamonds. + +It did not take long to move the projectile to the field of the +sparkling gems, and by means of a powerful search-light enough were +soon gathered up to satisfy even Washington White, who declared that he +would be the best decorated colored man in Bayside when they got back. +The two professors made what observations they could in the petrified +city in the fast-gathering darkness, and then, having taken a petrified +man into the projectile with them to deposit in a scientific museum in +which Professor Roumann was interested, the _Annihilator_ was sealed +shut. + +And it was only just in time, for with the suddenness of an eclipse +intense darkness settled down, and the temperature, as indicated by a +thermometer thrust outside, showed a drop of a hundred degrees. + +"We never could have lived out there," said Jack. + +"Well, we'll soon be back on earth," observed Mark, and a little later +the Cardite motor was out in operation, and the journey back to this +world begun. + +Little of moment happened on the return trip. The boys went more into +detail about their wanderings, and told how they had managed to live +during the time they were lost. The two professors and Washington spoke +of their worry and anxiety, and their vain search for the wanderers. + +As they were anxious to get back home, the motor was speeded to the +limit, and in much less time than they had made the trip to the moon +they had arrived in sight of the earth again. As they did not want to +create too much excitement, they hovered about in the air over Bayside +until dark, when they gently descended almost in the very spot from +which they had started. + +"Well," remarked Jack, as he stepped out on the earth once more, "it +was quite an experience to go to the moon, and I suppose being lost +there wasn't the worst thing that could happen to us, but all the same +I'm glad to be back." + +"So am I," declared Mark. "It was worth while going," and he felt of +his pocketful of diamonds. + +"We certainly made some very valuable scientific observations," +asserted Mr. Henderson, "and we will be able to prove that the moon was +once inhabited." + +Washington White was carefully lifting out his Shanghai rooster, which +was uttering loud crows. As soon as he had set the fowl on the ground, +the colored man started off. + +"Where are you going?" asked Mark. + +"I'm going t' a jewelery shop t' hab my diamonds made inter a stick-pin +fo' my red necktie," was the answer. + +"Oh, you'd better wait until morning," suggested Professor Henderson. + +They gathered about the table in the cozy dining room of their home, +while Washington got a meal ready. Every one was talking about what a +wonderful trip they had had. + +"The only trouble is," said Jack, "that we've been to about all the +interesting places in this universe now. I wonder where we can go +next?" + +"I'm going to bed right after supper," announced Mark. "Maybe I'll +discover a new land in my dreams." + +The moon voyagers had a great store of gems, and, as they did not wish +to bring down values by disposing of them, they only sold a few, which, +because of their great size and brilliancy, brought a large price. +Several jewelers wanted to know where the diamonds came from, but the +secret was well kept. Most of the gems were used for scientific +purposes, but Mark and Jack gave some to certain of their friends. + +The petrified man proved a great curiosity, and a history of it, in two +large volumes, can be seen in the museum where the body is exhibited. +Professor Henderson wrote the account, and also published quite an +extensive history of the trip to the moon, which was considered by +scientists and laymen to be a most remarkable journey. + +But, though our friends had been to many strange places, it was +reserved for them to have yet still more wonderful adventures, though +for a time after returning from the moon they remained at home, the two +professors busy over their scientific work, and the boys engaged with +their studies, while Andy occasionally went hunting, and Washington got +the meals and, between times, fed his rooster and admired the diamonds +in his red necktie. And now we will bid our friends good-by. + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lost on the Moon, by Roy Rockwood + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOST ON THE MOON *** + +This file should be named 8moon10.txt or 8moon10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8moon11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8moon10a.txt + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Tiffany Vergon, Joshua Hutchinson +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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