"Still, it isn't as crowded as when we all got in the cylinder and were shot up from the center of the earth on the geyser,"

commented Jack.

"That's right," came from Mark.

Professor Henderson, having finished his meal, went to the pilot house to relieve Mr. Roumann.

The latter paid a visit to the engine-room before sitting down.

"Is everything all right?" asked Jack.

"The motor is working like a charm," was the reply. "I shall soon expect you boys to take your turn at guiding the projectile through s.p.a.ce."

"I want to wait until we get into the ether," said Jack. "We'll go faster then. It's something wonderful to steer a machine going a hundred miles a second."

"I should say so; six thousand miles a minute," observed Mark.

"The fastest automobile would seem like a snail compared to it."

"Yes, and we are going faster than some stars," added Mr.

Roumann.

"But there isn't anything to see," objected Andy. "Now, I like scenery when I travel."

"Well, it's something to always be in sight of the sun," put in Mark.

"Yes, and when we get to Mars there'll be plenty to look at,"

suggested Jack. "We can see the rings around it."

"Mars hasn't any rings around it," retorted Mark, who had a good memory for scientific facts. "That's Saturn you're thinking of."

"Oh, yes, so it is. But hasn't Mars got a lot of moons, or something like that? Seems to me I've heard about 'em."

"Mars has two moons, or satellites," stated Mr. Roumann, who had studied much about the red planet, "but they do not amount to much, compared to our moon. One is about ten thousand miles from Mars, and is called Deimos, and the other, which is but sixteen hundred miles from the planet, is called Phobos by astronomers."

"And how far away is our moon from the earth?" asked Mark.

"It varies from about two hundred and fifty-two thousand miles to two hundred and twenty-one thousand miles."

"Then I should think the people on Mars would get more light from their two moons, so much closer to them, than we do from our moon, so far off," remarked Jack.

"No, they don't, at least as far as we know. The one closest to them gives about one-sixtieth of our moonlight, and the outer one about one twelve-hundredth, so you see that's not much. A peculiar feature of the inner moon is that it makes a revolution about Mars in seven hours, or more than three times in a day, and it rises in the west and sets in the east, while the moon farthest away from the planet rises just as our moon does, in the east, but it comes up only once in about five days."

"Golly!" exclaimed Washington, who had been listening. "Dat suah am a funny place. Two little moons, one shootin' around you three times a day, an' de odder one circlin' around once in five days! Land a' ma.s.sy! I'll git all turned around up dere!"

"Yes, you'll have to be careful, Wash," cautioned Jack. "If you go out for a moonlight walk you may have to come home in the dark."

"Den I ain't goin'; an' when I do I'll take a lantern."

Mr. Roumann told the boys much more of interest about Mars, and then, taking them to the engine-room, he showed them something about adjusting the motors and other machinery, though he did not disclose the secret of the power.

"Now we'll go to the pilot house, and I'll show you some things there," he concluded.

They found Professor Henderson at the wheel.

"Is everything all right?" asked the German.

"I think so," answered the scientist. "This airship doesn't behave exactly as the ones I constructed before, but it seems to be moving along at good speed."

"Yes, we have increased our rate of progress," stated Mr.

Roumann. "We are now going nearly fifty-five miles a second. At that rate we shall be beyond the atmosphere sooner than I expected."

The remainder of that day they kept on shooting forward toward Mars, nothing occurring to mark the pa.s.sage of time, save the monotonous ticking of various clocks. There was nothing to be seen, save the glare of sunlight outside.

"Aren't we ever going to meet with world, or a wandering star, or something?" asked Jack rather discontentedly.

"There's no telling when we may pa.s.s near one," said Mr. Roumann.

"S'posin' we hit one?" asked Washington, his eyes becoming large with fear.

"There's not much danger. My instruments will warn me when we approach any of the heavenly bodies, and we can steer clear of them. The only things we have to fear will be comets, and their orbits are so irregular that there is no telling when we may get in the path of one."

"What will happen when we do?" asked Mark.

Mr. Roumann shrugged his shoulders.

"We'll do our best to get out of the way," he said.

"And if we can't?"

"Well--I guess that will be the end of us."

This was a new danger, and one the boys had not thought of before. But the German scientist did not seem to attach much importance to the matter.

They traveled on for two days, nothing of moment occurring. The Annihilator, true to its name, fairly ate up s.p.a.ce, though they were still far from Mars.

It was on the morning of the third day. The two boys and Professor Henderson were in the pilot house, and Mr. Roumann was in the engine-room, adjusting the Etherium motor, for he expected to shortly put it in operation. Suddenly Jack, who was looking at one of the instruments on the front wall, uttered a cry.

"What's the matter?" asked Mark.

"We're approaching something!" was the answer. "Some sort of heavenly body. Look at that indicator!"

The hand or pointer on a peculiar dial was moving violently to and fro.

"Call Mr. Roumann," suggested the professor. "I don't know just what to do."

Mr. Roumann hurried into the pilot house, gave a quick glance at the indicator, and exclaimed:

"We are nearing a planetoid, or, as some call them, an asteroid!"

"Is there any danger?" asked Mark.