Through Space to Mars by Roy Rockwood (great novels to read .TXT) 📕
One day, to their horror, an earthquake dosed the shaft by whichthey had come to the center of the earth. The boys were indespair of ever getting to the surface again, but the professorhad been prepared for this emergency, and he had built a strongcylinder, into which all the travelers placed themselves. Thenit was projected into a powerful upward shooting column of water,which Professor Henderson hoped would take them to the surface ofthe earth. Nor was he mistaken. They had a terrible journey,but came safely out of it.
They opened the cylinder, to find themselves floating on the sea,and they were rescued by a passing vessel. Of course, they hadabandoned the Mermaid, leaving the craft in the center of thee
Read free book «Through Space to Mars by Roy Rockwood (great novels to read .TXT) 📕» - read online or download for free at americanlibrarybooks.com
- Author: Roy Rockwood
- Performer: -
Read book online «Through Space to Mars by Roy Rockwood (great novels to read .TXT) 📕». Author - Roy Rockwood
crouched in the bow and peered into the whirlpool, on the edge of
which they were circling.
“I don’t see any,” replied Mr. Roumann. “I am very sorry I got
you into this trouble. If I had not insisted on coming for the
red substance we would not be in this danger.”
“It’s as much our fault as yours,” declared the professor. “We
were anxious to get some of the treasure also.”
“And now none of us will have any use for it,” observed Andy
dryly. “When we slide down into that hole it will be all up with
us.”
They all shuddered as they saw the black hole, around which the
waters raced in a circle.
“I wonder what’s down there?” asked Mark.
“It isn’t a good thing to think about,” responded Jack. “I
always was afraid of whirlpools.”
The boat was now beginning to go around faster. The occupants
were getting dizzy with the motion. They could hear a distant
roar, and knew that it came from the water falling down some
great depth, into which they seemed fated to be dashed.
“Did you turn on all the power of the boat?” asked Jack after a
period of silence. “Seems to me we didn’t come along very fast
in this craft. The one we were in first went at a great rate.
Maybe we don’t understand how to make it go at top speed.”
“I turned the knobs every way I could think of,” replied Mr.
Roumann. “But it would take terrific speed and power to free us
from the suction of the whirlpool.”
Jack moved back to the stern, where the box was, containing the
red substance that furnished power to move the boat. He looked
closely at it.
Meanwhile the boat was moving around in ever-narrowing circles,
faster and faster. Jack noticed that twice in each revolution it
went respectively lower and higher on the course, and always at
the same places. That is to say, the whirlpool was on what might
be termed a slant. At one time the boat would be at the lowest
point, and at another at the highest point. At the low point the
occupants of the craft were out of sight of everything, as when a
ship is in the hollow of the sea. A little later they would be
raised up on a crest of water so that they could look to the
distant hills.
“If we could only get power enough to shoot the boat out at an
angle when it gets to the high point, we could escape,” thought
Jack.
But how could he obtain this power? The mechanism seemed to be
working at the greatest force, for, after an attempt had been
made to stay the progress of the boat by reversing it, Mr.
Roumann had again put on full speed ahead.
But was it full speed? That was what Jack wanted to know.
He examined every inch of the box. At first he saw nothing but
the three knobs that had been used. Then, all at once, down
underneath, he saw a small pin. It looked as if it could be
moved. He took hold of it.
“I wonder what will happen if I pull it out or push it in?” he
asked himself. Then he happened to remember that in an electric
battery, to obtain more power, you must pull out a certain pin.
“Perhaps this works like an electric battery,” he said. “I’ll
pull it out.”
He did so, and a surprising thing happened. The boat shot
forward at enormous speed, and as Jack happened to pull the pin
out at a time when the craft was high up, it began to shoot
across the water at an angle to the whirlpool. He had solved the
problem of how to escape. As he afterward learned, the pin was
just for the purpose for which he used it—to cause a sudden
increase in speed.
The whirlpool did not give up without a struggle, but the boat
was finally successful, and fought its way out to calm water.
“How did you do it?” asked Mark, and Jack told them.
“Well, we’d better start back for the city,” proposed Mr.
Roumann. “I guess we’ve had enough for one day. We’ll try
again, and take some other route.”
“There’s no need of that,” declared Professor Henderson. “See, we
are close to the hills now. We have crossed the whirlpool. Why
not go on, and see if we can’t find some Cardite? Going back now
will be no easier than after we have made an examination. Let’s
explore the hills.”
The boat had shot out on the farther side of the whirlpool, and
there was nothing now between it and the shore. After a
consultation it was decided to land.
“We can be more careful coming back,” said Jack.
Half an hour later they had landed and started up the hills
toward the summit. The place seemed to be deserted, but there
were evidences that some sort of mining had been going on there,
for great holes and shafts were dug in the ground, and there were
remains of machinery.
“They must have dug up all the Cardite in this locality,” said
Professor Henderson, “and they’ve gone to a new place.”
“Which we wish to find,” added Mr. Roumann, “and that without
being discovered. From the way in which the Martians guard this,
it will go hard with us if they see us taking any.”
They toiled up to the top of some of the lowest hills. There did
not seem to be any of the treasure there, and they went farther.
They were getting tired and hungry, and they sat down to rest and
eat some food which they had brought with them.
“Let’s try that hill,” proposed Mark, pointing to a high one
about a mile away. “It looks red from here.”
There was a rosy hue about the little mountain, and after a brief
rest they headed for the spot.
“There’s nothing here!” exclaimed Jack in disgust, as he and
Mark, in a final spurt, reached the base of it. “Nothing but
ordinary dirt.”
Mark looked down. He dug his heel into the sod. Then he uttered a
cry of triumph.
“Here it is! Here it is!” he cried. “It’s under the grass!
We’ve got to dig it up!”
He knelt down, and began to tear away the sod with his hands.
Jack did the same, and when they had lifted aside the tangle of
roots and grass, they saw beneath it a dull gleaming red
substance, like clay,
“That’s it! That’s it!” shouted Mr. Roumann. “We’ve found it!”
He stooped over, and with his knife began digging some up.
“It’s neither warm, nor does it give any light,” said Mr.
Henderson in disappointed tones.
“No; it requires special electrical treatment,” replied Mr.
Roumann. “I know how to do it, though. Now we shall all be
millionaires! There is enough here to make us wealthy for life!”
He began filling his iron boxes, the rest helping him. They were
engaged in getting out the Cardite, all working with feverish
haste, when Jack, looking up, saw a Martian officer regarding the
actions of the world-dwellers with his great, bulging eyes.
THE ATTACK
“They’ve discovered us!” exclaimed Jack, as he stood up and
watched the Martian.
“What?” cried Mr. Roumann. “Oh, it’s only one of them,” he
added, “and he hasn’t any of those electrical sticks. Go ahead
and take some more of the Cardite.”
But the Martian advanced on the travelers, and, by his voice and
gestures, seemed to be warning them to stop taking the red
material.
“Maybe he’s a guard,” suggested Mark.
“Very likely,” assented Professor Henderson.
“I’ll see if I can’t scare him with my gun,” remarked Andy.
“I’ve put in more powder, and a heavier bullet.”
He fired in the air, over the Martian’s head, but to the surprise
of the adventurers the weapon only gave a faint sound, like that
of a pop gun, while the bullet rolled from the barrel and dropped
at Andy’s feet.
“Why, that’s worse than ever!” he exclaimed. “I guess the red
stuff must have taken all the power out of your gun, Andy,” said
Mark.
The Martian stood still for a moment. Then he spoke again, more
earnestly than before, and waved the strangers away from the red
hill.
“We’re not going,” said Mr. Roumann, and he added a few of the
Martian words he had learned, endeavoring to state that they were
going to take only a little of the Cardite.
The officer, with a last warning shake of his big head, suddenly
turned and ran away.
“I guess he’s gone for reinforcements,” said Jack.
“No matter,” spoke Mr. Roumann. “We’ll soon have all we can
carry, and then we’ll hurry back to the projectile. When we get
there we can defy them.”
They continued to fill the boxes with the Cardite, and soon had a
good supply. Then, taking a look to see if the Martian had
summoned any guards, but finding that none was in sight, the
adventurers made their way back to their boat, and set it in
motion.
“How are we going to escape the whirlpool?” asked Mark.
“I think if we skirt down the shores of the lake for some
distance, and then strike across to the city, we’ll avoid it,”
replied Professor Henderson. “The pool is not very large, and
seems to be only, directly in front of the red hill.”
This they found to be the case, and they were soon safely beyond
the swirling waters, and on their way back to Martopolis.
“We had better not land at a public dock,” suggested Professor
Henderson.
“Why not?” asked the German.
“Because the Martians may see that we have some of the Cardite,
and take it from us.”
“What would you suggest?”
“Why, there is a landing place farther down, and we might go
there and make our way from it to the projectile unobserved.”
This was voted a good plan, and was successfully carried out.
Though quite a few Martians saw the adventurers land, they
evinced no curiosity in what they carried, and that evening the
little party was back in the Annihilator, where they determined
to stay all night.
Mr. Roumann tested some of the red matter, and found, when he
applied the proper electrical treatment, that it gave off light,
heat or power, according to the adjustments.
“This is the most wonderful material in the world!” he exclaimed.
“Yes, or in the whole universe. It is better than perpetual
motion, for it is not only that, but perpetual light and heat. I
believe I can use it in the Etherium. motor in place of the force
I ordinarily employ.”
He made some experiments, and found that this could be done.
“I wonder what’s become of the crazy machinist?” asked Jack.
“Oh, maybe he’s made friends with the Martians,” said Mark, “and
has told them he’s a king, or something like that, and they’re
treating him with royal honors.”
“More likely he’s plotting mischief,” declared old Andy. “I wish
my gun was in working order. Somehow I don’t like the way that
fellow acted on the red hill.”
“Why, you’re not afraid, are you?” asked Professor Henderson.
“No, not exactly, but I was just thinking how we could defend
ourselves in case they attacked us. My gun
Comments (0)