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of were shot off by the expansion of the air between the

cardboard disk and the inside door; after which the outside door

was drawn back to its place by a current sent through a magnet,

but little power being required to reclose it with no resisting

atmospheric pressure. As the electricity ran along a wire

passing through a hermetically sealed opening in the floor, there

was no way by which more air than that in the vestibule could

escape; and as the somewhat flat space between the doors

contained less than one cubic foot, the air- pressure inside the

Callisto could not be materially lessened by a few openings.

"By filling the vestibule as full as possible," said Bearwarden,

"and so displacing most of its air, we shall be able to open the

outside door oftener without danger of rarefaction."

The things they had discharged flew off with considerable speed

and were soon out of sight; but it was not necessary for them to

move fast, provided they moved at all, for, the resistance being

nil, they would be sure to go beyond the range of vision,

provided enough time was allowed, even if the Callisto's speed

was not being increased by apergy, in which case articles outside

and not affected would be quickly left behind.

The earth, which at first had filled nearly half their sky, was

rapidly growing smaller. Being almost between themselves and the

sun, it looked like a crescent moon; and when it was only about

twenty times the size of the moon they calculated they must have

come nearly two hundred thousand miles. The moon was now on what

a sailor would call the starboard bow--i. e., to the right and

ahead. Being a little more than three quarters full, and only

about fifty thousand miles off, it presented a splendid sight,

brilliant as polished silver, and about twenty-five times as

large as they had ever before seen it with the unaided eye.

It was just ten hours since they had started, and at that moment

9 A. M. in New York; but, though it was night there, the Callisto

was bathed in a flood of sunlight such as never shines on earth.

The only night they would have was on the side of the Callisto

turned away from the sun, unless they passed through some shadow,

which they intended to avoid on account of the danger of

colliding with a meteor in the dark. The moon and the Callisto

were moving on converging lines, the curve on which they had

entered having swung them to the side nearest the earth; but they

saw that their own tremendous and increasing speed would carry

them in front of the moon in its nearly circular orbit. Wishing

to change the direction of their flight by the moon's attraction,

they shut off the power driving them from the earth, whereupon

the Callisto turned its heavy base towards the moon. They were

already moving at such speed that their momentum alone would

carry them hundreds of thousands of miles into space, and were

then almost abreast of the earth's satellite, which was but a few

thousand miles away. The spectacle was magnificent. As they

looked at it through their field glasses or with the unaided eye,

the great cracks and craters showed with the utmost clearness,

sweeping past them almost as the landscape flies past a railway

train. There was something awe-inspiring in the vast antiquity

of that furrowed lunar surface, by far the oldest thing that

mortal eye can see, since, while observing the ceaseless

political or geological changes on earth, the face of this dead

satellite, on account of the absence of air and water and

consequent erosion, has remained unchanged for bygone ages, as it

doubtless will for many more.

They closely watched the Callisto's course. At first it did not

seem to deflect from a straight line, and they stood ready to

turn on the apergetic force again, when the car very slowly began

to show the effect of the moon's near pull; but not till they had

so far passed it that the dark side was towards them were they

heading straight for Jupiter. Then they again turned on full

power and got a send-off shove on the moon and earth combined,

which increased their speed so rapidly that they felt they could

soon shut off the current altogether and save their supply.

"We must be ready to watch the signals from the arctic circle,"

said Bearwarden. "At midnight, if the calculations are finished,

the result will be flashed by the searchlight." It was then ten

minutes to twelve, and the earth was already over four hundred

thousand miles away. Focusing their glasses upon the region near

the north pole, which, being turned from the sun, was towards

them and in darkness, they waited.

"In this blaze of sunlight," said Cortlandt, "I am afraid we can

see nothing."

Fortunately, at this moment the Callisto entered the moon's

tapering shadow.

"This," said Ayrault, "is good luck. We could of course have

gone into the shadow; but to change our course would have delayed

us, and we might have lost part of the chance of increasing our

speed."

"There will be no danger from, meteors or sub-satellites here,"

said Bearwarden, "for anything revolving about the moon at this

distance would be caught by the earth."

The sun had apparently set behind the moon, and they were

eclipsed. The stars shone with the utmost splendour against the

dead-black sky, and the earth appeared as a large crescent, still

considerably larger than the satellite to which they were

accustomed. Exactly at midnight a faint phosphorescent light,

like that of a glow-worm, appeared in the region of Greenland on

the planet they had left. It gradually increased its strength

till it shone like a long white beam projected from a lighthouse,

and in this they beheld the work of the greatest search-light

ever made by man, receiving for a few moments all the electricity

generated by the available dynamos at Niagara and the Bay of

Fundy, the steam engines, and other sources of power in the

northern hemisphere. The beam lasted with growing intensity for

one minute; it then spelled out with clean-cut intervals,

according to the Cable Code: "23@ no' 6". The southern

hemisphere pumps are now raising and storing water at full blast.

We have already begun to lower the Arctic Ocean."

"Victory!" shouted Bearwarden, in an ecstasy of delight. "Nearly

half a degree in six months, with but one pole working. If we

can add at this rate each time to the speed of straightening

already acquired, we can reverse our engines in five years, and

in five more the earth will be at rest and right."

"Look!" said Ayrault, "they are sending something else." The

flashes came in rapid succession, reaching far into space. With

their glasses fixed upon them, they made out these sentences:

"Our telescopes, in whatever part of the earth was turned towards

you, have followed you since you started, and did not lose sight

of you till you entered the moon's shadow. On your present

course you will be in darkness till 12.16, when we shall see you

again."

On receiving this last earthly message, the travellers sprang to

their searchlight, and, using its full power, telegraphed back

the following: "Many thanks to you for good news about earth,

and to Secretary Deepwaters for lending us the navy. Result of

work most glorious. Remember us to everybody. Shadow's edge

approaching."

This was read by the men in the great observatories, who

evidently telephoned to the arctic Signal Light immediately, for

it flashed back: "Got your message perfectly. Wish you greatest

luck. The T. A. S. Co. has decked the Callisto's pedestal with

flowers, and has ordered a tablet set up on the site to

commemorate your celestial journey."

At that moment the shadow swept by, and they were in the full

blaze of cloudless day. The change was so great that for a

moment they were obliged to close their eyes. The polished sides

of the Callisto shone so brightly that they knew they were easily

seen. The power temporarily diverted in sending them the message

then returned to the work of draining the Arctic Ocean, which, as

the north pole was now returning to the sun, was the thing to do,

and the travellers resumed their study of the heavenly bodies.

CHAPTER II.

SPACE AND MARS.

Never before had the travellers observed the stars and planets

under such favourable conditions. No air or clouds intervened,

and as the Callisto did not revolve on its axis there was no

necessity for changing the direction of the glasses. After an

hour of this interesting work, however, as it was already late at

the longitude they had left on earth, and as they knew they had

many days in space before them, they prepared to go to bed. When

ready, they had only to pull down the shades; for, as apergy was

not applied to them, but only to the Callisto, they still looked

upon the floor as down, and closed the heavy curtains to have

night or darkness. They found that the side of the Callisto

turned constantly towards the sun was becoming very warm, the

double-toughened glass windows making it like a greenhouse; but

they consoled themselves with the thought that the sun's power on

them was hourly becoming less, and they felt sure the double

walls and thick upholstery would protect them almost anywhere

within the solar system from the intense cold of space.

"We could easily have arranged," said Ayrault, for night and day

on alternate sides of the Callisto by having strips of metal

arranged spirally on the outside as on the end of an arrow.

These would have started us turning as slowly as we like, since

we passed through the atmosphere at a comparatively low rate of

speed."

"I am afraid," said Cortlandt, "the motion, however slow, would

have made us dizzy. It would be confusing to see the heavens

turning about us, and it would interfere with using the glasses."

The base and one side of the Callisto had constant sunshine,

while the other side and the dome were in the blackest night.

This dome, on account of its shape, sky windows, and the

completeness with which it could be isolated, was an ideal

observatory, and there was seldom a time during their waking

hours for the rest of the journey when it was not occupied by

one, two, or all the observers.

"There is something marvellous," said Cortlandt, "about the

condition of space. Its absolute cold is appalling, apparently

because there is nothing to absorb heat; yet we find the base of

this material projectile uncomfortably warm, though, should we

expose a thermometer in the shade in front, we know it would show

a temperature of three hundred to four hundred degrees below

zero--were the instrument capable of recording it."

Artificial darkness having been obtained, the travellers were

soon asleep, Bearwarden's dreams being regaled with thoughts of

his company's triumph; Ayrault's, naturally, with visions of

Sylvia; while Cortlandt frequently started up, thinking he had

already made some great astronomical discovery.

About 9 A. M., according to seventy-fifth meridian time, the

explorers awoke feeling greatly refreshed. The tank in which the

liquefied oxygen was kept automatically gave off its gas so

evenly that the air remained normal, while the lime contained in

cups absorbed the carbon dioxide as fast as they exhaled it.

They had darkened those windows through which the sun was

actually pouring, for, on account of the emptiness of the

surrounding ether and consequent absence of diffusion of light,

nothing but the inky blackness of space and the bright stars

looked in at the rest. On raising the shades they got an idea of

their speed. A small crescent, smaller than the familiar moon,

accompanied by one still tinier, was all that could be seen of

the earth and its satellite.

"We must," said Bearwarden, "be moving at the rate of nearly a

million miles an hour, from the way we have travelled."

"We must be doing fully a million," replied Cortlandt, "for by

this time we are pretty well in motion, having got a tremendous

start when so near the moon, with it and the earth in line."

By steering straight for Jupiter, instead of for the place it

would occupy ten days later, they knew they would swing past, for

the giant planet, being in rapid motion, would advance; but they

did not object to this, since it would give them a chance to

examine their new world in case they wished to do so before

alighting; while, if they preferred to land at once, they could

easily change their course by means of the moons, the fourth,

from which their car was named, being the one that they knew

would be of most use. Their tremendous speed showed them they

should have time for exploration on their arrival, and that they

would reach their destination sooner than they had expected. The

apergetic force being applied, as we have seen, only to the

Callisto, just as power in starting is exerted on a carriage or

railway car and only through it to the passengers, Ayrault and

his companions had no unusual sensation except loss of weight,

for, when they were so far from the earth, its attraction was

very slight, and no other planet was near enough to take its

place. After breakfast, wishing to reach the dome, and realizing

that it would be unnecessary to climb, each in turn gave a slight

spring and was obliged to put up his hands to avoid striking the

roof. In the cool quiet of the dark dome it was difficult to

believe that only twenty feet away the sun was shining with such

intensity upon the metal base as to make it too hot on the inside

to touch without gloves.

The first thing that attracted their attention was the size and

brilliance of Mars. Although this red planet was over forty

million miles from the earth when they started, they calculated