Adrift in the Unknown

om destruction was due to two circumstances, one o

he plain, but had had its downward rush intercepted by an elevation, so th

e. The "pull" of gravity on Mercury, as we afterward discovered, has only one-third the power it has on Terra

ding, for when I sat up and stared about me I saw the professor

ering something about "a great slump in the market" and c

es, wobbling erratically and apparently undecided whether to say his prayers or to try and get up; Hann

eigs crossly. "By gad, it is more dangerous to mak

or for a fault of mine,

at me with somet

ant post as the switch board," said Meigs. "He should have known that a man who ho

ed Popham, lifting

said I. "He bore me down and ca

ition," persisted Meigs, who was bound to have

e fall had jarred my temper no less than my body, and I was in

is well to have a deaf ear for these gentlemen

her word to Meigs I went over and assisted in getting

e found that we were not much the worse for our shaking up. Quinn called

escended to the lower chamber, after an absence of fifteen or twenty minutes, Meigs had the key

" demanded the professor, on

upon his person. Small wonder that he was now s

od deal of dignity. "Probably you lost it out of your p

ing to do?" asked th

ng through space, I and my friends could do nothing less than bear with your company, and with that of the rogue at your side; but n

a slow smile hoverin

st itself in the three gentlemen at the

om our native orb, with small regard for the feelings of our relatives or friends, and

ad my every consideration,

no notice o

d a fastidious eye in my direction-"he is utterly impossible to men of our social standing. This planet, you tell us, is th

ughed softly and

een ostracized by our fellow-exiles. Let

ewell," finishe

the threshold as though he had been shot! Markham and Popham c

, filling the chamber like a draft from Hades. I

rag Meigs away from the door o

I caught his ankles and jerked him i

normal conditions. Meigs, red as a beet and breathing

rom myself and Mr. Munn. There is plenty of water left for all of us, and I will go aloft, set up the collapsible tub, and make the bath re

y from making a dash outside, and started for the storeroom. I fol

elves with the anti-temperature bath. After dippin

f its potent qualities. There was no hardening of the skin, as I fan

ing them as to the necessity of making their clothing as well as their bodies proof aga

against it so fiercely that we were obliged to hold him in the tub

ntly drenched he leaped from the tub a

pham-"may go with Mr. Munn and me, or keep by yourselves, as you may elect. But it will be well to make this car our hea

in such an over-heated at

adjust life to its environment, you may be sure, just as easily as she c

es twi

her resources. For my own part, I do not think the chasm ei

Meigs and his two compan

n. It will be best to leave him locked in the car. I will close the trap leading into the sto

exploring expedition," said Popham dejectedly; "in a cou

"Cotton couldn't grow in such a temperature.

Wall Street experience. Beyond thos

grown on such a sun-baked

ething about watered stock, and

he party. Realization will blast the hopes and mayhap prov

ry has a still greater inclination; in fact, the orb leans on itself as though about to fall. Its days are of about the same length as the days of Terra-only three minutes

s to the polar regions of our own earth,

there, by all mea

answered Quinn, "we m

ppen, after all, that we have a world to conquer here, and I hav

rofessor. "We will make our

sing a steel door over the trap at the head of the stairs and locking it. Gilhooly, imagining himself a c

e professor unlocked the door at

et off, Munn," said

get off," returned th

veral minutes our eyes rebelled at the brightness; when finally they became inur

less than the rim of an extinct volcano of vast proportions. From ridge

ur eyes to penetrate to the

resounding so thunderously as almost to

d a confused babel of sound proceeding appa

rk down there," whispered the pro

sounded unpleas

tones. "With fire within and without, what chance is

he air with it. We remained mule after this outburst, I with my gaz

en has ever since been one of the treasured memories of my life. Its disk was six times its diameter as vie

phere, caused by a reflection from the red of the planet's brick-like crust; through this warm colo

d for the enjoyment of no living thing? If so, you are wrong. There are now, as there have always been, beings with an intelligence capable of appreciating all this magnifice

the bare rocky slope of the volcano and off

life of any kind," mut

er there," said Quinn, sha

littering object on a slight elevation. As we ga

was a Mercurial wearing a sort of armor to protect him from the heat.

th, but the professor stretch

me make sure that all of you are sufficiently immune from the heat.

slightest inconvenience from the sun's rays. I declared

things!" spoke up Meigs, p

t also flashed into thin air. Then we began looking for the little

the mysterious gleam, which dazzl

perplexed, as I

e hills," said Meigs, "and

perhaps five hundred feet from the plain. As Meigs

like a human balloon, soared over the rock by a sco

the lightness of a piece of down. He was a large man, was Me

various feats. He leaped straight upward, gaining a maximum height of a

eath the dignity of a Wall Street broker, as it struck me. In fact, he acted like a schoolb

served the disgusted Popham. "I'll go dow

dded Markham, visibly distracte

d presently one would have thought they wore seven-

they joined in. By and by they were playing leapfrog

gives most astonishing results. Those men, Mr. Munn, are not used to such activity, yet their marvelous gymn

stle-down before the wind. Somehow the lightness of our heels got into our heads

xhilarating. Liberty of muscle bred license of mind; had we

that I could have run a hundred miles in

ll about our projected investigation of the little hills. In the midst o

The sun was blotted out by inky clouds

ack to the car

f the blast. The lightness that had afforded us so much enjoyment in still air now bec

as he and Meigs were driven agains

on had caused them to lose their footing, and, clinging desperately to each other, they were hurled back and forth, touching the ground now and then, only to reb

professor and Markham, their right hands clasped, staggering toward the two men, that I made up my min

ection of the professor and Markham. No matter how strongly I braced backward against the blast, every time I lifted a foot I was hu

killed if we can't get t

d become entangled in them. Had they been blown off on a straightaway course, they would long since

d me to plant ourselves as firmly as possible and remain in our present positions. This was easier said than do

ugh the arc of a great circle. All we had to do

e the five of us were tangled in an indiscriminate heap, our united weight offering greater

e'll get under the lee of that rock. Care

d clasping hands; then, hurled and buffeted, we gained t

what a place!"

se," wailed Meigs. "Certainly we couldn't

ld," growled Markham. "Even if plants could stand th

pham. "You got us into this, Quinn,

" I remarked. "Whenever there's danger, you suddenly realize that you can't

ting time in useless bickering. I was at fault, for I knew what terrible gales visit thi

t came near having tragic consequences. Popham an

tly. "The gale is increasing, and who knows but this rock may

he professor. "We must

will become of us if we t

ere," answered the professor. "If we form a chain, it is quit

able to stand up against

rated, each of us must make the best preparations he can to weather the gale, and then, when it

himself against the fierce swirl th

lled; "it is

ingly. Its force seemed irresistible, and yet

lifted high and thrown helter-skelter in all directions. Lightn

d ran like trailing serpents over t

yet not rain, for it turned to damp vapor in the red-hot atmosphere. The Mercurial elements wer

in the fearsome fury of darkness and storm, driven he

h I gripped with convulsive energy.

eft of my wits and e

ed a voice. "

" I exc

g together."

ms, we were lifted high on a billow of fog

rocks and rolled over and over; then the

t that moment. Suffice to say the fall did not render us unconscious, and we struck on something that vibrated under the impact of our bodi

ofessor, withdrawing himself fr

wered. "What has happ

some sort of a shelter, i

are sitting on an object that is descending with

such sights and sounds that I thought myself de