“I want to write a little account of the why and the wherefore, so that they can find it in case—anything happens to us.”
Hawkins turned away loftily.
“We'll have to get out of this,” he said.
He pulled at his lever with a confident smile. The Hydro-Vapor Lift did not budge the fraction of an inch.
Then he pushed it back—and forward again. And still the inexorable 13 stood before us.
“Confound that—er—engineer!” growled the inventor.
Just then the Hydro-Vapor Lift indulged in a series of convulsive shudders.
It was too much for my nerves. I felt certain that in another second we were to drop, and I shouted lustily:
“Help! Help! Help!”
“Shut up!” cried Hawkins. “Do you want to get the workmen here and have them see that something's wrong?”