"Then we ascend. What's the time?" asked Joe.
"Eight thirty, sir," answered Dick promptly. "Eight thirty p.m."
"Precisely; and the day is Wednesday?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then in one hundred and twenty-four days, less three hours and thirty minutes from this moment, we are due to return. If we are here then, and our foreign office passport has been properly initialled, then we shall have won the challenge. We can let her go. Stand by there! I'm going to take her up quickly. Then London shall have a glimpse of their ship, and afterwards——"
"Yes, afterwards?" asked Commander Jackson, who had now joined them.
Joe shrugged his shoulders. "Who can say? I myself have confidence in the vessel. But accidents may happen. We might be delayed by the smallest and most unexpected circumstance. We can but make the attempt."
"And win or lose I shall be satisfied," chimed in Andrew. "Let her go."
The motors roared. Those elevator fans within the ship whirled at a giddy rate, and at once the gigantic framework shot upward till she was two thousand feet above the hangar. Then Joe touched another lever. The propeller in rear began to sing its own strange note. The ship moved forward and that adventurous voyage had begun.