While Harold consulted the book, they all waited in great suspense, for what would become of them all should the balloon fail to carry them on? Their anxiety was soon set at rest, however, for this is what Harold found in the book:
“The atmosphere extends some forty miles above the earth, then an imaginary line is reached beyond which the forces of the earth cease to act; while the Sun, by its great power of attraction, draws everything toward it with irresistible force. If you wish to cross this line and pass upward, use extra pressure and inflate the balloon to its utmost capacity. It will then carry you across and you will find that you are attracted toward the Sun, as before you were attracted toward the earth. Steer for any planet which you wish to visit and you can safely land upon it.”
When Harold stopped reading there was dead silence for a few minutes, then he said, “Prince, will you kindly press that electric button at your right? We can then watch the balloon inflate and carry us over the line.”
Slowly but surely, with much creaking and crackling of the silken cover, the balloon became fully inflated, while the little Princess with strained, frightened eyes watched through one of the peep-holes, in mortal terror lest at each creak it might burst and they be hurled to the earth.
No such thing happened, but instead, the balloon gave a sudden bound and commenced rising at an alarming rate of speed; in fact, so fast were they approaching the Moon that they feared they would dash against one of its mountain tops. Harold found on consulting their time-indicator that they were traveling at a rate of speed equal to that of a ray of light, which is one hundred and sixty thousand miles per second. And it takes light moving at that rate of speed eight minutes and seven seconds to reach the earth.
“Look, every one look!” cried Ione. “What is that glistening, sparkling light that seems to ripple and flow like a stream of water?”
“It is the Milky Way,” said Harold. “From the earth it looks like millions upon billions of stars sweeping a pathway through the heavens, but now that we are nearer, it seems like one continuous stream of silver fire.”
“Isn’t it perfectly beautiful?” exclaimed the girls in chorus.
Looming up before them was what appeared to be a large red island that floated in the heavens as a pond lily floats upon the surface of water. It seemed to get its color, not from anything red upon the island itself, but from red rays of light that fell directly upon it from the planet Mars.
Far in the distance floated other cloud-islands, each bathed in a color corresponding to the hue of the planet from which the rays came. They afterward found that these islands accompanied the different planets in their orbits much as our Moon does the earth. From the earth they have the appearance of stars, not islands.