Ralph had struck him senseless with his Radioperforer.
In a few minutes he anchored his flyer to the other by means of a powerful electromagnet. He then pushed the connecting tube of his flyer into the tube-joint of Fernand's machine. With great care he made the joint air-tight. Taking a coil of rope he opened the port-hole and crawled through the tube leading into the other flyer.
Arrived at the other end he made sure that the joint at Fernand's machine was tight before he moved on.
Fernand lay unconscious on the floor and in a twinkling Ralph had bound him with the rope.
In high excitement he bounded upstairs to gain the room Alice should be occupying. His heart throbbed tempestuously. In another moment he would hold his sweetheart in his arms.
Arriving on the next floor he stood still for a moment and listened. There was no sound except for the gentle purring of the gyroscopic machinery.
He went from one room to another, then to the last one. The door was open. He entered with a strange feeling of dread. The room was empty. Apparently it had never been used.
In terror Ralph ran from one end of the flyer to the other. He looked in every corner, in every closet. He could find neither Alice nor her maid. Where were they hidden? To make sure he went all over the ground again more thoroughly.
After the most careful scrutiny of every inch of the machine he fell limply into a chair, and buried his face in his hands.