"Wait a minute," said Gazen, making a rapid calculation. "Yes, yes, probably you are right. I did not think we had come so far; but I had forgotten that gravitation on Mercury is only half as strong as it is on the Earth or Venus. Let us go and tell Miss Carmichael."
We hurried downstairs to the engine room and found her kneeling beside her father, who was no better.
She did not seem much enlivened by the good news.
"What will that do for us?" she enquired doubtfully.
"We can remain here as long as we like, suspended between the Sun and Mercury," replied Gazen.
"Is it better to linger and die in a living tomb than be dashed to pieces and have done with it?"
"But we shall gain time for your father to recover."
"I am afraid my father will never recover in this place. The heat is killing him. Unless we can get further away from the sun he will die, I'm sure he will."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Don't distress yourself, dear Miss Carmichael, please don't," said Gazen tenderly. "Now that we have time to think, perhaps we shall hit upon some plan."