Were they madly dashing to their doom?
Death seemed certain if they went off the cliff, but it was too late to do anything else now, as he could not stop her, nor had he room to swerve her aside.
A cold sweat burst out all over him.
“Heavens!” he gasped. “Pomp told me the dynamo was fixed.”
A shout of intense horror escaped Frank’s companions, and as the boat leaped like a cannon-ball from that appalling height, every one instinctively grasped something to hold himself.
Far out from the cliff shot the Ranger.
She was closely pursued by the avalanche.
Every one gave a gasp as the boat began to fall.
But when they observed that she went down very slowly, they realized that they were not doomed yet.
Indeed the gyroscopes had been revolving from the moment Frank first turned on the lever; but as it required a few seconds for the current to get them spinning fast enough to buoy the ship up, they had not sustained the Ranger immediately.