They expected that at any moment the Kite would be divested of her rigging, dashed to the ground, and that they all would be killed.
But this did not happen.
The very fact of the air-ship’s complete helplessness in the vortex of the tornado saved her.
The rotascopes were revolving like a whirlwind.
Unknown to the voyagers the shock had thrown the ratchet of the lever open, and the full force of the current was on.
Every lull in the force of the wind gave the air-ship a chance to shoot upward.
Up she went like a rocket, higher and higher.
She attained a tremendous elevation from the earth, as the passengers now began to discover by reason of the change of temperature.
The air became chill, and as cutting as a knife.
Frost instantly began to appear upon the glass windows and the ironwork of the air-ship