“Then why are we still descending?” asked the scientist. “For a while our speed was checked, but now we are falling faster than before.”
“I attended to the apparatus,” Mark insisted.
Just then, from without the ship, came a terrible roaring sound, as though there was a great cyclone in progress. At the same time, those aboard the craft could feel themselves being pulled downward with terrific force.
“We are caught in a draught!” Mr. Henderson cried. “We are being sucked down into the depths of the earth!”
He ran to the engine room. With the help of the boys he set in motion an auxiliary gravity machine, designed to exert a most powerful influence against the downward pull of the earth. As they watched the great wheels spin around, and heard the hum and whirr of the dynamos, the boys watched the pointer which indicated how low they were getting.
And, as they watched, they saw that the needle of the dial kept moving, moving, moving.
“Our efforts are useless! We can’t stop!” the professor cried.
Grave indeed was the plight of the adventurers. In their ship they were being sucked down into unknown regions and all their efforts did not avail to save them. It was an emergency they could not guard against, and which could not have been foreseen.
“What are to do?” asked Mark.
“We can only wait,” Mr. Henderson replied. “The terrible suction may cease, or it may carry us to some place of safety. Let us hope for the best.”