"Wait a minute," he cried. "I've got a letter for you. It's from that man!"
"What—another thing to delay us?" cried Jack, but he called to Professor Roumann not to start the motor, and ran to take from Dick the letter which the lad held out.
"That same man who gave me the one for Mark gave me this, and he paid me a half a dollar to bring it here," said the boy.
"All right," answered Jack impatiently.
He looked at the note. It was addressed to the "Moon Travellers," and, considering that he was one, the youth tore open the envelope. In the dim light of the fading day he read the bold handwriting.
"I have fixed you," the letter began. "You will never get to the moon. I shall have my revenge. You took my brother Fred Axtell to Mars and left him there. I determined to get him back, and to that end I disguised myself as one of the boys, and got aboard. When we were safely away from the earth, I would have compelled you to go to Mars and rescue my brother. But my plan has failed. I will have my revenge, though. You will never reach the moon, even if you do get started. Beware! George, the brother of Fred Axtell, will avenge his fate!"
"The brother of the crazy machinist!" gasped Jack. "Now I understand his strange actions. He's crazy, too—he wanted to go to Mars—he says we will never reach the moon! Say, look here!" cried Jack, raising his voice. "Here's bad news! That scoundrel has put some game up on us! Maybe he's tampered with the machinery! It won't be safe to start for the moon until we've looked over everything carefully! He says he's fixed us, and perhaps he has!"
From the projectile came hurrying the would-be moon travellers, a vague fear in their hearts.