And then, with a suddenness that made them all catch their breath, the Snowbird plunged down into the ice-gulf and ended her dive with a terrific crash on a narrow shelf at least two hundred feet below the surface of the glacier.
CHAPTER XVI
PROFESSOR HENDERSON REVEALS THE TRUTH
The force with which the flying machine had plunged into the chasm in the ice was sufficient to smash her keel-fin to bits. There was other damage done, too—how great this damage was the boys and the professor could not immediately discover.
They were all alive—that was one thing to be thankful for. And Washington White's Shanghai, aroused from sleep by the disturbance, began to crow vociferously.
The Snowbird was wedged into a very small space upon the ledge of ice. At first view it was quite certain that she could not be launched again from this position by any ordinary means. And the steering gear was practically a wreck, so that she positively must be repaired before attempting another flight.
Jack's wounds were dressed by Andy first of all. Mark and the professor made some attempt to look over the wreckage. The disaster was so great that Mark gave up hope.
"We're done for now!" he cried. "The poor Snowbird is a wreck. And how are we ever going to get out of this hole?"
"Hush, my boy!" admonished the professor. "Don't lose your grip. This is truly a serious predicament; but we have been in tight places before."
"Nothing worse than this," grumbled Mark. "Nor half so bad. How are we going to get out of this chasm? Why, just as Washington says, we've been swallowed up like a duck gobbling a June bug."