"And when it does, what will happen?" inquired Mark quietly.
"That is hard to say," was the answer of the German. "We know very little about the composition of comets. They may be composed merely of flaming gasses, or they may be a train of burning meteors, held together by attraction. The head may be some vast, blazing world, as large as our planet. In fact, comets are very baffling to astronomers."
"Well, if a comet is nothing but gas, it won't hurt if we run into it, will it?" inquired Jack.
"That's just the trouble. We don't know that it is gas," said Mr. Roumann. "It may be solid, and then to rush into it at terrific speed would mean that we would be demolished. Also, if the gas is flaming, you can easily imagine what would happen to the Annihilator. There would be nothing left of it—or us—in less than an instant."
"But isn't there some way of escaping it?" asked Mark.
"I'm going to try," responded Mr. Roumann. "Jack, ask Professor Henderson to step here. I wish to consult him."
Jack delivered the message, and it was overheard by Washington White. Something in Jack's manner told the colored man that there was trouble aboard.
"What's de mattah?" he asked.
Jack saw no reason for concealing the danger from the cook.
"We're heading into a comet," he, said.