They were hardly able to realize their escape. That is, all but Washington. He took it as a matter of course.
"How did it come about?" asked Jack.
"It's hard to say," replied Mr. Roumann. "I couldn't steer away from the comet, but it's probably just as well that I could not. It seems that the mass of queer light attracted us to it, but to a certain section where we came to no harm. And we must have gone through it at an angle, or we would have been much longer within its influence."
"Can we see the comet?" asked Mark.
"There it is," replied the German. "Only it doesn't look as a comet does when you view it from the earth. We are too close to it."
They looked from the side window of the projectile. Far off appeared to be a great mass of clouds, except that instead of being white, the mass was colored with many hues, It was so vast in extent that they could see neither the beginning nor the ending of it.
"Our first comet," remarked Jack.
"And I hope our last," added Mark.
"Yes, indeed," interjected Mr. Roumann. "Now I think we will slow down the motor somewhat. We must save some of the energy for our return trip, though I have a large surplus. Still, we cannot be too careful."
"Are we once more headed for Mars?" asked Mark.