"Ha! That is rather strange!" exclaimed Mr. Roumann as he looked at the buzzing machinery.
"What's the matter?" asked Mark.
"The atmospheric motor is running much faster than I ever saw it go before. I wonder if that crazy machinist could have gotten loose and meddled with it?"
"I'll look," volunteered Jack, but he soon ascertained that the man was still securely bound.
The motor was humming and snapping away, and a gage connected with it showed that it was forcing the Annihilator along at the rate of two hundred miles a second.
"That is faster even than we moved when the Etherium machine was working at its best," said Mr. Roumann with a puzzled look. "Can I have made a mistake in my calculations? I hardly think so."
"Jack, run to the pilot house, and see if the automatic steering apparatus is all right. Also see what the speed gage there indicates." Jack hurried off, and soon returned.
"We're heading right for Mars, as indicated on the chart," he said, for there was an arrangement whereby the projectile could be automatically steered.
"What speed does the gage there show?" asked the German scientist.
"Two hundred miles a second."