"Mars! Every time!" cried Jack. "I want to begin to weigh less."
"I'll go wherever Jack goes," said Mark.
"Very well, then," assented the professor. "But you must remember, Mr. Roumann, that I am still unconvinced that you possess the secret of a power that will project a heavy object through space to Mars—thirty–five millions of miles away. I do not say it can't be done, only I want to be shown. I will aid you all I can, and I will accompany you. But I fear we shall never get to Mars."
"And I tell you we will!" insisted the other. "Come, I will prove it to you by mathematics, and by illustrating some of the force of my new secret power. Let us go to the laboratory."
The professor took from a valise, which sat in a corner of the room, a bundle of papers. Then, followed by the professor and the boys, he started for the private laboratory of Mr. Henderson.
As they left the dining–room they heard an unexpected noise at one of the windows. They looked quickly up, and Jack saw the face of a man staring in.
Before he could cry out, there came the sound of Washington's voice:
"Hey dar! Git away from dere! Skedaddle, now, or I'll prognostigate yo' inter modicums ob transmigatory infatisamatisms!"
The face disappeared from the window, and the sound of footsteps in rapid retreat was heard.