"What's the matter?" asked Jack.
"Mr. Henderson is dead! He's in the engine room!"
"What killed him?" inquired Andy.
"He must hab got a shock from de dynamo!"
Andy jumped from his bunk and hurried to the engine room. There, as the negro had described, Professor Henderson was lying white and senseless on the floor.
The old hunter stooped over the inventor and felt of his heart.
"He is alive!" he exclaimed. "His heart beats! We must carry him to a bunk!"
Aided by Washington, Andy carried the professor to the sleeping room, where he was made comfortable in one of the beds. The captain was so near death that he could not be seen to breathe, and only the faint flutter of his heart told that life existed.
"We're lost!" cried Washington. "If he dies we'll never get back home again. He is de only one dat knows how to mix de chemicals for de gas!"
This was alarming news. Without the mysterious vapor the ship would not keep afloat long, nor could it be worked back from the desolate land of ice and snow. How much of the gas was left no one knew.