“I think perhaps he could, with Miss Stevens to help him,” put in Captain Petersen, his usual optimism returning. “She is thoroughly familiar with the craft’s operation.”
“That is so,” her father admitted, his tone brighter. “But—”
“Of course it’s so!” exclaimed Larry, breaking off any less hopeful reflections. “So cheerio, folks, as the English say. We’ll make it yet!”
But in his heart, he was tormented with doubt for Diane’s safety….
The trail was growing eery, now, and precipitous. To their right rose a sheer cliff. To their left, the path fell off abruptly to a gigantic caldron where red flames leaped and waned.
“Looks like something out of Dante’s ‘Inferno’!” muttered Larry, with a shudder.
“The volcano where they distill their atmosphere, evidently,” commented Professor Stevens. “It would have been interesting, in other circumstances, to observe the process.”
“Not to me, it wouldn’t!”
Larry was glad when they had passed that seething hell-pot and were once more proceeding through a long, dark gallery.