“Forgot all about our stoves,” chuckled the professor, turning on one of the two electric heaters with which the chamber had been equipped.
“The cold is one of our greatest dangers,” the professor told Taggert. “Out here in space the cold is absolute. There is nothing to reflect or retain the heat from the sun’s rays. Even if the gyrostats should stop, the disk is powerful enough to keep the Sphere from falling back into the Earth, or on any other planet if we lightened it by throwing out excess weight as we neared the planet where gravitation would be much stronger than it is at this distance. We have enough food to last us for weeks. But we must have warmth. Should our current fail us we should be in danger of freezing to death. Fortunately we have a petrol heater for emergencies.”
“Oy, and me with my overcoat at home!” wailed Taggert, in mock consternation, backing up close to the heater.
By this time the Earth had shrunk greatly. No longer did it constitute the greater part of their view. Suddenly a ribbon of fire appeared along its western rim! Steadily it widened, lighting up the Sphere brilliantly. Then the explanation of this phenomenon dawned upon them. The Sphere was carrying them beyond the Earth’s shadow into view of the sun, whose pleasant, warm rays shone cheerfully through the windows, buoying up their spirits considerably.
As the time passed the Earth appeared smaller and smaller. Its farther edge, still obscuring a slice of the sun, produced much the same effect as a partial eclipse of the sun by the moon when seen from the Earth. The physical features of the Earth were no longer visible against the glare of the sun. It simply looked like a black disk, slightly larger than the moon.
About this time their self-invited companion seemed a good deal perplexed over something. He stood shifting his weight from one foot to the other with a look of comical mystification on his ruddy countenance.
“What’s the matter, old man?” asked Robert, much amused at Taggert’s curious antics. “Cootie?”
“Something wrong here,” giving a little hop.
“I’ll admit you show symptoms of it, young man,” remarked the professor, dryly.
“Feel kind of lightish. Maybe I’m going to become an angel when we get a little higher,” went on the redhead, still engrossed in his private calculations.