The king became suspicious, and Olox got the royal ear and said something in an undertone on his word-box.
"You and Munn may go in," the king said when Olox had finished, "but we shall keep the rest of your friends with us while you are making your calculations."
"Very well."
The professor and I thereupon entered the car, watched with some apprehension by Meigs and the rest. Possibly they feared that we were about to desert them; if so, the look the professor gave them must have set their fears at rest.
A survey of the interior of the car showed everything to be exactly as we had left it. The door at the top of the iron stairway had been forced precisely as the other at the outside entrance had been, but this was a matter of small importance.
The oxygen tank was intact, and the professor showed me how to manipulate the lever that regulated the supply necessary for the car; there was still plenty of water, of good quality, in the reservoir, and of food, such as we were accustomed to, there was an abundance. Everything appeared to be in proper order and just as it should be.
"We are very fortunate, Mr. Munn," said Quinn, seating himself on a box. "I brought you in here with me less to have your help in examining the interior of the car than to seize an opportunity for giving you a few directions which you will find of use.
"When we left Earth we started at an hour which gave us a course that angled sunward; when you leave Njambai, however, you must do so at an hour when this part of the planet is turned away from the sun, and as far away as possible. That will cause the car to be hurled toward the outer edge of the solar system and in the direction of the earth's orbit.
"I wish I could inform you as to the exact position the earth will be in when you cross its orbit, but the king's mad project was sprung so suddenly, and he has acted upon his plan so quickly, that I have had no time for calculations in that respect.
"Your business, however, will be to overhaul the Earth. The telescope will inform you of the planet's position, and by properly regulating the screens of the cubes you can hang in the orbit of Terra until it reaches you; then, once within its influence, shut off the energy of the cubes and suffer the car to fall to its surface. Do I make myself plain?"