Finally all was in readiness for the start to Mars. Professor Roumann
wanted to prove that the planet was inhabited, and he also wanted to
get some of a peculiar substance, which he believed gave the planet its
rosy hue. He had an idea that it would prove of great value.
But, though every precaution was taken, the adventurers were not to get
away from the earth safely. Almost at the last minute, a crazy
machinist, named Fred Axtell, who was refused work on the projectile,
tried to blow it up with a bomb. He partly succeeded, but the damage
was repaired, and the start made.
Inside the projectile our friends shut themselves up, and the powerful
motors were started. Off it shot, at the rate of one hundred miles a
second, but the travellers were as comfortable as in a Pullman car.
They had plenty to eat and drink, they manufactured their own air and
water, and they slept when they so desired.
But Axtell, the crazy machinist, had hidden himself aboard, and, in
mid-air, he tried to wreck the projectile.
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