He must have done this as a last resort, and to
provide for his revenge in case we discovered him on board after we
started. It was a cruel revenge, for had I not discovered it we would
soon all be killed."
"Is the machine all right now?" asked Jack.
"It will be in a few minutes. Here, take this magnet and put it as far
away from the engine room as possible."
It was the work of but a few minutes, now that the disturbing element
was removed, to readjust the gravity machine, and Mr. Roumann called:
"Look out, now, everybody! We're going to turn right side up again!"
As he spoke he turned a small valve wheel. There was a clanging of
heavy ballast weights, which slid down their rods to the proper places.
Then, like some great fish turning over in the water, the _Annihilator_
turned over in the ether, and was once more on her proper keel, if such
a shaped craft can be said to have a keel.
Of course, the occupants of the space ship went slipping and sliding
back, even as they had fallen ceilingward before, but they were
prepared for it, and no one was hurt.
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