was wont to call the thing. The great nose rested upon the bare

earth of the floor. We passed through the doors into the outer

jacket, secured them, and then passing on into the cabin, which

contained the controlling mechanism within the inner tube, switched

on the electric lights.

Perry looked to his generator; to the great tanks that held the

life-giving chemicals with which he was to manufacture fresh air

to replace that which we consumed in breathing; to his instruments

for recording temperatures, speed, distance, and for examining the

materials through which we were to pass.

He tested the steering device, and overlooked the mighty cogs which

transmitted its marvelous velocity to the giant drill at the nose

of his strange craft.

Our seats, into which we strapped ourselves, were so arranged upon

transverse bars that we would be upright whether the craft were

ploughing her way downward into the bowels of the earth, or running

horizontally along some great seam of coal, or rising vertically

toward the surface again.

At length all was ready. Perry bowed his head in prayer. For

a moment we were silent, and then the old man's hand grasped the

starting lever. There was a frightful roaring beneath us--the

giant frame trembled and vibrated--there was a rush of sound as the

loose earth passed up through the hollow space between the inner

and outer jackets to be deposited in our wake. We were off!

The noise was deafening. The sensation was frightful. For a full

minute neither of us could do aught but cling with the proverbial

desperation of the drowning man to the handrails of our swinging

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