"Yes," answered the German. "The Etherium motor has stopped
working!"
"And are we falling?" asked Mark.
"Yes, in a sense," answered Mr. Henderson, as the other inventor
hurried on. "The gravitation of the earth no longer attracts us,
but we are not heading in a straight line for Mars. We may be
falling into some other planet, or the sun."
Then he, too, went to the engine-room, and the boys followed.
They found the place strangely quiet, since the throbbing and
humming of the main motor had ceased. The dynamos that kept the
light aglow and the air and other pumps were in motion, however.
"What's the matter?" asked Mr. Henderson.
"There's been a breakdown," was the reply of the German. "And it
looks to me as if some one had been tampering with the motor."
"Tampering with the motor?"
"Yes. Some of the plates have been smashed. I believe there is
some one concealed on board--some enemy of mine--who hopes to
destroy us."
"What can we do?" asked Jack.
"Nothing, until the motor is repaired," replied the German
scientist.
"But we are falling--"
"Yes, I know.
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