“I only hope it doesn’t prove too hot for us,” observed the professor. “However, I provided a water jacket for the ship, and we may need it, as well as the vacuum chambers4 to keep the heat from us.”
It was about three o’clock when the flying ship reached the edge of the island. From there it was about a mile to the rim5 of the big hole, over one side of which the waters of the ocean poured with a roar that could be heard over half a mile off.
“I think we had better halt and see that everything is in good shape before proceeding,” said Mr. Henderson. “Jack3, you and Mark make a thorough inspection6 of the engine room, and see that all the apparatus7 is in working order.”
The two boys prepared to do as they were told. Mark, who was walking a little ahead of Jack, entered the apartment from which the storeroom opened. As he did so he saw, or thought he saw, the door of the place where the extra supplies were kept, close. Without saying anything to Jack he hurried forward, and tried the knob. It would not turn.
“That’s funny,” said Mark to himself. “I could almost swear I saw some one go into that room. Yet I know the professor did not enter, for I just left him. And none of the others would dare to. I wonder if I will ever solve the mystery.”
But he had too much to do to allow him to dwell on that matter. Several of the dynamos needed adjusting and for two hours he and Jack had all they could do.
In the meanwhile the professor had gone over the other parts of the ship, and gotten everything in readiness for the descent. The Mermaid8 was lowered to within a few hundred feet of the sea, and, through a hose that was let down, the compartments9, provided for this emergency were filled with water. These compartments were between the outer and inner hulls10 of the lower part of the craft, and were designed to prevent the interior becoming heated in case the travelers found they had to pass close to fire. There were also vacuum chambers, and from these the air was exhausted11, as of course every schoolboy knows a vacuum is a non-conductor of either heat or cold.
“Now I think we are ready,” the professor announced at length.
“Everything’s all right in the engine room,” announced Jack.
“Yes, an’ everything’s all right in th’ kitchen,” put in Washington. “I’ve got a good meal ready as soon as any one wants to eat.”
“It will have to wait a while,” Mr. Henderson remarked. “We are going to start to make the descent before we dine.”
The hose was reeled up, and the ship was sent a few hundred feet higher into the air, as Mr. Henderson wanted to take a last good observation before he went down into the hole.
But having risen some distance above the masses of rolling vapors12 he found he was at no advantage, since the strongest telescope he could bring to bear could not pierce the cloud masses.
“We’ll just have to trust to luck,” the scientist said. “I judge we’re about over the centre of the opening. Lower away Mark!”
The boy, who, under the watchful13 eye of the professor, was manipulating the levers and wheels in the conning14 tower, shifted some handles. The gas was expelled from the holder15, the negative gravity apparatus ceased to work, and the Flying Mermaid sank lower and lower, toward the mysterious hole that yawned beneath her.
The hearts of all beat strangely, if not with fear, at least with apprehension16, for they did not know what they might encounter. Perhaps death in some terrible form awaited them. But the desire to discover something new and strange had gripped all of them, and not one would have voted to turn back.
Even old Andy, who seldom got excited, was in unusual spirits. He took down his gun and remarked:
“Maybe I can kill some new kind of animal, and write a book about its habits, for surely we will see strange beasts in the under-world.”
Lower and lower sank the ship. Now it was amid the first thin masses of vapors, those that floated highest and were more like a light fog, than anything else. By means of a window in the bottom of the craft, which window was closed by a thick piece of plate glass, Professor Henderson could look down and see what was beneath them.
“The clouds seem to be getting thicker,” he said, as he peered through the small casement17. “If they would only clear away we could see something.”
But instead of doing this the vapors accumulated more thickly about the ship. It was so dark inside the Mermaid now that the electric lights had to be switched on. In the room with the floor-window the lights were not used, as had they shone one could not have seen down below.
The professor maintained his position. The descent was a perilous18 one, and he wanted to be on the watch to check it at once if the Mermaid was liable to dash upon some pointed19 rock or fall into some fiery20 pit. His hand was on the signal levers.
“We are at the earth’s surface,” the scientist said. “Now we are below it. Now we are fairly within the big hole! Boys, we may be on the verge23 of a great discovery!”
An instant later it seemed as if a hot wave had struck the Mermaid, or as if the craft had been plunged24 into boiling water.
“It’s going to be hot!” cried the professor. “Lucky I provided the water jackets!”
Then the lights in the interior of the ship went out, leaving the whole craft in darkness.
“What has happened?” cried Mark.
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1
vapor
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| n.蒸汽，雾气 | |
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2
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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3
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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4
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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6
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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8
mermaid
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| n.美人鱼 | |
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compartments
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| n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层 | |
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10
hulls
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| 船体( hull的名词复数 )； 船身； 外壳； 豆荚 | |
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11
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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12
vapors
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| n.水汽，水蒸气，无实质之物( vapor的名词复数 )；自夸者；幻想 [药]吸入剂 [古]忧郁（症）v.自夸，（使）蒸发( vapor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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14
conning
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| v.诈骗，哄骗( con的现在分词 )；指挥操舵( conn的现在分词 ) | |
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15
holder
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| n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物 | |
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16
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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casement
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| n.竖铰链窗；窗扉 | |
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18
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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21
gage
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| n.标准尺寸，规格；量规，量表 [=gauge] | |
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22
revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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23
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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