Lost on the Moon by Roy Rockwood

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"Hab--hab we hit it yet?" asked Washington, moving his hands nervously.

"I reckon not, or we'd know it," said the hunter.

"No, not yet," answered Jack, in a low voice. "How much are we making
now, Mark?"

"Only thirty a second."

"Good! She's coming down."

Hardly had he spoken than there sounded a noise like thunder, or the
rushing of some mighty wind. The projectile, which was trembling
throughout her length from the force of the motor, shivered as though
she had plunged into the unknown depths of some mighty sea. The roaring
increased. Mark and Jack looked at each other. Washington White fell
upon his knees and began praying in a loud voice. Old Andy grasped his
gun, as though to say that, even though on the brink of eternity, he
was ready.

Then, with a scream as of some gigantic shell from a thousand-inch
rifle, something passed over the _Annihilator_; something that shook
the great projectile like a leaf in the wind. And then the scream died
away, and there was silence. For a moment no one spoke, and then Jack
whispered hoarsely:

"We've passed it."

"Yes," added Mark, "we're safe now."

"By golly! I knowed we would!" fairly yelled Washington, leaping to his
feet. "I knowed dat no old meteor could kerflumox us! Perfesser
Henderson he done jumped our boat ober it laik a hunter jumps his boss
ober a fence. Golly! I'se feelin' better now!"

"How did you avoid it?" asked Mark of the professor.

"With the help of the repelling machine and by changing our course. But
we did it only just in time. It was an immense meteor, much larger than
at first appeared, and it was blazing hot. Had it struck us, there
would have been nothing left of us or the projectile either but star
dust. But we managed to pass beneath it, and now we are safe."

They congratulated each other on their lucky escape, and then busied
themselves about various duties aboard the air-craft. The rest of the
day was spent in making minor adjustments to some of the machines,
oiling others, and in planning what they would do when they reached the
moon.

In this way three days and nights passed, mainly without incident. They
slept well on board the _Annihilator_, which was speeding so swiftly
through space--slept as comfortably as they had on earth. Each hour
brought them nearer the moon, and they figured on landing on the
surface of that wonderful and weird body in about three days more.

It was on the morning of the fourth day when, as Mark and Jack were
taking their shift in the engine room, that Jack happened to glance
from the side observation window, which was near the Cardite motor.
What he saw caused him to cry out in surprise.

"I say, Mark, look here! There's the moon over there. We're not heading
for it at all!"

"By Jove! You're right!" agreed his chum. "We're off our course!"

"We must tell Professor Henderson!" cried Jack. "I'll do it. You stay
here and watch things."

A few seconds later a very much alarmed youth was rapidly talking to
the two scientists, who were in the pilot-house.

"Some unknown force must have pulled us off our course," Jack was
saying. "The moon is away off to one side of us."

To his surprise, instead of being alarmed, Mr. Roumann only smiled.

"It's true," insisted Jack.

"Of course, it is," agreed Mr. Henderson. "We can see it from here,
Jack," and he pointed to the observation window, from which could be
noticed the moon floating in the sky at the same time the sun was
shining, a phenomenon which is often visible on the earth early in the
morning at certain of the moon's phases.

"Will we ever get there?" asked Jack.

"Of course," replied Mr. Roumann. "You must remember, Jack, that the
moon is moving at the same time we are. Had I headed the projectile for
Luna, and kept it on that course, she would, by the time we reached
her, been in another part of the firmament, and we would have overshot
our mark. So, instead, I aimed the _Annihilator_ at a spot in the
heavens where I calculated the moon would be when we arrived there.
And, if I am not mistaken, we will reach there at the same time, and
drop gently down on Luna."

"Oh, is that it?" asked the lad, much relieved.

"That's it," replied Mr. Henderson. "And that's why we seem to be
headed away from the moon. Her motion will bring her into the right
position for us to land on when the time comes."

"Then I'd better go tell Mark," said the lad. "He's quite worried." He
soon explained matters to his chum, and together they discussed the
many things necessary to keep in mind when one navigates the heavens.

That day saw several thousand more miles reeled off on the journey to
the moon, and that evening (or rather what corresponded to evening, for
it was perpetual daylight) they began to make their preparations for
landing. Their wonderful journey through space was nearing an end.

"I guess that crazy Axtell fellow was only joking when he said we'd
never reach the moon," ventured Jack. "Nothing has happened yet."

"Only the meteor," said Mark, "and he couldn't know about that. I guess
he didn't get a chance to damage any of the machinery."

"No, we seem to be making good time," went on his chum. "I think I'll
go and----"

Jack did not finish his sentence. Instead he stared at one of the
instruments hanging from the walls of the engine room. It was a sort of
barometer to tell their distance from the earth, and it swung to and
fro like a pendulum. Now the instrument was swinging out away from the
wall to which it was attached. Further and further over it inclined.
Jack felt a curious sensation. Mark put his hand to his head.

"I feel--feel dizzy!" he exclaimed. "What is the matter?"

"Something has happened," cried Jack.

The instrument swung over still more. Some tools fell from a work
bench, and landed on the steel floor with a crash. The boys were
staggering about the engine room, unable to maintain their balance.

There came cries of fear from the galley, where Washington White was
rattling away amid his pots and pans. Andy Sudds was calling to some
one, and from the pilot-house came the excited exclamations of
Professors Henderson and Roumann.

"We're turning turtle!" suddenly yelled Jack. "The projectile is
turning over in the air! Something has gone wrong! Perhaps this is the
revenge of that crazy man!" and, as he spoke, he fell over backward,
Mark following him, while the _Annihilator_ was turned completely over
and seemed to be falling down into unfathomable depths.

CHAPTER XVIII

AT THE MOON

Confusion reigned aboard the _Annihilator_. It had turned completely
over, and was now moving through space apparently bottom side up. Of
course, being cigar shaped, this did not make any difference as far as
the exterior was concerned, but it did make a great difference to those
within.

The occupants of the great shell had fallen and slid down the rounded
sides of the projectile, and were now standing on what had been the
ceiling. Objects that were not fast had also followed them, scattering
all about, some narrowly missing hitting our friends. Of course, the
machinery was now in the air, over the heads of the travellers.

This was one of the most serious phases of the accident, for the great
Cardite motor was built to run while in the other position, and when it
was turned upside down it immediately stopped, and the projectile,
deprived of its motive power, at once began falling through space.

"What has happened? What caused it?" cried Mark, as he crawled over to
where Jack sat on the ceiling, with a dazed look on his face.

"I don't know. Something went wrong. Here comes Professor Henderson and
Mr. Roumann. We'll ask them."

The two scientists were observed approaching from the pilot-house. They
walked along what had been the ceiling, and when they came to the
engine room they had to climb over the top part of the door frame.

"What's wrong?" asked Jack.

"Our center of gravity has become displaced," answered Mr. Henderson.
"The gravity machine has either broken, or some one has been tampering
with it. Did either of you boys touch it?"

"No, indeed!" cried Mark, and his chum echoed his words.

"I wonder if Washington could have meddled with it?" went on the
scientist.

At that moment the colored cook came along, making his way cautiously
into the engine room. He was an odd sight. Bits of carrots, turnips and
potatoes were in his hair, while from one ear dangled a bunch of
macaroni, and his clothes were dripping wet.

"My kitchen done turned upside down on me!" wailed Washington, "an' a
whole kettle ob soup emptied on my head! Oh, golly! What happened?"

The aged scientist looked toward the German. The latter was gazing up
at the motionless Cardite motor over his head.

"There is but one way," he answered. "We must restore our centre of
gravity to where it was before. Then the projectile will right
herself."

"Can it be done?" asked Mark.

"It will be quite an undertaking, but we must attempt it. Bring some
tables and chairs, so I can stand up and reach the equilibrium
machine."

From where they had fallen to the ceiling, which was now the floor,
Jack and Mark brought tables and chairs, and made a sort of stepladder.
On this Professor Roumann mounted, and at once began the readjusting of
the centre of gravity.

It was hard work, for he had to labor with his arms stretched up in the
air, and any one who has even put up pictures knows what that means.
The muscles are unaccustomed to the strain. The German scientist,
though a strong man, had to rest at frequent intervals.

"We're falling rapidly," announced Jack, in a low voice, as he looked
at the height gauge.

"I am doing all I can," answered Mr. Roumann. "I think I will soon be
able to right the craft."

He labored desperately, but he was at a disadvantage, for the
_Annihilator_ was not now moving smoothly through space. With the
stopping of the motor she was falling like some wobbly balloon, swaying
hither and thither in the ether currents.

But Professor Roumann was not one to give up easily. He kept at his
task, aided occasionally by Professor Henderson and by the boys
whenever they could do anything.

Finally the German cried out:

"Ah, I have discovered the trouble. It is that scoundrel Axtell! See!"
And reaching into the interior of the machine he pulled out a small
magnet. To it was attached a card, on which was written:

"I told you I would have my revenge!" It was signed with Axtell's name.

"This was the dastardly plot he evolved," said Professor Roumann. "He
slipped this magnet into the equilibrium machine, knowing that in time
it would cause a deflection of the delicate needles, and so shift the
centre of gravity. 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. From the galley came a chorus of
cries, as pots and pans once more scattered about Washington, but there
was no more soup to spill.

As soon as the _Annihilator_ was righted, the Cardite motor began to
work automatically, and once more the projectile, with the seekers of
the moon, was shooting through space at their former speed. They had
lost considerable distance, but it was easy to make it up.

"Well, that _was_ an experience," remarked Jack, as he and his chum
began picking up the tools and other objects that were scattered all
about by the change in equilibrium.

"I should say yes," agreed Mark. "I'm glad it didn't happen at dinner
time. That fellow Axtell is a fiend to think of such a thing."

"Indeed, he is! But we're all right now, though it did feel funny to be
turned upside down."

An inspection of the projectile was made, but they could discover no
particular damage done. She seemed to be moving along the same as
before, and, except for the upsetting of things in the store-room, it
would hardly have been known, an hour later, that a dreadful accident
was narrowly averted.

Washington made more soup, and soon had a fine meal ready, over which
the travellers discussed their recent experience.

"And when do you think we will arrive?" asked Jack of Mr. Henderson.

"We ought to be at the moon inside of two days now. We have not made
quite the speed we calculated on, but that does not matter. I think we
will go even more slowly on the remainder of the trip, as I wish to
take some scientific observations."

"Yes, and so do I," added Mr. Roumann. "I think if we make fifteen
miles a second from now on we will be moving fast enough."

Accordingly the Cardite motor was slowed down, and the projectile shot
through space at slightly reduced speed, while the two scientists made
several observations, and did some intricate calculating about ether
pressure, the distance of heavenly bodies and other matters of interest
only to themselves.

It was on the afternoon of the third day following the turning turtle
of the _Annihilator_ that Mark, who was looking through a telescope in
the pilot-house, called out: "I say, Jack, look here!"

"What's the matter?" asked his chum.

"Why, we're rushing right at the moon! I can see the mountains and
craters on it as plain as though we were but five miles away!"

"Then we must be nearly there," observed Jack. "Let's tell the others,
Mark."

They hurried to inform the two professors, who at once left their
tables of figures and entered the steering chamber. Then, after gazing
through the glass, Mr. Henderson announced: "Friends, we will land on
the moon in half an hour. Get ready."

"Are we really going to be walking around the moon inside of thirty
minutes?" asked Mark.

"I don't know about walking around on it," answered the German. "We
first have to see if there is an atmosphere there for us to breathe,
and whether the temperature is such as we can stand. But the
Annihilator will soon be there."

The speed of the Cardite motor was increased, and so rapidly did the
projectile approach Luna that glasses were no longer needed to
distinguish the surface of the moon.

There she floated in space, a great, silent ball, but not like the
earth, pleasantly green, with lakes and rivers scattered about in
verdant forests. No, for the moon presented a desolate surface to the
gaze of the travellers. Great, rugged mountain peaks arose all about
immense caverns that seemed hundreds of miles deep. The surface was
cracked and seamed, as if by a moonquake. Silence and terrible
loneliness seemed to confront them.

"Maybe it's better on some other part of the surface," said Jack, in a
low voice.

"Perhaps," agreed Mark. "It's certainly not inviting there."

Nearer and nearer they came to the moon. It no longer looked like a
great sphere, for they were so close that their vision could only take
in part of the surface, and it began to flatten out, as the earth does
to a balloonist.

And the nearer they came to it the more rugged, the more terrible, the
more desolate did it appear. Would they be able to find a place to
land, or would they go hurtling down into some awful crater, or be
dashed upon the sharp peak of some mountain of the moon?

It was a momentous question, and anxious were the faces of the two
professors.

"Mr. Henderson, if you will undertake to steer to some level place, I
will take charge of the motor," suggested Mr. Roumann. "I will
gradually reduce the speed, and get the repelling machine in readiness,
so as to render our landing gentle."

"Very well," responded the aged scientist, as he grasped the steering
wheel.

The progress of the _Annihilator_ was gradually checked. More and more
slowly it approached the moon. The mountains seemed even higher now,
and the craters deeper.

"What a terrible place," murmured Jack. "I shouldn't want to live
there."

"Me either," said Mark.

"Can you see a place to land?" called Professor Roumann through the
speaking-tube from the engine room to the steering tower.

"Yes, we seem to be approaching a fairly level plateau," was Mr.
Henderson's reply.

"Very well, then, I'll start the repelling machine."

The Cardite motor was stopped. The projectile was now being drawn
toward the moon by the gravity force of the dead ball that once had
been a world like ours. Slowly and more slowly moved the great
projectile.

There was a moment of suspense. Mr. Henderson threw over the steering
wheel. The _Annihilator_ moved more slowly. Then came a gentle shock.
The dishes in the galley rattled, and there was the clank of machinery.
The Shanghai rooster crowed.

"We're on the moon at last!" cried jack, peering from an observation
window at the rugged surface outside.

"Yes; and now to see what it's like," added Mark. "We'll go outside,
and----"

"Wait," cautioned Professor Roumann. "First we must see if we can
breathe on the moon, and whether the temperature will support life. I
must make some tests before we venture out of the projectile."

CHAPTER XIX

TORCHES OF LIFE

The natural inclination of the boys to rush out on the surface of the
moon to see what it was like was checked by the words of caution from
Professor Roumann.

"Do you think it would be dangerous to venture outside the projectile?"
asked Jack, as he looked from the window and noted the rugged, uneven
surface of the moon.

"Very much so," was the answer. "According to most astronomers, there
is absolutely no air on the moon, also no moisture, and the temperature
is either very high or around the freezing point. We must find out what
it is."

"How can we?" inquired Mark.

"I'll soon show you," went on the German. "Professor Henderson, will
you kindly assist me."

When it had been decided to come to the moon in quest for the field of
diamonds, certain changes had been made in the _Annihilator_ to fit it
for new conditions that might be met. One of these consisted of an
aperture in the two sides of the projectile permitting certain delicate
instruments to be thrust out, so that the conditions they indicated
could be read on dials or graduated scales from within.

"We will first make a test of the temperature," said Mr. Roumann, "as
that will be the easiest." Accordingly a thermometer was put outside,
and those in the air-craft anxiously watched the red column of spirits.
The temperature was marked as seventy-five inside the _Annihilator_,
but the thermometer had not been outside more than a second before
it began falling.

"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson, as he noted it. "The temperature is
going down. I'd rather have it too cold than too hot. We can stand a
minus fifty of cold better than two hundred and twelve of heat. We have
fur garments with us."

"It is still going down," remarked Jack, as he saw the red column drop
down past the thirty mark.

"Below freezing," added Mark.

The spirits fell in the tube until they touched twenty-eight degrees,
and there they remained.

"Twenty-eight degrees," remarked Professor Henderson. "That isn't so
bad. At least, we can stand that if we are warmly clad."

"Yes, but it will be colder to-night," said Jack. For they had landed
on the moon in bright sunlight.

"To-night?" questioned the German scientist, with a smile.

"Yes, it's always colder when the sun goes down," went on the lad.

"You have forgotten one thing," said Mr. Henderson, with a smile at his
young protege. "You must remember, Jack, that the nights and days here
are each fourteen days long--that is, fourteen of our days."

"How's that?" asked Jack.

"Why," broke in Mark, who was a trifle better student than was his
chum, "don't you remember that the moon rotates on its axis once a
month, or in about twenty-eight days, to be exact, and so half of that
time is day and half night, just as on our earth, when it revolves on
its axis in twenty-four hours, half the time is day and half the time
is night."

"Sure, I ought to have remembered," declared Jack.

"Mark is right," added Mr. Henderson. "And, as we have most fortunately
arrived on the moon at the beginning of the long day, we will have
fourteen days of sunshine, during which we may expect the temperature
to remain at about twenty-eight degrees. But now about the atmosphere."
"We will test that directly," went on the German. "It will take some
time longer, though."

Various instruments were brought forth and thrust out of the opening in
the side of the projectile, which opening was so arranged that it was
closed hermetically while the instruments were put forth. Then the
readings of the dials or scales were taken, and computations made. In
fact, some of what corresponded to the moon's atmosphere was secured in
a hollow steel cup and brought inside the _Annihilator_ for analysis.

"Well," remarked Professor Roumann, as he bent over a test tube, the
contents of which he had put through several processes, "I am afraid we
cannot breathe on the moon."

"Can't breathe on it?" gasped Jack. "Then we can't go out and walk
around it."

"I didn't say that," resumed the German, with a smile. "I said we
couldn't breathe the moon's atmosphere. In fact there is nothing there
that we would call atmosphere. There is absolutely no oxygen, and there
are a number of poisonous gases that would instantly cause death if
inhaled."

"Then how are we to get out and hunt for those diamonds, Professor?"
went on Jack. "Gee whiz! if I'd known that, I wouldn't have come. This
is tough luck!"

"Maybe the professor can suggest a way out of the difficulty, boys,"
spoke Mr. Henderson. "It certainly would be too bad if, after our
perilous trip, we couldn't get out of our cage and walk around the
moon."

"I think perhaps I can discover a way so that it will be safe to
venture forth," said Mr. Roumann. "But I must first conduct some
further experiments. In the meanwhile suppose you boys get out some
fur-lined garments, for, though it is only twenty-eight degrees, we
will need to be well clad after the time spent inside this warm
projectile."

"It does look as if he expected to get us out," remarked Jack, as he
and his chum went to where Andy Sudds was.

"Yes, you'll get a chance to pick up diamonds after all, Jack. That is,
if there are any here."

"Of course there are diamonds. You wait and see," and then, with the
help of the old hunter, they took from the store-room their fur
garments.

It was half an hour before the warm clothes were sorted out, and then
the boys went back to where the two professors were.

"Well," asked Jack cautiously, "can we go outside?"

"I think so," answered the German cheerfully. "But you must always be
careful to carry one of these with you," and he handed to each of the
boys a steel rod about two feet long, at the end of which was a small
iron box, with perforations in the sides and top.

"What is this?" asked Jack. "It looks like a magician's wand."

"And that is exactly what it is," said Mr. Henderson. "As there is no
atmosphere fit to breathe on the moon, we have been forced to make our
own, boys. You each hold what may be called torches of life. To venture
out without them would mean instant death by suffocation or poison."

"And will these save our lives?" asked Mark.

"Yes," said Mr. Roumann. "In the iron boxes on those rods are certain
chemicals, rich in oxygen and other elements, which, when brought in
contact with the gases on the moon, will dispel a cloud of air about
whoever carries them--air such as we find on our earth. So, boys, be
careful never to venture out without the torches of life. I had them
prepared in anticipation of some such emergency as this, and all that
was necessary was to put in the chemicals. This I have done, and now,
if you wish, you may go out and stroll about the moon."

CHAPTER XX

ON THE EDGE OF A CRATER

There was a little hesitation after Professor Roumann had spoken. Even
though he assured them all that it would be safe to venture out on the
surface of the moon, with its chilling temperature and its poisonous
"atmosphere" (if such it can be termed), there was an uncanny feeling
about stepping forth into the midst of the desolation that was on every
side.

For it was desolate--terribly so! Not a sound broke the stillness.
There was no life--no motion--as far as could be seen. Not a tree or
shrub relieved the rugged monotony of the landscape. It was like a dead
world.

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