GETTING THE CARDITE
"Isn't there any way of escape?" asked Jack in a low voice, as he
crouched in the bow and peered into the whirlpool, on the edge of
which they were circling.
"I don't see any," replied Mr. Roumann. "I am very sorry I got
you into this trouble. If I had not insisted on coming for the
red substance we would not be in this danger."
"It's as much our fault as yours," declared the professor. "We
were anxious to get some of the treasure also."
"And now none of us will have any use for it," observed Andy
dryly. "When we slide down into that hole it will be all up with
us."
They all shuddered as they saw the black hole, around which the
waters raced in a circle.
"I wonder what's down there?" asked Mark.
"It isn't a good thing to think about," responded Jack. "I
always was afraid of whirlpools."
The boat was now beginning to go around faster. The occupants
were getting dizzy with the motion. They could hear a distant
roar, and knew that it came from the water falling down some
great depth, into which they seemed fated to be dashed.
"Did you turn on all the power of the boat?" asked Jack after a
period of silence. "Seems to me we didn't come along very fast
in this craft. The one we were in first went at a great rate.
Maybe we don't understand how to make it go at top speed."
"I turned the knobs every way I could think of," replied Mr.
Roumann. "But it would take terrific speed and power to free us
from the suction of the whirlpool."
Jack moved back to the stern, where the box was, containing the
red substance that furnished power to move the boat. He looked
closely at it.
Meanwhile the boat was moving around in ever-narrowing circles,
faster and faster. Jack noticed that twice in each revolution it
went respectively lower and higher on the course, and always at
the same places. That is to say, the whirlpool was on what might
be termed a slant. At one time the boat would be at the lowest
point, and at another at the highest point. At the low point the
occupants of the craft were out of sight of everything, as when a
ship is in the hollow of the sea. A little later they would be
raised up on a crest of water so that they could look to the
distant hills.
"If we could only get power enough to shoot the boat out at an
angle when it gets to the high point, we could escape," thought
Jack.
But how could he obtain this power? The mechanism seemed to be
working at the greatest force, for, after an attempt had been
made to stay the progress of the boat by reversing it, Mr.
Roumann had again put on full speed ahead.
But was it full speed? That was what Jack wanted to know.
He examined every inch of the box. At first he saw nothing but
the three knobs that had been used. Then, all at once, down
underneath, he saw a small pin. It looked as if it could be
moved. He took hold of it.
"I wonder what will happen if I pull it out or push it in?" he
asked himself. Then he happened to remember that in an electric
battery, to obtain more power, you must pull out a certain pin.
"Perhaps this works like an electric battery," he said. "I'll
pull it out."
He did so, and a surprising thing happened. The boat shot
forward at enormous speed, and as Jack happened to pull the pin
out at a time when the craft was high up, it began to shoot
across the water at an angle to the whirlpool. He had solved the
problem of how to escape. As he afterward learned, the pin was
just for the purpose for which he used it--to cause a sudden
increase in speed.
The whirlpool did not give up without a struggle, but the boat
was finally successful, and fought its way out to calm water.
"How did you do it?" asked Mark, and Jack told them.
"Well, we'd better start back for the city," proposed Mr.
Roumann. "I guess we've had enough for one day. We'll try
again, and take some other route."
"There's no need of that," declared Professor Henderson. "See, we
are close to the hills now. We have crossed the whirlpool. Why
not go on, and see if we can't find some Cardite? Going back now
will be no easier than after we have made an examination. Let's
explore the hills."
The boat had shot out on the farther side of the whirlpool, and
there was nothing now between it and the shore. After a
consultation it was decided to land.
"We can be more careful coming back," said Jack.
Half an hour later they had landed and started up the hills
toward the summit. The place seemed to be deserted, but there
were evidences that some sort of mining had been going on there,
for great holes and shafts were dug in the ground, and there were
remains of machinery.
"They must have dug up all the Cardite in this locality," said
Professor Henderson, "and they've gone to a new place."
"Which we wish to find," added Mr. Roumann, "and that without
being discovered. From the way in which the Martians guard this,
it will go hard with us if they see us taking any."
They toiled up to the top of some of the lowest hills. There did
not seem to be any of the treasure there, and they went farther.
They were getting tired and hungry, and they sat down to rest and
eat some food which they had brought with them.
"Let's try that hill," proposed Mark, pointing to a high one
about a mile away. "It looks red from here."
There was a rosy hue about the little mountain, and after a brief
rest they headed for the spot.
"There's nothing here!" exclaimed Jack in disgust, as he and
Mark, in a final spurt, reached the base of it. "Nothing but
ordinary dirt."
Mark looked down. He dug his heel into the sod. Then he uttered a
cry of triumph.
"Here it is! Here it is!" he cried. "It's under the grass!
We've got to dig it up!"
He knelt down, and began to tear away the sod with his hands.
Jack did the same, and when they had lifted aside the tangle of
roots and grass, they saw beneath it a dull gleaming red
substance, like clay.
"That's it! That's it!" shouted Mr. Roumann. "We've found it!"
He stooped over, and with his knife began digging some up.
"It's neither warm, nor does it give any light," said Mr.
Henderson in disappointed tones.
"No; it requires special electrical treatment," replied Mr.
Roumann. "I know how to do it, though. Now we shall all be
millionaires! There is enough here to make us wealthy for life!"
He began filling his iron boxes, the rest helping him. They were
engaged in getting out the Cardite, all working with feverish
haste, when Jack, looking up, saw a Martian officer regarding the
actions of the world-dwellers with his great, bulging eyes.