"That"s just the kind of work I want," declared the unfortunate person. "I love to dig holes in the ground. I once dug one clear through to China. Get me a shovel."
He seemed to have forgotten all about the projectile, and meekly followed Mr. Henderson. The latter led him some distance from the shop, talking soothingly to the man, and promising that he should soon have a shovel. But there was no necessity for going to these measures.
Axtell suddenly caught sight of Washington coming toward him, and he exhibited the greatest fear.
"Hide me!" he exclaimed to the professor. "Hide me in the airship! Here comes the king of the cannibal islands!" And away he ran at top speed and disappeared in the woods behind the Henderson place. A search was at once made, but he could not be located.
Andy was rather worried lest he be blamed for not remaining on guard, but no one thought of censuring him, as he was such a faithful watchman and had only left the shop in answer to a call from Washington, who thought he heard some strange animal after his chickens.
"But I"ll not desert my post again," declared the old hunter, as he looked to the loading of his gun.
"If any other crazy men get inside, they"ll have to answer to me."
Work on the projectile was resumed, and for a week went on uninterruptedly. It was nearing completion, though there were many details yet to look after. Mr. Roumann was having more trouble with his Etherium motor than he antic.i.p.ated.
"The atmospheric motor is all right," he declared, "and it works to perfection," which was indeed true, for in tests they made they found that the motor, the force of which was only less powerful and complicated than the secret power that was to hurl them through s.p.a.ce, would easily send the projectile through the comparatively thin atmosphere of the earth. They did not actually move the Annihilator, since to do so would mean they would have to take it out of the shed. But they made tests and experiments with heavy objects, applying the force to them, and, by calculation, Mr. Roumann and the professor found that the force would actually send the projectile on the start of its journey.
"But there is one point about my Etherium motor that still bothers me," said the German.
"Can I help you solve it?" asked Mr. Henderson.
"No, thank you. I think I am on the right track. I will have it perfected in a few days, and then we will be off for Mars. I can scarcely wait until I get to that wonderful planet, thirty-five millions of miles away, where I hope to get possession of a most wonderful substance. Once we are on Mars--"
""Scuse me, Mistah Roumann," interrupted Washington White, who happened to be in the machine shop at that moment, and overheard what the scientist said, ""scuse me, but did I done heah yo"
promulgate de ostentatious fact dat yo" is gwine to de planet Mars?"
"That"s where we"re going, Wash," replied Jack, for it had been decided that the colored man could now be told of their destination.
"Yo" means dat red star what shines in de sky?"
"That"s the one, Washington."
"An" how far did yo" say it was from heah?" was the question directed at Mr. Henderson.
"Well, it"s about thirty-five millions of miles from the earth."
"And is yo" all goin"?"
"Yes, we expect to."
"Is dis heah contraption yo" done been buildin"?"
"Yes."
"And is I gwine, too, perfesser?"
"I calculated on taking you, Washington. You went north and south with me, and down into the center of the earth. I thought you"d like to go on this trip."
Washington laid down the hammer he had come in to borrow to fix the chicken coop. He looked around on the circle of smiling faces.
"I--I "spects I"d bettah be lookin" fo" annudder place, perfesser," he said quietly.
"Why, you aren"t afraid to go to Mars, when you went with us in the Flying Mermaid down into the earth, are you?" asked Jack.
""Scuse me, Ma.s.sa Jack," said the colored man solemnly, "dis trip am wuss dan any ob de udders. It suah am. Good land a" ma.s.sy!
T" t"ink ob being projected transmigatorially in de obverse tangent ob de parallelism circ.u.mdelegated on de inverse side ob a duodecimo. It"s too altogether imparipinated fo" dis chile!
I"se afraid dat"s what I is! I"se too much afraid t" go," and Washington started to run from the shop, as if he feared that the big projectile would take after him.
CHAPTER XI
A STRANGE EXPLOSION
"Here, come back, Washington," called Mr. Henderson.
"No, sah! I ain"t gwine t" entrust mahself "n any sech t"ing as dat!" cried Washington. "I ain"t gwine t" be shot up froo de sky.
Why, good land a" ma.s.sy! "Sposin" we was t" hit a star, or land on de moon? I"d look purty, wouldn"t I, hangin" on one ob de moon"s horns? How"s I eber gwinee git down? I axes yo" dat.
How"s I gwine f git down?"
"Well," said Professor Henderson with a laugh, "if you did get caught on one of the horns of the moon, Washington, I guess it would be a pretty hard matter to get down."
"Dat"s what I done said," insisted the colored man.
"You could slide down a moonbeam," said Jack with a laugh.
"Yes, an" mebby git hit by a comet or be kamked sensible by a piece ob star," objected Washington, as if Jack"s plan was a feasible one. "No, sah, I ain"t gwine along nohow. Dis ole earth am good enough fo" me. I don"t want to die an" go floatin"
through s.p.a.ce. When I dies I wants t" be buried decent-like. I ain"t gwine wid yo" at all."
It began to look as if Washington"s revolt was a settled fact.
Yet they depended on him to go. However, Professor Henderson solved the problem for him.
"Who will cook my meals for me, if you don"t go, Washington?" he asked solemnly.
"Is you really goin", perfesser?"
"I certainly am."
"An" yo" t"ink it"s safe?"
"Yes, or I shouldn"t go. But I can"t have much comfort if I don"t have my meals right, for I can"t cook very well, and as for Jack and Mark--"
"Hu! Dem boys can"t cook wuff a cent. Is dey gwine t" go "long?"
"We sure are," answered Jack.