ng, with shrill sounds coming from those
expanded, curved wings, as the suction increased; then--

A merciful darkness fell over those sorely imperilled beings, and the
vessel itself seemed about to be overwhelmed by an avalanche of sand and
dirt and mixed debris. Then came a dizzy, rocking lurch, followed by a
shock which nearly cast uncle and nephews from their frantic holds, and
the air-ship appeared to be whirled end for end, cast hither and yon,
wrenched and twisted as though all must go to ruin together.

A blast as of superheated air smote upon them one moment, while in the
next they were whirled through an icy atmosphere, then tossed dizzily to
and fro, as their too-frail vehicle spun upward as though on a journey
to the far-away stars.

A shrieking blast of wind served to briefly clear away the choking dust,
affording the trio a fleeting glimpse of their immediate surroundings:
hurtling sticks and stones, splintered tops of trees, shrubs with wildly
lashing roots freshly torn from the bed of years, all madly spinning
through a blinding, scorching, freezing mass of crazily battling winds,
the different currents twining and weaving in and out, as so many
hideous serpents at play.

A moment thus, then that horrid uproar grew still more deafening,
and the air-ship was whirled high and higher, in a dizzy dance, those
luckless creatures clinging fast to whatever their frenzied hands might
clutch, feeling that this was the end of all.

Further sight was denied them. They were powerless to move a limb, save
as jerked painfully by those shrieking currents. Breath was taken away,
and an enormous weight bore down upon them, threatening to produce a
fatal collapse through their ribs giving way.

Upward whirled the flying-machine, powerless now as those wretched
beings within its cunning shape, smitten sharply here and there by some
of those ascending missiles, yet without receiving material injury;
until a last shivering lurch came, ending in a sudden fall.

A dizzying swoop downward, but not to death and destruction, for the
aerostat alighted easily upon what appeared to be a sort of air-cushion,
and, though unsteady for a brief space, then settled upon an even keel.

"Cling fast--for life!" huskily gasped the professor, unwittingly
repeating the caution which had last crossed his lips, which he had
ever since been striving to enunciate, faithful to his guardianship over
these, his sole surviving relatives.

"I