all? No, I
could not say that. I could not call it folly which had brought me to
Alumion. I had no regret, but on the contrary an unspeakable joy and
gratitude on that score. But why had we attempted to approach so near
the sun, daring the heat, which had jammed our engines, and disabled
our best intellect; risking the powerful attraction that was hurrying us
to our doom?

Suddenly a peculiar thrill shook the car. With a bounding heart I
started to my feet and dashed into the engine-room. It was true then.
Yes, it was true. _The engines were at work, and we were saved!_

CHAPTER XIII.

HOME AGAIN.

We owed our salvation to Mr. Carmichael. The firing of our magazine
rifles, followed by the news of our perilous situation, had roused him
from his lethargy. Although still unable to speak, he had contrived by
means of his eyes to make his daughter understand that he wished another
dose of oxygen. When she was about to administer it, he called her
attention to the fact that in expanding as it issued from the cylinder,
the gas became very cold. She caught his meaning instantly, and on
applying the gas to the sensitive parts of the machinery had succeeded
in cooling and releasing them.

It seems that Carmichael, in order to save time, had been working the
engines at an unusually high speed, which, together with the heat of the
sun, had caused them to jam. Their enforced rest had of itself allowed
them to cool somewhat, and by reducing the speed until we reached a
cooler region, they did not stick again.

Carmichael recovered from his illness, and the journey to the earth was
accomplished without accident. We landed safely on some undiscovered
islands in the Arctic Circle, and after a flying visit to the North Pole
in the vicinity, we bore away for England, keeping as high over the sea
as possible to escape notice. Going southward we passed through all
sorts of weather, thick snow, hurricanes of wind and rain, dry or wet
fogs, and so forth; but it made no difference to us. Crossing
Spitzbergen, the car was frosted over with ice needles, which, however,
were soon thawed by a warmer current of air. Between Iceland and the
coast of Norway we glided through a magnificent aurora borealis that
covered the whole sky with a luminous curtain, and made us fancy we had
floated unawares into the fabulous Niffleheim of the old Scandinavian
gods. Near the Faroe Islands we dashed into a violent thunderstorm, and
were almost dea