sharply. "Your power is the same as mine was,
in proportion to your mass, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Then our goose is cooked. I couldn't pull away from it with everything
I had, couldn't even swing out enough to make an orbit, either
hyperbolic or elliptical around it. With a reserve bar you will be able
to make an orbit, but you can't get away from it."

"Thanks for the dope. That saves our wasting some effort. Our
power-plant can be doubled up in emergencies, thanks to Martin's
cautious old bean. We'll simply double her up and go away from here."

* * * * *

"There is one thing we didn't consider quite enough," said Crane,
thoughtfully. "I started to faint back there before the full power of
even one motor was in use. With the motor doubled, each of us will be
held down by a force of many tons--we would all be helpless."

"Yes," added Dorothy, with foreboding in her eyes, "we were all
unconscious on the way out, except Dr. DuQuesne."

"Well, then, Blackie and I, as the huskiest members of the party, will
give her the juice until only one of us is left with his eyes open. If
that isn't enough to pull us clear, we'll have to give her the whole
works and let her ramble by herself after we all go out. How about it,
Blackie?" unconsciously falling into the old Bureau nickname. "Do you
think we can make it stop at unconsciousness with double power on?"

DuQuesne studied the two girls carefully.

"With oxygen in the helmets instead of air, we all may be able to stand
it. These special cushions keep the body from flattening out, as it
normally would under such a pressure. The unconsciousness is simply a
suffocation caused by the lateral muscles being unable to lift the
ribs--in other words, the air-pumps aren't strong enough for the added
work put upon them. At least we stand a chance this way. We may live
through the pressure while we are pulling away, and we certainly shall
die if we don't pull away."

After a brief consultation, the men set to work with furious haste.
While Crane placed extra bars in each of the motors and DuQuesne made
careful observations upon the apparent size of the now plainly visible
world toward which they were being drawn so irresistibly, Seaton
connected the helmets with the air-and oxygen-tanks through a valve upon
the board, by means of which he could change at will the oxygen content
of the air they breathed. He then placed the strange girl, who seemed
daz