t last they reached the absolute ceiling of the smaller ship, and it
hung there while the _Solarite_ went a few miles higher; then slowly,
but ever faster and faster they were plunging ahead, gathering speed.

They watched the radio speedometer creep up--1-2-3-4-5-6--steadily it
rose as the acceleration pressed them hard against the back of the
seats--8-9--still it rose as the hum of the generator became a low
snarl--10-11-12--they were rocketing at twelve miles a second, the
tenuous air about the ship shrieking in a thin scream of protest as it
parted on the streamlined bow.

Slowly the speed rose--reached fifteen miles a second. The sun's pull
became steadily more powerful; they were falling toward the fiery
sphere, away from the Earth. A microphone recessed in the outer wall
brought them the fading whisper of air from outside. Arcot shouted a
sudden warning:

"Hold on--we're going to lose all weight--out into space!"

There was a click, and the angry snarl of the overworked generator died
in an instant as the thudding relays cut it out of the circuit.
Simultaneously the air scoop which had carried air to the generator
switched off, transferring to solar heat as a source of power. They
seemed to be falling with terrific and ever-increasing speed. They
looked down--saw the Earth shrinking visibly as they shot away at more
than five miles a second; they were traveling fifteen miles a second
ahead and five a second straight up.

The men watched with intensest interest as the heavens opened up before
them--they could see stars now a scant degree from the sun itself, for
no air diffused its blinding glory. The heat of the rays seemed to burn
them; there was a prickling pleasantness to it now, as they looked at
the mighty sea of flame through smoked glasses. The vast arms of the
corona reached out like the tentacles of some fiery octopus through
thousands of miles of space--huge arms of flaming gas that writhed out
as though to reach and drag back the whirling planets to the parent
body. All about the mighty sphere, stretching far into space, a wan glow
seemed to ebb and flow, a kaleidoscope of swiftly changing color. It was
the zodiacal light, an aurora borealis on a scale inconceivable!

Arcot worked rapidly with the controls, the absence of weight that gave
that continued sense of an unending fall, aiding him and his assistants
in their rapid setting of the controls.

At last the work was done and the ship flashed