"It's at the rate of eight million six hundred and forty thousand
miles a day," came from Mark, who was a rapid figurer.

"And to cover thirty-five million miles would take us less than
five days," said Jack. "But such an enormous speed--"

"We must travel at about that speed," interrupted Mr. Roumann,
"though I fancy we will be nearer ten days than five in reaching
Mars."

"Why?" asked Jack.

"Because we will not dare travel at such terrific speed as one
hundred miles a second through the atmosphere of the earth. We
would be burned into cinders by the mere friction of the air.
Therefore, I shall send the Annihilator comparatively slowly
through the earth's atmosphere, and perhaps I will find that I shall have
to do the same thing when we near Mars. But while traveling through
the ether, or the space that is between the two can go as fast
as we like, which will as Mark has said, eight million miles per day."

"But even that rate," began Jack, "is going to pretty fast."

"It is faster than almost anything except light," went on Mr.
Roumann.

"Light travels one hundred and eighty-six thousand miles a
second," stated Mark, who remembered his physics. "That's more
than seven times around the earth in a second."