"Just at present," Edmund replied, glancing at an indicator, "we're
making twenty miles a second."

_Twenty miles a second!_ Our excited nerves had another shock.

"Why," I exclaimed, "that's faster than the earth moves in its orbit!"

"Yes, a trifle faster; but I'll probably have to work up to a little
better speed in order to get where I want to go before our goal begins to
run away from us."

"Ah, there you are," said Jack. "That's what I wanted to know. What is
our goal? Where are we going?"

Before Edmund could reply we all sprang to our feet in affright. A loud
grating noise had broken upon our ears. At the same instant the car gave
a lurch, and a blaze of the most vicious lightning streamed through a
window.

"Confound the things!" shouted Edmund, springing to the window, and then
darting to one of his knobs and beginning to twist it with all his force.

In a second we were sprawling on the floor--all except Edmund, who kept
his hold on the knob. Our course had been changed with amazing quickness,
and our startled eyes beheld a huge misshapen object darting past the
window.

"Here comes another!" cried Edmund, again seizing the knob.