"They're all about us," he faltered, breathless with exertion; then,
having drawn a deep inspiration, he continued: "We're like a boat in a
raging freshet, with rocks, tree trunks, and cakes of ice threatening it
on all sides. But we'll get out of it. The car obeys its helm as if it
appreciated the danger. Why, I got away from that last fellow by setting
up atomic reaction against it, as a boatman pushes with his pole."

Even in the midst of our terror we could not but admire our leader. His
resources seemed boundless, and our confidence in him grew with every
escape. While he kept guard at the peepholes we watched for meteors from
the windows. We must have come almost within striking distance of a
thousand in the course of an hour, but Edmund decided not to diminish
our speed, for he said that he could control the car quicker when it was
under full headway.

So on we rushed, dodging the things like a crow in a flock of pestering
jays, and we really enjoyed the excitement. It was more fascinating sport
than shooting rapids in a careening skiff, and at last we grew so
confident in the powers of our car and its commander that we were rather
sorry when the last meteor passed, and we found ourselves once more in
open, unimpeded space.

After that the time passed quietly. We ate our meals and went to bed and
rose as regularly as if we had been at home. In one respect, however,
things were very different from what they were on the earth. We had no
night! The sun shone continually, although the sky was black and always
glittering with stars. None of us needed to be told by our conductor that
this was due to the fact that we no longer had the shadow of the earth to
make night for us when the sun was behind it. The sun was now never