Jim nodded. The uneasiness was increasing. The guards at the camera-like object were each holding some sort of mechanical accessory in their hands. It looked like a small sphere of glass, and it connected with the apparatus by means of a hollow tube of fibre. Jim guessed that in an instant the Ray could be made to dart out of the lens. It would be quick work--as nearly as possible instantaneous work. "Ready, Dent?" asked Parrish in an even voice. In this crisis the old man had become astonishingly calm. He seemed the calmest of the lot. "One!" Jim beckoned to Cain, who came toward him, his eyes goggling in inquiry. "Two!" Jim reached out and took Cain by the arm. There was a sharp question from the Atlantean who had spoken before. "Three!" With all his force Jim yanked Cain over the edge of the boat. The Drilgo stumbled and fell headlong with a howl of terror. But headlong--inside. What happened was practically instantaneous. A sudden whir of the mechanism, a violet glow from the funnel, the smell of chlorine--a flash of blinding blue-white light. The Atlantean guards had fired--a quarter-second too late! The thump, thump of the electrical discharge died away. The four were in the boat, whirling away through space. Cain was rising to his knees, a woe-begone expression on his face. And there was a clean cut, with charred, black edges along one side of the boat, showing how near the Atlanteans had come to success. * * * * * The relief, after the hideous suspense of the past days, was almost too much for the three white people. "We're free, we're going back home!" cried Jim exultantly, as he caught Lucille in his arms. And she surrendered her lips to his, while the tears streamed down her checks. Old Parrish, at the instrument board, looked up, smiling and chuckling. Even Cain, understanding that they were not to be hacked to bits with knives, gurgled and grinned all over his black face. "How long will it take us to get back?" Jim asked Parrish after a while. "I--I'm not quite sure, my boy," the old man replied. "You see--I haven't quite familiarized myself with the machine as yet." "But we'll get back all right?" asked Jim. "Well, we--we're headed in the right direction," answered Parrish. "You see, my boy, it's rather an intricate table of logarithmic calculations that that scoundrel has pasted on this board. The great danger appears to be that of coming within the orbit of the giant planet Jupiter. Of course, I'm trying to keep within the orbit of the Earth, but there is a danger of being deflected onto Pallas, Ceres, or one of the smaller asteroids, and finding ourselves upon a rock in space." Jim and Lucille looked at Parrish in consternation. "But you don't have to leave the Earth, do you?" Jim asked. "Unfortunately, it's pretty hard sticking to the Earth, my lad," said Parrish. "You see, Earth has moved a good many million miles through space since the time of Atlantis."