“I’m sure I hope so,” Mark went on, not much encouraged, however, by Jack’s philosophy. “It would be no joke to have to stay five hundred miles underground the rest of our lives.” “You don’t know,” retorted Jack. “Don’t judge of a country you’ve never seen. This may be as fine a place as it is on the surface of the earth. I want a chance to see it,” and Jack began to whistle a cheerful tune. They completed the tour of the ship, and found, that, aside from the damage to the machinery, the _Mermaid_ had not sustained any harm. The hull was in good order, though of course they could not tell about the gas holder. It was not possible to see this except by going into the conning tower or out on the small deck, and this they did not venture to do. The connections between the holder and the main ship seemed to be all right, and there was still a small quantity of gas in the big tank, as Mark found on opening a stop-cock. They went back to the professor and told him what they had observed. He seemed somewhat alarmed, the more so as the experience he had just passed through had weakened him considerably. “I hope I shall be able to make the repairs,” he said. “It is our only hope.” As he spoke he looked up at the electric lights that shone overhead from wall brackets. “Who is shutting down the power?” he asked. “There is no power on, Professor,” replied Mark. “I am running the lights from the storage battery. But something is the matter, for they are growing dim.” The filaments were now mere dull red wires, and the ship was being shrouded in gloom again. “The battery is failing!” exclaimed Mr. Henderson. “We shall be left in darkness, and there is no other way to produce light. I ought to have brought some lamps or candles along in case of emergency.” The next instant the _Mermaid_ became as black as Egypt is popularly supposed to be, and something like an exclamation of terror came from the professor. For several minutes they all sat there in the blackness and gloom, waiting for they knew not what. Then, suddenly, there sounded throughout the ship, a creaking as of metal sliding along metal. Some big lever creaked, and, a second later the whole place was flooded with light. “What has happened?” cried the professor, starting to his feet in alarm. “We are going to be burned up!” exclaimed old Andy. “It’s all right! It’s all right!” yelled Washington from the engine room where the boys had left him. “Don’t git skeered! I done it! I opened the port holes, by yanking on the lever. Golly, but we’s arrived at the new land! Look out, everybody!” CHAPTER XVII A STRANGE COUNTRY