"Maybe the professor can suggest a way out of the difficulty, boys," spoke Mr. Henderson. "It certainly would be too bad if, after our perilous trip, we couldn't get out of our cage and walk around the moon." "I think perhaps I can discover a way so that it will be safe to venture forth," said Mr. Roumann. "But I must first conduct some further experiments. In the meanwhile suppose you boys get out some fur-lined garments, for, though it is only twenty-eight degrees, we will need to be well clad after the time spent inside this warm projectile." "It does look as if he expected to get us out," remarked Jack, as he and his chum went to where Andy Sudds was. "Yes, you'll get a chance to pick up diamonds after all, Jack. That is, if there are any here." "Of course there are diamonds. You wait and see," and then, with the help of the old hunter, they took from the store-room their fur garments. It was half an hour before the warm clothes were sorted out, and then the boys went back to where the two professors were. "Well," asked Jack cautiously, "can we go outside?" "I think so," answered the German cheerfully. "But you must always be careful to carry one of these with you," and he handed to each of the boys a steel rod about two feet long, at the end of which was a small iron box, with perforations in the sides and top. "What is this?" asked Jack. "It looks like a magician's wand." "And that is exactly what it is," said Mr. Henderson. "As there is no atmosphere fit to breathe on the moon, we have been forced to make our own, boys. You each hold what may be called torches of life. To venture out without them would mean instant death by suffocation or poison." "And will these save our lives?" asked Mark. "Yes," said Mr. Roumann. "In the iron boxes on those rods are certain chemicals, rich in oxygen and other elements, which, when brought in contact with the gases on the moon, will dispel a cloud of air about whoever carries them--air such as we find on our earth. So, boys, be careful never to venture out without the torches of life. I had them prepared in anticipation of some such emergency as this, and all that was necessary was to put in the chemicals. This I have done, and now, if you wish, you may go out and stroll about the moon." CHAPTER XX ON THE EDGE OF A CRATER There was a little hesitation after Professor Roumann had spoken. Even though he assured them all that it would be safe to venture out on the surface of the moon, with its chilling temperature and its poisonous "atmosphere" (if such it can be termed), there was an uncanny feeling about stepping forth into the midst of the desolation that was on every side. For it was desolate--terribly so! Not a sound broke the stillness. There was no life--no motion--as far as could be seen. Not a tree or shrub relieved the rugged monotony of the landscape. It was like a dead world. "And to think that people may have once lived here," observed Jack, in a low voice.