A typhoon of glare and noise was raging outside, roaring down from the tractor through the center of the Ring, and a blinding cloud of dust, illuminated by dazzling yellow light, was driving out and away from the base of the staging in the gigantic circle. The earth below them was completely concealed from view by clouds of vapor, dust, and steam, shot through with phosphorescent gleams that made it look like the mouth of some devilish caldron. From the swiftly spinning disks of the gyroscopes in the control-room came a draft that blew the newspapers off the table. The floor quivered under their feet, and ominous creaking and snapping sounds reverberated through the outer shell, as the beams of the staging were gradually relieved of the weight. "We'll be clear in a moment!" yelled Bennie in her ear. She clutched his arm tight. "Will it hurt?" she asked, almost piteously. "Not much," he answered. "Hold fast to the rail, and don't bend your knees. We'll be going off with a pretty big acceleration." The tumult increased in volume, and suddenly there came a crash accompanied by the sound of splintering timbers as the staging collapsed, blown to pieces by the blast. The floor seemed to sink away from beneath their feet. "We've blown that staging into the middle of next week!" chuckled Bennie. The room swayed as the Ring, lifted by the tractor, rocked drunkenly from side to side for a second or two. Then, as the machine steadied itself, there came an upward pressure from the floor again and a sudden increase in their weight, which told them they were rising. Rhoda, who, in the excitement of the moment, had forgotten Bennie's instructions, felt her knees bend quickly under her and found herself upon the floor, where an unseen, relentless force seemed to be pressing her down. Above her, Bennie had dragged himself up the spiral stairway to the small observing-stage which hung suspended from the ceiling, and was now lying on his back, with his eye glued to the vertical telescope that pointed up through the glass deadlight in the roof. Burke, who, at discovering Rhoda's presence, had merely nodded and grinned as if not at all surprised at her being there, stood at his post near the side window with his hand on the control-lever. To him, Bennie gave his orders from where he lay. Medusa, the bluish green star which was their destination, swam in the firmament well off toward the edge of the field of the telescope; the direction of their flight must needs be altered until the asteroid touched the illuminated cross-wires at the center. "More to the west!" shouted Bennie. "More--more--still more! Hold it! Too far--back a little! Now you're on the wire--a little south! More! Hold! There we are! All right!" He scrambled to his feet, and descending the stairs too hastily, landed in a heap at the bottom. "My Lord," he groaned, rubbing his shins; "I nearly broke my leg! Never run down-stairs when you're going up. Be sure and remember that."