With leaping heart he realized that the _Sphere_ was coming closer--closer than before. He strained his eyes as he endeavored to pierce the intangible walls of their vast prison. Ah, what was that dark blur hurtling through the white froth? It was passing them by again. He joined with Taggert in his shouts. Fools, to think their muffled cries could rise above the tumult of the gale and the whir of the _Sphere’s_ machinery, piercing its thick, metal walls! The fast-fading blur seemed to pause in its flight a moment. But even as they dared to hope, it passed out of sight again. Then quite abruptly it appeared again, this time moving toward them slowly, less than a dozen feet above the ground. The _Sphere’s_ bulging walls plowed through the snow as it swooped down, sending up a great flurry of the fine flakes. Robert caught himself idly likening it to a cannon ball fired into a great bin of flour. His next recollection was of stumbling up the short flight of metal stairs into the comfortable warmth of the _Sphere’s_ main chamber, aided by Professor Palmer. The Martians seemed genuinely concerned over their plight, and offered a confusion of advice. Fortunately, neither Robert nor Taggert had suffered any serious damage from their severe buffeting in the elements and were soon quite comfortable. Robert, unable to shake off a strange feeling that the princess was in danger, and anxious to return to her in all haste, insisted on operating the _Sphere_ again. The big metal ball fairly quivered as he utilized its maximum power to reduce the distance between them and the capital as rapidly as possible. Exerting the full power of the disk, Robert shot the _Sphere_ upward. Suddenly they emerged from the gray twilight of flying flakes into the sunshine. Beneath them the turbulent mists boiled and tumbled as if with anger over the escape of their prey. A few minutes later Robert checked the _Sphere’s_ upward flight, darting southward toward the metropolis and his princess at a terrific speed. Darkness came on quickly after leaving the pole as they passed into the night which had long since enveloped that part of the planet toward which they were headed. Like a cannon ball the _Sphere_ roared southward, the dim topography of the planet swaying dizzily below. Prevailed upon by Robert, the others had decided to snatch some rest after a light repast. But he felt no fatigue in his anxiety to reach the princess. The sun’s edge was peeping over the horizon once more as they neared Svergad. The others woke up and watched their approach interestedly. Soon the spires and domes of the northern metropolis appeared in the distance. A few minutes later they were drifting preparatory to landing. Suddenly one of the Martians gasped. “The enemy!” he cried, pointing. All eyes followed his outstretched arm. Thousands of tents dotted the level plain beyond the city’s distant boundary, extending in all directions and partly encircling the city! 19