For a few minutes after they were seated at the table nothing was heard but the rattle of the dishes and the clatter of knives and forks. Washington was a fine cook, and there was a plentiful supply of just what the boys liked best. When the meal was well under way, the dining room door opened, and a strange figure entered. It was that of rather an aged man, who walked with soft, cat-like tread, and who leaned forward, as if on the trail of some enemy or wild beast. His eyes were bright, however, in spite of his age. "Andy Sudds!" exclaimed Jack. "I was wondering where you were." "Well, snap my gunlock, if it isn't Jack Darrow!" exclaimed Andy. "Any luck?" asked Mark, for he knew the old man must have been hunting. "And Mark, too!" went on the old hunter. "Well, this is a surprise. No, I didn't have any luck--that is, what you could call luck. There's been a weasel carrying off our chickens and killing them, and I went out to shoot it." "Did you cotch it, Mistah Sudds?" asked Washington anxiously. "I didn't 'cotch' it," answered Andy with a grin. "I killed it. I guess the chickens will be safe now, Wash. But I'm hungry. I've been hiding out there by the chicken coop all the afternoon. But what brings you boys back from college?" "We came home because we are going to take a trip to Mars," explained Jack. "Mars! Mars! Good land! Where'll you folks go next?" exclaimed Andy. "Wash, pass me some of that cold ham." "You said you would tell us now how we were to get there, Mr. Roumann," said Jack, who was anxious, as was Mark, to hear the particulars. "And so I will," replied the scientist. "You must know that I have long been interested in the planet Mars, for several reasons. Some reasons I will tell you now, and the others I will disclose at a future time." "Mars, you know, is the fourth major planet, computing their positions in distance from the sun. First there is Mercury, then--" "I know," interrupted Jack; "Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. I learned them at school." "That's right," said Mr. Roumann. "But, while Mercury is only about thirty-six millions of miles from the sun at its nearest point, the closest it ever comes to the earth is fifty-seven millions of miles, while, as I told you, Mars is now but thirty-five millions of miles away, a difference in favor of Mars of twenty-two millions of miles, quite a distance when one has to travel it. Neptune, the farthest of the major planets, is two billion eight hundred millions of miles from the sun, and it is separated from this earth by--" "By two billion seven hundred and eight million miles," said Mark quickly. "How do you make that out?" asked Jack in some surprise. "By subtracting ninety-two millions of miles, which is the distance from the earth to the sun, from the number of miles Neptune is away from the sun," said Mark. "That's right," admitted Mr. Henderson. "You're very quick at figures, Mark."