Indeed the hole was now almost large enough to enable them to crawl out one at a time. They could not, of course, see how it looked from the outside, but Tom had selected a place for its cutting so that the sawdust and the mark of the panel that was being removed, would not ordinarily be noticeable. They set night as the time for making the attempt--late at night, when it was hoped that most of their captors would be asleep. Finally the last cut was made, and a piece of wood hung over the opening only by a shred, all ready to knock out. "We'll do it at midnight," announced Tom. Anxious, indeed, were those last hours of waiting. The time had almost arrived for the attempt, when Tom, who had been nervously pacing to and fro, remarked: "We must be running into another storm. Feel how she heaves and rolls!" Indeed the Mars was most unsteady. "It sure is a storm!" cried Ned, "and a heavy one, too," for there came a burst of thunder, that seemed like a report of Tom's giant cannon. In another instant they were in the midst of a violent thunderstorm, the airship pitching and tossing in a manner to almost throw them from their feet. As Tom reached up to switch on the electric light again, there came a flash of lightning that well nigh blinded them. And so close after it as to seem simultaneous, there came such a crash of thunder as to stun them all. There was a tingling, as of a thousand pins and needles in the body of each of the captives, and a strong smell of sulphur. Then, as the echoes of the clap died away, Tom yelled: "She's been struck! The airship has been struck!" CHAPTER XXV FREEDOM For a moment there was silence, following Tom's wild cry and the noise of the thunderclap. Then, as other, though less loud reverberations of the storm continued to sound, the captives awoke to a realization of what had happened. They had been partially stunned, and were almost as in a dream. "Are--are we all right?" stammered Ned. "Bless my soul! What has happened?" cried Mr. Damon. "We've been struck by lightning!" Tom repeated. "I don't know whether we're all right or not." "We seem to be falling!" exclaimed Lieutenant Marbury. "If the whole gas bag isn't ripped to pieces we're lucky," commented Jerry Mound. Indeed, it was evident that the Mars was sinking rapidly. To all there came the sensation of riding in an elevator in a skyscraper and being dropped a score of stories. Then, as they stood there in the darkness, illuminated only by flashes from the lightning outside the window, waiting for an unknown fate, Tom Swift uttered a cry of delight. "We've stopped falling!" he cried. "The automatic gas machine is pumping. Part of the gas bag was punctured, but the unbroken compartments hold!" "If part of the gas leaked out I don't see why it wasn't all set on fire and exploded," observed Captain Warner.