le repulsive power of the engines was now being exerted--a force
which would have been sufficient to hurl the _Astronef_ up from the
surface of the Earth like a feather in a whirlwind. Her downward course
became a little slower, but still she did not stop. Zaidie, white to the
lips, looked down upon the hideous scene beneath and slipped her hand
through Redgrave's arm. He looked at her for an instant and then turned
his head away with a jerk, and sent down the last signal.

The whole energy of the engines was now directing the maximum of the R.
Force against the surface of Jupiter, but still, as every moment passed
in a speechless agony of apprehension, it grew nearer and nearer. The
fire-waves mounted higher and higher, the roar of the fiery surges grew
louder and louder. Then in a momentary lull, he put his arm round her,
drew her close up to him and kissed her and said:

"That's all we can do, dear. We've come too close and he's too strong
for us."

She returned his kiss and said quite steadily:

"Well, at any rate, I'm with you, and it won't last long, will it?"

"Not very long now, I'm afraid," he said between his clenched teeth. And
then he pulled her close to him again, and together they looked down
into the storm-tossed hell towards which they were falling at the rate
of nearly a hundred miles a minute.

Almost the next moment they felt a little jerk beneath their feet--a
jerk upwards; and Redgrave shook himself out of the half stupor into
which he was falling and said:

"Hullo, what's that? I believe we're stopping--yes, we are--and we're
beginning to rise, too. Look, dear, the clouds are coming down upon
us--fast too! I wonder what sort of miracle that is. Ay, what's the
matter, little woman?"

Zaidie's head had dropped heavily on his shoulder. A glance showed him
that she had fainted. He could do nothing more in the conning-tower, so
he picked her up and carried her towards the companion-way, past his
three guests, who were standing in the middle of the upper deck round a
table on which lay a large sheet of paper.

He took her below and laid her on her bed, and in a few minutes he had
brought her to and told her that it was all right. Then he gave her a
drink of brandy-and-water and went back to the upper deck. As he reached
the top of the stairway one of the astronomers came towards him with a
sheet of paper in his hand, smiling gravely, and pointing to a sketch
upon it.

He took the paper under