Page:Clement Fezandié - Through the Earth.djvu/225

Rh tance of the air would be less also. There is no conceivable way in which I could obtain a weight of four or five hundred pounds, and I was a dunce to imagine such a thing possible!"

It seemed a pity to be deprived of the novel experience he had anticipated; but William soon consoled himself, and looked at the telemeter to see what progress he was making. The instrument indicated that the car was now only two hundred miles from the center of the earth, and was falling with the frightful velocity of six miles per second, its speed, however, decreasing every instant.

At this moment our hero was startled by the violent ringing of an electric bell fastened to one of the instruments, while at the same time a warning sign appeared, bearing in large black letters the word: