As day after day passed by the speed kept on increasing, until it was some thousands of miles an hour. Great care was necessary while the speed was so great to prevent the vessels colliding with one another or coming into contact with any minor planet, for any such contact would have resulted in immediate reduction to incandescent vapour. From hour to hour responsible and experienced officers on every vessel kept their eyes fixed on the dials and on the ships in front of them, noting every movement of the needles and any signals that might be sent from the flagships.
Meanwhile, both sun, earth, and moon kept on growing smaller. The earth was soon only a shining disc, that covered about six degrees of space, while the moon was like a small dot by its side. But far in front Uranus and Neptune were gradually increasing in size as the days went by.
On the eleventh day two second-class
