resources, and not even knowing just what the danger is that threatens me, I'm a goner, sure!"

As he said these words his eyes happened to fall on the telemeter, and to his surprise he found that he was now only twelve miles from the center of the earth—that spot so long a mystery to the human race; and the instrument showed him, moreover, that in two seconds more he would be at the exact center.

The clock pointed to twenty-one minutes past eleven. It had taken him only twenty-one minutes to fall to the center of the earth!

"Tick-tack, tick-tack," went the chronometer; and as the two seconds sped, the needle of the telemeter descended until it pointed exactly to the center of the earth. But at this instant our hero felt a terrific shock, and was hurled violently upward against the top of the car!