Despite the invitation of the captain to remain longer aboard theCinnabar, Jerry and Bob insisted on going back at once to the floatingComet. Lars Porsen was sent for and questioned, but he could add little to what he had told the steward. There seemed no doubt but that he had sighted the missingManhattan.
“This will be good news for Ned,” remarked Jerry, as he and his chum were being rowed back to their air-craft, and indeed the merchant’s son was delighted with it. He had begun to give up hope, and when he thought of his father waiting for the aid of Mr. Jackson, fighting off his relentless business enemies, the heart of Ned was sad. Now he brightened up.
“We’ll get right on the trail!” he cried. “Come on, Jerry, speed theCometup as fast as she’ll go.”
“Yes, for if any one is left alive on the balloon,they must need help by this time,” observed the tall lad. “They may have given up hope of ever being rescued.”
“I hope they have plenty to eat,” remarked Bob, with a tragic air, as he thought of the well-filled larders of theComet.
“Oh, you cannibal!” cried Ned, as he hastened here and there, helping Jerry get ready to send the motorship on her way again.
The passengers and crew of theCinnabarcheered as the gallant little craft left the waves and flew into the air. Then, circling about, and dipping the airship down in place of lowering any colors, in response to three hoarse blasts from the steamer’s whistle, Jerry sent theCometoff in the direction indicated by the sailor.
Soon the smoke of the big vessel was left far astern, and once more our friends were peering eagerly forward through the telescope for a sight of the disabled balloon.
Bob prepared the fish they had caught in so many different ways, and so often, that Ned and Jerry declared they never wanted to see a hook or line again. But they also had good meals of other viands, for Bob gave his whole attention to the task of cooking. Indeed, for the next few days there was little else to do. They kept on,moving slowly, so as not to miss the big balloon, and travelling a few miles on either side of the direct course, pursuing a sort of zig-zag way, in order to cover more space.
Professor Snodgrass had his note-books all written up—he had classified and arranged all his specimens, and then he sighed for new ones. But none was to be had, for they were now well out to sea, beyond the limits of birds or insects, and the water below them offered the only dwelling-place of specimens. As they did not want to lose time, they did not go down again for some time.
One evening, after an uneventful day, when their eyes ached with the strain of looking in vain for the balloon, the three boys were sitting on the forward deck, talking over matters connected with their trip. The automatic steering apparatus had been set, and there was no need of any one being in the pilot house.
Suddenly Jerry, who had been listening to some banter between Bob and Ned, jumped to his feet, exclaiming:
“I smell smoke! There must be something afire!”
“So do I!” added Ned.
It was enough to cause intense alarm to all ofthem, for a fire on board the airship, with the tanks filled with the lifting gas, was a terror most to be dreaded.
Fairly running, Jerry made his way back to the stern, followed by his two chums. The smell of smoke became stronger as they neared the after-deck, and, once they were beyond the deck superstructures, they caught fleeting glimpses of darting tongues of fire.
“Quick! Bring the extinguishers! They’re in the main cabin!” cried Jerry. Bob and Ned started back after them, while the tall lad kept on, to discover the location of the fire, which seemed to be in the very stern of the craft.
Jerry saw some dark object, from which the smoke seemed to be coming, and in the interior of which were seen the flames. He was about to rush at it, and toss it overboard, thinking fire might have been started by spontaneous combustion in some box or crate, when Bob and Ned ran up with chemical extinguishers.
“There it is!” cried Jerry, pointing to the fire. “Play the hose there!”
Suddenly there was a yell, and from the midst of the dark object, which the boys could now see was a canvas shelter, like a small tent, theresprang Professor Snodgrass, all dripping from the chemicals.
“Here! What’s the matter?” he shouted. “Stop! You’re drowning me!”
“We’re trying to put out the fire!” yelled Jerry. “What were you doing there? Are you burned? Did the smoke make you unconscious?”
“Fire! There’s no fire!” cried the little scientist, as he wiped the trickling chemicals from his face.
“No fire! Why the smoke?” asked Ned.
“And the flames!” added Bob.
“And the smell!” came from Jerry.
“It was no fire,” went on the scientist, as he kicked over the canvas shelter. “I had just made a little smudge on a piece of sheet iron. I was smoking one of the fish I had caught, to preserve the specimen. I built a fire out here on deck, where there would be no danger, and put certain chemicals on it to preserve the fish skin. That’s what made the smell.”
“It certainlysmelled, all right,” grimly remarked Jerry. “Are you sure there’s no fire on the deck boards, professor?”
“Not a bit. Oh, I took good care there would be no danger. I put a pan of water on deck, andon top of that I laid some sheet-iron. Then I made a little fire of wood and old rags on the iron, sprinkled the chemicals in the flames, and held the fish over them. I’m sorry if I caused you any fright.”
“Well you did—a little,” admitted Jerry, “but I guess——”
“I more than paid for it,” interrupted the scientist with a smile. “However, it’s all done. I just got through as you squirted the chemicals on me.”
As he had said, he had taken precautions against the little blaze spreading, and now the charred wood and rags on the sheet of iron were dropped into the ocean.
“You never can tell what he’s going to do next,” complained Jerry to his chums, with a smile, as they went into the cabin.
All the next day they watched. Several times they mistook low-lying clouds, or a dark bit of mist for the balloon they sought, but, on increasing their speed, and hastening toward it, they saw their error.
It was toward the close of the afternoon when Bob, who was on the lookout in the bow, cried:
“Hi, fellows, here’s something!”
Jerry and Ned hastened forward. There,floating on the ocean, which was about a thousand feet below them, was a dark mass, slowly rising and falling on the swell.
“The balloon! Wrecked!” cried Ned. “We’re too late!”
“It certainly is some sort of a wreck,” agreed Jerry, as he adjusted the telescope. He took a long look through the glass. Then he shook his head.
“I can’t make it out on account of the haze,” he said. “We’ll go down to it. Speed up the motor, Ned.”