There was no alarm among those aboard theComet. Our heroes had, by this time, become used to accidents happening even higher in the air than they now were. In fact their machine was constructed purposely to render them safe in case of a breakdown, for they could instantly change from an aeroplane to a balloon, and thus float even with the motor motionless.
This was what they did in the present emergency. Jerry saw that it was useless, with one cylinder out of commission, to try to get any speed out of the engine.
“Shut down!” he ordered Bob and Ned, and the big propellers ceased revolving.
“It’s tough, just when we were after a record,” remarked Ned.
“Can’t we go down, fix her up and try again?” asked the stout lad.
“No use, Chunky,” declared the tall youth. “It will take several days to put in a new cylinder. No, we’ve got to give up. But we ought to be satisfied with the prize we won.”
They were not, however; in fact human nature never is, and Jerry and his chums were no different from other lads. As they began falling downward they could hear from below murmurs of fear, for the great crowd thought the motorship was wrecked.
“Throw in plenty of gas!” called Jerry to his chums, and a moment later the descent of the craft was checked as the lifting vapor rushed into the bag. Then she floated lazily in the air, and, in a few minutes, to reassure the watching, anxious throng, Jerry sent her about in dips and circles, to show that they had her under full control.
A cheer greeted this evidence of skill in aeronautics, and then, there being no necessity for descending farther the boys remained there to watch from that vantage point the other machines climbing upward.
The big Wright passed close by them, the two occupants calling to know what the matter was.
“Broken cylinder,” answered Jerry.
“Too bad, old man!” came the sympathetichail, and then the biplane continued to poke her nose toward the upper regions.
In turn a Bleriot monoplane, a Curtiss biplane, a “Baby” Wright, a Santos Dumont, and a Farman shot upward, while our heroes had to look on mournfully, being out of the race.
A little later, when all the competing craft had reached earth, it was announced that a biplane had made the best record, having reached a height of over 15,000 feet, establishing a new record.
“We could have beaten that if our engine hadn’t gone back on us,” said Ned mournfully.
“I believe we could,” assented Jerry. “Well, we’ll be out of it the remainder of the meet I guess, but let’s get busy, put in a new cylinder, and start for the West to help the professor capture his flying frog.”
“That’s it, boys!” joyfully exclaimed the little scientist. “I have had very good success here, and only to-day I caught a little black lizard, very rare and valuable, but I want to get after the frog.”
An examination showed that they would have to take out the cylinder and put in a new one, and the preliminary work was started that evening.
Jerry and Ned were laboring in the motor room, and Bob had been sent to tell the secretarythat theCometcould not, as her owners had promised, take part in a final exhibition stunt. The stout lad came back in a hurry, exclaiming as he entered the tent:
“Hey, fellows, Noddy Nixon is going!”
“Going where?” asked Jerry pausing, monkey wrench in hand.
“Going to leave. He’s taking out his biplane, and he and Bill are going to cut the rest of the show just as Ned said. But they’re going off in style. I thought he’d pack up his airship, but he’s going off in her.”
Out on the grounds could be heard the rattle and bang of a powerful motor in operation. Our friends crowded to the tent entrance in time to see theWinnershoot up into the air, with Noddy and Bill in the seats. Then the craft, describing a long curve, shot off toward Harmolet.
“I wonder where he’s going?” mused Ned.
“No telling,” was Jerry’s opinion. “But come on, let’s get busy. We’ll have to go to Harmolet to-morrow, and see if we can get another cylinder in place of this cracked one.”
There was a trolley line not far from the aviation grounds, and our three boys, catching a car early the next morning, were soon on their way to the city where, so some of the birdmen had assuredthem, they could easily get a new cylinder, or other parts of their machine or engine. In fact, in anticipation of such calls being made during the meet, one of the automobile dealers in Harmolet had laid in a stock of airship parts.
Passing through a pleasant country, the boys shortly found themselves in a good-sized city. The car was passing through the principal street when, as it went by a bank building, the attention of Jerry and his chum was attracted by a large crowd standing in front. The people overflowed the sidewalk out on the trolley tracks.
“What’s the matter, a run on the bank?” asked Jerry of the conductor.
“Something like that,” was the reply.
“Did the cashier skip off with the funds?” inquired Ned.
“No, the safe was blown open last night, and fifty thousand dollars in cash was taken, besides more in securities. It was quite a sum for the bank to lose, and I guess some of the depositors are nervous. But most of the crowd is there out of curiosity. The police are inside looking for clews. I heard the news on my first trip this morning.”
“Fifty thousand dollars taken!” exclaimed Bob. “That’s a neat sum. Let’s get off here, fellows,and see if we can get a glimpse of the wrecked vault or safe. I’ve got my camera, and maybe they’ll let me take a snap-shot. That would be a picture worth getting.”
“All right,” agreed Jerry. “There’s no special rush about the cylinder.”
They joined the throng about the bank, but looked in vain to see some place where the side wall had been blown out with dynamite, or some other explosive.
“Guess it wasn’t much of a blow-up,” remarked Ned in somewhat disappointed tones.
“Oh, it’s all inside,” a man in the crowd informed them. “They nearly blew the doors off the big safe, but nothing shows from the outside. They got the money all right. Half the police in town are on the job now, but last night, when the explosion took place, not a soul heard it.”
“I wish we could get inside and see it,” murmured Bob “I’d like to take a picture.” But there seemed no chance of this, as the police were keeping the crowd back from the front of the building.