A SIGNAL THAT MEANT “DANGER.”
A SIGNAL THAT MEANT “DANGER.”
A SIGNAL THAT MEANT “DANGER.”
Spinning along at a height the barograph showed to be 1,500 feet, was an exhilarating experience. The slight feeling of apprehension which the Motor Rangers had felt when they set out on their novel cruise, soon wore off, and was replaced by a buoyant sensation.
“Well, Master Nat, what do you think of it?” inquired the professor, emerging from the cabin and coming “aft” to where Nat was standing by the smoothly running motor.
“It’s glorious,” replied Nat enthusiastically. “I had no idea, though, that it was possible to get used to it so soon.”
“Well, a craft of this kind is vastly different from an aeroplane,” commented the man of science. “It is my belief that the aerial trans-Atlantic liner of the future will be a dirigible.”
“I wouldn’t mind undertaking the trip in theDiscoverer,” declared Nat, with glowing eyes and cheeks.
“What speed are we making?” inquired Joe Hartley.
“About forty miles an hour,” said the professor; “but you can tell the exact speed by stepping into the pilot-house and examining the instruments.”
The lads followed his advice, and found that the speed recorder registered a shade more than the professor had assumed. Mr. Tubbs had the wheel, and was gazing straight ahead, like a steamboat pilot.
The pilot-house of theDiscoverer, in fact, was not unlike that of a steamer, although much smaller, of course. The registers and indicators, too, that were fastened to the walls, or rather the framework of theDiscoverer’s“hull,” were totally unlike any that the lads had seen before.
Joe Hartley, who had been appointed chief cook and bottle washer, soon left, to begin his preparations for lunch. But Nat lingered on, fascinated. Joe’s meal proved an excellent one, and the fact that they were so high above the earth did not affect the boys’ appetites in the least. In fact, Ding-dong Bell observed that he had never felt so hungry in all his life before.
After the meal was concluded, the motors of the craft were slowed down a bit, so as to economize on gasolene as much as possible. The fact that the westerly wind had increased made it possible to slow the engine down and still make good progress.
“I wonder what they think of us down below there?” said Joe, as he stood by Nat’s side, leaning over the forward deck-rail and watching the dwarfed figures of the inhabitants of a village above which they were passing, scurrying to and fro like ants.
“I guess they must think we are some sort of demoniacal bird,” grinned Nat. “Hark!”
Faintly, very faintly, borne to their ears, came the sound of church bells ringing furiously.
“They must be going to hold services in our honor,” hazarded Joe.
“More likely they are going to pray that we don’t harm them,” responded Nat. “According to the professor, the people of this country are a very ignorant lot.”
By afternoon theDiscovererwas flying above rugged country. The foothills of the great Andean range had been reached, and they were in Bolivia. It gave the boys a thrill to think that they were actually at last in the hoped-for vicinity of the lost city of the mysterious old Incas.
As the sun grew lower, the great altitude to which they had attained struck them with a sharp sense of chilliness.
“This part of the world ought to be called Chile,” observed Joe, as he and the professor and Nat stood on the forward deck just below the pilot-house.
“If you will come into the cabin and see what I have in that big chest, we can possibly get over that difficulty,” said the professor, with a smile.
The lads accompanied him within and found that the chest referred to contained a variety of warm clothing.
“I knew that the late afternoons and nights on the Andean heights were bitterly cold,” said the professor, as the boys selected some garments, not forgetting a coat-sweater for Ding-dong. “I therefore took the precaution to be prepared to meet them.”
It was not long after this that the professor addressed a few words to Mr. Tubbs, and theDiscovererbegan to drop. Then came a sudden signal to Ding-dong to slow up his engines. This being done, the lateral planes of the dirigible, which have not yet been mentioned, were inclined at an angle that brought her to earth with an easy, gliding motion.
“Are you going to land for the night?” asked Nat, who had watched the maneuvers with interest.
“Such is my intention,” said the professor. “It is too late in the day to get any observations now, and I don’t fancy traveling at night in this region. We might blunder miles off our course.”
The boys agreed that this was so, and then gave their full attention to what was going forward. Immediately beneath them was a charming, park-like savannah, set in the midst of dense forests of gigantic trees, from whose branches hung great twisted creepers, looking not unlike big snakes.
It formed an ideal landing spot for the big dirigible, which, in a few moments after the descending planes had been set, grazed the ground and then settled. Instantly the professor shouted an order for the anchoring process to begin.
The boys had been drilled in this before the voyage was started, and fell to work with a will on their task. By running the propeller slowly, with the descending planes set at a sharp angle, theDiscoverer’sbody was naturally held against the ground.
Nat and Joe leaped off on opposite sides, both armed with sledges. With these heavy hammers they drove sharp, barbed steel stakes into the ground till they were almost as firm as rocks. Each stake had a ring at its top through which ropes were rapidly looped. The ends were then led back on board and secured. This was done so that in case of a sudden attack the great aircraft could be released by those on board. Of course, in such an event, the stakes would have to be left behind, but as an extra supply was carried, this would not be such a serious matter.
Ten minutes after she nestled to the ground, theDiscovererwas secured as snugly as a vessel at her wharf. The engine was shut off and the various necessary adjustments of the controls and apparatus of the pilot-house made. This done, the entire party stepped “ashore” for the first time in many hours.
“We will sleep on board, but cook our supper here,” decided the professor.
This plan just suited the boys, and they scattered in all directions to obtain firewood for the encampment. While they were doing this, Mr. Tubbs set about the task of getting the needed utensils from on board the cloud cruiser. He had been busily engaged on it for some time when the professor looked up from some calculations he was making on the back of an old envelope.
“It appears to me those boys are a long time gone,” he said. “I hope they are all right.”
“Oh, they are all right,” spoke the moving-picture artist easily. “They took the rifles with them, and agreed that in case of any danger or difficulty befalling them, they would fire three times.”
“In that case——” began the professor.
But he halted with an abrupt exclamation of consternation. Mr. Tubbs’s face likewise took on a perturbed look at the interruption.
From the forest, to their right, three shots, fired in rapid succession, had resounded.
INDIANS?
INDIANS?
INDIANS?
“What can be the matter?” was the exclamation that burst from the professor’s lips.
“Something serious,” declared Mr. Tubbs. “Take a rifle and we’ll find out.”
Hastily selecting a weapon each, the two friends plunged into the forest in the direction from whence the shots had come.
“It’s ahead there, somewhere!” panted the professor, as the sound of a mighty threshing and struggling amidst the undergrowth came to their ears.
Neither the professor nor Mr. Tubbs was in the least faint-hearted, but they crept through the forest with some caution. If the boys had been attacked by enemies, they reasoned the best thing to do would be to give their foes no opportunity of observing the approach of re-enforcements.
They came on a scene that, for an instant, almost deprived them of their breath.
They came on a scene that, for an instant, almost deprived them of their breath.
They came on a scene that, for an instant, almost deprived them of their breath.
But, as the noise grew louder, they hesitated no longer, but pressed right on. Suddenly, on emerging into an open space where the growth had been flattened out in every direction, they came on a scene that, for an instant, almost deprived them of their breath.
In the midst of the open space, Nat and Joe were bending over the form of Ding-dong, who was stretched on the ground, seemingly unconscious. Not far off, an immense snake, which must have been fully fifteen feet long, was lashing wildly about in its death agonies.
“Oh, professor!” cried Nat, as he saw the newcomers, “we’re so glad you have come. Ding-dong was attacked by that serpent and badly crushed. It was only by firing at the creature that we managed to save his life.”
“Is he badly hurt?” choked out Joe anxiously.
The professor, who had been bending over the unconscious lad, shook his head.
“Merely shock, and possibly a sudden weakening of the heart,” he said. Taking a small vial from a pocket medicine-case, the professor forced some of its contents between Ding-dong’s lips. In a few moments the boy was able to sit up and take notice of things about him.
By this time the convulsive dying movements of the snake had ceased, and it lay still.
“Ugh! What a monster!” shuddered Ding-dong. “I can feel his terrible folds around me yet.”
As usual, when under the stress of emotion, Ding-dong’s hesitating manner of speech had left him, and he enunciated quite plainly.
“How did it happen?” asked the professor.
“I was looking for wood,” explained Ding-dong, “and thought I had found a f-f-f-fi-fine c-c-chunk of timber. But w-w-when I pu-pu-put my hand on it, the ber-ber-blessed thing turned out to be a snake. I yelled at the top of my voice, and started to run, but before I had gone far I tripped and fell. The n-n-n-n-next instant the snake had me.”
“Joe and I were a short distance off,” chimed in Nat, taking up the story, “and heard Ding-dong’s yell. We hurried to him, and you can imagine how horrified we were to see him struggling with that serpent. Joe raised his rifle, but then lowered it again. He was scared to shoot at the snake for fear of hitting Ding-dong. But at last we saw a chance. I fired once and Joe twice.”
“And all three bullets penetrated the brute in and about the head,” struck in Mr. Tubbs, who had been examining the snake.
“So they did,” declared the professor, as he and the boys joined the ruddy-headed one; “good shooting, boys. This snake is of the boa variety. They are common all along this coast, but usually they are thickest near rivers. As a rule, they will not attack human beings, although cases have been recorded of their doing so. I imagine that it was Master Bell’s having grabbed him that angered his snakeship. Shall we take the skin for a souvenir?”
“N-n-n-no, thank you,” stuttered Ding-dong, “it will be no trouble to re-re-remember that f-f-f-fellow without having to l-l-l-look at his skin.”
“I agree with you,” said Mr. Tubbs. “I guess we’ll leave him here for a while. It won’t be long before some animal or other makes away with it.”
Leaving the repulsive looking carcass on the ground, they set out to return to theDiscoverer.
“Well, all is well that ends well,” said the professor, as they tramped along; “at first I had a dreadful fear that you lads had been attacked by Indians.”
“Indians!” exclaimed Nat. “Are there Indians in this part of Bolivia?”
“Oh, yes; several tribes,” was the rejoinder.
“Are they savage?” inquired Joe.
“I am sorry to say that they are. In other parts some of the natives have been converted to Christianity, but the natives of this section are fierce and warlike. I hope we shall manage to steer clear of them.”
“What is the tribe called?” asked Nat.
“They are known as the Caripunas,” was the rejoinder. “The early Jesuits had much trouble with them, and they have ever since remained in a more or less wild and hostile state. They are very much averse to having any one enter their country, and that was one of the minor reasons why this trip was made by means of the dirigible.”
“Their country!” echoed Joe. “I should think the Bolivian government would send a regiment up here and subdue the rascals.”
“Several such expeditions have been despatched,” was the response, “but the fate of all has been the same. Several months after their departure the remainder of the force has come straggling home, more dead than alive, to tell a tale of death and defeat.”
“But how can Indians cope with civilized troops?” Nat wanted to know.
“For one thing, they are inured to the hardships of the forest,” rejoined the professor; “for another, these Bolivian Indians wage war withpoisoned arrows shot from long blow guns. A man usually dies in a few minutes after such an arrow has struck him, unless medical attention is at hand. Armed with these weapons, the Indians creep up on their foes and noiselessly decimate an entire force. It is in this way that the Indians have managed to reserve this part of the country for themselves and keep the hated white man out of it.”
The boys looked rather grave as they continued their tramp back to theDiscoverer.
“Looks to me as if we were in for a more exciting time than we bargained for,” observed Nat to Joe.
“I guess you are right,” rejoined Joe. “A battle with Indians who employ such deadly weapons does not appeal to me.”
“Oh, I guess we’ll get through without trouble,” exclaimed Nat. “At any rate, if we are attacked, we can climb aboard the good oldDiscovererand soon be out of range.”
“That’s so,” agreed Joe, and the lads dismissed the matter from their minds; but whether Nat’s surmise was correct or not, we shall see in due time.
A QUEER SORT OF GUN.
A QUEER SORT OF GUN.
A QUEER SORT OF GUN.
With the wood gathered by the young Motor Rangers, Mr. Tubbs soon had a roaring fire going. By sundown it was so cold that they were glad to huddle close to the cheerful blaze, which was for purposes of warmth only, the cooking being done on the denatured alcohol stove belonging to the galley of theDiscoverer.
It was an odd meal, but one the boys enjoyed thoroughly. Mr. Tubbs was as good a hand at cooking as he was at anything else, and as a supply of fresh meat had been brought along, they had a capital meal, helped out with choice canned vegetables and even, to celebrate their first night in the land of their search, a generous portion each of plum pudding. It was canned, of course, but quite palatable, or so the boys appeared to find it.
After supper the professor gave the lads an interesting sketch of the country they were in, and finished up with an account of the old Incas, one of whose lost cities they had come to find.
Among other things of interest he told them concerning the lost race, was that they are believed to have been sun worshippers. At any rate, in one of the ruined cities which has been located in Peru, circular temples with the walls embellished with pictures of the sun have been found. Other facts concerning the vanished civilization of the Incas must ever remain a mystery, said the man of science.
For instance, at the remains discovered in Peru, a huge rock, shaped like a gigantic dome, was found. Traces of gold were discernible on its surface, and it is believed that at one time the whole great, monolithic mass was completely plated with this costly metal.
“Other strange features of these ruins,” went on the professor, “are dungeon-like chambers which are believed to have been used in cereomonies of initiation, and great baths fed by subterranean rivers, which are still flowing as they did in the days of the Incas.”
“Do you think we shall find such things?” asked Nat, his eyes aglow at the prospect.
“You mean, do I think we shall find the lost city?” corrected the professor, with a smile. “Well, Master Nat, I don’t doubt that if we find the city we shall also find such things. It is rumored that the lost city we are in search of is in even better preservation than the famous ruins of Peru itself.”
“I wish you would tell us some more about that sacred dome with all the gold on it,” said Joe.
“I’ll tell you all I know,” said the professor. “It is believed then, that the sacred dome was the place where Manco Capac, an Inca deity, descended to the earth. To this day the natives approach the spot with the utmost awe and reverence.
“According to their ideas, no bird would alight up, or animal approach it. All but priests were forbidden to come even within sight of the rock, although it is hard to know how this could be prevented, as it is of immense size. At ordinary times its gold plating was covered by a veil of the finest and most costly materials, and this was never removed, except on great religious festivals.”
“It must have been a fine sight to see that great golden rock glittering in the sun,” said Nat thoughtfully.
“It must, indeed,” agreed the professor. “There was also a Temple of the Moon, and a vast Temple of the Sun, as well as other buildings whose purposes are veiled in mystery, and must ever be. One thing is certain, though, human life must have been as cheap as water, for it is estimated that many thousands of slaves’ lives were sacrificed in building the city of which only ruins now remain.”
“It reminds one of Egypt,” said Nat.
“So travelers have observed,” rejoined the professor; “after all, the history of civilization repeats itself.”
“Has much treasure been discovered there?” inquired the practical Joe.
“Quite a good deal, yes,” was the reply; “but the Spaniards took an immense quantity of it, and to-day there is little left. However, from time to time a valuable find is made, I am informed.”
“And the city we are in search of—do the same conditions exist there?” inquired Nat.
“Very probably. According to tradition, the fierce and warlike Indians kept the Spaniards away from the spot,” was the reply.
“I hope so,” spoke Joe, in whose mind visions of vast treasures and strange, massive buildings were already rising. As for the others, perhaps they, too, even the professor, were also weaving castles in cloudland. At any rate, they were silent for a time, brooding over the great mystery to whose heart they hoped to penetrate ere long.
But the period of silence was not of lengthy duration. Mr. Tubbs, who possessed a good tenor voice, volunteered to sing a song.
“Is there anything he can’t do?” thought Nat.
The song he chose was “Old Kentucky Home.” When he came to the chorus the boys’ voices blended with his in the plaintive cadences of the music. It was a strange sound to be ringing out in that primeval place, where perchance the foot of civilized man had never trod before.
But the singing was due to terminate abruptly. Nat, who had been gazing outside the circle of firelight, caused the breaking off of the concert.
He sprang to his feet and seized up a rifle, calling on the others to do the same.
“What is it, my boy?” asked the professor, “a wild beast?”
“No—that is, I don’t think so,” rejoined the boy, whose face was rather pale. “I’m almost certain that what I saw was the figure of a man crouching over yonder and watching us.”
Exclamations of consternation filled the air.
“Indians!” gasped Ding-dong Bell.
“It may have been nothing but a jaguar or a prowling puma,” said the professor. “Are you sure your eyes didn’t deceive you?” he inquired of Nat.
“As I said, there’s a bare chance I might have been mistaken,” rejoined the lad, “but I don’t think so. However, the instant that I looked, the figure vanished.”
“It’s very strange,” mused the professor, “and yet it may have been an Indian, little as I like to think of such a contingency. However, we will keep a sharp watch to-night, and be prepared to ‘slip our moorings’ at an instant’s notice.”
All agreed that this would be an excellent plan, and forthwith the knots on the mooring ropes were retied, so that one tug from those on board theDiscovererwould release the craft and allow her to shoot upwards. Preparations for what all felt was not likely to prove a restful night, were then begun.
The first watch was assigned to Mr. Tubbs and Joe, and would last till midnight. The next one would be assumed by Nat and the professor. Ding-dong Bell, who was still nervous and rather pale from his experience of the afternoon, was to be allowed to slumber all through the night.
He protested loudly against this, demanding to take his share with the rest; but was obliged to be content with the promise that if any trouble occurred he would be routed out to assume charge of the engine. In spite of their apprehensions, Nat and the professor slept as soundly as Ding-dong. In fact, it did not seem to Nat that he had been asleep more than a few minutes when Mr. Tubbs aroused him to take his watch.
“All quiet,” was the rubicund-headed one’s response to the professor’s inquiry.
Hardly were the words out of his mouth before the silence of the night was broken by an almost unearthly yell.
“What’s that?” cried Nat, considerably startled.
“Nothing but a screaming monkey,” said Mr. Tubbs. “I’ve heard them in Brazil often.”
“But they don’t cry out at night unless they are disturbed,” said the professor decidedly.
“You think some one is in the woods?” asked Nat.
“I don’t know about a human being. But the fact that you are almost certain that you saw a man prowling about last night, makes it look suspicious.”
“It may be only a panther,” said Mr. Tubbs.
“Possibly. Let us hope that is the case, but in the meantime prepare for trouble; then, if it comes, we can meet it. Master Joe, rouse out Master Bell. Nat, I wish you’d bring me that peculiar-looking gun you were asking me about yesterday when you saw me place it on board.”
The gun referred to was a queer-looking weapon, with a mouth shaped like an old-fashioned blunderbuss. It had an immense barrel, and altogether was a very odd-looking weapon. Nat knew where it stood in the gun-rack and soon fetched it. The professor examined the lock and appeared to find everything satisfactory.
“What kind of a gun is that?” asked Nat, full of interest.
“I don’t want to say much about it till I see how it works,” said the professor. “It is the invention of a friend of mine. If we are attacked it will be a fine opportunity to test it.”
Nat would like to have asked more questions, but at that instant a chorus of cries and shrieks arose from the woods on every side. The cries were uttered by roosting birds and monkeys, which had been disturbed by some cause. What that cause was, the professor soon guessed.
“It’s the Caripunas,” he whispered; “almost beyond a doubt. Master Bell, stand by your engines. Tubbs, take up your position at the wheel and be ready to manipulate the searchlight. Master Nat and Master Joe will stand ready to slip the tie-ropes when the word is given.”
WHAT IT DID.
WHAT IT DID.
WHAT IT DID.
The moments that followed were filled with a tenser excitement than any of the lads had ever known before. After the first frightened flurry of the alarmed creatures of the forest, a deep silence prevailed. It lasted for possibly fifteen minutes, and then the professor decided not to test their nerves to the breaking point.
“Turn on the searchlight!” came the breathed command.
A sharp click followed, as the light, which was supplied by current from the storage battery, was switched on.
A dazzling white pencil of light swept all about theDiscoverer. Its brilliancy pierced the night like a saber, and illumined the solemn trees and the open savannah all about.
At almost precisely the same instant, a chorus of ferocious yells and cries broke out, and from all sides there rushed on the aerial adventurers a horde of short-statured Indians. The searchlight showed them to be wild-looking men, clothed in a single garment, their heads covered with straight black hair. Through their lower lips most of them had thrust a triangular bit of white stone with a sharp point. This added to their fantastic appearance.
Nat noted that one of them, larger in stature than the rest, seemed to be the leader. He also saw, with an unpleasant thrill, that they carried long blow pipes. It was through these pipes, the professor had said, that the poisoned arrows were discharged.
Rope in hand, ready to slip at the word of command, Nat stood his ground. On the opposite side of the framework Joe was likewise waiting. Neither boy budged an inch, and Ding-dong stood steady as a rock at his engines.
So suddenly had it all happened, in fact, that neither boy could regard it for an instant as more than a dream.
Suddenly something struck the metal framework by Nat’s head with a sharp ping!
It was an arrow, and so close had it come to the lad that he had caught its whistling sound as it sped past his ear.
“Phew! This is warm work, with a vengeance,” he muttered.
He saw the Indians give a sudden concerted onrush, yelling like maniacs.
“Keep the searchlight in their eyes. It dazzles them!” called the professor.
Then came another command.
“Let go your ropes!”
Nat and Joe instantly dropped their ropes and seized up rifles.
“Don’t fire!” cried the professor sharply. “We don’t want to injure them if we can help it.”
The great dirigible swayed for an instant and then began to rise.
“Turn on your power!” shouted the professor.
The bell for “full speed ahead” rang sharply out. At the same instant the propeller began to whir.
As it did so, several Indians, who, in their onrush on the dirigible, had clambered upon it, were thrown off in all directions. They rolled over and over, like so many footballs. This made the others pause an instant, and in that instant the dirigible rose from the ground.
But the chill night air had condensed the gas, and she rose slowly. Before more than five feet had been gained in her upward rise, the Indians recovered from their amazement and charged like a pack of furies.
“Flat on your faces!” shouted the professor, as a shower of arrows pinged and pattered in the framework of the craft.
They obeyed the command, and then Nat saw the queer gun brought into use. The professor raised it to his shoulder and pulled the trigger.
Instantly a stream of colored balls, like those that issue from a Roman candle, poured from the bell-like muzzle. But almost simultaneously with their discharge, they burst with sharp reports, and the whole air became impregnated with a black, all-obscuring smoke as thick as a London fog.
The dense clouds spread on every side, completely obscuring the dirigible from the view of the Indians below. Higher and higher she rose, while below her the dense smoke veiled everything like a curtain. Nat caught a whiff of the vapor, and it made him cough and choke.
“I’ll bet those Indians aren’t enjoying it,” he thought to himself. “So that was what that queer gun was.”
In a few moments they were high above the tree-tops, and the professor ordered the lights turned on. A switch was pushed over by Mr. Tubbs in the pilot-house, and theDiscovererblazed out with incandescents like an illuminated battleship. For a few seconds nothing much was done but to exchange congratulations. No one was hurt, and not an arrow had pierced the gasbag. This was accounted for by the fact that the Indians, not understanding how vulnerable that part of the craft was, had confined their volleys to the occupants of the lower structure.
“A most fortunate escape,” declared the professor, but suddenly he clapped his hand to his head.
“My hat!” he cried wildly, “I’ve lost another hat.”
“Here it is!” cried Joe, picking up the article of headgear.
He held it up, transfixed by an arrow. The missile had penetrated it and whisked it from the professor’s head without touching him.
“I wouldn’t have lost that for worlds,” said the professor, thanking Joe, and removing the arrow very gingerly.
“One scratch from that arrow would result in death,” he said, in explanation of his extreme care.
He held it out for the boys’ inspection. It had a stone head, discolored by some whitish matter at the tip. The shank of it was about two feet long, with some sort of cloth wrapped around the end to make it fit the blowpipe tightly.
“What kind of poison do they use?” asked Joe.
“An infusion of the St. Ignatius plant, from the beans of which strychnine, our deadliest narcotic, is obtained,” was the response.
“We’d better make a thorough search for any other arrows,” suggested Nat.
“I think so,” agreed the professor; “they are not the sort of things to have lying about.”
A search of theDiscoverer’slower structure resulted in the finding of a dozen or more of the deadly missiles. These were all thrown off into the air at once.
“And now,” said the professor, planting his hat firmly on his head, “I suppose you are anxious to know something about that queer gun I used.”
A chorus of assent greeted this remark.
“Well, it’s a weapon called the Fog-maker, and was invented by a friend of mine especially for use in aerial warfare, or for protecting a small vessel from hostile aeroplanes,” said the professor. “As you saw, it works perfectly, throwing out a thick cloud of dark, acrid smoke, which is heavier than the atmosphere. While it has no permanent bad results, yet it renders those who breathe it insensible for a time.”
“It is indeed an effective weapon,” declared Nat; “can we see one of the projectiles?”
The professor took up the gun and slid open a small space in the stock. Then, pressing a metal button, he caused two round black objects, about the size of small oranges, to roll out into his hand.
“The magazine holds ten of these,” he said. “They are made of glass and filled with chemicals.”
“What kind of chemicals?” asked Joe.
“Ah! That is the secret of the inventor,” was the reply, “nobody but he himself knows what they contain; but that they are effective, you must admit. He told me that the old ‘stink-pots’ that Chinese pirates used to use gave him theidea. If ever there is a war in the air, I think that the nation equipped with this invention will have a powerful implement of havoc.”
“I should think so,” said Nat; “one whiff of it was quite enough for me.”
All this time, by the professor’s directions, the dirigible had been swung in wide circles at an altitude of about fifteen hundred feet. So interested had they all been in the professor’s description of the novel aeroplane gun, and in the other matters that had occupied their attention, that the big air cruiser had not yet been “tidied up.”
This was the next task to demand their attention. Joe set to work to hoist up and coil the rope which had been cast loose when the hasty ascent was made. But he hadn’t given it more than a couple of tugs before he uttered a shout that brought the others, except Mr. Tubbs, who was at the helm, running along the substructure to his side.
“What’s up now?” demanded Nat.
“Why, either this rope has caught in something below, or there’s something heavy attached to it,” was the astonishing response.
“Impossible for it to have caught,” declared the professor, “we are now fifteen hundred feet or more above the surface of the earth, and the rope is not more than a hundred feet long, at the most.”
“Well, feel it yourself,” responded Joe.
Nat gave the rope a tug. As Joe had said, there was clearly something heavy attached to the end of it. But what could it be?
“We’ll soon see,” said the professor. “Master Joe, attach another length of rope to it, and then have Master Bell switch power on the electric winch.”
This was done, and the powerful winch began to revolve, winding the rope on its barrel. As the rope began to grow shorter, the boys peered over the edge of the substructure in an effort to make out what could be at the end of it. The glow of light spread by the illuminated craft soon showed them.
“It’s a man!” shouted Nat in a thunderstruck voice, as the figure of a human being, clinging desperately to the rope, was brought into view.
AN INVOLUNTARY PASSENGER.
AN INVOLUNTARY PASSENGER.
AN INVOLUNTARY PASSENGER.
“A man!” exclaimed the amazed professor. “Why, how in the world did he come here?”
“I don’t know,” said Nat; “but there he is.”
“He must have caught the rope when theDiscoverershot upward,” suggested Joe. “Maybe he thought he could stop us.”
“He’s all wer-wer-wound up in the rope,” announced Ding-dong, who had been peering over the side during this dialogue. “His eyes are closed, and he seems half-dead from fright.”
“Let us drag him on board at once,” said the professor.
The boys lay flat, while the winch was started up until the man’s head was on a level with the under part of the substructure. Then three pairs of strong young arms reached down and dragged their involuntary passenger over the side.
“He’s an Indian!” cried Joe, as the man being dragged into safety from his precarious position proved to be a squat, black-haired little brown man, clad in a garment of rough fibre, and with one of the peculiar ornaments Nat had already noticed, thrust through his under lip.
All this time the Indian had kept his eyes tight closed, and had not uttered a word. Now, however, he opened his eyes, and threw himself down flat on his face on theDiscoverer’sdeck. There he groveled in an attitude of the most complete humility.
“He thinks we are sky gods, or demons of some sort,” declared the professor, reading the man’s consternation aright.
“I don’t much blame him,” said Nat, with a smile, “that ride through the air at the end of the rope must have been the most terrifying experience of his young life.”
“Young life,” scoffed Joe, “he must be sixty at least.”
“Well, that is young sometimes,” said the professor, who owned to that age himself, although he was as active as most men half his age.
Suddenly the Indian began to speak, but without raising his head. He poured out a flood of words. For an instant, they thought he was speaking his native dialect, but all at once the professor understood.
“He’s talking Spanish,” he said, “and imploring us to spare his life. Just as I thought, he thinks we are beings from another world.”
“Well, if I were in his fix I’d be inclined to think so myself,” said Joe.
But the professor began putting rapid questions, at the same time raising the man’s head and showing him by signs that they meant no harm to him. Little by little the Indian seemed to recover his courage. But he was sorely shaken by his adventure, and explained that when the ropes began to drag over the ground he had seized them to stop the dirigible, and had become entangled in them.
“Why did your tribe attack us?” asked the professor.
“We thought you were human beings,” was the response. “But now we know otherwise.”
He would have cast himself on his face again, but the professor raised him and spoke encouragingly to him.
“Maybe if you’d give him something to eat he’d feel better,” suggested Joe, practically.
“That might be a good idea, and it will show him that we mean him no harm,” said the professor.
The Indian, who said his name was Matco, was taken to the cabin, the sight of which, with its comfortable furnishings and strange scientific instruments, filled him with fresh terror. But little by little he regained his self-possession to a degree, and ate what he was given with zest.
The crew of theDiscovererjoined him at the meal, of which they stood in need, Joe relieving Mr. Tubbs at the helm. The stout lad had taken a few lessons in steering before from Mr. Tubbs,and found that it was not as difficult as he had supposed it would be. But then, Joe had had plenty of experience at the wheels of both automobiles and boats.
But after all, the selection of a green hand at the wheel proved somewhat disastrous. The sun arose while they were still talking to the Indian, and Mr. Tubbs was hearing details of the strange manner in which the man had boarded the airship.
In that rarefied air the rays of the luminary of day soon warm the air, and, as a consequence, the gas within theDiscoverer’sbag began to expand very rapidly. Those in the cabin, of course, did not notice that the craft was rising rapidly, and Joe did not give a glance at the barograph, it not occurring to him to do so.
All at once he gazed over the front of the pilot-house and looked down below. What he saw almost made him utter a cry. TheDiscovererwas at a tremendous height, and appeared to be rising more and more rapidly.
Joe, in a sudden panic, twitched a lever, and the next instant the craft shot skyward at breathtaking speed. The boy had set the wrong lever and had adjusted the planes to a rising angle.
Before the professor, who had felt the craft rear upward, could reach the pilot-house, the dirigible had shot up five hundred feet or more. Behind the professor came the others, except Matco, who was sent into a fresh paroxysm of fright by the strange and sudden upward leap of the airship.
“Good heavens!” cried the professor, as he jerked over the descending lever, “we have risen to a height of more than eight thousand feet.”
As he spoke they suddenly noticed that the air had grown bitterly chill.
“Just like Joe to make a break like that,” said Nat, with a good-natured laugh that took the sting out of his speech; “we’d better get down to earth once more as quickly as possible. It’s too cold to be comfortable up here.”
“We’ll soon drop now,” said Mr. Tubbs confidently.
But as the minutes passed and it grew colder, his face became grave.
“We’re rising,” cried the professor, glancing at the barograph.
“That’s right,” cried Nat. “What can be the matter?”
“Have you got the descending planes set at their sharpest angle?” demanded the professor.
“Yes,” was the response, “but they seem to have no effect on her at all.”
The professor thought a moment.
“We shall have to pull the escape valve and let out some gas,” he said. “The rising sun has warmed the air till the expansion of gas has made the bag too buoyant for the planes to have any effect on it.”
“Won’t that waste the gas?” asked Joe.
“Yes, but we will have to do it. Mr. Tubbs, pull the escape valve, please,” said the professor, whose nose was red and whose teeth were beginning to chatter.
“It’s snowing!” cried Nat suddenly.
The air was filled with flying flakes, and theDiscovererseemed to be soaring through a wonderful white void. But it was no time for admiring such effects.
Reaching above his head, Mr. Tubbs gave the cord that worked the escape valve situated on the top of the big bag, a sharp tug.
Then he gave it another and another, with no results.
“It’s stuck fast!” he said, the words coming out shrilly from his blue, frozen lips.
A look of dismay spread over the professor’s face.
“Nonsense,” he said. “It can’t be.”
“But it is, I tell you.”
“Let me try it.”
The professor gave a hard tug, but still the cord did not budge.
“Give me a hand here,” he said to Nat, and together they tugged.
Suddenly, and without the least warning, the cord broke off short in their hands, and they fell sprawling on the floor. To his astonishment, when Nat tried to rise, he found the task difficult. Breathing seemed to be a labor, and his limbs felt like lead. The professor had actually to be helped to his feet, and then staggered, with one hand over his heart, to the helmsman’s settee, on which he sank, breathing with a queer, whistling sound.
“What on earth has happened?” demanded Joe, who like the others, felt strangely oppressed and heavy. His head ached as if it would burst.
“The—the cord must have frozen to the sides of the bag,” gasped out the professor. “The change to this awful altitude turned the night moisture accumulated on the gas bag’s sides to ice. I fear we are doomed, unless——”
He paused, panting and gasping.
“Unless what?” demanded Nat, forcing the words out.
“Unless we can get that valve open.”
“And if we can’t?”
“Then we must drift higher and higher till we perish of cold, or the bag explodes and we are precipitated to the earth.”