CHAPTER XIX

STARTING FOR THE RACE

“Go back to him, Jerry,” cried Mr. Glassford, observing from the pilot house what had happened. “Tell him to swallow several mouthfuls of water. That will equalize the pressure on his ear-drums, which is what makes him feel so badly. We are up rather high, and still ascending.”

Jerry and his chums had been told how to conduct themselves in case of emergency in high altitudes, and though when he reached the place where Bob was stretched out in great distress he found Ned about to succumb to the rarefied atmosphere, Jerry did not lose his head. He procured water from a tank, made both lads swallow some, and then, with the aid of Professor Snodgrass, administered a few simple remedies. Ned and Bob soon felt better.

Curiously enough, neither Jerry nor the professor were affected by the height to which the _Comet_ had now shot. As for Mr. Glassford, he had made too many balloon ascensions to mind being a few miles up in the air. His principal anxiety was now regarding the mechanism of the motor ship.

Work as desperately as he did, and pull as hard as was safe on the lever that shifted the rudder controlling the height, nothing resulted from it. Nor could he open the valve that held the gas in the big bag.

“I’ve got to try some other means of getting down,” declared Mr. Glassford.

“Maybe the sun will soon stop expanding the gas,” ventured Bob, who was now feeling much better.

“Yes, that will happen shortly, as it is setting; but I must stop our upward flight more quickly than that.”

“Why don’t you stop the motor?” asked Ned.

“Because while we are in motion it rides on a more even keel, and is less subject to air currents. I must climb out forward and ungear the elevation rudder.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” asked Jerry.

“Well, I’ve been in safer places, and I’ve done more risky things. I’ve got to take a chance.”

Then, almost as suddenly as they had emerged into the open, sun-lit space, which was responsible for much of their trouble, the travelers found themselves enveloped in a mist.

“We’re in the clouds again!” exclaimed Mr. Glassford. “That ought to put a stop to our rising.”

He ran forward and looked at the instrument for indicating the height.

“Yes, we’ve stopped,” he announced. “We’re stationary, as far as going up or down is concerned.”

“Bur-r-r-r!” exclaimed Bob with a shiver. “It’s getting cold!”

It was very chilly, and they had brought along no wraps to protect them from the frostiness of the upper air. It had been ninety in the shade when they started from the earth.

“Go into the cabin,” advised Mr. Glassford. “Shut the doors and windows. That will keep you somewhat warm.”

“What are you going to do?” asked Jerry.

“I’m going to shift that rudder,” announced the inventor firmly. “We’ve got to descend, and I don’t dare risk meddling too much with the gas valve, for fear I will break it, and all the gas will rush out too quickly. I must have a duplicate valve for just such emergencies as this.”

Jerry saw that it would be best to let Mr. Glassford manage things his own way, so with his two chums and Professor Snodgrass he retired to the main cabin, where, with doors and windows closed, there was some protection from the cold.

“Look!” cried Bob suddenly. “It’s snowing!”

Sure enough, looking out of the windows they all saw a whirling cloud of white crystals, blowing this way and that as they sailed through them.

“A very common phenomenon,” remarked the professor. “It is caused by moist air coming suddenly in contact with a cool stratum, which caused it to condense below the dew point, thus producing rain or snow, as the case may be. But if there aren’t some new kind of insects! I must have them for my collection.”

No danger was ever too great to deter the professor from collecting specimens. However, this time it was impossible to get them, as when he opened the door such a rush of cold air met him as caused him to turn back.

“One needs an overcoat here,” he declared.

“I should say so,” remarked Jerry.

“Well, I must risk it,” went on the professor. “I simply must have those insects.”

“You’re too late,” said Jerry. “We’ve passed them.”

This was so, for the _Comet_ had shot beyond the little cloud of creatures that were flying about in a snowstorm. The professor, with a sigh, gave up his plan and returned to the cabin window.

“We’re going down!” cried Ned quickly. “Mr. Glassford must have fixed the rudder.”

The airship was descending. In a little while they were sensible that it was much warmer, and they could open the cabin. They found the inventor in the pilot house, rubbing his hands to restore the circulation, which had been impeded by the cold.

“Are we all right?” asked Jerry.

“Fairly so. I can’t operate the gas valve, but I think by deflecting the rudder sufficiently and by waiting until after sundown, we can reach the earth. The gas is rapidly cooling off. The rudder was jammed. I released it, and now it works all right.”

“It’s getting late,” observed Bob. “Where are we?”

“About seventy miles from home,” announced the inventor. “I think we’ll get there some time to-night. I will speed up the motor as soon as we get a little lower.”

They were now below the clouds, and they could see that the sun had set. It rapidly became darker, but Mr. Glassford had a compass and a good sense of direction, so he kept on, confident that he would reach Cresville. The stars came out overhead, and all below the travelers was blackness, with here and there lights showing as they passed over some village or city.

“We’re about eight hundred feet above the earth now,” announced Mr. Glassford after a pause. “I think we’ll stay there until we get where we can make a landing.”

“We might as well eat, I suppose,” proposed Bob after a pause. “It’s supper time, anyhow.”

“I thought you were too frightened to eat,” said Jerry.

“I was, but I’m over it now. I’ll get the grub.”

Chunky set out what was left of the provisions they had brought, and the food was very acceptable, Jerry taking some in spite of the fun he made of Bob.

Mr. Glassford speeded up the motor, and the _Comet_ sailed along faster than before. It was about nine o’clock when they reached Cresville, and a landing was made without accident.

They found quite a crowd waiting for them, for it was known that they had gone off on a long trip, and when the ship was not back at the tent at dusk much alarm was felt. The boys found their parents in the throng, and though the lads made light of what had happened, they were very thankful to be safely back on earth again.

“Well, we’ve proved that we can make a long trip and get back in spite of accidents,” said Mr. Glassford. “We’ll soon be ready for the great race.”

The next two weeks were spent in making some changes to the motor ship, providing duplicate gas valves and taking all the precautions to prevent a recurrence of the former troubles. A large gasolene tank was put aboard, to hold the fluid necessary to run the engine for many hundreds of miles.

“Well, I guess everything is in good shape,” announced Mr. Glassford one day, following a rather long flight, when everything worked perfectly. “We’ll ship the _Comet_ to Park Haven to-morrow, and then we’ll go there ourselves to take part in the great race.”

“And I’ll go along, too,” announced Professor Snodgrass. “I haven’t half enough insects for my collection yet, and I want more.”

The next morning, the motor ship having been taken apart for transportation, it was sent on to Indiana, whither the boys, Mr. Glassford and Professor Snodgrass also went.

And though they did not know it, there followed them, on the next train, Noddy Nixon and Giles Hoswell.