CHAPTER XXVII

AFTER A STRANGE BIRD

The _Comet_ was now at the mercy of the wind, as, the propellers no longer revolving, the motor ship had no steerage way. The craft was whirled and tossed about, and those in it, especially the boys, were much frightened.

“Don’t be alarmed!” cried Mr. Glassford. “We can’t possibly fall, and I’ll soon have her before the wind again.”

He quickly changed the elevation rudder, and so adjusted it as to send the ship downward on a long, slanting course. This gave the desired momentum, and the craft rode on a more even keel--if an airship has a keel.

“Ned, you come here and take charge of things,” called Mr. Glassford, “while Jerry and I look at the motor.”

Ned found little to do, save to keep steady the rudder which controlled the side motion of the ship. Meanwhile, Jerry was looking over the motor.

“I can’t find anything wrong with it,” he said as Mr. Glassford came up. “It seems to be all right.”

“This isn’t exactly like the engine in an automobile,” said the inventor, “though it’s nearer that in construction than anything else. Let me have a look.”

Carefully he went over every part of it. Then he uttered an exclamation.

“I’ve found the trouble!” he cried.

“What is it?”

“One of the spark-plugs has broken, and it backfired. That was the explosion we heard. I’ll soon have it fixed.”

It did not take long to adjust the machinery. Meanwhile, the _Comet_ was shooting downward at a rapid rate. In some alarm Jerry noted that they were now only a few hundred feet above the surface of the earth. Unless the depression rudder was soon shifted they would strike the ground and lose all possible chance at the prizes, to say nothing of perhaps damaging the ship.

“There!” cried Mr. Glassford at length. “Now I can start the motor. Jerry, tell Ned to change the elevation rudder. We will go up now.”

An instant later the hum, throb and crackle of the machinery told that the propellers were in motion, and with a swoop like some great bird the _Comet_ once more sailed upward toward the sky.

The storm had moderated somewhat, though it was still raining hard. This, however, did not bother the travelers, as their craft was snug and tight.

“We’re doing a little better,” announced Mr. Glassford as he glanced at the compass. “Not making so much west as we were, but still too much to enable us to reach New Orleans on this course. Now, I think you boys can turn in. I’ll manage the ship. In fact, there is little to do.”

“Call us at daylight,” said Jerry. “We want to see how much country we’ve covered, and where we are.”

“I will,” promised the inventor.

Strange as it was to go to bed aboard an airship, the boys managed to fall asleep quickly. The only sound was that made by the machinery, and the occasional moan of the wind. Professor Snodgrass remained up quite late, classifying his specimens, and then he too sought his berth.

It was just getting light when Jerry awakened without having had to be called by Mr. Glassford. He got up, and his movements about the bunkroom aroused his chums.

“Where are we?” asked Ned.

“I haven’t the least idea,” replied Jerry. “We’re still moving, however.”

“Is the storm over?” inquired Bob.

“Seems to be,” was Jerry’s answer as he peered from a window. “Yes, the sun’s coming up. Take a look--it’s great.”

Indeed, the rising sun, seen from an airship, with nothing to obstruct the view, is a magnificent sight, and one the boys had never witnessed before.

“Is everything all right?” asked Jerry as he went to the steering tower, where Mr. Glassford was still on duty.

“Yes; the night passed off very well. The ship is running very satisfactorily, and I think I’ll let you take charge now, and get some sleep myself.”

“I’m sure you need it,” remarked Jerry. “Bob is getting breakfast.”

“Trust him for that,” said Mr. Glassford with a smile.

A look all around the horizon failed to show the presence of any other of the contesting airships, though of course the travelers did not know whether they were ahead of or behind their rivals. They hoped the former.

With Jerry in the pilot house the motor ship was sent along at rapid speed, while Ned and Bob sat with Professor Snodgrass in the main cabin. The little scientist was keeping a lookout for any insects or birds that he might add to his collection. So far his trip had not been very profitable to him.

“What’s that?” suddenly asked Ned, pointing to a small black speck off to the right.

“Maybe one of the airships,” replied Bob.

“No, it’s too small.”

“Well, maybe it’s a good way off.”

“No, it isn’t an airship,” went on Ned. “But whatever it is, it’s coming nearer.”

“Get the telescope,” suggested Bob.

Ned did so, and when he had focussed it on the speck he uttered an exclamation of astonishment.

“It’s a bird--a strange bird!” he said.

“A bird!” repeated the professor. “It must be a rare sort of bird to be this high in the air. Let me take a look.”

He made an observation, and at once became very much excited.

“I must capture that for my collection!” he cried. “I have long wished to possess a specimen of that kind, and now I have a chance to get it.”

“I guess you’ll have hard work,” commented Ned. “It seems to be going away from us now.”

“I will ask Mr. Glassford to take after it,” said the scientist, hurrying toward the sleeping-cabin, where Mr. Glassford was.

The inventor, once he understood the request of the scientist, and learned that the bird was not too far off, agreed to change the course of the ship.

“We ought to work back to the right, anyhow,” he said. “We must be many miles off our course.”

Nearer and nearer the airship approached the bird. The winged creature, instead of being frightened, flew closer to the _Comet_ as if to inspect it. Nearer and nearer the creature came. The professor was all excitement. With his longest-handled net he stood at an open window, ready to capture the rare specimen.

“A little more to the right, Jerry,” called Ned.

Jerry shifted the steering lever. The _Comet_ swooped toward the bird. The professor leaned out of the window with his net and made a sweep to entangle the bird in the meshes. But a sudden shift of the wind slightly altered the ship’s level, and the next instant the scientist’s body shot out of the window. The airship was more than a mile above the earth.