PREFACE
Dear Boys:
In this, the ninth of the books in the “Motor Boys Series,” Jerry, Ned and Bob decide that as they have had a number of adventures on land and water, the only place left for them to see sights is up in the air, above the clouds. At first this plan was considered rather dubious, as, though considerable progress has been made toward men sailing about in the upper regions by means of dirigible balloons or aeroplanes, the science is still far from perfected.
But when the boys had attended an aero carnival, and witnessed the flight of a large dirigible balloon, they decided there was nothing for them to do but to attempt a trip that way themselves.
They formed the acquaintance of a veteran balloon constructor, who had a plan for a novel motor ship. This combined a dirigible balloon and an aeroplane, and after some consideration the boys furnished him the money to build one.
All was not smooth sailing, literally as well as figuratively speaking. They had a number of difficulties, not the least of which were caused by their old enemy, Noddy Nixon. How they finally started, the accidents that befell them, and the long trip they made for fame, and not a little fortune, in the shape of a substantial prize, you will find set down in the succeeding pages.
The welcome you boys have accorded the previous books in this series makes me hope that you will also like this one. The conquest of the air is coming nearer every year, and who knows but that the Motor Boys may be the ones who will be among the first to solve it.
Yours cordially,
Clarence Young.
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
|---|---|---|
| I | Noddy Nixon’s Tin Fly | 1 |
| II | Off to the Carnival | 11 |
| III | Amid the Airships | 19 |
| IV | The Fat Man’s Wager | 29 |
| V | A Disastrous Flight | 39 |
| VI | Noddy in a Row | 47 |
| VII | In Great Peril | 54 |
| VIII | The Dirigible Balloons | 66 |
| IX | A Race in the Air | 74 |
| X | Planning a Motor Ship | 81 |
| XI | Building the Comet | 87 |
| XII | Noddy Makes Trouble | 96 |
| XIII | Joffy Sees a “Ghost” | 105 |
| XIV | Professor Snodgrass on Hand | 113 |
| XV | The Motor Ship Sails | 121 |
| XVI | Noddy’s Plot | 130 |
| XVII | A Successful Flight | 141 |
| XVIII | A Perilous Trip | 150 |
| XIX | Starting for the Race | 159 |
| XX | Held Up | 166 |
| XXI | Searching for Evidence | 175 |
| XXII | Noddy is Trapped | 184 |
| XXIII | The Stolen Lever | 190 |
| XXIV | “They’re Off!” | 198 |
| XXV | Noddy Gets His Deserts | 208 |
| XXVI | In a Heavy Storm | 214 |
| XXVII | After a Strange Bird | 222 |
| XXVIII | The Red Balloon | 228 |
| XXIX | Over the Mississippi | 235 |
| XXX | Winning the Prizes—Conclusion | 240 |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| “THE AEROPLANE WAS NOW WITHIN TEN FEET OF THE PLATFORM.” |
| “THERE WAS A RESOUNDING CRASH!” |
| “OH! THE GHOST, THE GHOST!” SHOUTED JOFFY. |
| “THE GREAT RACE WAS UNDER WAY.” |