CHAPTER XII
IN PERIL
“Say, isn’t this great?” demanded Jerry of his companions, as he stood in the steering house, and directed the course of the Comet on the lake. “I guess now you agree with me, don’t you, Bob, that the hydroplanes are all right?”
“Yes, they are,” admitted the stout lad. “I didn’t think they’d work so well.”
“Me, either,” spoke Ned. “They’ll be all right in case we have to go over some part of the ocean, or a large body of water, and something happens so that we have to descend.”
“I hope we will very soon be over the ocean,” remarked Mr. Snodgrass earnestly, as he came forward, holding in his hand a little bug, of which he seemed to take great care. He had been so interested in its capture that he had taken little notice of the landing on the lake.
“We’ll try a flight over the water, perhaps a trip out to sea for a few miles, and back again,” said Jerry. “Now that it works all right, I’m not afraid to go anywhere in the Comet.”
“But first we go to Danforth,” said Ned.
“Of course, to see Mr. Jackson. There’s no reason why we can’t start to-morrow or the next day,” said the tall lad.
“We can’t get the grub and other things on board in that time,” objected Bob.
“Yes, we can, if we leave the eating part to you,” declared Ned. “You’ll see that there’s plenty of canned chicken and stuff like that, and Jerry and I can hustle in the stores, gasolene and supplies. Maybe we could start to-morrow, fellows.”
“I’ll do my share,” agreed the fat lad.
“It’s rather too short notice,” objected Jerry. “But we can start in two or three days. I’ll have to make a few little changes in the machinery, and we’ll be all right then.”
“All I care about is getting the singing fish,” spoke Professor Snodgrass, scanning the surface of the lake as if he might sight a specimen there.
The Comet was moving slowly over the water. It was not built for very great speed in that element, being designed for use in the air, but it made fairly good progress. By using the air propellers it could be made to go much faster, and they would be put into operation when it was designed to get a flying start so that the wing planes would lift the craft up.
But now only the water propeller was being used, and as the Comet glided along she was soon surrounded by many other craft, the occupants of which wanted to know what kind of a boat the boys had.
Their curiosity was satisfied in a measure, and one enthusiastic motor-boat owner wanted to race.
“I’m afraid we’re not in your class,” objected Jerry. “If you wait a few minutes, though, we’ll make an ascension, and then we’ll accept the challenge.”
“I’m afraid I wouldn’t be in it then,” answered the motor-boat man with a laugh. “But you sure have a great craft there.”
“We’ll try the air propellers now,” went on Jerry, “and see if we can get up speed enough to rise into the air without using the gas bag. That’s a point of which I am still in doubt.”
“Supposing we don’t rise?” asked Bob.
“Oh, well, then we can force gas into the bag. But I’d like to try the wings now, and see how they work since we changed the shape and the angle of inclination.”
“Go ahead,” called Ned, and he and Bob helped Jerry to get the machinery ready for the new test. The water propeller was stopped, and soon the air ones were whirring around like blurs of light.
“Clear the way!” yelled Jerry to a little flotilla of rowing and motor craft that were in the path he proposed to take in skimming over the surface of the water. “Clear the way, or we may run you down!”
The boats made haste to pull to one side or the other, leaving a lane along which the Comet could dash before mounting up into the air.
Faster and faster went the propellers. The motor-ship gathered way. It was sliding over the surface now on the hydroplanes, which were like little boats, or the runners of an ice yacht. More and more speed did the Comet develop.
“I guess she’ll do it,” murmured Jerry. “I’ll tilt the elevation rudder in a few seconds and then—well, we’ll see what will happen.”
He looked ahead over the water course. The craft was making considerable progress then, in a straight line. Jerry reached for the lever that controlled the rudder which would send them aloft. He glanced at the speed register and noted that they had not yet reached sufficient momentum.
Suddenly, from the lee of a large sailing yacht that had come to anchor out of the path of the Comet to watch the test, there shot a rowboat containing a girl and a lady. Right in the path of the oncoming motor-ship was the small boat.
“Look out!” yelled Jerry through a megaphone.
“Pull to one side,” added Ned, though they could not hear his voice above the noise of the engine.
“Row out! Row to one side!” cried Jerry again. “We’ll run you down! We can’t steer to the right or left without capsizing!”
This was true, for to swerve the motor-ship off a straight course at the speed at which she was going would have meant disaster.
“Look out! Look out!” yelled Jerry desperately, waving his arms in warning. The sailors on the yacht now added their voices to those aboard the Comet, and the woman and girl became confused. Each one had an oar, and they were not pulling together.
All at once the girl lost her blade overboard, and the lady, pulling on hers, sent the rowboat about in a circle. Around it spun, right in the path of the oncoming Comet.
“Slow up! Go to the left—no the right—back up—we’ll be killed—they’ll be killed—jump over them—up in the air—do something!” yelled Andy Rush.
“Quiet!” shouted Jerry. He saw that it would be useless to call further to the occupants of the rowboat. They were helpless. Nor did it seem possible to stop the Comet in time, though Jerry had his hand on the reverse lever. Even at slackened speed, if they hit the small boat, they would upset it, either killing the occupants or throwing them into the water. And there was grave danger to the comparatively frail Comet, in the event of a collision.