“Well, now we’re well started, I think I’ll go and——”
“See about dinner, or supper or breakfast, or something like that; eh, Chunky?” interrupted Ned with a laugh.
“Hu? How’d you know?” asked the stout lad.
“Oh, I could tell by the expression of your face,” remarked the merchant’s son. “Whenever you begin that way you can generally be depended on, Bob, to say something about eating.”
“Aren’t you hungry, Jerry?” and the stout lad appealed for vindication to his tall chum.
“Yes, I am,” he admitted. “Go ahead, Bob, and get something ready while Ned and I take a look around the machinery and see if it’s working all right.”
“I’ll wager Ned’s hungry, too, only he won’t admit it,” murmured the fat lad as he started toward the galley.
They had been making good progress and it had been some time since they had eaten, for the alarming message about the unmanageable dirigible balloon, and the excitement that followed, had driven all thoughts of meals from their minds. Now, however, in spite of Ned’s joking, everyone was glad Bob had mentioned eating.
The Comet was sailing along over the ocean, not making any great speed, for Jerry and his chums had not yet decided what course to follow. It was rather like searching in the dark, for they did not know in which direction to look for the Manhattan. They could only cruise about, trusting to chance to put them on the right path.
Jerry and Ned found that the machinery was working well, and the tall lad, on his return to the pilot house, ventured to speed up the motor slightly. Meanwhile Bob was busy with the meal, which would be a cross between a late dinner and an early supper.
Professor Snodgrass had laid aside his note-books, and had put away his specimen boxes. Now, with a small but powerful telescope he was seated on the forward deck of the motor-ship, eagerly scanning the ocean below him for a sight of the flying singing fish.
“Do you expect to find it so near land, Professor?” asked Ned.
“No, hardly, yet I must not let a chance escape me. Even if I don’t get the fish I want right away, I may see some other specimen I need. You can descend whenever you want to, can’t you?”
“I suppose so, but you’d better talk to Jerry about that part of it.”
The professor lost no time in interviewing the tall lad, for he wanted to be ready to have the Comet drop to the surface of the ocean at a moment’s notice, in case he saw a specimen he desired to catch.
“Yes, we can go down almost any time except when it’s too rough,” said Jerry. “In fact, I was thinking of going down shortly to see how the hydroplanes worked on salt water. They ought to do better than in fresh, as salt water is more buoyant. We’ll go down as soon as we have something to eat.”
Perhaps the professor can be excused for hurrying through with his meal, as he was anxious to get down to the surface of the sea. Jerry, too, wondered how his new attachment would work when there was a swell on, for, up to now, he had only tested the hydroplanes on comparatively smooth water.
“Well, here we go,” he announced, when, after getting up from the table, they had all gathered in the pilot house ready for the descent. “Ned, you take charge of the air rudder, will you? And Bob, you stand here ready to throw in the gears of the water propeller when I give the word. I’m going to stand by the hydroplane lever.”
“Is there anything I can do?” asked the professor eagerly. “I’d like to help.”
“Oh, I guess we can manage,” replied Jerry. “Pull the depressing handle, Ned.”
The merchant’s son yanked the lever toward him. Almost instantly the Comet pointed her nose toward the ocean that rolled below them. The boys were now practically out of sight of land.
Professor Snodgrass, seeing that he could be of no service, again took up his telescope to scan the water for a possible sight of some fish specimen, though he did not hope to so soon get the prize he sought.
“We’re almost down,” murmured Ned, who was keeping watch through a glass window in the floor of the pilot house.
“Yes,” agreed Jerry. “Now, Ned, stand ready to haul up on the bicycle wheels when I give the word.”
The three boys were on the alert. Would the new attachment work on the ocean? They were all anxious to know.
“Now, Bob and Ned!” called Jerry suddenly.
Ned hauled up the bicycle wheels, which were on jointed arms. Bob threw the gears of the water propeller into mesh, while Jerry lowered the toggle-jointed arms to which were attached the hydroplanes.
Down upon the surface of the ocean settled the Comet, and then, as Jerry started the motor which revolved the water propeller, the craft darted forward with an easy motion like some graceful yacht.
“How about it?” asked Bob eagerly.
“Couldn’t be better,” declared Jerry. “The hydroplanes work as well on the ocean as they did on the lake. Boys, it’s a great success. Now if we find Mr. Jackson and his friends we can rescue them in the air or on the water!”
They moved along for a mile or more upon the surface of the sea. Of course their progress was not as smooth as in the air, for there was a rolling, heaving motion to the ocean waves. But as our heroes were used to travel in a big motor-boat, they did not mind the swell.
Professor Snodgrass did not see his singing fish, nor did he have great hopes that he would. He used a small net which was sunk to some little depth by means of weights, but he did not get any valuable specimens. Only one small fish rewarded his efforts.
“I don’t care for it myself,” he said, “but I have a friend who will like it for his collection,” and he put it into a jar of water to save it.
As the afternoon was waning Jerry decided to ascend into the air again, and so, starting the larger propellers, in order to get more speed, they mounted upward, and once more were on their way, searching for the disabled balloon.
But the welcome sight of the Manhattan did not greet them, and darkness was fast coming on. The great searchlight was kindled and with the glowing beam shooting ahead of them they continued on through space.
All night they travelled, one or the other of the boys being on the watch all the while, searching the heavens for a glimpse of a moving light that would indicate the presence of the craft they sought. But morning came with no success.
“Do you know what I think we ought to do,” spoke Bob, after breakfast.
“What; eat again?” asked Ned, with a wink at Jerry.
“No. Now cut out that joking, can’t you? I think we ought to go higher up, say a couple of miles. The air will be clearer, and we can see farther.”
“Good idea, Chunky!” declared Jerry. “We’ll do it. Maybe we can see the balloon, then.”
The motor was speeded up, and in a short time, with her elevating rudders tilted skyward, the Comet was climbing higher into the air. When the barograph measured fourteen thousand feet height Jerry sent the craft along at that level, while all on board peered eagerly about for the Manhattan.
They had been travelling on this way for perhaps two hours, and Jerry was wondering how far they might venture out over the ocean, when Ned asked:
“Why are you speeding up the motor? Aren’t we going fast enough?”
“I haven’t put on any more speed,” was the reply.
“Look at the tractometer,” was Ned’s reply, and glancing at the instrument Jerry saw, with a start, that they were going about seventy-five miles an hour.
“That’s odd,” he remarked, “the motor is only set for about forty.”
“What can be the matter?” asked Bob.
Even as he spoke they noticed that the needle of the dial on the tractometer slowly swung around until it pointed to ninety miles. At the same time they were aware that there was a curious humming sound in the air outside.
“We must have struck a swiftly-moving current of air,” spoke Jerry.
Once more they looked at the tractometer. It now registered a hundred miles an hour, and the sound outside increased to a roar.
Suddenly the Comet gave a sickening dive, and almost turned turtle. Only the new fin-keels Jerry had put on, and the automatic equilibrium machine, saved them from being turned over.
“What’s the matter?” cried Professor Snodgrass, coming into the steering tower.
“It must be an upper-air hurricane!” gasped Jerry. “The same kind that caught the Manhattan! We’re in its power!”
The wind was now howling and roaring outside the motor-ship, which plunged and careened in the air like a ship in a storm on the ocean. Faster and faster she scudded along in the gale, more rapidly than her motors could take her, even at top speed.
“We must go down!” gasped Jerry hoarsely. “Go down, or we may be ripped all apart!” And he sprang to the lever of the depressing rudder.