Chapter 13
Mr. Damon In Danger
The sensations of the voyagers in the airship, who meanwhile, wereflying along over the country surrounding Shopton, were not verydifferent than when they had undertaken some trial flights. In fact Mr.Damon was a little disappointed after they had waved their farewells toMr. Swift and Mrs. Baggert.
"I declare I'm not at all nervous," he remarked, as he sat in an easychair in the enclosed car or cabin, and looked down at the earththrough the plate-glass windows in the floor.
"I thought you'd be all right once we got started," commented Mr.Sharp. "Do you think you can stand going a trifle higher?"
"Try it," suggested the eccentric man. "Bless my watch chain, but, as Isaid, I might as well die this way as any other. Hitting a cloud-bankis easier than trying to climb a tree on a motorcycle, eh, Tom?"
"Very much so, Mr. Damon," conceded the young inventor, with a laugh.
"Oh, we'll not attempt any cloud heights for a day or two," went on Mr.Sharp. "I want you, to gradually get used to the rarefied atmosphere,Mr. Damon. Tom and I are getting to be old hands at it. But, if youthink you can stand it, I'll go up about a thousand feet higher."
"Make it two thousand, while you're at it," proposed the odd character."Might as well take a long fall as a short one."
Accordingly, the elevation rudder was used to send the Red Cloud to agreater height while she was still skimming along like some great bird.Of course the desired elevation could have been obtained by forcingmore gas from the machine into the big, red container overhead, but itwas decided to be as sparing of this vapor as possible, since thevoyagers did not want to descend to get more material, in case theyused up what they had. It was just as easy to rise by properly workingthe rudders, when the ship was in motion, and that was the method nowemployed.
With the great propellers, fore and aft, making about a thousandrevolutions a minute the craft slanted up toward the sky.
The ship was not being run at top speed as Mr. Sharp did not care toforce it, and there was no need for haste. Long distance, rather thanhigh speed was being aimed at on this first important flight.
Tom was at the steering wheel, and, with his hand on the levercontrolling the elevation rudder, kept watch of the face of Mr. Damon,occasionally noting what height the hand on the gauge registered. Hefancied he saw the cheeks of his friend growing pale, and, when aheight of thirty-five hundred feet was indicated, with a yank the younginventor put the airship on a level keel.
"Are you distressed, Mr. Damon?" he asked.
"Ye--yes, I--I have--some--some difficulty in breathing," was theanswer.
Tom gave his friend the same advice the aeronaut had given the lad onhis first trip, and the eccentric man soon felt better.
"Bless my buttons!" he ventured to explain. "But I feel as if I hadlost several pounds of flesh, and I'm glad of it."
Mr. Sharp was busy with the motor, which needed some slightadjustments, and Tom was in sole charge of navigating the airship. Hehad lost the nervous feeling that first possessed him, and was becomingquite an expert at meeting various currents of wind encountered in theupper regions.
Below, the voyagers could see the earth spread out like a great map.They could not tell their exact location now, but by calculating theirspeed, which was about thirty miles an hour, Tom figured out that theywere above the town of Centreford, near where he had been attacked onceby the model thieves.
For several hours the airship kept on her way, maintaining a height ofabout a mile, for when it was found that Mr. Damon could accommodatehimself to thirty-five hundred feet the elevation rudder was againshifted to send the craft upward.
By using glasses the travelers could see crowds on the earth watchingtheir progress in the air, and, though airships, dirigible balloons andaeroplanes are getting fairly common now, the appearance of one asnovel and as large as the Red Cloud could always be depended upon toattract attention.
"Well, what do you say to something to eat?" proposed Mr. Sharp, cominginto the main cabin, from the motor compartment. "It's twelve o'clock,though we can't hear the factory whistles up, here."
"I'm ready, any time you are," called Tom, from the pilot house."Shall I cook grub, Mr. Sharp?"
"No, you manage the ship, and I'll play cook. We'll not get a veryelaborate meal this time, as I shall have to pay occasional visits tothe motor, which isn't running just to suit me."
The electrical stove was set going, and some soup and beefsteak fromamong the stores, was put on the fire. In spite of the fact that theday was a warm one in October, it was quite cool in the cabin, untilthe stove took off the chill. The temperature of the upper regions wasseveral degrees below that of the earth. At times the ship passedthrough little wisps of vapor-clouds in the making.
"Isn't this wonderful!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, as he sat in an easychair, partaking of some of the food. "To think that I have lived tosee the day when I can take my lunch a mile in the air, with a craftflying along like a bird. Bless my knife and fork but it certainly iswonderful."
Mr. Sharp relieved Tom at the wheel, while the young inventor ate, andthen, with the airship heading southwest, the speed was increased atrifle, the balloonist desiring to see what the motor could accomplishunder a heavy load.
A drop of several hundred feet was made about an hour later, and, asthis made it warmer, Mr. Damon, who was a great lover of fresh air,decided to go out on the platform in front of the cabin. This platform,and a similar one at the rear, was railed about, to prevent accidents.A fine view could be had from them much better than through the floorwindows of the car.
"Be careful of the propeller," advised Tom, as his friend went outside."I don't believe you're tall enough to be hit by the blades, but don'ttake any chances of standing on your tiptoes."
"Bless my pocket handkerchief, indeed I'll not," came the answer. "ButI think I shall wrap up my throat in the scarf I brought along. I amsubject to neuralgia, and the breeze may bring on an attack of it."
Wrapping a long, woolen scarf about his neck, the eccentric man venturedout on the open platform. About the middle of it, but sufficiently highto be above a person's head, was the forward propeller, whirring aroundat swift speed.
Tom, with his eye on the various gauges and the compass, was steeringthe airship. He glanced at Mr. Damon, who appeared to be enjoying theview from the platform. For an instant the eyes of the lad were takenfrom the form of his friend. He looked back suddenly, however, hisattention attracted by a smothered cry. He was horrified by what he saw.
Mr. Damon was leaning far over the edge of the railing, with nothingbetween him and the earth a thousand feet below. He seemed to have losthis balance and had toppled forward, being doubled up on the iron piperailing, his hands hanging limply over. Then, as Tom cried to Mr. Sharpto shut off the motor, the lad saw that, hanging to the blade of thepropeller, and being whirled around in its revolutions, was a part ofMr. Damon's red scarf.
"Hurry! Hurry, Mr. Sharp!" yelled Tom, not daring to let go thesteering wheel, for fear the ship would encounter a treacherous currentand tilt. "Hurry to Mr. Damon!"
"What's the matter?" asked the balloonist.
"He's dead--or unconscious--hanging over the railing. He seems to beslipping! Hurry, or it will be too late!"
Tom Swift and His Airship Page 13
