Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice, or, the Wreck of the Airship

by Victor Appleton

  CHAPTER XIII

  A FRIGHTENED INDIAN

  The violence of the hail storm, the clatter of the frozen pellets asthey bombarded the airship, the rolling, swaying motion of the craftas Tom endeavored to send it aloft, all combined to throw thepassengers of the RED CLOUD into a state of panic.

  "Bless my very existence!" cried Mr. Damon, "this is almost as badas when we were caught in the hurricane at Earthquake Island!"

  "I am sure that this storm is but the forerunner of some direcalamity!" declared Mr. Parker.

  "I'm afraid it's all up with us," came from Abe Abercrombie, as helooked about for some way of escape.

  "Do you think you can pull us through, Tom?" asked Ned Newton, who,not having had much experience in airships had yet to learn Tom'sskill in manipulating them.

  The young inventor alone seemed to keep his nerve. Coolly and calmlyhe stood at his post of duty, shifting the wing planes from momentto moment, managing the elevation rudder, and, at the same time,keeping his eye on the registering dial of the gas-generatingmachine.

  "It's all right," said Tom, more easily than he felt. "We are goingup slowly. You might see if you can induce the gas machine to do anybetter, Mr. Damon. We are wasting some of the vapor because of theleak in the bag, but we can manufacture it faster than it escapes,so I guess we'll be all right."

  "Mr. Parker, may I ask you to oil the main motor? You will see theplaces marked where the oil is to go in. Ned, you help him. Here,Abe, come over here and give me a hand. This wind makes the ruddershard to twist."

  The young inventor could not have chosen a better method ofrelieving the fears of his friends than by giving them something todo to take their minds off their own troubles. They hurried to thetasks he had assigned to them, and, in a few minutes, there were nomore doubts expressed.

  Not that the RED CLOUD was out of danger, Far from it. The storm wasincreasing in violence, and the hailstones seemed to double innumber. Then, too, being forced upward as she was, the airship's bagwas pelted all the harder, for the speed of the craft, added to thevelocity of the falling chunks of hail, made them strike on thesurface of the ship with greater violence.

  Tom was anxiously watching the barograph, to note their height. TheRED CLOUD was now about two and a half miles high, and slowlymounting upward. The gas machine was working to its fullestcapacity, and the fact that they did not rise more quickly told Tom,more plainly than words could have done, that there were severaladditional leaks in the gas-bag.

  "I'll take her up another thousand feet," he announced grimly."Then, if we're not above the storm it will be useless to gohigher."

  "Why?" asked Ned, who had come back to stand beside his chum.

  "Because we can't possibly get above the storm without tearing theship to pieces. I had rather descend."

  "But won't that be just as bad?"

  "Not necessarily. There are often storms in the upper regions whichdo not get down to the surface of the earth, snow and hail stormsparticularly. Hail, you know, is supposed to be formed by drops ofrain being hurled up and down in a sort of circular, spiral motionthrough alternate strata of air--first freezing and then warm, whichaccounts for the onion-like layers seen when a hailstone is cut inhalf."

  "That is right," broke in Mr. Parker, who was listening to the younginventor. "By going down this hail storm may change into a harmlessrain storm. But, in spite of that fact, we are in a dangerousclimate, where we must expect all sorts of queer happenings."

  "Nice, comfortable sort of a companion to have along on a gold-huntingexpedition, isn't He?" asked Tom of Ned, making a wry faceas Mr. Parker moved away. "But I haven't any time to think of that.Say, this is getting fierce!"

  Well might he say so. The wind had further increased in violence,and while the storm of hailstones seemed to be about the same, themissiles had nearly doubled in size.

  "Better go down," advised Ned. "We may fall if you don't."

  "Guess I will," assented Tom. "There's no use going higher. I doubtif I could, anyhow, with all this wind pressure, and with thegas-bag leaking. Down she is!"

  As he spoke he shifted the levers, and changed the valve wheels. Inan instant the RED CLOUD began to shoot toward the earth.

  "What's happened? What in th' name of Bloody Gulch are we upag'in'?" demanded the old miner, springing to his feet.

  "We're going down--that's all," answered Tom, calmly, but he was farfrom feeling that way, and he had grave fears for the safety ofhimself and his companions.

  Down, down, down went the RED CLOUD, in the midst of the hail storm.But if the gold-seekers had hoped to escape the pelting of thefrozen globules they were mistaken. The stones still seemed toincrease in size and number. The gas machine register showed asudden lack of pressure, not due to the shutting off of theapparatus.

  "Look!" cried Ned, pointing to the dial.

  "Yes--more punctures," said Tom, grimly.

  "What's to be done?" asked Mr. Damon, who had finished the task Tomallotted to him. "Bless my handkerchief! what's to be done?"

  "Seek shelter if the storm doesn't stop when we get to the earthlevel," answered Tom.

  "Shelter? What sort of shelter? There are no airship sheds in thisdesolate region."

  "I may be able to send the ship under some overhanging mountaincrag," answered the young inventor, "and that will keep off thehailstones."

  Eagerly Tom and Ned, who stood together in the pilothouse peeredforward through the storm.

  The wind was less violent now that they were in the lower currentsof air, but the hail had not ceased.

  Suddenly Tom gave a cry. Ned looked at him anxiously. Had some newcalamity befallen them? But Tom's voice sounded more in relief thanin alarm. The next instant he called:

  "Look ahead there, Ned, and tell me what you see."

  "I see something big and black," answered the other lad, after amoment's hesitation. "Why, it's a big black hole!" he added.

  "That's what I made it out to be," went on Tom, "but I wanted to besure. It's the opening to a cave or hole in the side of themountain. I take it."

  "You're right," agreed Ned.

  "Then we're safe," declared Tom.

  "Safe? How?"

  "I'm going to take the RED CLOUD in there out of the storm."

  "Can you do it? Is the opening big enough?"

  "Plenty. It's larger than my shed at home, Jove! but I'm glad I sawthat in time, or there would have been nothing left of the gas-bag!"

  With skilful hands Tom turned the rudders and sent the airship downon a slant toward the earth, aiming for the entrance to the cave,which loomed up in the storm. When the craft was low enough down sothat the superstructure would not scrape the top of the cave, Tomsent her ahead on the level. But he need have had no fears, for thehole was large enough to have admitted a craft twice the size of theRED CLOUD.

  A few minutes later the airship slid inside the great cavern, aseasily as if coming to rest in the yard of Tom's house. The roof ofthe cave was high over their heads, and they were safe from thestorm. The cessation from the deafening sound of the peltinghailstones seemed curious to them at first.

  "Well, bless my shoelaces! if this isn't luck!" cried Mr. Damon, ashe opened the door of the cabin, and looked about the cave in whichthey now found themselves. It was comparatively light, for theentrance was very large, though the rear of the cavern was in gloom.

  "Yes, indeed, we got to it just in time,'" agreed Tom. "Now let'ssee what sort of a place it is. We'll have to explore it."

  "There may be a landslide, or the roof may come down on our heads,"objected Mr. Parker.

  "Oh, my dear Parker! please be a little more cheerful," begged Mr.Damon.

  The adventurers followed Tom from the airship, and all but the younginventor gazed curiously at the interior of the cave. His firstthought was for his airship. He glanced up at the gas-bag, and notedseveral bad rents in it.

  "I hope we can fix them," Tom thought dubiously.

  But the attention of all was suddenly
arrested by something thatoccurred just then. From the dark recess of the cavern there soundeda fearful yell or scream. It was echoed back a thousand-fold by therocky walls of the cave, Then there dashed past the little group ofgold-seekers a dark figure.

  "Look out! It's a bear!" shouted Mr. Damon. "A bear! It's an EskimoIndian!" yelled Abe Abercrombie, "an' he's skeered nigh t' death!Look at him run!"

  As they gazed toward the lighted entrance of the cave they sawleaping and running from it an Indian who quickly scudded out intothe hail storm.

  "An Indian," exclaimed Tom. "An Indian in the cave! If there's one,there may be more. I guess we'd better look to our guns. They mayattack us!" and he hurried back into the airship, followed by Nedand the others.