CHAPTER XXV
A FORCED LANDING
"Hold on there, old boy! Don't let go!" begged Dick of his pet, whoswung to and fro, dangling like some grotesque pendulum over the sideof the airship. "Hold on, Grit!"
And Grit held on, you may be sure of that. His jaws were made for justthat purpose. The dog made queer gurgling noises in his throat, for hedare not open his mouth to bark. Probably he knew just what sort ofdeath would await him if he dropped into the vast space below him.
"How we going to get him up?" asked Larry.
"I'll show you!" cried Dick, as he stretched out at full length on thedeck, and made his way to the edge where his head and shouldersprojected over the dizzying space. The airship was still rushing on.
"Grab his legs--somebody!" exclaimed Paul. "I'll sit on you, Dick!"
"That's right! Anchor me down, old man!" Dick cried. "I'm going toget Grit!"
"Are you going to make a landing to save him?" asked Larry.
"No, though I would if I had to," Dick replied. "I'm just going tohaul him up by the rope. Keep a good hold, old boy!" he encouraged hispet, and Grit gurgled his answer.
And then Dick, leaning over the edge of the deck, while Paul sat on hisbackward-stretched legs to hold him in place, hauled up the bulldoghand over hand, by means of the rope the intelligent animal had sofortunately grasped.
Inch by inch Grit was raised until Larry, who had come to the edge tohelp Dick, reached out, and helped to haul the dog in.
"There he is!" cried Dick, as he slid back.
"Well, old boy, you had a close call!"
Grit let go the rope and barked. And then a strange fit of tremblingseized him. It was the first time he had ever showed fear. He neverventured near the edge of the deck again, always taking a position asnear the centre as possible, and lying down at full length, to preventany danger of sliding off. And he never went out on the deck unlessDick went also, feeling, I suppose, that he wanted his master near incase of accidents.
"Say, that was some little excitement," remarked the young millionaire,as he wiped the beads of perspiration from his forehead. "I thoughtpoor old Grit was sure a goner."
"It did look so," admitted Paul. "He's an intelligent beast, allright."
"Takes after me," laughed Dick. "Well, let's see how Innis made outwhile we were at the rescue."
"I was all ready to send her down quick, if you'd given the word," saidthe cadet in the pilot house, when the party went inside the cabin.
"But she's still on her course," he added, after a glance at thecompass.
"I'm glad we didn't have to go down," Dick remarked. "As we only havetwo landings we can make I want to save my reserve until we areactually forced to use it. I wonder about where we are, anyhow? Let'smake a calculation."
By figuring out the rate of speed, and comparing the elapsed time, andthen by figuring on a scale map, it was estimated, as dusk settleddown, that they were about on the border line between Pennsylvania andOhio.
"We'll cross the state of Ohio tonight," spoke Dick, "and by morning weought to be in Indiana. Not so bad, considering that we haven't reallypushed the machine to the limit yet, except in that little brush withthe other airships."
"Yes, we are doing very well," said Mr. Vardon. "I wonder how some ofour competitors are making out? I'd like to get some news of them."
"So would I," went on Dick. "Particularly my Uncle Ezra."
Had he but known it, Mr. Larabee, in his airship with Larson and thearmy man, was following close after him. For really the big biplane,with the mercury stabilizers, which Larson had constructed, was a finecraft, and capable. That Larson had cheated Mr. Larabee out ofconsiderable money in the building had nothing to do with the workingof the apparatus. But of Uncle Ezra and his aircraft more later.
"We'll get some news the first landing we make," suggested LieutenantMcBride.
"Well, I would like to get news all right," admitted Dick. "But Idon't want to go down until I have to. Now for supper. Anything youfellows would like, especially?"
"Green turtle soup for mine!" sung out Larry.
"I'll have pickled eels' feet," laughed Innis, who had relinquished thewheel to Mr. Vardon. "Wait a bit, Dick, and I'll drop a line overboardand catch a few."
"And I'll see if I can't shoot a mock turtle," came from Paul.
"Nothing but roast turkey for mine," insisted Lieutenant McBride. "ButI guess we'll have to compromise on capsule soup and condensedsandwiches."
"Oh, I can give you canned chicken," promised the young millionaire,"and perhaps I can make it hot for you."
"Not too much tabasco sauce though, the way you dosed up the stuff forthe last Freshman dinner!" objected Paul. "I ate some of that bymistake, and I drank nothing but iced water for a week after."
"That's right--it was a hot old time!" cried Dick, with a laugh at therecollection.
As space was rather limited on board the airship, no ice could becarried, and, in consequence no fresh meats were available except forthe first few hours of travel. Of course, when a landing was to bemade, another limited supply could be laid in, but, with only twodescents to earth allowed, this would not help much.
However, as the trip was going to be a comparatively short one, no oneminded the deprivation from the usual bountiful meals that, somehow,one seemed to associate with the young millionaire.
A good supply of "capsule" food was carried. In making up his larderDick had consulted Lieutenant McBride, who had given him a list of thehighly nutritious and condensed food used in the army.
While such food was not the most appetizing in the world, it could becarried in a small space, was easily prepared, and would sustain life,and provide working energy, fully as long as the more elaborate dishes,which contain a large amount of waste materials.
Soon the electric stove was aglow, and on it Dick got up a tastysupper. Innis insisted on helping his chum, though it was Dick's turnto play cook.
"You just can't keep out of the kitchen; can you?" asked Dick, of thestout cadet. "You always want to be around where eating is going on."
"Well, the only way to be sure of a thing, is to do it yourself," saidInnis. "I would hate to have this fine appetite of mine go to waste."
It was quite dark when they sat at supper, for some slight defectmanifested itself in one of the small motors just as they were about toeat, and it had to be repaired at once.
But, gathered about the folding table, with the electric lights aglowoverhead, there was little indication among the party of aviators thatthey were in one of the most modern of skycraft, sailing a mile abovethe earth, and shooting along at fifty miles an hour. So easy was themotion of the Abaris, and so evenly and smoothly did she glide along,due to the automatic action of the gyroscope stabilizer, that it reallyseemed as if they were standing still--floating between heaven andearth.
Of course there was the subdued hum of the great propellers outside,and the throb of the powerful gasolene motor, but that was all thatgave an idea of the immense force contained in the airship.
From time to time Lieutenant McBride made notes for future use. He hadto report officially to the war department just how this type ofairship behaved under any and all circumstances. Then, too, he wasinterested personally, for he had taken up aviation with greatenthusiasm, and as there were not many army men in it, so far, he stooda good chance for advancement.
"The possibilities of aeroplanes in time of war are only beginning tobe understood," he said. "Of course there has been a lot of foolishtalk about them, and probably they will not be capable of doing allthat has been claimed for them, as yet. But they will be of immensevalue for scouting purposes, if for nothing else. In rugged andmountainous countries, an aviator will be under no difficulties at all,and can, by hovering over the enemy's camp, get an idea of thedefenses, and report back.
"Thus it will be possible to map out a plan of attack with every chanceof success. There will be no time lost, and lives may b
e saved fromuseless exposure."
"Do you think airships will ever carry light artillery, or drop bombson an enemy?" asked Dick.
"Well, you could carry small artillery aboard here if you didn't haveso much company," answered the army man. "It is all a question ofweight and size. However, I believe, for the present, the mostvaluable aid airships will render will be in the way of scouting. But Idon't want to see a war just for the sake of using our airships.Though it is well to be prepared to take advantage of their peculiarusefulness."
After supper they prepared to spend their first night aboard theairship on her prize-winning attempt. They decided to cut down thespeed a little.
"Not that there's much danger of hitting anything," Dick explained,"though possibly Uncle Ezra and Larson might come up behind and crashinto us. But at slower speed the machinery is not so strained, andthere is less likelihood of an accident."
"That's right," agreed Mr. Vardon. "And an accident at night,especially when most of us are asleep, is not so easily handled as whenit occurs in daylight. So slow her down, Dick."
The motor was set to take them along at thirty miles an hour, and theydescended until they were fifteen hundred feet above the earth, so incase of the Abaris becoming crippled, she would not have to spend muchtime in making a landing.
Everything was well looked to, and then, with Dick and Mr. Vardontaking the first watch, the others turned in. And they were so tiredfrom the rather nervous excitement of the day of the start, that theywere soon asleep. Dick and the aviator took turns at the wheel, andattended to the necessary adjustments of the various machines.
It might seem strange for anyone to sleep aboard a moving airship, but,the truth of the matter was, that our friends were realty worn out withnervous exhaustion. They had tired themselves out, not onlyphysically, but mentally, and sleep was really forced on them.Otherwise they might not have slumbered at all.
It was shortly past midnight when Dick, who, in spite of his attemptsto keep awake, had partly dozed off, was suddenly aroused by a howlfrom Grit.
"What--what's the matter, old boy?" he asked. "In trouble again?"
There came another and louder howl. "Where is he?" asked Mr. Vardon,looking in from the pilot-house.
"I can't see him," Dick answered. "Can he be out on deck?"
A moment later there was a flash as of lightning, within the cabin, andGrit mingled his howls and barks as though in great pain.
"Something's wrong!" cried the aviator. "Look about, Dick, I can'tleave the wheel. We seem to be going down!"
The young millionaire sprang up and leaped toward the place where hehad heard Grit howling. The next moment Dick laughed in a relievedfashion.
"Where are those rubber gloves?" he asked.
"Rubber gloves?" repeated Mr. Vardon.
"Yes. Grit has gotten tangled up in the little dynamo that runs theheadlight, and he's short-circuited. He can stand more of a shock thanI can. I want to get him off the contacts. Where are the gloves?"
The aviator directed Dick to where the insulating gauntlets were kept,and in another moment Grit was pulled away from the contact. He hadbeen unable to move himself, just as when one grasps the handles of agalvanic battery the muscles become so bound as to be incapable ofmotion.
Fortunately the current, while it made Grit practically helpless, forthe time, was not strong enough to burn, or otherwise injure him. Hegave a howl of protest at the accident, as Dick released him, andshuffled off to his kennel, after fawning on his master.
"One of the wires has some of the insulation off--that's what causedthe trouble," Dick explained. "I'll wind some tape on it until we havetime to put in a new conductor."
"Grit seems to be getting the worst end of it this trip," said Paul,who had been awakened by the commotion.
"Yes, he isn't much used to airships," agreed Dick. "But you'd betterturn in, Paul. You've got an hour yet before it's your turn at thewheel."
"Oh, better let me have it now. I'm awake, and I can't get to sleepagain. Turn in yourself."
Which Dick was glad enough to do, as he was quite tired. The remainderof the night passed without incident, and when morning came the airshipwas put at her former speed, fifty miles an hour. That may not soundvery fast, but it must be remembered that this rate had to be kept upfor sixty hours straight, perhaps.
After breakfast the wire that had shocked Grit was renewed, and thensome observations were taken to determine their position. It wascalculated they were about halfway across Indiana by noon.
The afternoon was slowly waning, and they were preparing for theirsecond night of the prize trip, congratulating themselves that they hadnot yet been forced to descend.
Suddenly Larry, who was at the wheel, uttered a cry of alarm.
"Something's wrong!" he shouted. "I can't steer her on the course anylonger. She's heading North instead of West."
Dick and Mr. Vardon rushed to the pilot-house. A glance at the compassconfirmed Larry's statement. The aviator himself took the wheel, butit was impossible to head the craft West. She pointed due North.
"The horizontal rudder is out of gear!" cried Dick.
"Yes, and we'll have to go down to fix it," said Mr. Vardon, after aquick inspection. "Boys, we've got to make our first landing! It's toobad, but it might be worse."
Dick Hamilton's Airship; Or, A Young Millionaire in the Clouds Page 25
