The bag is only about
half full. Force in all you can!
"Mr. Damon, can you take the wheel? It doesn't make any difference which
way we go as long as you keep her before the wind, and yank back the
elevating rudder as far as she'll go! We must head up."
"All right, Tom," answered the eccentric man, as he fairly jumped to
take the place of the young inventor at the helm.
"Can I do anything?" asked the Russian, as Tom raced for the engine
room, to speed the motor up to the last notch.
"I guess not. Everything is covered, unless you want to help Mr. Damon.
In this blow it will be hard to work the rudder levers."
"All right," replied Ivan Petrofsky, and then there came another
sickening roll of the airship, that threatened to turn her completely
over.
"Lively!" yelled Tom, clinging to various supports as he made his way to
the engine room. "Lively, all hands, or we'll be awash in another
minute!"
And indeed it seemed that this might be so, for with the wind forcing
her down, and the hungry waves leaping up, as if to clutch her to
themselves, the Falcon was having anything but an easy time of it.
It was the work of but an instant however, when Tom reached the engine
room, to jerk the accelerator lever toward him, and the motor responded
at once. With a low, humming whine the wheels and gears redoubled their
speed, and the great propellers beat the air with fiercer strokes.
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