Vardon. "If we've gone up that far,
and we haven't gotten beyond the gale, there isn't much use trying
any more. We'll ride it out at that level."
Indeed the Abaris was very high, and some of the party had a little
difficulty in breathing. Grit, too, was affected this way, and it
added to his uneasiness.
"If we had some means of making the cabin air-tight we could make
the air pressure in here just what we wanted it, regardless of the
rarefied atmosphere outside," said Dick. "In my next airship I'll
have that done."
"Not a bad idea," agreed Mr. Vardon. "It could be arranged."
The night was wearing on, and as the first pale streaks of dawn
showed through the celluloid windows of the cabin it was noticed by
the wind gage that the force of the gale was slacking.
"We've ridden it out!" exulted Dick. "She's a good old airship
after all. Now we can get back on our course. We ought to be
crossing the Rockies soon, and then for the last stage of the trip
to San Francisco."
"Oh, we've got considerable distance yet to cover," said the
aviator. "I fancy we were blown nearly five hundred miles out of
our way, and that's going to take us several hours to make good on."
"Still you are doing well," said the army man. "No airship has ever
made a trans-continental flight, and there is no speed record to go
by. So you may win after all, especially as the storm was so
general."
It was rapidly getting light now, and as they looked they saw that
they were above the clouds.
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