"
"Yes, don't run any chances with those little red men," begged Andy
Foger, who had given himself up for lost when he and his companion
fell into their hands.
"Radder vould I be mit cannibals dan dose little imps!" spoke the
German fervently.
"We'll start at once," declared Tom. "Are you all aboard, and is
everything loaded into the airship?"
"Everything. I guess." answered Mr. Anderson.
Tom looked to the motor, saw that it was in working order, and
shoved over the lever of the gas machine to begin the generating of
the lifting vapor. To his surprise there was no corresponding hiss
that told of the gas rushing into the bag.
"That's odd," he remarked. "Ned, see if anything is wrong with that
machine. I'll pull the lever again."
The bank clerk stood beside the apparatus, while Tom worked the
handle, but whatever was the matter with it was too intricate or
complicated for Ned to solve.
"I can't see what ails it," he called to his chum. "You better have
a peep."
"All right, I'll look if you work the handle."
The passengers on the airship, which now rested in a little clearing
in the dense jungle, gathered at the engine room door, looking at
Tom and Ned as they worked over the machine.
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