Through the Air to the North Pole Part 7

"I have," said Jack, "and I'd like to go along."

"Good! You shall go!" exclaimed the inventor. "How about you, Mark?"

"I'll go, too."

"All right. Now we have plenty to do," the old professor went on. "The actions of this man Taggert will hasten my plans. There are a few finishing touches to put on the ship. Come out into the shed."

Delighted at the chance of helping about the mysterious _Monarch_, the boys followed the professor. They found the shed lighted by windows in the roof, from which the curtains had been rolled back. The windows on the side were not opened.

By daylight the airship looked larger than before. It was a wonderful machine. The professor and his colored helper busied themselves in the engine room. Now and then the two boys were allowed to aid.

As he hurried about from one part of the ship to the other the professor told them how he had come to build the _Monarch_. He said he was an old bachelor and alone in the world, and had long desired to sail to the north pole. The failure of many land expeditions had convinced him that an airship was the only feasible method. Accordingly he had come to this rather deserted part of the country, built his cabin and shed, and then had begun the putting together of his airship.

The engine parts, the various pieces of apparatus, and the machinery, he bought from many different sources, so as not to excite suspicion. At last after much labor the great undertaking was done.

"The _Monarch_ has never been tested," said the professor, "but I know it will sail. I have made many small models and they worked perfectly."

Several busy hours were spent. Much more machinery was put in the ship, the food lockers were stored with supplies, the gasolene tanks filled, and the supply of fur clothing increased.

"There!" exclaimed the professor at length. "We are about ready to sail.

I could start in an hour if necessary. All I have to do is to fill the silk bag with my wonderful gas, which is all ready to generate."

"Den you'd better start to generationess it right off quicker than sooner!" shouted Washington, running from the rear of the shed. "Hurry up, Perfessor!"

"What's the matter?" asked Mr. Henderson anxiously.

"Dat prisoner man has escaped!" cried Washington. "He's clean gone!

Flown away! Jumped his bail!"

"That's bad!" exclaimed the professor. "He'll work some mischief now! I guess we'll have to start on our trip at once!"

CHAPTER VI

AWAY IN THE AIRSHIP

"Quick, Washington!" cried the professor. "Jump in the engine room and start the gas generator. Mark, you bring in from the cabin all those wheels and things on the walls! Jack, load those packages there into the locker in the after part of the _Monarch_! But handle them carefully!

They contain explosives and ammunition for the machine gun!"

If there had been hurry and bustle before, there was ten times as much now. The professor gave one look at the place where Taggert had been concealed. The man had worked off his bonds and escaped while his captors were in the airship's cabin.

Soon there was a queer hissing noise from the engine room of the _Monarch_. The gas bag began to distend.

"She's fillin', Perfessor!" cried Washington.

"We must tie her down," muttered the old man. "Otherwise she will rise and take the shed with her. I say, Washington!"

"Yes, Perfessor."

"We must get some one to help us open the shed roof to let the ship rise out. We can't do it alone."

"Guess it's a extraunordinary contract," agreed the negro.

"Then you go out and see if any one is in sight. Try to hire them for the work, but don't tell them about the ship. They can work up on the roof. I will see to the gas machine while you are away. Hurry now!"

The colored man went out. In the meanwhile the professor and the two boys continued to load up the _Monarch_. They had nearly everything that the inventor intended to take along piled in its proper place, when footsteps were heard outside. Then the noise of some persons on the roof was audible. In a few minutes Washington came in.

"I found three men," explained the negro. "One is dat old hunter as helped us before, Andy Sudds. He was goin' huntin' but he said he'd help take the roof off fer a dollar. De oder two is does farm hands, Tom Smith an' Bill Jones. Dey was goin' down to do post-office, but dey said dey'd help fer fifty cents apiece. All three is up on de roof now."

"Good!" exclaimed the professor. "It's lucky I had the roof made in sections when I built this shed. Now it can be taken off in a hurry.

Come on, boys! There are some more things that must go in the ship!"

Thus urged, Mark and Jack worked with a will. Washington helped, and then went up on the roof to aid the three emergency toilers. By this time several sections of the covering to the shed had been taken off and the place was quite light.

All the while the gas machine in the ship continued to generate the vapor. It flowed into the cigar-shaped bag through two rubber tubes. As the bag distended more and more, the _Monarch_ tugged and pulled at the anchoring ropes on the floor of the shed, as if anxious to be away.

The boys worked with a will. The last articles were placed in the various rooms of the airship's cabin, until the balloon shed was stripped quite bare. The professor was busy in the engine room. The noise of the gas generating machine increased.

Then came a series of sharp explosions as one of the gasolene engines was started. This was followed by the hum of an electric dynamo, and the whizz and purring of a big motor.

The inventor was testing the many machines to see that all worked right.

Suddenly he switched on the incandescent lights in the ship's cabin.

Next he turned on the powerful searchlight in the bow, and the shed was illuminated by a glare that rivaled the sun. The professor then revolved the big propeller slowly and tested the rudder.

"Everything is in good shape!" he cried. "We will start in five minutes if they get the roof off so we can rise. Those anchor ropes will not hold much longer!"

Up on the roof, however, the men were working with a will. Board after board was torn away and the different sections moved to one side. At last the whole top of the shed was off. All that remained was to let the _Monarch_ out.

Suddenly from where the three emergency helpers were working there came a cry of astonishment, mingled with fear. For the first time Andy Sudds, Tom Smith and Bill Jones, characters well known to Amos Henderson, had looked down into the shed, and caught sight of the tugging, swaying airship. The interior had been quite dark up to this point, which accounted for them not having noticed the ship before. But when they saw the strange affair so close beneath them they were startled.

"Jumpin' rattlesnakes!" cried Andy Sudds. "What have I struck?"

"It's a yellow elephant!" exclaimed Tom Jones.

"A sea serpent!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Bill Smith.

They leaned over from the edge of the roof eaves to which they were clinging and peered down into the big balloon shed. Certainly the airship presented a queer sight to the three men.

"Is everything ready?" asked the professor of Washington.

"Eberyt'ing am circ.u.mulated to completeness," replied the negro.

"Jump in, boys! Untie the ropes, Washington. We'll start!"

"Hurry! Hurry! Perfessor!" cried Washington, as he looked out of a side window. "Here comes dat man we tied up in de shed! He's got anoder man wid him, an' dey got guns!"