The sleepy feeling was rapidly leaving him, as
well as Ned and the watchman.
"Bless my watch chain!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "What an ugly, mean
piece of work. Can you repair it, Tom?"
"I think so," was the hesitating answer. "It is not as bad as I
feared at first. Luckily the gas-bag has not been touched, for, if
it had, we could hardly have repaired it. I can fix the wings and
the rudders. The propellers have not been damaged, nor has the motor
been touched. I think they must have made another attempt to take
the map off me," he went on, as he looked at several pockets that
had been turned inside out.
An examination of the door showed how the lock had been forced, and
the adventurers could easily guess the rest. But who the midnight
vandal was they could not tell, though Tom and the others were sure
it was some one hired by the Fogers.
"They wanted to delay us," said Tom. "They thought this would hold
us back, but it won't--for long. We'll get right to work, and make
new planes and rudders. Fortunately the framework isn't hurt any."
Once Tom got into action nothing held him back. He hardly wanted to
stop for meals. New canvas was ordered, and that very afternoon some
of the damaged wings had been repaired. In the meanwhile the stores
and provisions that had been ordered were arriving, and, under the
direction of the miner and Mr.
Pages:
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97