Part 17 (1/2)

”What's happened? What in th' name of b.l.o.o.d.y Gulch are we up ag'in'?” demanded the old miner, springing to his feet.

”We're going down--that's all,” answered Tom, calmly, but he was far from feeling that way, and he had grave fears for the safety of himself and his companions.

Down, down, down went the RED CLOUD, in the midst of the hail storm.

But if the gold-seekers had hoped to escape the pelting of the frozen globules they were mistaken. The stones still seemed to increase in size and number. The gas machine register showed a sudden lack of pressure, not due to the shutting off of the apparatus.

”Look!” cried Ned, pointing to the dial.

”Yes--more punctures,” said Tom, grimly.

”What's to be done?” asked Mr. Damon, who had finished the task Tom allotted to him. ”Bless my handkerchief! what's to be done?”

”Seek shelter if the storm doesn't stop when we get to the earth level,” answered Tom.

”Shelter? What sort of shelter? There are no airs.h.i.+p sheds in this desolate region.”

”I may be able to send the s.h.i.+p under some overhanging mountain crag,” answered the young inventor, ”and that will keep off the hailstones.”

Eagerly Tom and Ned, who stood together in the pilothouse peered forward through the storm.

The wind was less violent now that they were in the lower currents of air, but the hail had not ceased.

Suddenly Tom gave a cry. Ned looked at him anxiously. Had some new calamity befallen them? But Tom's voice sounded more in relief than in alarm. The next instant he called:

”Look ahead there, Ned, and tell me what you see.”

”I see something big and black,” answered the other lad, after a moment's hesitation. ”Why, it's a big black hole!” he added.

”That's what I made it out to be,” went on Tom, ”but I wanted to be sure. It's the opening to a cave or hole in the side of the mountain. I take it.”

”You're right,” agreed Ned.

”Then we're safe,” declared Tom.

”Safe? How?”

”I'm going to take the RED CLOUD in there out of the storm.”

”Can you do it? Is the opening big enough?”

”Plenty. It's larger than my shed at home, Jove! but I'm glad I saw that in time, or there would have been nothing left of the gas-bag!”

With skilful hands Tom turned the rudders and sent the airs.h.i.+p down on a slant toward the earth, aiming for the entrance to the cave, which loomed up in the storm. When the craft was low enough down so that the superstructure would not sc.r.a.pe the top of the cave, Tom sent her ahead on the level. But he need have had no fears, for the hole was large enough to have admitted a craft twice the size of the RED CLOUD.

A few minutes later the airs.h.i.+p slid inside the great cavern, as easily as if coming to rest in the yard of Tom's house. The roof of the cave was high over their heads, and they were safe from the storm. The cessation from the deafening sound of the pelting hailstones seemed curious to them at first.

”Well, bless my shoelaces! if this isn't luck!” cried Mr. Damon, as he opened the door of the cabin, and looked about the cave in which they now found themselves. It was comparatively light, for the entrance was very large, though the rear of the cavern was in gloom.

”Yes, indeed, we got to it just in time,'” agreed Tom. ”Now let's see what sort of a place it is. We'll have to explore it.”

”There may be a landslide, or the roof may come down on our heads,”