BUILDING THE COMET
One evening, about a week after this, Jerry Hopkins was seen hurrying
down the main street of Cresville. He walked fast and hardly looked
from right to left.
“Hello, Jerry,” called Frank Merton, one of his town friends, “come
over and have a plate of ice cream.”
“No, thanks. Haven’t time, Frank. I’m in a hurry to catch Bob and Ned.
Haven’t seen either of them around, have you?”
“No. If I see ’em I’ll tell ’em you were lookin’ for ’em.”
“I wish you would. It’s quite important.”
“Those motor boys are up to some new scheme, I’ll bet a lemon,”
remarked Frank as he strolled on. “They’re always goin’ off somewhere,
or havin’ a good time. I wish I was in their crowd.”
Which is what a number of other boys, not only of Cresville, but of
other places, have also wished.
Jerry hurried on, but he did not catch sight of either of his chums.
He proceeded to Ned Slade’s house, and there, on the big front porch,
comfortably swinging in hammocks, were the two lads.
“Well, I must say you’re taking it easy,” observed Jerry.
“Sure. Why not?” asked Bob. “What’s your rush? You look as if you’d
been walking fast.”
“So I have. I’ve been looking for you two. He’s come.”
“Who’s come?” asked Ned.
“Mr. Glassford, the man who’s going to build our motor ship for us.
He arrived at my house half an hour ago. He was delayed in getting
his model shipped, and that’s why he wasn’t here yesterday, when we
expected him.”
“Has he got the model now?” inquired Ned.
“Yes, and it’s a dandy.”
“Did he bring plans, so he can build a big one for us?” demanded Bob.
“He sure did. Come on and look ’em over. That’s why I came for you. Did
you tell your folks about our plans?”
“You mean building an airship?” asked Ned.
“Sure.”
“I did,” declared Bob. “My mother thinks it’s all talk, but we’ll show
her.”
“My dad doesn’t take much stock in it,” remarked Ned. “I guess he
thinks it will fizzle out.”
“Wait until they see the plans and the model,” said Jerry. “That will
show we mean business. But come on. I told Mr. Glassford I’d come right
back with you.”
All enthusiasm, the two boys leaped from the hammocks, and were
soon accompanying Jerry back to his house. There they found their
acquaintance of the carnival, but what attracted their attention as
soon as they entered the library where he was sitting was a complete
model of a curious airship, about three feet long, which was suspended
from the chandelier.
“There’s a small size model of the future _Comet_,” exclaimed Jerry.
“You see, I’ve named our motor ship already, just as I did our motor
boat.”
“_Comet’s_ a good name,” was Mr. Glassford’s opinion. “Now, if you boys
will draw up your chairs I’ll briefly explain my plans for a motor
ship.”
With the aid of diagrams, blue-prints, sketches, profiles and some
simple tables of calculations, Mr. Glassford demonstrated, by frequent
references to the model, just how it would be possible to sail through
the air for a long time in a ship built on the lines of his invention.
The motor ship was to consist of a big cigar-shaped bag of very strong
material to hold the gas. It was divided into several compartments, so
that in case one or even three or four were punctured there would be
enough sustaining power to keep the ship and its crew afloat. The gas
used was a combination of hydrogen and another vapor, the secret of
which Mr. Glassford would not disclose. Sufficient to say that it was a
very powerful combination.
The gas bag fitted inside a light but very strong framework, braced
with piano wire, and on either side of this frame, standing at right
angles to the long bag, were several planes, made of light canvas,
stretched over poles of bamboo. These, in effect, made a combined
balloon and aeroplane, giving the advantages of both, and somewhat
neutralizing the defects of each one.
Below the bag, with the framework supporting the planes, was the
body of the ship--the car--containing the motor and the devices for
operating it, as well as the rudders, propellers and planes, which
could be shifted.
The car was large, or, rather, the plans called for a good-sized one.
There would be a comfortable cabin, in which the travelers would live
during the day, doing their cooking on a stove which utilized the
exhaust gas from the motor. There was also another room, where five
small berths provided sleeping accommodations. These berths could be
folded up during the day, and as the room containing them was well
forward, it made a good place to sit when the ship was in motion, for
an excellent view could be had from the big windows.
The entire car was enclosed, so that storms would not affect the
travelers. The motor was in a small room by itself, and there was a
little pilot house, on top of the bunk room, in which the operator
stood, being able to control, stop or start the motor from there, as
well as adjust the two rudders or shift the planes.
There were two sets of rudders, though one, as has been explained, was
more like a big box-kite than a rudder. This controlled the depression
or elevation of the ship. The other, shaped like a fish-tail, sent it
to right or left.
The planes on either side of the gas bag were intended to better
balance the motor ship, to render it less liable to be sent out of its
course by contrary winds, and to support it in case of accidents. The
planes were on the same principle as a bird’s wings when it is gliding
or swooping down from a great height.
There was ample store room for supplies, provisions, some ballast and
a few duplicate parts of the motor. Water was carried in a large tank,
and there was another for a plentiful supply of gasolene. The motor
ship had many novel features, and there were so many points of interest
about it, as Mr. Glassford explained to them, that the boys hardly
noted them all at the time of going over the plans.
“It certainly seems as if it would work,” remarked Bob at length.
“Oh, it will work,” declared the inventor quickly. “Why, the gas bag,
with the peculiar vapor I put into it, would lift twice as much weight
as I intend to carry.”
“And you say it will not cost more than six thousand dollars to build
it?” asked Jerry.
“I think I can easily do it for five thousand. That is less than you
paid for your touring car, you told me.”
“Yes; with the improvements we’ve put on it the cost has run beyond
that,” admitted Jerry. “Well, fellows, what do you say? Shall we use
part of our income from the gold mine, and build the _Comet_?”
“Sure,” replied Ned quickly.
“Every time,” added Bob. “I want a trip through the air.”
“Then the next thing is to tell your folks, and get their consent to
spend the money,” went on Jerry. “I have already won my mother over.”
Though the boys had a considerable sum at their disposal, from a gold
mine which they had been fortunate enough to help an old prospector to
discover on one of their trips, they never spent an unusual sum without
obtaining the consent of their parents.
“When can you let me know?” asked Mr. Glassford somewhat anxiously.
“To-morrow,” replied Bob, and Ned nodded to indicate that he too would
have an answer by then.
“How long will it take to build it after we provide the money?” asked
Jerry.
“About a month. You see, much of the material I will need is already
in stock in shops that make a specialty of airship supplies. The motor
I can easily get, and the principal work will be putting the ship
together. You boys can help me on it, and in a month, at the most, we
ought to be able to make our first trip.”
“That’s the stuff!” cried Bob.
“I’m going home now, and see dad,” said Ned, as he got up. “I’m so
anxious I can’t wait.”
“Bring your parents here, and let me explain my plans to them,”
proposed Mr. Glassford, and this was voted a good idea.
At first Ned’s and Bob’s folks only laughed at their sons’ pleas, but
as the boys insisted that they really meant to have an airship, Mr. and
Mrs. Slade and Mr. and Mrs. Baker finally gave in, and accompanied the
lads to Jerry’s house. There Mr. Glassford went over all the details
again, explaining how it was practically impossible to run any serious
risk.
Not without some misgivings, however, did the respective parents give
their consent. But they finally did, which was all the boys cared
about, and a contract was drawn up and signed by Mr. Glassford and Mrs.
Hopkins, Mr. Baker and Mr. Slade, the boys being barred because they
were not of legal age.
It was arranged that Mr. Glassford should have the use of a big loft in
a storage building owned by Mr. Slade, where he kept some of the goods
sold in his department store. There the work of building the airship
could be started. When it had progressed as far as was possible in
there, it was to be taken out and a large tent erected in a vacant
lot. There the gas bag could be inflated, the planes and car attached,
and all made ready for a flight.
Mr. Glassford lost no time, once the money was provided, and in less
than a week from his arrival in Cresville he was at work on the ship,
with three enthusiastic boys to aid him--no, four boys, for Andy Rush
was allowed to come in, though he talked more than he worked.