ON LAKE MICHIGAN
Unsuccessfully they tried to make repairs to the horizontal rudder
without going down, but it was not to be. The airship was being sent
farther and farther along on a Northern course, taking her far out of
her way. And more time and distance might thus be lost than by
descending, making repairs, and going on again.
"Well, I did hope we'd cover at least half the trip before we had to go
down," Dick said, and his tone was regretful. "Try once more and see
if we can't get her back on the course."
But the horizontal guide--by which I mean the apparatus that sent the
craft to left or right--was hopelessly jammed. To try to force it
might mean a permanent break.
"Take her down," Dick finally gave the order, as captain. "What sort
of a landing-place is below us?"
"We're too far up to see," said Mr. Vardon.
"And I hope we have the luck to be above open country. We can't go to
left or right except in the smallest degree, so we'll have to land
wherever Fate disposes. We are all right on going up or down, but not
otherwise."
The vertical rudder was now depressed, and on a long slant Dick's
airship was sent down. Lower and lower she glided, and soon an
indistinct mass appeared. It was almost dusk, and no details could be
made out. Then, as she went lower what appeared to be a gray cloud
showed.
"There's a bank of fog below us," declared Paul.
"Or else it's the smoke of Pittsburg," said Innis.
"We left Pittsburg behind long ago," Larry returned. "Why!" he cried,
as the gray foglike mass became more distinct. "That's water--that's
what it is!"
"Water!" exclaimed Dick. "Can we have gone in the wrong direction, and
be back over the Atlantic?"
"Or the Pacific?" suggested Larry with a laugh.
"No such good luck as that! We haven't had time to cross the continent
yet," declared Dick. "But what water can it be?"
"Oh, some small lake," spoke Paul.
"It isn't a small lake--it's a big one--an inland sea," was Dick's
opinion, as they settled lower and lower.
"It's Lake Michigan, that's what it is!" shouted Larry, after a quick
glance at the map. "Fellows, we're over Lake Michigan!"
"And we're going to be IN it--or on it--in a little while, I'm
thinking," Lieutenant McBride said, grimly. "Are you ready for a bath?"
"There won't be any trouble about that," answered Dick. "The
hydroplanes will take care of us. I only hope it isn't too rough to
make a safe landing."
Paul took a telescope from the rack, and, going out on the deck, looked
down. The next moment he reported:
"It's fairly calm. Just a little swell on."
"Then we'd better get ready to lower the hydroplanes," went on Dick,
with a look at the aviator.
"That's the best thing to do," decided Mr. Vardon. "We'll see how
they'll work in big water."
The hydroplanes, which were attached to the airship near the points
where the starting wheels were made fast, could be lowered into place
by means of levers in the cabin. The hydroplanes were really
water-tight hollow boxes, large and buoyant enough to sustain the
airship on the surface of the water. They could be lowered to a point
where they were beneath the bicycle wheels, and were fitted with
toggle-jointed springs to take up the shock.
Lieutenant McBride took out his watch, and with pad and pencil prepared
to note the exact moment when the airship should reach the surface of
the lake.
"I shall have to take official notice of this," he said. "It
constitutes your first landing, though perhaps it would be more correct
to call it a watering. As soon as you are afloat, your elapsed time
will begin, and it will count until you are in the air again. You will
probably be some time making repairs."
"No longer than we can help," said Dick. "I don't want Uncle Ezra, or
anybody else, to get ahead of me."
Down and down sank the Abaris, on her first descent from the cloud-land
since her auspicious start. But, as Dick admitted, it might be worse.
The accident itself was a comparatively slight one.
"Get ready, everybody!" called Mr. Vardon, as he saw that, in a few
seconds more, they would be on the surface of the water.
"Do you fear something will go wrong?" asked Larry, quickly.
"Well, we've never tried the hydroplanes in rough water, and there is
always the chance for an accident. Stand out where you can jump, if
you have to," he directed.
Lieutenant McBride was standing with his watch out, ready to note the
exact second of landing. He knew he must be officially correct, though
he would give Dick every possible chance and favor.
"Here we go!" came the cry from the aviator. "Only a few seconds now!"
They could plainly see the heaving waters of the big lake. Fortunately
it was comparatively calm, though once she had landed the airship could
stand some rough weather afloat.
Splash! went the hydroplanes into the water. The springs took up the
shock and strain, and the next moment Dick's craft was floating easily
on the great lake. The landing had been made without an accident to
mar it.
"Good!" cried Lieutenant McBride, as he jotted down the time. "Do you
know how long you have been, so far, Dick, on the trip?"
"How long?"
"Just thirty-five hours, four minutes and eight seconds!" was the
answer.
"Over half the estimated time gone, and we re only a third of the way
there!" exclaimed the young millionaire. "I'm afraid we aren't going
to do it, Mr. Vardon."
"Well, I'm not going to give up yet," the aviator answered, grimly.
"This is only a start. We haven't used half our speed, and when we get
closer to the finish we can go a hundred and twenty-five miles an hour
if we have to--for a spurt, at any rate. No, I'm not giving up."
"Neither am I," declared Dick, for he was not of the quitting sort.
Floating on the surface of Lake Michigan was like being on the ocean,
for they were out of sight of land, and there were no water craft in
view. The Abaris seemed to have the lake to herself, though doubtless
beyond the wall of the slight haze that hemmed her in there were other
vessels.
"Well, now to see what the trouble is," suggested Dick. "It must be
somewhere in the connecting joints of the levers, for the rudder itself
seems to be all right."
"But we'd better begin out there and make sure," suggested Mr. Vardon.
He pointed to the rudder, which projected some distance back of the
stern of the aircraft.
"How you going to get at it to inspect it?" asked Paul. "It isn't as
if we were on solid ground."
"And no one has long enough a reach to stretch to it from the deck,"
added Innis.
"You forget our collapsible lifeboat," Dick answered. One of those
useful craft was aboard the airship. It could be inflated with air,
and would sustain a considerable weight.
"I'll go out in that and see what's the trouble," Dick went on. "It
will tell us where we've got to begin."
"Perhaps we had better wait until morning," suggested Lieutenant
McBride. "It is fast getting dark, and you can do much better work in
daylight. Besides, you are not pressed for time, as your stay here
will not count against you. I think you had better wait until morning."
"And stay here all night?" asked Dick.
"I think so. You have proved that your hydroplanes are all right. Why
not rest on the surface of the lake until morning? You can't anchor,
it is true, but you can use a drag, and there seems to be no wind, so
you will not be blown ashore. Besides, you can, to a certain extent,
control yourself with the propellers."
"I think we will wait then," decided the young millionaire captain. "As
you say we can make a drag anchor to keep us from drifting too much."
By means of a long rope a drag anchor was tossed out at the stern of
the aircraft. This would serve to hold her back. Then, as nothing
further could be done, preparations were made for supper.
"Well, this aeroplaning has its ups and downs," said Paul, with a
laugh, as he sat at table. "Last night we were eating up in the air,
and now we're on the water."
"And it's lucky we're not IN the water!" exclaimed Innis. "Regular
Hamilton luck, I call it."
"No, it's Vardon luck," Dick insisted. "He planned the hydroplanes
that made it possible."
Lights were set aglow to show the position of the craft on the water.
"We don't want to be run down in the night," Dick said, as he noted the
red and green side lights as well as the white ones at bow and stern.
For, in the water, the Abaris was subject to the same rules as were
other lake craft. It was only when in the air that she was largely a
law unto herself.
The night passed quietly enough, though it came on to blow a little
toward morning. But the drag anchor worked well.
"And now for the repairs," cried Dick, after breakfast, as he and his
chums got out the collapsible boat. It was blown up, and in it Dick
and Mr. Vardon paddled out to the stern rudders.
They were examining the universal joint, by which the apparatus was
deflected when Dick suddenly became aware of a wet feeling about his
feet, and a sinking feeling beneath him. He looked down, and found
that the boat, in which he and Mr. Vardon were standing, was going
down. Already it was half filled with water.
"More trouble!" cried Dick. "I guess we'll have to swim for it!"