CHAPTER X.
THE AIR SHIP SPRINGS A LEAK.
The Hawk had been moored between two trees. The landing had been easilymade, the preceding afternoon, and Matt was confident that the ascentcould be made as easily. And such would have been the case, had nothinggone wrong.
The cables were untied from the trees and taken aboard, the ruddertilted to pilot the Hawk skyward, the motor was started, and presentlythe power was switched into the propeller.
Then, just as the air ship was given a boost upward, the engine stoppeddead. Without the power of the propeller behind her the car becameunmanageable, and the wind, faint though it was, tossed the big gas bagagainst the limbs of one of the trees.
This lasted only a moment, for, as suddenly as it had stopped theengine had taken hold again, and the propeller began to whirl. Quick asa wink Matt depressed the steering rudder. The Hawk dipped downward,cleared the branches, and then was brought up to continue the climbinto the air.
"A tight squeak, mate!" gasped Ferral. "Whatever was the matter withthe engine?"
"Any one of a dozen things may have happened," replied Matt, "but weseem to be all right now. Come back here, Dick, and do the drivingwhile I look over the motor."
Matt could see nothing wrong with the motor, and felt sure that, nomatter what had caused the sudden failure of the engine, the troublewould not happen again.
Having finished his examination of the machinery, Matt turned hisattention to the gas bag. The top of the bag, of course, he could notsee, but there were no indications that anything was wrong. With asense of relief, the young motorist returned to his post and sent Dickahead to join Carl at the lookout.
There was something to quicken the pulses in the mere thought ofventuring far out over the sea in a "dirigible." The Hawk was mistressof the air, but, if any accident happened and she was precipitatedinto the sea, the steelwork of the car would drag her under and bringcertain death to all aboard.
But Matt and his chums had implicit confidence in the Hawk. They hadsailed her over Lake Michigan, and why could they not sail her acrossthe Florida Straits?
Carl, leaning over the rail, had a dismal thought as they left the lineof white surf and headed boldly toward the heaving horizon to the eastand south.
"I vonder oof ve vas coming pack any more?" murmured Carl. "Der oceaniss full oof wrecks, und I hope dot ve von't be wrecked in it mitoudtany poats to ged avay in."
Dick laughed, turned around and reached out to slap Carl on theshoulder.
"Belay, there, with your gloomy remarks, mate!" cried Dick. "I'd ratherbe in the air with the Hawk than down there in the staunchest shipthat ever left the stays. The barometer says fine weather--and we knowwhat the Hawk can do even with a wholes'l breeze in her teeth. So longas the sky is clear there's no need to worry; and if we see a squallcoming up, we'll put about and scud for the mainland. Buck up, oldship! Think of the iron chest."
"Dot's vat's der madder!" exclaimed Carl, brightening. "Ve're boundfor der islandt to look for dreasure, und dot makes me feel so goot asI can't dell. I bed you somet'ing for nodding dot ve findt dot chest,und ve pring him pack to Downsent und he vill take him py New Orleans.Hoop-a-la!"
Steadily and tirelessly the Hawk made her way across the heavingwaters. There was no way by which the boys could figure her speed,but, carefully weighing the force of the wind, they guessed it attwenty-five miles an hour.
"That means," said Ferral, "that in four hours we ought to be close toTurtle Key."
"Providing we don't get off our course," returned Matt.
"You can't do that, mate, with the compass right in front of you."
"It's only a patch of land we're looking for, Dick, and even if thecourse is kept we're liable to find ourselves a few points off, oneside or the other."
"Right-o! Well, let her flicker and we'll see where we are in fourhours from the time we started."
"Ve're oudt oof sighdt oof land," quavered Carl.
"And just that much nearer catching sight of Turtle Key and the ironchest," laughed Dick.
"Sure!" and Carl echoed the laugh. "It's funny how I forged aboudt dotchest. I vonder vas it Captain Kitt vat put der chest in der cafe? Vatyou t'ink?"
"I'm not doing any thinking about how the chest got there, mate; justso we find it, that'll be enough for me. What's this?" and Dick stoopedsuddenly and brought up a small roll closely wrapped in canvas.
"That must belong to Townsend," said Matt. "Perhaps there's somethingin it that we can use. Open it up, Dick, and see what you find."
Ferral untied the parcel, removed the canvas wrapping and revealed tworevolvers and a box of cartridges.
"Well, strike me lucky!" he exclaimed. "We're a nice outfit of treasurehunters, I must say, to start after a pirate's treasure withoutthinking to bring along a shooting iron! Townsend had a heap more sensethan we had, Matt."
"Townsend," replied Matt, "was thinking of Jurgens when he broughtthose guns along."
"We ought to be thinking of Jurgens, too."
"Put them away somewhere," said Matt. "If we need them--which I hope wewon't--we'll know where they are."
Dick dropped the weapons into one of the boxes of supplies.
The heaving blue horizon now surrounded the boys on every hand. Thereflection that there was only a few hundred cubic feet of gas betweenthem and disaster was not pleasant, and they tried to keep their mindsaway from it. It was easy to sidetrack Carl when his thoughts disturbedhim too much, for Dick and Matt had only to speak of the iron chest andhe immediately forgot everything else. Matt had no faith in the chest,and Dick did not seem to have much, but nevertheless it was a goodthing to conjure with in Carl's case.
"Half-past eight," announced Matt, "and we're two hours out and oughtto be halfway to where we're going."
The next hour dragged a little, but Carl beguiled the time by keepinga sharp lookout ahead through a pair of binoculars. Matt and Dick hadbought four pairs of binoculars for the use of passengers whom theycarried aloft from Atlantic City, but only one pair had been broughtalong on this southern cruise.
By half-past nine Carl had seen nothing of the island, but Matt hadseen something which had caused his blood to run cold and had broughtgray anxiety to his face.
_The gas bag was losing its buoyancy!_
Matt was first sensible of this when he tried to force the Hawk to ahigher altitude. The craft rose sluggishly in answer to the push ofthe whirling propeller, and when the ship was brought to an even keel,again, she showed a tendency to settle.
Casting his eyes upward, Matt saw that the bag had lost its distendedappearance and was getting flabby. Here and there a wrinkle appeared inthe varnished silk.
The bag had been coated with a preparation which was almost proofagainst leakage; and yet here was undeniable evidence that gas wasescaping from the bag, slowly but steadily. It was like the life blooddripping from the veins of all in the car.
"Sweep your glasses over the ocean, Carl!" called Matt. "See if youcan see a ship. There ought to be vessels crossing the straits betweenFlorida and the islands, and there ought to be coasters moving northand south."
Dick whirled around. There was something in Matt's voice that startledhim.
"Why do we want to look for a ship?" he demanded.
"Because the gas bag has sprung a leak," answered Matt, speaking ascalmly as he could, "and we've got to find an island or a ship beforevery long."
Carl fell back against the rail and almost dropped the binoculars.
"Don't say dot!" he cried. "Himmelblitzen, Matt! Oof der gas goes oudtoof der palloon vat vill ve do? Durn aroundt und make for der Floridacoast!"
"It's too far. The gas would be all out of the bag before we could geta quarter of the way back."
Carl looked up at the sagging envelope overhead, and then he stareddown at the heaving waters below. With a shake of the shoulders, hepicked up the glasses and got to his feet.
"It vas no use plubbering aroundt ofer vat can't be heluped," said he,game
ly. "Oof ve haf got to find a ship, den py shinks ve vill findtvone."
"That's the talk, mate," approved Ferral, albeit in a voice that was abit husky.
There was no sail in sight, and no smoke.
"We're south of Great Bahama, Matt," said Ferral, "and this wind willhelp us in that direction. Why not change our course? The Great Bahamais a large island, and we can find it quicker than we can Turtle Key."
"I was about to suggest that," answered Matt, "and was waiting only tohear whether or not there was a ship anywhere in this vicinity."
Shifting the rudder, he put the Hawk on her new course. The wind notonly hastened the craft onward, but also helped to buoy her up, just asthe current of a stream helps to float a swimmer.
"Where is the leak?" went on Ferral, drawing a hand across his eyes andtrying to realize what the escape of the gas meant for them.
Matt's announcement had chilled and dazed him.
"It's in the very worst place it could be," said Matt, "and that's ontop of the bag. The gas is rushing out and is constantly making thehole larger. See how those wrinkles are gathering on the under side!"
Dick passed his eyes over the bag.
"What caused the leak? Have you any notion, Matt?"
"It must have been the branches of that tree we struck against when westarted."
"But the bag didn't show any signs of a leak _then_."
"Probably there was no leak, but that the envelope was chafed andweakened. The pressure of the gas has since made a hole, and the holeis getting larger every second."
Matt pushed the motor to top speed. For a time there was silence in thecar--silence broken only by the roar of the ocean and by the steady humof the motor. A calmness, the calmness of desperation, settled over thethree chums.
"We'll do the best we can, mates," said Dick, "and if we fail it willbe while we're making a good fight to save ourselves. If----"
Just here a frantic yell came from Carl.
"A ship! Py chimineddy, dere's a ship! I knowed as vell as I knowanyt'ing dot Modor Matt's luck vouldn't go pack on him. Crowd on derpower, bard! Pud efery ounce oof enerchy in der bropeller! Ve vill vinoudt yet--yah, so helup me!"
Snatching the binoculars from Carl's hand, Dick focussed them on theobject that had claimed Carl's attention.