generally came out all right," returned Tom. "Still, I don't like this. Why she went up five points since I've been looking at it!" and he pointed to the needle of the gage, which now registered fifty-five miles an hour.
"Bless my appendix!" gasped Mr. Damon. "It's a hurricane Tom!"
"Something like that," put in Ned, in a low voice.
With a suddeness that was startling, the wind increased in violence still more. Tom ran to the pilot house.
"What are you going to do?" Ned called.
"See if we can't go down a bit," was Tom's answer. "I don't like this. It may be calmer below. We're up too high as it is."
He tried to throw over the lever controlling the deflecting rudder, which would send the Flyer down, but he could not move it.
"Give me a hand!" he called to Ned, but even the strength of the two lads was not sufficient to shift it.
"Call Koku!" gasped Tom. "If anybody can budge it the giant can!"
Meanwhile the airship was being carried onward in the grip of a mighty wind, so strong that its pressure on the surface of the deflecting rudder prevented it from being shifted.
