hen there's danger lurking 'round, won't
you? But tell me one thing now: did anyone see you come in here?"

The dog beat the damp floor with his tail.

"Well, if they did, it's going to be mighty tough for you and me, that's
all I've got to say about it."

* * * * *

Upon opening the door to the cabin of the balloon, after catching the
gleam of the supposed domes of the City of Gold, Dave Tower found, to his
great relief, that they had dropped to a considerably lower level than
that reached by them many hours before. He was able to stand exposure to
this outer air.

He began at once to search for cords which would allow gas to escape from
the balloon.

"Should be a valve-cord and a rip-cord somewhere," he muttered to himself,
"but you can never tell what these Orientals are going to do about such
things."

As he gazed away toward the north, he was sure he caught sight of dark
purple patches between the white.

"Might just be shadows and might be pools of salt water between the
ice-floes. If we land on the ocean, good night!"

Hurriedly he searched the rigging for dangling cords. He found none. If
there had been any, they had been thrown up and tangled above by the
tossing of the balloon.

Dave stared dizzily upward to where the giant sausage drifted silently on.
It was a sheer fifty feet. To reach this there was but one means, a
slender ladder of rope. Could he do it? Could he climb to the balloon and
slit it before they reached the ocean?

It was their only chance. If the City of Gold was not a complete illusion;
if human beings lived there at all, they might hope for food and shelter.
There were chemicals in the cabin for re-inflating the balloon. A fair
wind, or the discovery of the method of operating that Oriental engine,
might insure them a safe voyage home. But once they were out over the
ocean--his heart went sick at the thought of it.

Gripping the rounds of the ladder, he began to climb. It was a perilous
task. Now with a sinking sensation he felt the ladder apparently drop from
beneath him. The balloon had struck a pocket of air. And now he felt
himself lifted straight up a fleeting hundred feet.

Holding his breath, he waited. Then, when the motion was stable, he began
to climb again. He had covered two-thirds of the distance, was staring up
at the bulk that now seemed almost upon his very head, when, with a little
cry, he felt his foot crash throug