nd, and, hearing it, Mr. Sharp began to go about
the ship, seeing that everything was fast and taut.

"We're going to have a blow," he remarked, "and a heavy one, too.
We'll have to make everything snug, and be ready to go up or down, as
the case calls for."

"Up or down?" inquired Mr. Damon.

"Yes. By rising we may escape the blow, or, by going below the strata
of agitated air, we may escape it."

"How about rain?"

"Well, you can get above rain, but you can't get below it, with the law
of gravitation working as it does at present. How's the gas generator,
Tom?"

"Seems to be all right," replied the young inventor, who had
relinquished the wheel to the balloonist.

They ate an early supper, and, hardly had the dishes been put away,
when from the west, where there was a low-flying bank of clouds, there
came a mutter of thunder. A little later there was a dull, red
illumination amid the rolling masses of vapor.

"There's the storm, and she's heading right this way," commented Mr.
Sharp.

"Can't you avoid it?" asked Mr. Damon, anxiously.

"I could, if I knew how high it was, but I guess we'll wait and see how
it looks as we get closer."

The airship was flying on, and the storm, driven by a mighty wind, was
rushing to meet it. Already there was a sighing, moaning sound in the
wire and wooden braces of the Red Cloud.

Suddenly there came such a blast that it heeled the ship over on her
side.

"Shift the equilibrium rudders!" shouted Mr. Sharp to Tom, turning the
wheel and various levers over to the lad. "I'm going to get more speed
out of the motor!"

Tom acted just in time, and, after bobbing about like a cork on the
water, the ship was righted, and sent forging ahead, under the
influence of the propellers worked at top speed. Nor was this any too
much, for it needed all the power of the big engine to even partially
overcome the force of the wind that was blowing right against the Red
Cloud. Of course they might have turned and flown before it, but they
wanted to go north, not south--they wanted to face their accusers.

Then, after the first fury of the blast had spent itself, there came a
deluge of rain, following a dazzling glare of lightning and a bursting
crash of thunder.

In spite of the gale buffeting her, the airship was making good
progress. The skill of Tom and the balloonist was never shown to better
advantage. All around them the storm raged, but through it the craft
kept on her way. Not