was now going along at about her usual speed of fifty
miles an hour. The aviation park had been left behind, and they were
now flying along at a comparatively low altitude.

"Better go up a little," suggested Mr. Vardon. "It will be dark
shortly, and we don't want to run into a mountain in the night."

Dick tilted the elevating rudder and the craft lifted herself into the
air, soaring upward.

"Here, Innis, you take the wheel now, it's your turn," called our hero,
a little later. "Straighten her out and keep her on a level keel.
It's my turn to get supper."

"And give us plenty, if you don't mind," begged the stout cadet, who
took his chum's place in the pilot house. "This upper atmosphere seems
to give me an appetite."

"I never saw you without it, Innis," laughed Paul.

"Come on out on the deck, for a breath of air before we start to cook,"
suggested Larry. "We can get a fine view of the sunset there."

The open deck, in the rear of the cabin, did indeed offer a gorgeous
view of the setting sun, which was sinking to rest in a bank of golden,
green and purple clouds.

"I'll go out, too," said Lieutenant McBride. "I am supposed to make
some meteorological observations while I am on this trip, and it is
high time I began."

And so, with the exception of Innis, who would have his turn later, and
Mr. Vardon, who wanted to look over the machinery, for possible heated
bearings, all went out on the railed deck. Grit, the bulldog, followed
closely on the heels of Dick.

"Be careful, old man," said the young millionaire to his pet. "There's
no rail close to the deck, you know, and you may slip overboard."

They stood for a few moments viewing the scene while thus flying along
through the air. The colors of the sunset were constantly changing,
becoming every moment more gorgeous.

Suddenly there was a swerve to the airship, and it tilted sharply to
one side.

"Look out!" cried Dick, as he grasped the protecting railing, an
example followed by all. "What's up?"

"We're falling!" shouted Paul.

"No, it's just an air pocket," was the opinion of Lieutenant McBride.
"We'll be all right in another moment."

They were, but before that Grit, taken unawares, had slid unwillingly
to the edge of the open deck.

"Look out for him!" shouted Dick, making a grab for his pet.

But he was too late. The deck was smooth, and the bulldog could get no
grip on it. In another instant he had toppled over the edge of t