s!" was the
answer.

"Over half the estimated time gone, and we re only a third of the way
there!" exclaimed the young millionaire. "I'm afraid we aren't going
to do it, Mr. Vardon."

"Well, I'm not going to give up yet," the aviator answered, grimly.
"This is only a start. We haven't used half our speed, and when we get
closer to the finish we can go a hundred and twenty-five miles an hour
if we have to--for a spurt, at any rate. No, I'm not giving up."

"Neither am I," declared Dick, for he was not of the quitting sort.

Floating on the surface of Lake Michigan was like being on the ocean,
for they were out of sight of land, and there were no water craft in
view. The Abaris seemed to have the lake to herself, though doubtless
beyond the wall of the slight haze that hemmed her in there were other
vessels.

"Well, now to see what the trouble is," suggested Dick. "It must be
somewhere in the connecting joints of the levers, for the rudder itself
seems to be all right."

"But we'd better begin out there and make sure," suggested Mr. Vardon.
He pointed to the rudder, which projected some distance back of the
stern of the aircraft.

"How you going to get at it to inspect it?" asked Paul. "It isn't as
if we were on solid ground."

"And no one has long enough a reach to stretch to it from the deck,"
added Innis.

"You forget our collapsible lifeboat," Dick answered. One of those
useful craft was aboard the airship. It could be inflated with air,
and would sustain a considerable weight.

"I'll go out in that and see what's the trouble," Dick went on. "It
will tell us where we've got to begin."

"Perhaps we had better wait until morning," suggested Lieutenant
McBride. "It is fast getting dark, and you can do much better work in
daylight. Besides, you are not pressed for time, as your stay here
will not count against you. I think you had better wait until morning."

"And stay here all night?" asked Dick.

"I think so. You have proved that your hydroplanes are all right. Why
not rest on the surface of the lake until morning? You can't anchor,
it is true, but you can use a drag, and there seems to be no wind, so
you will not be blown ashore. Besides, you can, to a certain extent,
control yourself with the propellers."

"I think we will wait then," decided the young millionaire captain. "As
you say we can make a drag anchor to keep us from drifting too much."

By means of a long rope a drag anchor w