d then, for the first
time, Ned and Tom had a glimpse of the hut. It stood away from the
others, and was easy to pick out in daylight, but even the darkness
offered no handicap to Tomba. "Right over him now," he suddenly
called, as he leaned out of the pilot house window, and looked down.
"Right over place. Oh, Tomba glad when he see Missy an' Massy!"

"Yes, I hope you do see them," murmured Tom, as he pulled the lever
which would pump the gas from the inflated bag, and compress it into
tanks, until it was needed again to make the ship rise. Slowly the
Black Hawk sank down.

"Get ready!" called Tom in a low voice.

It was a tense moment. Every one of the adventurers felt it, and all
but Tom grasped their weapons with tighter grips. They were ready to
spring out as soon as a landing was made. Tom managed the machinery
in the dark, for he knew every wheel, gear and lever, and could have
put his hand on any one with his eyes shut. The two loaded revolvers
were on a shelf in front of him. The side door of the pilot house
was ajar, to allow him quick egress.

Tomba, armed with a big club he had picked up in the jungle, was
ready to follow. The black was eager for the fray to begin, though
how he and the others would fare amid the savages was hard to say.

Still not a sound broke the quiet. It was very dark, for nearly all
the camp fires, over which the nightly feast had been prepared, were
out. The hut could be dimly made out, however.

Suddenly there was a slight tremor through the ship. She seemed to
shiver, and bound upward a little.

"We've landed!" whispered Tom. "Now for it! Come on, Tomba!"

The big black glided after the lad like a shadow. With his two
weapons held in readiness our hero went out on deck. The others,
with cocked rifles, stood ready for the attack to open. It had been
decided that as soon as the first alarm was given by the dwarfs,
which would probably be when Tom broke into the hut, the firing
would begin.

"Open!" called Tom to Tomba, and the big black dashed his club
through the grass curtain over the doorway of the hut. He fairly
leaped inside, with a cry of battle on his lips.

"Mr. Illingway! Mrs. Illingway!" called Tom, "We've come to save
you. Hurry out. The airship is just outside!"

He fired one shot through the roof of the hut, so that the flash
would reveal to him whether or not the two missionaries were in the
place. He saw two forms rise up in front of him, and knew that the