through the glass that they were over the
outskirts of some large place, and after the Russian had taken an
observation he exclaimed:

"The environs of Paris! We must not land there!"

"We won't, if the wind holds out," remarked Tom and this good fortune
came to them. They succeeded in landing in a field not far from a small
village, and though several farmers wondered much as the sight of the
big airship, it was thought by the platinum-seekers that they would be
comparatively safe.

"Now to get the first train for Paris and get the things I need,"
exclaimed Tom. He set to work taking off the broken pieces that they
might be duplicated, and then, having inquired at an inn for the
nearest railroad station, and having hired a rig, the young inventor
set off.

"Can you speak French?" asked Mr. Petrofsky. "If not I might be of
service, but if I go to Paris I might be."

"Never mind," interrupted Tom. "I guess I can parley enough to get
along with."

He had a small knowledge of the tongue, and with that, and knowing that
English was spoken in many places, he felt that he could make out. And
indeed he had no trouble. He easily found his way about the gay
capital, and located a machine shop where a specialty was made of parts
for automobile and airship motors. The proprietor, knowing the broken
pieces belonged to an aeroplane, questioned Tom about his craft but the
young inventor knew better than to give any clew that might make
trouble, so he returned evasive answers.

It was nearly night when he got back to the place where he had left the
Falcon, and he found a curious crowd of rustics grouped about it.

"Has anything happened?" he asked of his friends.

"No, everything is quiet, I'm glad to say," replied Mr. Petrofsky. "I
don't think our presence will create stir enough so that the news of it
will reach the spies in Paris. Still I will feel easier when we're in
the air again."

"It will take a day to make the repairs," said Tom, "and put in the new
pieces of platinum. But I'll work as fast as I can."

He and Ned labored far into the night, and were at it again the next
morning. Mr. Damon and the Russian were of no service for they did not
understand the machinery well enough. It was while Tom was outside the
craft, filing a piece of platinum in an improvised vise, that a
poorly-clothed man sauntered up and watched him curiously. Tom glanced
at him, and was at once struck by a difference between the man's attir