k we had
better--" the lad paused, and again listened to the wireless message.
"Father says Eradicate saw the man have a gun, so we must be careful,"
the young inventor translated the dots and dashes.

"Bless my powder horn!" exploded Mr. Damon.

"We shall have to proceed cautiously then," spoke Mr. Jenks. "If he is
like any others in the gang he is a desperate man."

"Better sneak up on him then, if we can," proposed Mr. Parker. "There
are enough of us to cope with one man, even if he is armed. You have
weapons aboard, haven't you?" he inquired of Tom.

"Yes," was the hesitating answer, "but I don't want to use them if I
can help it. Not only because of the danger, and a dislike of shedding
blood, but because a stray bullet might pierce the gas bag and damage
the ship."

"That's so," agreed Mr. Jenks. "Well, I guess if we go at it the right
way we can capture him without any shooting. But we must talk more
quietly--we ought to have whispered--he may have heard us."

"I don't think so," replied Tom. "The storeroom is far enough off so
that he couldn't hear us. Besides, the motor makes such a racket that
he couldn't distinguish what we were talking about, even if he heard our
voices. So, unless he heard the wireless working, and suspects something
from that, he probably doesn't know that we are aware of his presence
aboard."

"But why do you think he has remained quiet all this while, Tom?" asked
Mr. Damon.

"Probably he wants to wait until the ship is farther out west,"
suggested Mr. Jenks. "Then he will be nearer his friends, and can get
help, if he needs it."

"And do you really believe he would destroy the Red Cloud?" asked Mr.
Parker.

"I think that all he is waiting for is a favorable chance," declared
the diamond seeker. "He would destroy the craft, and us too, if he could
prevent us from discovering the secret of Phantom Mountain, I believe."

"Then we must get ahead of him," decided Tom, quietly. "I have just
flashed to dad a message, telling him that we will heed his warning. Now
to capture the stowaway!"

"And while we're about it, give him a good scare when we do get him,"
suggested Mr. Jenks.

"How?" asked Tom.

"Threaten to drop him overboard. Perhaps that will make him tell how
he happened to get in our ship, and what are the plans of the gang of
diamond makers. We may get valuable information that way."

"I don't believe you can scare such fellows much," was Tom's opinion,
but it was