djustments, and Tom was in sole charge of navigating the airship. He
had lost the nervous feeling that first possessed him, and was becoming
quite an expert at meeting various currents of wind encountered in the
upper regions.

Below, the voyagers could see the earth spread out like a great map.
They could not tell their exact location now, but by calculating their
speed, which was about thirty miles an hour, Tom figured out that they
were above the town of Centreford, near where he had been attacked once
by the model thieves.

For several hours the airship kept on her way, maintaining a height of
about a mile, for when it was found that Mr. Damon could accommodate
himself to thirty-five hundred feet the elevation rudder was again
shifted to send the craft upward.

By using glasses the travelers could see crowds on the earth watching
their progress in the air, and, though airships, dirigible balloons and
aeroplanes are getting fairly common now, the appearance of one as
novel and as large as the Red Cloud could always be depended upon to
attract attention.

"Well, what do you say to something to eat?" proposed Mr. Sharp, coming
into the main cabin, from the motor compartment. "It's twelve o'clock,
though we can't hear the factory whistles up, here."

"I'm ready, any time you are," called Tom, from the pilot house.
"Shall I cook grub, Mr. Sharp?"

"No, you manage the ship, and I'll play cook. We'll not get a very
elaborate meal this time, as I shall have to pay occasional visits to
the motor, which isn't running just to suit me."

The electrical stove was set going, and some soup and beefsteak from
among the stores, was put on the fire. In spite of the fact that the
day was a warm one in October, it was quite cool in the cabin, until
the stove took off the chill. The temperature of the upper regions was
several degrees below that of the earth. At times the ship passed
through little wisps of vapor-clouds in the making.

"Isn't this wonderful!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, as he sat in an easy
chair, partaking of some of the food. "To think that I have lived to
see the day when I can take my lunch a mile in the air, with a craft
flying along like a bird. Bless my knife and fork but it certainly is
wonderful."

Mr. Sharp relieved Tom at the wheel, while the young inventor ate, and
then, with the airship heading southwest, the speed was increased a
trifle, the balloonist desiring to see what the motor could accomplish
u