orking frantically to hasten the rising of the
airship. His neck pained him very much where the arrow had struck
him, but he dared not stop now to dress the wound. He could feel the
blood running down his side, but he shut his teeth grimly and said
nothing.

The two missionaries, scarcely able to believe that they were to be
saved, had been shown into an inner cabin by Tomba, who had become
somewhat used to the airship by this time, and who could find his
way about well in the dark, for no lights had yet been turned on.

Hundreds of pygmies had been disabled, yet still others came to take
their places. The gas bag was again punctured in several places, but
the rents were small, and Tom knew that he could make the gas faster
than it could escape, unless the bag was ripped open.

"They're climbing up the sides!" suddenly called Ned Newton, for he
saw several of the little men clambering up. "What shall we do?"

"Pound their fingers!" called Mr. Anderson. "Get clubs and whack
them!" It was good advice. Ned remembered on one occasion when he
and Tom were looking at Andy Foger's airship, how this method had
been proposed when the bank clerk hung on the back fence. As he
grabbed up a stick, and proceeded to pound the hands and bare arms
of the savages who were clinging to the railing, Ned found himself
wondering what had become of the bully. He was to see Andy sooner
than he expected.

Suddenly in the midst of the fighting, which was now a hand-to-hand
conflict, there was a tremor throughout the length of the airship.

"She's going up!" yelled Ned.

"Bless my check-book!" cried Mr. Damon, "if we don't look out some
of these red imps will go up with us, too!"

As he spoke he whacked vigorously at the hands of several of the
pygmies, who dropped off with howls of anguish.

The craft quickly shot upward. There were yells of terror from a few
of the red savages who remained clinging to different parts of the
Black Hawk and then, fearing they might be taken to the clouds,
they, too, dropped off. The rescuers and rescued mounted higher and
higher, and, when they were far enough up so that there was no
danger from the spears or arrows, Tom switched on the lights, and
turned the electric current into the search-lantern, the rays of
which beamed down on the mass of yelling and baffled savages below.

"A few shots for them to remember us by!" cried Mr. Durban, as he
sent more of the paralyzing electric currents into the red