, or the result would have been worse than it is. We'll
come out of it all right, as it is."

"We can't do anything to-night," observed Ned.

"Only eat," put in Mr. Damon, "and we'll have to take our coffee
cups half full, for everything is so tilted that it's like topsy-turvey
land. It makes me fairly dizzy!"

But he forgot this in the work of getting a meal, and, though it was
prepared under considerable difficulties, at last it was ready.

Bright and early the next morning Tom was up making another
inspection of his ship. He found that even if the forward deck was
not repaired they could go on, as soon as the motor was in shape,
but, as they had some spare wood aboard, it was decided to
temporarily repair the smashed platform.

It was cold work, even wearing their thick garments; but, after
laboring until their fingers were stiff from the frost, Ned hit on
the idea of building a big fire of some evergreen trees near where
the ship lay.

"Say, that's all right!" declared Tom, as the warmth of the blaze
made itself felt. "We can work better, now!"

The RED CLOUD was tilted on some rough and uneven ground, in among
some little hills. On either side arose big peaks, the one in
particular that they had hit towering nearly fifteen thousand feet.

Everything was covered with snow and ice, and, in fact, the ice was
so thick on the top of the mountains that the crags resembled
icebergs rather than stony peaks. The crash of the airship had
brought down a great section of this solid rock-ice.

"Do you think we are anywhere near the valley of gold?" asked Mr.
Damon that afternoon, when the work was nearly finished.

"It's somewhere in this vicinity." declared Abe. "Me an' my partner
passed through jest such a place as this on our way there. I
wouldn't wonder but what it wasn't more than a few hundred miles
away, now."

"Then we'll soon be there," said Tom. "I'll start in the morning. I
could go to-night, but there are a few adjustments I want to make to
the motor, and, besides, I think it will be safer, now that we are
among these peaks, to navigate in daylight, or at least with the
searchlight going. I should have thought of that before."

"Then, if you're not going to start away at once," spoke Mr. Parker,
"I think I will walk around a bit, and make some observations. I
think we are now in the region where we may expect a movement of the
ice. I want to test it, and see if it is traveling in a southerly
directio