Bart and Fenn each grabbed one and began to pull themselves aboard. Ned and Frank were on the other side of the barge. There also, men had cast cables into the river and their splash told the swimming boys there was help at hand. They grabbed the lines, and soon all four were standing on the deck of the craft.
“Well, where did you all come from?” asked a hearty voice and a big man, his face almost concealed by a beard, that covered everything except his eyes, strode forward.
“From the balloon,” replied Ned.
“So that’s what that big thing was that flopped down here, eh?” asked the man. “Well, you had quite a time of it. Who are you, anyhow, airship men?”
Ned told their names, and related how the balloon had broken away, taking them with it.
“I guess it’s valuable,” he added. “Maybe if you took it aboard you could get a reward.”
“We’ve got something else to do besides saving balloons,” the bearded man replied. “Delayed our trip as it was, pulling you chaps from the water, but I don’t mind that. Let ’em send for their old gas bag if they want it. Guess it won’t run away.”
“Are you the captain of this boat?” asked Bart, taking off his coat and wringing some of the water out of it.
“That’s what I am, Captain Needham, of the steam barge Comet. At present under sealed orders,” and he laughed.