"Well, if they were here, and if we thrashed the stuffing out of the entire bunch, that wouldn't put back our lost helium and former speed," said the practical John. "What we've got to do now is to try to remedy matters."
"Easier said than done, I'm thinking," Tom observed. "We can't get any more helium here; in fact, not until we get back to Panama. Of course that will be too late."
"I don't know about that," hinted John.
"What's your remedy?" asked Bob.
"I know," said Paul. "The machine's out of balance now, because they have let more helium out of one wing than the other, and none at all out of the fuselage. By letting some out of our body tank, and enough out of the lightest wing to bring it in equilibrium with its mate, we can get a perfect balance again, and that ought to give us air steadiness and more speed."
"Right you are, Buddy," declared John. "Good head! That's my idea exactly."
"But won't that make us even heavier than we are now?" inquired Bob.
"Sure," responded John, "but balance is the main thing in an airplane, you know. When we get that, the old girl will act a whole lot better than she did coming here."
"Still, our rivals will have some advantage over us," argued Tom.
"That's true—in the way of a lighter machine. But we've shown we could outspeed them when the Sky-Bird was all right, and now we ought to be about an even match for them," said John.