It was evident that the only hope the motor boys had of recovering their craft lay in the inability of those on board her to get out of her all the speed possible. With the machinery of the Comet run to the best advantage, no other airship could catch her. But Jerry counted on Noddy and his cronies not knowing enough to do the right thing at the right time. Then, too, the Chaser was very speedy when rightly handled.
Nearer and nearer crept the pursuing craft. She was directly in the rear of the Comet now. Suddenly Bob cried:
“Jerry, they’re going up!”
“Then we’ll go too!” was the answer. “We can hit as high an altitude as they can.”
“And they’re flying as a dirigible, and not as an aeroplane at all!” added Ned. “They’re afraid to use the wing planes, Jerry! Maybe we can get ahead of ’em after all!”
[CHAPTER XX]
A GAME IN THE AIR
With a pull on the lever of the ascending rudder, Jerry sent the Chaser shooting upward into the air. He made the craft take a long slant, for he had seen that the Comet was going up more vertically, and Jerry figured on getting under the stolen airship, and then, when once in advance, turning, and so approaching head on.
“They’re going up fast!” commented Ned, watching their own craft narrowly.