“How do you know?” called back Mr. Glassford from the steering tower. Though it was some distance away, it was so quiet in the upper air that even a whisper could be heard the whole length of the ship.
“Because I arranged to have him taken care of,” replied Jerry. “There! he’s under arrest now.”
As the travelers leaned over the edge of the car they saw a man rush out from the crowd and grab Noddy before he had time to fire again. The man caught the gun from the bully’s hand and threw it far away. Then, with a firm hold on Noddy’s collar, which he maintained in spite of the efforts of that youth to break away, the sneak who hoped to damage the airship was led away.
“That settles his hash,” remarked Jerry. “He’ll go to jail for a few weeks, at least.”
“How did you manage it?” asked Ned.
“Well, when you saw him in the city yesterday I had a notion that he’d be up to something like this. I decided to take some precautions, so I spoke to the hotel detective. He arranged to have a private officer out on the grounds near our tent. He had a description of Noddy, and was instructed to arrest him if he saw him shooting at our gas bag. I didn’t think Noddy would dare do it, but you see he did. Fortunately, the detective grabbed him before he could fire a second shot, or he might have damaged our ship considerably.”
“It was a dastardly trick,” commented Mr. Glassford, “and I am glad you got ahead of him, Jerry. I hope Noddy will get his deserts now. Of course, our gas bag is in sections, and even if one was punctured we would still be able to manage, but I want all the power possible this trip, as I think we are going to have a close contest.”
“Which machine do you fear the most?” asked Bob.
“That big red one. Its bag contains more gas than ours does, but I believe we have the more powerful airship. Well, I think we are now high enough to start the motor.”