[CHAPTER III]
AMID THE AIRSHIPS
“Say, it’s quite an affair, isn’t it?” said Jerry, when, late that Saturday night, they rode past the grounds where the airship exhibition was to take place. The boys were on their way to the hotel, where they had engaged rooms in advance, a necessary precaution, as such a crowd flocked to Broadlands that the accommodations of the place were stretched to the utmost.
“I guess it’s going to be a first-rate show,” commented Ned. “I thought it might be a fake from the way the handbills read.”
“Oh, it’s the real thing, all right,” declared Bob. “An organization of wealthy men is back of it, I heard dad say, and they’ve got some real good machines here. They’re going to give prizes, too.”
“I don’t see any airships flying around,” objected Andy, who, as Jerry halted the machine outside of the grounds, was gazing anxiously aloft.
“Of course not,” replied Ned. “They aren’t going to bring them out before the show opens. I suppose all of them are not here yet. But there are tents and sheds enough to house half a hundred.”
Certainly there were a number of big buildings and tents on the grounds. The buildings were of the flimsiest character, but were all that were needed to shelter dirigible balloons or aeroplanes.
“I wonder where Noddy’s Firefly is?” asked Bob.