“Do you see how he did it?” asked Jerry of his chums.
“Not exactly, but he evidently won,” replied Ned. “How did he manage to get ahead of the others?”
“Why, he practically slid down a hillside of air. He went up until he struck a current that would carry him a little faster than the air strata would on which the others were shooting along. Then, when he was near enough to the line, he pointed the nose of his balloon downward by shifting the elevation rudder, and he came slanting down, just as we slide down a hill on our bob-sled. He had his motor to help him, and he acquired a speed that the others could not.”
“Say, you know something about ballooning,” remarked Andy admiringly.
“You bet he does. It will come in handy when we get our motor ship,” commented Bob. “I do wish we had one like that dirigible, with the planes on either side of it. Let’s go over and take a look at it. It’s down now. I wonder if we could ever build one like that, Jerry?”
“I could—and a better one, too,” suddenly said a man standing near the motor boys.
They turned and regarded him curiously. He was rather young-looking, but he had gray hair, and he seemed respectable.
“Could you build a balloon like that?” asked Ned.
“I could—and a better one—one that would go farther and stay up longer—but I’d need considerable money to do it.”
Jerry looked at the man critically. A daring plan had come into his mind.