But now only the water propeller was being used, and as the Comet glided along she was soon surrounded by many other craft, the occupants of which wanted to know what kind of a boat the boys had.
Their curiosity was satisfied in a measure, and one enthusiastic motor-boat owner wanted to race.
“I’m afraid we’re not in your class,” objected Jerry. “If you wait a few minutes, though, we’ll make an ascension, and then we’ll accept the challenge.”
“I’m afraid I wouldn’t be in it then,” answered the motor-boat man with a laugh. “But you sure have a great craft there.”
“We’ll try the air propellers now,” went on Jerry, “and see if we can get up speed enough to rise into the air without using the gas bag. That’s a point of which I am still in doubt.”
“Supposing we don’t rise?” asked Bob.
“Oh, well, then we can force gas into the bag. But I’d like to try the wings now, and see how they work since we changed the shape and the angle of inclination.”
“Go ahead,” called Ned, and he and Bob helped Jerry to get the machinery ready for the new test. The water propeller was stopped, and soon the air ones were whirring around like blurs of light.
“Clear the way!” yelled Jerry to a little flotilla of rowing and motor craft that were in the path he proposed to take in skimming over the surface of the water. “Clear the way, or we may run you down!”
The boats made haste to pull to one side or the other, leaving a lane along which the Comet could dash before mounting up into the air.