“Well, since we’ve made a good start, suppose we plan a little about what we are going to do,” went on Jerry. “We will have to depend on you and Mr. Tod, Jim, to find the valley.”
“We’ll do our best. Have you got grub for a long prospect?”
“We can fly around in the upper air for two weeks if need be,” answered the tall lad, for he had seen to it that an unusual supply of fuel and other needful articles had been placed in the ship.
“Well, we ought to find it in that time,” said Tod. “I think, if we cruise back and forth along the Uncompahgre Mountain range, we may see just what we are looking for. Of course, it’s going to take some time, but we’ve got to expect that. If we could only meet Mr. Bell now, we wouldn’t have any trouble.”
“I certainly hope we shall be able to rescue these poor people,” put in Professor Snodgrass, looking up from his notebook. “I would very much like to see my cousin again. Just think of being held captive by the Indians all these years!”
“If they only are captives,” remarked Jim Nestor.
“What do you mean?” asked Ned quickly, detecting a strange note in the man’s words.
“Well, I mean if they’re still alive,” went on the mine superintendent. “If they are, I think we can dispose of the Indians all right.”
They fell to talking of the strange quest on which they had started, the airship, meanwhile, continuing to fly ahead toward the unknown goal. Jerry went back to the pilot house and adjusted the deflection rudder to send the Comet higher up, so that a better view of the surrounding country could be had. Still, there was no hope yet of observing the mysterious valley, or even the mountain range in which it was supposed to be located. They were several hundred miles away.
For two days they flew on, not making very rapid time, as Jerry and the boys decided it would be best to be sparing of their fuel, since they were in a region where gasolene was not plentiful. They sailed now high and now low, and every minute a new view could be had of the earth, the mountains and valleys below them.