There was need of defense, for the savages had again rushed forward, and now surrounded the airship. They could be plainly seen, as the scores of electric lamps in the craft had been turned on. The two miners began a fusillade against their enemies, Mr. Bell and the professor joining in.
The gas was rushing into the big bag, and, in a few minutes it was sufficiently filled. Jerry started the big propellers, and with a rush the airship left the valleys, soaring upward toward the clouds.
“We’re safe!” cried Jerry a little later, when he noted that the airship was a thousand feet high. “Now which way shall we go?”
“Anywhere, so long as it is away from this valley,” replied Mr. Deering.
Jerry headed the craft back over the route they had come, and then, setting the automatic steering apparatus, he and the others gave their attention to the captives. Fortunately none of them was hurt, though all were well-nigh exhausted by the race for life. Hot coffee which Bob, true to his promise, had ready, revived them. Then the comparatively slight injuries the rescuers had received were attended to, and they exchanged experiences. Bob, and the others in the airship, had been waiting and listening, and, hearing firing, had rushed out in the nick of time.
The rescuers divested themselves of their disguises, which were saved as souvenirs of the trip.
When matters had somewhat quieted down, Mr. Deering and several of the men prisoners came forward with sacks that seemed quite heavy. They laid them on the cabin table.
“What are these?” asked Jerry.
“The gold nuggets,” was the answer. “We held on to them during our flight. Now they are yours.”
But Jerry and his chums and friends would not take the gold. They insisted that the men and women who had been saved would need the money to provide the necessaries of life, now that they were to go back to civilization.