"Fine. Couldn't be better. Let some of the other boys take a hand at it."
"Well, maybe it would be a good plan," agreed the aviator. "You never can tell when you've got to make a glide. Take turns, boys."
"I don't think I'd better, until I learn how to run an airship that isn't in trouble," said Larry Dexter.
"Well, perhaps not," said Mr. Vardon. "But the others may."
Meanwhile the Abaris had been slowly nearing earth, and it was this slowness, caused by the gradual "sifting" down that would make it possible to land her with scarcely a jar.
If you have ever seen a kite come down when the wind has died out, you will understand exactly what this "sifting" is. It means gliding downward in a series of acute angles.
The first alarm over, all was now serene aboard Dick's airship. The attempt to start the motor had been given up, and under the supervision of Mr. Vardon the two cadets, Innis and Paul, took turns in bringing the craft down with the engine "dead." The aviator and his helper had had experience enough at this.
"Say, this is something new, guiding as big a ship as this without power," remarked Innis, as he relinquished the wheel to Paul.
"It sure is," said tile latter. Then, a little later, he called out:
"I say, somebody relieve me, quick. I believe I'm going to bring her down in that creek!"