"Look at her go!" cried Frank Bender, for he and all of Dick's boy chums had been invited to the test. "Gee, but I wish I was in her!"
"You'd stand on your head on one of the propeller blades, I suppose," commented Walter Mead.
"Look, he's turning around!" exclaimed Frank, to change the subject from his acrobatic abilities, concerning which he was a bit sensitive.
Sure enough, Herr Doodlebrod was flying around in a circle. He seemed to be able to manage the ship perfectly, and Dick was delighted. He already saw the prize won with the improved craft, and himself holder of half the money.
"Look out, he's falling!" yelled Bricktop, suddenly, and the crowd of men, women, boys and girls strained their eyes to see what was happening. The airship was certainly coming down.
"Oh, he'll be killed! Isn't it terrible!" exclaimed Birdy Lee, who, with some of her girl friends, had come to watch the test.
"I'm going to faint!" declared Nettie Henderson, covering her eyes with her hands.
"No, he isn't falling; he's steering it down!" declared Dick. "He's all right!"
This announcement relieved the feelings of all. Herr Doodlebrod was indeed coming down. But he had his ship under perfect control, as shown by the manner in which he steered it in a half circle so as to return to the place from which he had started. In a few minutes he allowed it to come to a stop on the ground, in the midst of the throng, where it alighted as gently as a bird.
"Vot I tell you?" he asked of Dick, triumphantly. "I could haf stayed longer, but my engine he vill not stand it. Ven ve gets der new motor—den ve two vill sail in der clouds."