It was not long after this that the professor addressed a few words to Mr. Tubbs, and the Discoverer began to drop. Then came a sudden signal to Ding-dong to slow up his engines. This being done, the lateral planes of the dirigible, which have not yet been mentioned, were inclined at an angle that brought her to earth with an easy, gliding motion.
“Are you going to land for the night?” asked Nat, who had watched the maneuvers with interest.
“Such is my intention,” said the professor. “It is too late in the day to get any observations now, and I don’t fancy traveling at night in this region. We might blunder miles off our course.”
The boys agreed that this was so, and then gave their full attention to what was going forward. Immediately beneath them was a charming, park-like savannah, set in the midst of dense forests of gigantic trees, from whose branches hung great twisted creepers, looking not unlike big snakes.
It formed an ideal landing spot for the big dirigible, which, in a few moments after the descending planes had been set, grazed the ground and then settled. Instantly the professor shouted an order for the anchoring process to begin.
The boys had been drilled in this before the voyage was started, and fell to work with a will on their task. By running the propeller slowly, with the descending planes set at a sharp angle, the Discoverer’s body was naturally held against the ground.
Nat and Joe leaped off on opposite sides, both armed with sledges. With these heavy hammers they drove sharp, barbed steel stakes into the ground till they were almost as firm as rocks. Each stake had a ring at its top through which ropes were rapidly looped. The ends were then led back on board and secured. This was done so that in case of a sudden attack the great aircraft could be released by those on board. Of course, in such an event, the stakes would have to be left behind, but as an extra supply was carried, this would not be such a serious matter.
Ten minutes after she nestled to the ground, the Discoverer was secured as snugly as a vessel at her wharf. The engine was shut off and the various necessary adjustments of the controls and apparatus of the pilot-house made. This done, the entire party stepped “ashore” for the first time in many hours.
“We will sleep on board, but cook our supper here,” decided the professor.
This plan just suited the boys, and they scattered in all directions to obtain firewood for the encampment. While they were doing this, Mr. Tubbs set about the task of getting the needed utensils from on board the cloud cruiser. He had been busily engaged on it for some time when the professor looked up from some calculations he was making on the back of an old envelope.