Bab caught the words. The sound was coming from a megaphone from the strange ship in the air. But Mollie and Bab had no megaphone at their command through which to answer back—only two frightened girl voices.
“Yes, yes!” they called together as loud as they could shout. The sound was ridiculous even to their own ears, and was lost in the vast spaces of the forest. The strange vehicle over their heads was gliding a little closer to the ground. Bab and Mollie could faintly see the figure of a man—two men—when they looked again.
This time the voice came through the megaphone: “Can you get me help? I have broken the rudder of my balloon. We cannot alight without assistance. If we come too close to the ground we will catch in the trees. I want some one to pull us down with ropes.”
“Well,” Mollie spoke to herself, “it is a relief to know that that object is an airship, not some hideous hobgoblin. I would like to know, Bab, how you and I are to get the thing to the ground?”
“Run, fly, Molliekins!” cried Bab, whose mind was always quick in action. “Go to the cabin for Naki and Ceally. Tell them to come here as fast as they can tear. We can manage together.”
Mollie was off in a flash.
Barbara’s voice could now be heard by the men in the balloon above her. “Drop me a line,” she called to them, “before you float too far away. I will tie you to a tree.”
Bab had realized that with a broken rudder it was impossible for the dirigible balloon to remain poised in the air.
A long coil of rope floated down from the sky. Barbara caught it and ran to a tree which was bare of branches. Then she knotted the rope with all her skill and strength. There was nothing to do, now, but wait. Bab fastened her gaze upon the strange white bird she had captured, which hung fluttering and quivering in the sky above her.