“Say, if you do that again, I’ll chuck you into one of these holes,” declared Tom, laughing in spite of himself.
“It’s a wonder that you inventive young geniuses wouldn’t hitch a tank full of electric eels on to your ship,” continued the irrepressible Dick, dancing about at a safe distance. “You would be able to carry food and power then in the same box. When the batteries, or whatever the eels make their current with gave out, you could fry ‘em.”
The professor insisted on taking his electric eels back to the ship, where all on board took turns at “getting shocks.” But it was found that after a few shocks had been delivered the power of the electricity died out. Finally the professor threw the eels back into one of the odd pools that they had made, as it was impossible to carry them with them.
“I had an eel-lusive idea that we might have some for dinner,” said Dick, who was fond of fried eels.
“Shucks,” declared Tom, “I’d just as soon swallow a dynamo as tackle those fellows. You would just about get a dish of them down when you’d start a storage battery in your tummy. Not for me, thanks!”
After the episode of the electric eels Jack lost no time in rising once more. Again they found themselves winging their way above the mighty forest. From time to time silvery streams could be seen flashing among the trees, and here and there were patches of open swamp where tail jungle brush grew rankly, above which they could catch the hot breath of miasmatic vapors. In some of the swamps were big pools, and as the shadow of the flying ship swept over them they could see big alligators flopping off logs in alarm.
At noon, being over an open spot which appeared to be dry and fairly free from brush or obstructions, they decided to descend for lunch. Of course, cooking was out of the question in the air, the boys not daring to risk having a lighted stove under such a volume of inflammable gas as was contained in the big lifting bag.
[CHAPTER XXI.]
THE MARCHING ANTS.
As usual, Captain Sprowl was the cook, with Dick as first aide, otherwise deputy assistant and bottle-washer in ordinary.