“Hello! Here’s something new!” he exclaimed. “Maybe it leads to a secret passage, or covers some hidden treasure.”
“I guess it will have to continue to cover it then,” Jack spoke. “That probably weighs several tons. None of us could move it.”
They made their way back to the ship, where they found Washington and Andy discussing the advisability of going off in search of them.
“Breakfast is mighty near spoiled,” said the colored man with an injured air.
But the travelers did full justice to the meal, notwithstanding this. Deciding there was nothing to be gained by staying in that vicinity, the professor started the ship off again.
They traveled several hundred miles in the air, and, as the afternoon was coming to a close, Jack, who was in charge of the conning tower, spied, just ahead of them, another village.
“We will descend there for the night,” the professor said. “Does there seem to be any sign of life about?”
“None,” replied Mark, who was observing through a telescope the town they were approaching. “It’s as dead as the other one.”
The airship settled down in a field back of some of the mound houses.
“Now for supper!” cried Jack. “I’m as hungry as——”