Then he hurried forward to the conning tower. As he did so the ship was whirled quickly around several times, and the sudden motion threw the old man down, his head striking on the edge of one of the bunks. He lay white and still.
"He's killed!" cried Washington.
"We are in a whirlwind!" yelled Bill at the same instant. "We'll be sucked up to the sky!"
The airship was swinging around and around as if in the grasp of some giant. The craft was really caught in the centre of a whirlwind, which spun it around like a top. Every one felt sick and dizzy from the queer motion.
"We must see to the professor!" said Jack. "Washington, get some of the remedy you used before. I think he has only fainted."
At this moment the old inventor opened his eyes.
"What happened?" he asked feebly. "Please give me some water. I am all right."
They brought him a drink, and he managed to sip a little of it. Then he attempted to sit up. But the effort was too much for him.
"What—what is the matter?" he asked. "I feel so strange. I am dizzy.
Has anything happened?"
"Somebody am a-playin' 'Ring around de Rosy' wid dis airship!" exclaimed
Washington, "My head am a-swimmin' so I can't stand."