In a little while the fright and excitement caused by the accident had passed over. The ship now rode evenly and neither rose nor fell, in consequence of the gas supply in the bag remaining the same, there being no leak. The patch Mark had put on fitted so closely that there was not the least escape of gas now.
"Well, we might as well start ahead," said Amos Henderson, at length. "We have had excitement enough in this neighborhood, and maybe we'll be better off if we go forward."
Accordingly he went to the conning tower, set the propeller in motion, and soon the Monarch was moving northward at great speed. With his eyes on the compass in front of him the captain held the ship on her course.
They were about half a mile above the ground now, the captain having allowed the Monarch to settle. They could see that they were passing over a populated part of the country.
"Come up here!" yelled Captain Henderson to the boys from the steering tower. "I'll explain a few things to you."
Willingly enough the boys joined him. He was busy making a calculation of figures on a piece of paper. The steering wheel was lashed and the compass pointed to indicate that the ship was rushing due north.
"We're making satisfying progress," said the professor. "At this rate we will not be long on the journey."
"How fast are we moving?" asked Jack.
"About fifty miles an hour," replied the inventor. "That is 1,200 miles a day, counting that we run day and night at this speed. But we will hardly do that, not that we could not, for there will be no dangers of collisions up here. I think we have the air all to ourselves.
"But there will be contrary winds, and we may be blown off our course. That is the only disadvantage an airship is under. It can't sail against the wind like a ship on the water. Still, we have many advantages. Now I figure that we can count on an average of at least twenty-five miles an hour all day long and part of the night.