“Yes, I paid my money for the secret, and I ought to have it. If I can get it quietly, so much the better. If not, I'll fight for my rights!” and he looked very determined.
“Bless my powder horn!” cried Mr. Damon. “That's the way to talk! And so we're to go cruising about in the air, looking for a mountain shaped like a man's head.”
“That's it,” agreed Mr. Jenks, “and when we find it we will be near Phantom Mountain, and the diamond makers.”
The final details were completed that night. The last of the supplies had been put aboard, the larder was well stocked, the diamond testing apparatus was stored safely away, and all that remained was for the adventurers to board the Red Cloud in the morning, and soar away.
That night Tom was uneasy. Several times he got up, and looked toward the shed where the airship was stored. He could not rid himself of the idea that the men to whose interest it was that the diamond-making secret remain undiscovered, might attempt to wreck the airship before the start. Consequently both Eradicate Sampson and Engineer Jackson were on guard. Tom looked from his window, to the shed where the Red Cloud was housed. He saw nothing to cause him any uneasiness.
“I guess I'm just nervous,” he mused. “But, all the same, I'll be glad when we've started.”
They were all up early the next morning, Mr. Damon beginning the day by blessing the sunrise, and many other things that struck his fancy. The airship was wheeled out of the shed, and Tom gave her a final inspection.
“It's all right,” he declared. “All aboard!”
“Now, do be careful,” begged Mr. Swift. “Don't take too many chances, Tom.”
“I'll not.”