“Yes, I think we are,” agreed the young inventor. “Put her up a bit!” he signaled to the pilot through the speaking tube.
Back came the answer:
“I can’t! Something has gone wrong! I’m losing power! I’m afraid we’re in for a fall!”
CHAPTER XVI
JASON JACKS
Just for a moment or two Tom Swift wished he were in the motor cockpit of the plane instead of in the passenger car with his father and his friends. He had an idea he might so manipulate the controls as to cause the falling plane to increase speed and keep on flying until a safe landing could be made.
But in an instant this idea passed. Tom had full confidence in his mechanician, and realized if Harry Meldrum could not prevent a fall Tom himself could not, for Meldrum, taught in the Swift school of flying, was a thoroughly competent and resourceful airman.
“What’s wrong?” Tom asked his engineer through the tube.
“Oil pump has blown out a gasket! The engine is heating. It’s got to stop soon and we’ll have to come down—in the lake, I guess,” was the grim finish of the report.
“Well, I’ve landed in worse places,” remarked Tom.
“Is anything going to happen?” his father wanted to know.