"Let's take a look inside," suggested Tom, when, by another glance upward, he had made sure that all trace of his big airship was gone. "Maybe we can get a clew. Then, Koku, you tell us what happened."
"It all happened to me," said the giant, simply. "Me no make anything happen to them."
"That's about right," laughed Tom, ruefully. "It all happened to us."
The lights in the hangar were switched on, but a careful search revealed little. The men, half a dozen or more, had come evidently well prepared for the taking away of Tom Swift's airship, and they had done so.
Entrance had been effected by forcing a small side door. True, the burglar alarm had given notice of the presence of the men, but Tom and Ned had not acted quite quickly enough. Koku had been at the hangar almost as soon as the men themselves, but he had watched and waited for orders, instead of going in at once, and this had given the intruders time to wheel out the craft and start the motor.
"Why didn't you jump right in on them when you saw what they were up to, Koku?" asked Tom.
"Me wait for master. Me think master want to see who men were. Me go in--they run."
"Well, of course that's so, in a way," admitted Tom. "They probably would have run, but they'd have run without my airship instead of with it, if they hadn't had time to get it outside the hangar. However, there's no use in crying over lost biplanes. The next thing is how to get her back. Did you know any of the men, Koku?"
"No, master."
"Then we haven't any clew that way. They laid their plans well. They just let you tangle yourself up with them, Koku, while the head ones got the motor going; an easy matter, since it was all ready to start. Then they tripped you, Koku, and as many of them as could, made a jump for the machine. Then they were off."