lost gas,’ said Hal, much relieved that the biggest land animal on earth had met its match in something even bigger.
‘Good old Jules Verne,’ said Roger. ‘He came to our rescue just in time.’
Chapter 9
The devil in Dugan
The arrival of the balloon in the railway camp created a sensation. Every man stopped work to stare at the great round ball in the sky.
‘Now, if we can just find a good anchor,’ Hal said.
‘How about that log?’ said Roger. He pointed out a fallen trunk some fifty feet long. ‘That’s heavy enough to hold down a dozen balloons. All we have to do is tie our trail line to that.’
Hal grinned. ‘You make it sound very simple,’ he said. ‘But just how do you propose to get the trail line off the car and on to the log?’
‘Untie it - then you and I hold the balloon down until we tie up to the log.’
‘What makes you think we two can hold it down? Don’t forget-—there were three of us in that basket and the balloon didn’t drop one inch. Just two of us hanging on to a loose trail line would find ourselves in heaven in ten seconds.’
‘All right,’ Roger said. ‘Get eight or ten of the men to hold the balloon down while we tie up to the log.’
‘Have you forgotten King Ku’s orders - that we must work alone?’
The two sat down on the log and thought How could two boys do the work of ten men? It was impossible. King Ku was asking too much. Roger raised his head. ‘I’m going to try something.’ He went to the car and came back with a length of rope. He tied one end securely to the trail line and the other to the log. Then he loosened the trail line from the car. The balloon bobbed up a few feet but was checked by the new line. Roger made fast the trail line to the log.
He stuck out his chest. ‘Quite simple,’ he said cockily. Tt didn’t need your ten men - some brains, that’s all.’
Hal smiled. His feelings were a mixture of annoyance that he had not thought of this simple trick, and pride in his kid brother who had thought of it.
The boys were eager to climb to the basket and begin their watch. But there was something Roger wanted to do first - feed Flop. They took their supplies from the car and went to the tent. Flop had made himself comfortable in Roger’s bed.
Roger, a bit weary, lay down on the bed beside his pet. Then he came out of the bed like a bolt of lightning. His neck and cheek were well scratched.
Flop, disturbed in his sleep, had done what all lions do upon awakening. He had stretched out his legs with all his claws out, thrusting one paw into Roger’s face and the other into his neck.
Now he opened his eyes wide in an innocent stare, then waddled up on to his four big feet and demanded dinner with a loud miaow.
Hal mixed milk with cod liver oil, glucose, bonemeal, and salt in the proper proportions and Roger fed the little beast with the help of the bamboo mother.
This time Roger did not bother with disinfectant. The cub’s scratches were harmless; he was not yet a meat-eater so there would be no rotting flesh under his claws.
Back to the balloon. Hal and Roger climbed the swaying rope ladder.
The wind had come up and the basket was rolling like a ship in a rough sea. But not quite. At the end of each roll a ship’s rail goes down. This basket was more like a hammock. At the end of each swing a hammock goes up. They were being rocked in the cradle of the sky.
But they had been bounced too often in small planes to be bothered by the motion. Equipped with two pairs of binoculars, they began to scan the landscape.
The balloon was at about the middle point of the three-mile stretch of track on which the men were working. The binoculars easily enabled the boys to see a mile and a half in each direction. The country was open savannah, covered with tall tawny grass and punctuated here and there by bushes and termite bills a few feet high.
‘Wonderful!’ exclaimed Hal ‘Now we’re high enough to see behind all those things. If
‘Good old Jules Verne,’ said Roger. ‘He came to our rescue just in time.’
Chapter 9
The devil in Dugan
The arrival of the balloon in the railway camp created a sensation. Every man stopped work to stare at the great round ball in the sky.
‘Now, if we can just find a good anchor,’ Hal said.
‘How about that log?’ said Roger. He pointed out a fallen trunk some fifty feet long. ‘That’s heavy enough to hold down a dozen balloons. All we have to do is tie our trail line to that.’
Hal grinned. ‘You make it sound very simple,’ he said. ‘But just how do you propose to get the trail line off the car and on to the log?’
‘Untie it - then you and I hold the balloon down until we tie up to the log.’
‘What makes you think we two can hold it down? Don’t forget-—there were three of us in that basket and the balloon didn’t drop one inch. Just two of us hanging on to a loose trail line would find ourselves in heaven in ten seconds.’
‘All right,’ Roger said. ‘Get eight or ten of the men to hold the balloon down while we tie up to the log.’
‘Have you forgotten King Ku’s orders - that we must work alone?’
The two sat down on the log and thought How could two boys do the work of ten men? It was impossible. King Ku was asking too much. Roger raised his head. ‘I’m going to try something.’ He went to the car and came back with a length of rope. He tied one end securely to the trail line and the other to the log. Then he loosened the trail line from the car. The balloon bobbed up a few feet but was checked by the new line. Roger made fast the trail line to the log.
He stuck out his chest. ‘Quite simple,’ he said cockily. Tt didn’t need your ten men - some brains, that’s all.’
Hal smiled. His feelings were a mixture of annoyance that he had not thought of this simple trick, and pride in his kid brother who had thought of it.
The boys were eager to climb to the basket and begin their watch. But there was something Roger wanted to do first - feed Flop. They took their supplies from the car and went to the tent. Flop had made himself comfortable in Roger’s bed.
Roger, a bit weary, lay down on the bed beside his pet. Then he came out of the bed like a bolt of lightning. His neck and cheek were well scratched.
Flop, disturbed in his sleep, had done what all lions do upon awakening. He had stretched out his legs with all his claws out, thrusting one paw into Roger’s face and the other into his neck.
Now he opened his eyes wide in an innocent stare, then waddled up on to his four big feet and demanded dinner with a loud miaow.
Hal mixed milk with cod liver oil, glucose, bonemeal, and salt in the proper proportions and Roger fed the little beast with the help of the bamboo mother.
This time Roger did not bother with disinfectant. The cub’s scratches were harmless; he was not yet a meat-eater so there would be no rotting flesh under his claws.
Back to the balloon. Hal and Roger climbed the swaying rope ladder.
The wind had come up and the basket was rolling like a ship in a rough sea. But not quite. At the end of each roll a ship’s rail goes down. This basket was more like a hammock. At the end of each swing a hammock goes up. They were being rocked in the cradle of the sky.
But they had been bounced too often in small planes to be bothered by the motion. Equipped with two pairs of binoculars, they began to scan the landscape.
The balloon was at about the middle point of the three-mile stretch of track on which the men were working. The binoculars easily enabled the boys to see a mile and a half in each direction. The country was open savannah, covered with tall tawny grass and punctuated here and there by bushes and termite bills a few feet high.
‘Wonderful!’ exclaimed Hal ‘Now we’re high enough to see behind all those things. If
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