the announcement of mr. damon came as a great surprise to tom and mr. sharp. they had supposed that the reference to shagmon was to a person, and never dreamed that it was to a locality. but mr. damon's knowledge of geography stood them in good stead.
"well, what's the first thing to do?" asked tom, after a pause.
"the first thing would be to go to shagmon, or close to it, i should say," remarked mr. sharp. "in what direction is it, mr. damon?"
"northwest from where we were. it's a county seat, and that will suit our plans admirably, for we can call on the sheriff for help."
"that is if we locate the gang," put in tom. "i fancy it will be no easy job, though. how are we going about it?"
"let's first get to shagmon," suggested the balloonist. "we'll select some quiet spot for a landing, and then talk matters over. we may stumble on the gang, just as you did, tom, on the men in the office."
"no such good luck, i'm afraid."
"well, i think we'll all be better for a little sleep," declared the eccentric man. "bless my eyelids but i'm tired out."
as there was no necessity for standing watch, when the airship was so high up as to be almost invisible, they all turned in, and were soon sleeping soundly, though tom had hard work at first to compose himself, for he was excited at the prospect of capturing the scoundrels, recovering the money for the bank, and clearing his good name, as well as those of his friends.
all that day the red cloud consorted with the masses of fleecy vapor, several miles above the earth, a position being maintained, as nearly as could be judged by instruments, over a patch of woodland where mr. sharp had decided to land, as there were several large clearings in it. back and forth above the clouds, out of sight, the airship drifted lazily to and fro; sometimes, when she got too far off her course, being brought back to the right spot by means of the propellers.
it was tedious waiting, but they felt it was the only thing to do. mr. sharp and tom busied themselves making adjustments to several parts of apparatus that needed it. nothing could be done toward repairing the hole in the aluminum container until a shop or shed was reached, but the ship really did not need these repairs to enable it to be used. mr. damon was fretful, and "blessed" so many things during the course of the day that there seemed to be nothing left. dinner and supper took up some time, really good meals being served by tom, who was temporarily acting as cook. then they anxiously waited for darkness, when they could descend.
"i hope the moon isn't too bright," remarked mr. sharp, as he went carefully over the motor once more, for he did not want it to balk again. "if it shines too much it will discover us."
"but a little light would be a fine thing, and show us a good place to land," argued tom.
