CHAPTER XIV
BUILDING AN AIR SHIP
When Ned announced to Alan that they would at once unpack and testthe motor--"for we might as well stop if the engine isn't right," ashe put it--all thoughts of the troubles of the early day vanished.And the motor certainly was a beauty. Though some expert hadrecommended the French motor, Ned had preferred to use one made inAmerica, not only because he had been able to get it quicker butbecause he believed it as good as the foreign make.
The engine had eight air-cooled cylinders, in two sets of four,placed at an angle of ninety degrees to each other. The crank casewas of aluminum and the shaft of vanadium steel, hollow, andspecially treated to insure toughness. All the studs or bolts wereof the same steel. Complete, with balance wheel, it weighed twohundred pounds. The ignition was accomplished by six dry batteriesand a single-wire vibrating coil. It was rated at fifty horsepower.
So exactly had the preliminary work been done at the factory that intwo hours the boys were able to have the engine bolted to thesection of the car where it was to be used, and before evening theradiator tubes and pump of the cooling system were also in place.Temporary connections were set up and the sparking wires attached,and then the reservoir was filled with gasoline. A little jar asthe wheel was turned, then a couple of sharp explosions, and theengine fell to its work as if it had been running for weeks.
Ned shut it off after a moment's critical inspection.
"Let her flicker!" pleaded Alan. "We've waited so long for a realone that I like to hear her buzz."
"We'll let her buzz when we can use the buzz," laughed Ned."Gasoline is gasoline, you know."
Night did not stop the work of the eager lads. As soon as they hadeaten a light meal, Ned and Alan, with a couple of lanterns and ahalf dozen of candles, began to adjust the sections of the car.These, seven in number, when joined, were 54.12 feet in length. TheAmerican spruce frame and the aluminum joints were all intact. Thiswork finished the day.
Blankets on the rough floor were good enough for the explorers thatnight. The luxury of the Placida's mattresses and fresh sheets wasmissed, as was Elmer's skill as a chef when it was time forbreakfast the next morning. The boys were not so indifferent aboutthis meal as they had been about that of the evening before. Theyhad no stove, but they took the time to arrange a regular camp in acomer of the corral. A little fire was soon burning, at which theymade coffee and toasted some bacon. This, with hardtack and somepreserved fruit, they thought was enough, for they were determinednot to disturb the carefully packed provisions that were to becarried in the balloon.
"Have you had enough?" asked Ned as the last piece of scorched bacondisappeared.
"Enough?" answered Alan. "A regular banquet!"
Just then there was a loud thump on the closed door of the barn.
"The hands are arriving," explained Ned, and he hastened to open thedoor.
A few of the workmen were there, but the knocking had been done by apleasant faced woman--apparently a Mexican. A black shawl coveredher head and one arm. It was Mrs. Bourke, Buck's wife.
"I thought," she said smiling, "hungry."
Without further words she threw back the shawl and revealed a smalltin pail. The appetizing odor made Ned's mouth water. In thebottom of the bucket were frijoles, or boiled and fried Mexicanblack beans cooked in pepper, and on top of these were a half dozensmoking hot tortillas or corn cakes.
"Mrs. Buck," exclaimed Alan, "you have saved our lives!"
All recollection of his recent banquet seemed to have disappeared,and so did Mrs. Bourke's bucket of beans and cakes, in double-quickorder. The reward was a bright silver dollar for the thoughtfulwoman and a contract that she should come three times a day andprepare the boys' meals. It would have been easier to have gone toBuck's home, only a short distance away, but the boys were nowdetermined to stay in the corral, or leave it only one at a time.However, they soon developed a taste for Mrs. Bourke's peculiar hotwholesome dishes and these, with what provisions they had on hand,were a fair substitute for Elmer's cooking.
The frijoles having been disposed of, Ned at once went out, and wasfortunate in finding a load of rough lumber and a sort ofjack-carpenter. With the help of the boys a four foot-high series of"horses" or frames was set up in the center of the corral. This wasfor the car to rest on while it was being assembled. It waselevated so that the propeller and aeroplanes and rudder could allbe tested after being set up. The propeller, 11.48 feet in length,revolved in bearings four feet above the bottom of the car.
After noonday refreshment the middle section of the car, to whichthe engine was already attached, was carefully lifted into placewith the aid of the workmen, and then the laborers were paid off anddismissed--all except the watchmen. From now on there was nothingthat the boys could not do themselves, and they wanted to beundisturbed and alone. The putting together of the car was a treatof which they had long dreamed and they were happy in their work.
The remaining sections were easily laid on 'the "horses" and thencame the bolts and the bracing with piano wire. When broughttogether the fifty-four foot long skeleton was in shape much like acigar. The main frame was six feet high, tapering to five feet ateach end. In depth the dimensions were the same. The engine restedon the floor of the middle section and was accessible in all itsparts from that compartment. An elevation of the floor in theforward part of this section made it possible for one to stand highenough to have an outlook in all directions through openings in ahooded elevation that projected above the top of the section.
This hood was of a waterproof silk, coated with powdered aluminum,that metal being used because of its semi-incombustibility. Thissilk also covered the sides of the central compartment, making awind-, rain- and waterproof cabin. The lookout windows on all foursides were covered with isinglass. The bottom of the framework ofthe car forward and aft of the engine compartment had a ladder-likeflooring of spruce, inserted more for strengthening the car than forservice. But on top of the car, reaching from end to end, was acontinuous runway two feet wide which could be used in hurriedlyvisiting either propeller or rudder. This runway was protected byguide ropes of Italian hemp running through posts extended upwardfrom the sides of the car. The top of the engine compartment wascompletely floored, making a platform 6 x 6.12 feet square. Thiswas surrounded by a protecting network, and Alan named it the"bridge."
A light rope-ladder extended into the engine cabin from an openingin the roof, making the top floor space or bridge and the upperrunways quickly accessible. The gasoline reservoir, just forward ofthe engine, was connected with the bridge by a copper supply pipe.The extra supply of gasoline was to be carried on the bridge in theopen air, and lashed to the netting instead of being stored inpermanent reservoirs as is the usual practice. This was in orderthat the empty vessels might be thrown overboard when it wasnecessary to lighten the balloon.
The other sections of the car were each 8 feet long and decreasingin height from 6 feet next the cabin to 5 feet at the end of thecar. In the two sections just forward of the cabin and in the twojust aft provision had been made for attaching the eight liquidhydrogen casks--four at each end. As this liquid was reconvertedinto gas the light sheet-iron casings might likewise be castoverboard to lighten the balloon. As needed, the liquid hydrogenjars, coated with mercury, were to be taken from their casings andcarried to the bridge where the reconverter was located.
Aft of the engine cabin was the store room for water and provisions.The grooves and rods for the counterweights and equilibrium adjusterran in the middle of the upper footway and the propeller shaftrested on the bottom of the forward section of the car.
At ten o'clock that evening all the work on the car was finishedexcept the buckling on of the aluminum silk sides and the hanging ofthe propeller, the rudder and the aeroplane sides. It was as longand as hard a day's work as either of the boys had ever done. Theywere dead tired, but happy, and after a sousing wash-up they gotinto their pajamas and, throwin
g their blankets on the floor of thelittle office, were soon fast asleep.
Air Ship Boys : Or, the Quest of the Aztec Treasure Page 14