CHAPTER XII
AMONG THE NATIVES
For a moment after Tom's departure the others stared blankly at oneanother. They could hear the throbbing and hum of the machinery, andfeel the thrill of the anchored airship. But they could notunderstand what the trouble was.
"We must help Tom!" cried Ned Newton at length as he caught up hisrifle. "Maybe we are in the midst of a herd of elephants, and theyhave hold of the ship in their trunks."
"It couldn't be!" declared Mr. Durban, yet they soon discovered thatNed's guess was nearer the truth then any of them had suspected atthe time.
"We must help him, true enough!" declared Mr. Anderson, and he andthe others followed Ned out on deck.
"Where are you Tom?" called his chum.
"Here." was the answer. "I'm on the forward deck."
"Do you see anything?"
"No, it's too dark. Turn the search-light this way."
"I will," shouted Mr. Damon, and a moment later the gleam of thepowerful lantern brought Tom clearly into view, as he stood on thesmall forward observation platform in the bow of the Black Hawk.
An instant later the young inventor let out a startled cry.
"What is it?" demanded Mr. Durban.
"An immense snake!" shouted Tom. "It's wound around a tree, andpartly twined around the ship! That's why we couldn't go up! I'mgoing to shoot it."
They looked to where he pointed, and there, in the glare of thelight, could be seen an immense python, fully twenty-five feet long,the forward part of its fat ugly body circled around the slenderprow of the airship, while the folds of the tail were about a bigtree.
Tom Swift raised his electric rifle, took quick aim, and, having setit to deliver a moderate charge, pressed the button. The result wassurprising, for the snake being instantly killed the folds uncoiledand the ship shot upward, only, instead of rising on an even keel,the bow pointed toward the sky, while the stern was still fast tothe earth. Tilted at an angle of forty-five degrees the Black Hawkwas in a most peculiar position, and those standing on the deckbegan to slide along it.
"There's another snake at the stern!" cried Mr. Damon as he graspeda brace to prevent falling off. "Bless my slippers! it's the mate ofthe one you killed! Shoot the other one, Tom!"
The young inventor needed no urging. Making his way as best he couldto the stern of the airship, he killed the second python, which waseven larger than the first, and in an instant the Black Hawk shotupward, this time level, and as it should be. Things on board weresoon righted, and the travelers could stand upright. High above theblack jungle rose the craft, moving forward under the full power ofthe propellers, until Tom rushed into the engine room, and reducedspeed.
"Well, talk about things happening!" exclaimed Ned, when they hadsomewhat recovered from the excitement. "I should say they werebeginning with a vengeance!"
"That's the way in Africa," declared Mr. Durban. "It's a curiouscountry. Those pythons generally go in pairs, but it's the firsttime I ever knew them to tackle an airship. They probably stayaround here where there is plenty of small game for them, and verylikely they merely anchored to our craft while waiting for a supperto come along."
"It was a very odd thing," said Tom. "I couldn't imagine what heldus. After this I'll see that all is clear before I try to go up.Next time we may be held by a troop of baboons and it strains themachinery to have it pull against dead weight in that way."
However, it was found no harm had resulted from this experience,and, after reducing the gas pressure, which was taking them toohigh, Tom set the automatic rudders.
"We'll keep on at slow speed through the night," he explained, "andin the morning we'll be pretty well into the interior. Then we canlay our course for wherever we want to go. Where had we better headfor?"
"I don't want to interfere with your plans," said Mr. Anderson, "butI would like to rescue those missionaries. But the trouble is, Idon't know just where to look for them. We couldn't get much of aline in Majumba on where the country of the red pygmies is located.What do you think about it, Mr. Durban?"
"As far as elephant hunting goes we can probably do as well in thepygmy land as anywhere else," answered the veteran, "and perhaps itwill be well to head for that place. If we run across any elephantherds in the meanwhile, we can stop, get the ivory, and proceed."
They discussed this plan at some length, and agreed that it was thebest thing to do. Mr. Durban had a map of the country around thecenter of Africa, and he marked on it, as nearly as he could, thelocation of the pygmies' country, while Mr. Anderson also had achart, showing the location of the mission which had been wiped outof existence. It was in the midst of a wild and desolate region.
"We'll do the best we can," declared Tom, "and I think we'llsucceed. We ought to be there in about a week, if we have no badluck."
All that night the Black Hawk flew on over Africa, covering mileafter mile, passing over jungle, forest, plains, rivers and lakes,and, doubtless, over many native villages, though they could not beseen.
Morning found the travelers above a great, grassy plain, dotted hereand there with negro settlements which were separated by rivers,lakes or thin patches of forest.
"Well, we'll speed up a bit," decided Tom after breakfast, which waseaten to the weird accompaniment of hundreds of native warning-drums,beaten by the superstitious blacks.
Tom went to the engine room, and turned on more speed. He was aboutto go back to the pilot house, to set the automatic steeringapparatus to coincide with the course mapped out, when there was acrash of metal, an ominous snapping and buzzing sound, followed by asudden silence.
"What's that?" cried Ned, who was in the motor compartment with hischum.
"Something's gone wrong!" exclaimed the young inventor, as he sprangback toward the engine. The propellers had ceased revolving, and asthere was no gas in the bag at that time, it having been decided tosave the vapor for future needs, the Black Hawk began falling towardthe earth.
"We're going down!" yelled Ned.
"Yes, the main motor has broken!" exclaimed Tom. "We'll have todescend to repair it."
"Say!" yelled Mr. Damon, rushing in, "we're right over a big Africanvillage! Are we going to fall among the natives?"
"It looks that way," admitted Tom grimly, as he hastened to thepilot house to shift the wings so that the craft could glide easilyto the ground.
"Bless my shoe blacking!" cried the eccentric man as he heard thebeating of drums, and the shouts of the savages.
A little later the airship had settled into the midst of a crowd ofAfricans, who swarmed all about the craft.
Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle; Or, Daring Adventures in Elephant Land Page 12