The inflation would require approximately
ten hours. If begun at once this would make the departure possible
about midnight. This was not undesirable as the absence of the hot
southwestern sun would make the gas easier to control. But another
thing had to be taken into consideration. Only four days had
elapsed since Elmer and Bob and Buck had started. Were they yet at
the rendezvous?
"I don't see what difference that makes," said Alan. "We expect to
sail directly north and east of the foothills. If they have not
reached their camp they must be nearly there and on the way. We've
got to locate them with our glasses anyway. Let's start and pick
them up where we find them."
"True enough," answered Ned. "The way the engine is working, in
this light favoring wind, we ought to make eighteen miles an hour
anyway. If we leave at midnight, by five o'clock in the morning we
can be ninety miles north. The only trouble is in the handling of
the bag. It's going to take at least twenty men to move the
inflated bag from the retaining weights to the car and we can't make
the rigging fast in the dark.
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