“Oh, of course he did that,” admitted Red easily. “With their first oil well. But that’s nothing. I always manage to have a few spares. It’s nothing like that. He did other things. Well, I won’t hit him unless he harms you, David, really tries to do you dirt. It’s the nasty way he has of sayin’ things that makes him dangerous. Not so much the things he says, but the way he says ’em.” Red shrugged his shoulders as though to rid himself of an unpleasant subject. “Say, how’s your little gadget comin’ on these days?” David’s face lighted. “It’s finished, Red, as far as it can be without a working model. You know, I feel as though I had stumbled on something darned good. Gee, I hope it wins that school prize. Ten thousand dollars! Sounds good, doesn’t it?” “Good enough,” said Red, “but none too good. You know I’ve a sense for engines, and everything that concerns them and I’m telling you, you’ve got a great thing there.” “I think so, Red. I’m like you; I feel pretty sure of it. I didn’t have that feeling for any of the other things I rigged up. I didn’t seem to have much interest in them, though they worked. You know, they are using a couple of them back at the plant, right now. But this is different. From the minute the principle of the thing flashed into my mind, I liked it. And think what it would mean to dirigible transportation!” “I’ll say! It ought to increase the average speed of a dirigible fifteen to twenty per cent.” “If it works,” hedged David cautiously. “Oh, it’ll work! If we hadn’t come on this trip you could have tried it out before this, couldn’t you?” “It will keep, and there will be plenty of time. It could be made in twenty-four hours, if necessary,” said David. “Well, don’t let anything happen to the plans, and keep them under your hat,” advised Red. “You bet,” said David. “Do you know that we are over Russia now?” “Yeah! We crossed the frontier while I was down in an egg looking at an engine. One of those engineers is bugs on geography, and he spouted enough facts about Russia to fill a book. I’ll say they have some mad looking country, haven’t they? But not many people so far. Towns kind of scattered.” “Wait a day or two,” David prophesied. “I have a hunch that this is Central Park to what’s ahead. Can you leave the cat long enough to look things over a bit?” Red assented, and felt exploringly under his pillow. He brought out a small can. “God help me, I even have to steal condensed cream for me cat!” he said. Monday evening passed uneventfully. During the night the Moonbeam encountered a skirmish of winds which she rode so evenly that there was scarcely any discomfort on the ship. The instruments, however, as well as radio reports from Irkutsk, Chita, and Chabarovsk in Siberia warned them of thick and uncertain weather ahead.