Andy caught up his gun and hastened to the tower. As Jack had said, a big sperm whale, spouting water high in the air from his nostrils, was headed for the _Monarch_, which, as it lay on the surface, the whale evidently took for a rival. "I wonder if I can stop him with this rifle," exclaimed Andy. "No, but you can with the machine gun!" said Jack. "Not while it's in the stern," replied the old hunter. "I guess we are done for this time. I'll fire a few shots, anyhow, before I die!" "Wait!" yelled Jack. "I'll turn the ship around!" "Can you do it?" "I think I can," was the short reply. "We cannot use the machinery." "I know that, but I can use something else--that is, I think I can." "There is nothing to use." "Yes, there is. See here!" As the youth spoke he seized a long pole from the deck, and stuck one end of it in a large cake of ice that floated close by. Slowly, but with the strength of despair he pushed the bow of the airship around so that it was pointed away from the on-coming whale. "Run to the rear!" the boy cried to Andy. "And hurry up!" The hunter did so. A few seconds later the stern of the ship was toward the ocean monster. Andy called for some one to bring ammunition and feed the hopper of the machine gun, and Bill responded. Then, when the whale was within a hundred feet of the _Monarch_, Andy began turning the crank. A storm of lead shot out toward the big fish. The water about was dyed with blood and the spouting streams from the nostrils were changed from white to red. With a terrible flurry, lashing the waters of the ocean to foam with its broad flukes, the whale died, hundreds of bullets in its head. The airship was saved. CHAPTER XXX HOMEWARD BOUND "We're sinking! we're sinking!" yelled Bill Jones. He pointed to a stream of water that was trickling up from the cabin floor. The freezing of the ship in the ice had strained the seams. The professor and Washington were working earnestly over the gas machine. They piled in fresh chemicals and started the electric current. The water in the cabin continued to rise. "Well, I guess I might as well have let the whale finish us," sighed Andy. "We're bound to die, anyhow!" "Not yet!" cried the professor suddenly. "Not if I can help it! Quick, Washington. Another turn to the handle, and I think we will be safe!" The negro adjusted the machine as the professor had directed. "Is the water gaining?" asked Amos Henderson. "No. It's stopped coming in," replied Bill. "Then we are saved!" announced the inventor. "The gas is entering the bag and lifting the ship!"