"Yes, Father, I know. And I'm going to fight that fire in a new
way. But we must save the other buildings, too. Play water on all
the other sheds and structures!" ordered the young inventor.
"I'll tackle this one myself. Oh, Ned!" he called.

"Yes," answered his chum. "What is it?"

"You take charge of protecting the place where the new aerial
warship is stored. Will you? I can't afford to lose that."

"I'll look after it, Tom. No harm in using water there, though;
is there?"

"Not if you don't use too much. Some of the woodwork isn't
varnished yet, and I wouldn't want it to be wet. But do the best
you can. Take Koku and Eradicate with you. They can't do any good
here."

"Do you mean to say you're going to give up and let this burn?"

"Not a bit of it, Ned. But I have another plan I want to try.
Lively now! The wind's changing, and it's blowing over toward my
aerial warship shed. If that catches--"

Tom shook his head protestingly, and Ned set off on the run,
calling to the colored man and the giant to get out another line
of hose.

"I wonder what Tom is going to do?" mused Ned, as he neared the