"That's right!" added Mr. Damon. "Bless my powder-horn! We may
all be going sky-high soon, and without aid from any of Tom
Swift's aeroplanes, either."

Warned by the aged inventor, the throng of men began slowly
moving away from the immediate neighborhood of the blazing shed.
Though it may seem to the reader that some time has elapsed since
the first sounding of the alarm, all that I have set down took
place in a very short period--hardly three minutes elapsing since
Tom and the others came rushing out of the aerial warship
building.

Suddenly a cry arose from the crowd of men near the red shed.
Ned, who stood ready with several lines of hose, in charge of
Koku, Eradicate and others, to turn them on the airship shed, in
case of need, looked in the direction of the excited throng.

The young bank clerk saw a strange sight. From the top of the
dirigible balloon shed a long, black, cigar-shaped body arose,
floating gradually upward. The very roof of the shed slid back
out of the way, as Tom pressed the operating lever, and the
dirigible was free to rise--as free as though it had been in an
open field.

"He's going up!" cried Ned in surprise. "Making an ascent at a
time like this, when he ought to stay here to fight the fire!
What's gotten into Tom, I'd like to know? I wonder if he can
be--"