locker in the after part of the _Monarch_! But handle them carefully!
They contain explosives and ammunition for the machine gun!"

If there had been hurry and bustle before, there was ten times as much
now. The professor gave one look at the place where Taggert had been
concealed. The man had worked off his bonds and escaped while his
captors were in the airship's cabin.

Soon there was a queer hissing noise from the engine room of the
_Monarch_. The gas bag began to distend.

"She's fillin', Perfessor!" cried Washington.

"We must tie her down," muttered the old man. "Otherwise she will rise
and take the shed with her. I say, Washington!"

"Yes, Perfessor."

"We must get some one to help us open the shed roof to let the ship rise
out. We can't do it alone."

"Guess it's a extraunordinary contract," agreed the negro.

"Then you go out and see if any one is in sight. Try to hire them for
the work, but don't tell them about the ship. They can work up on the
roof. I will see to the gas machine while you are away. Hurry now!"

The colored man went out. In the meanwhile the professor and the two
boys continued to load up the _Monarch_. They had nearly everything that
the inventor intended to take along piled in its proper place, when