"All ready," answered Mr. Damon. The old elephant hunter sat in a
chair, nervously gripping the arms, and with a grim look on his
tanned face. Mr. Swift was cool, as Ned, for they had made many
trips in the air. Outside were Eradicate Sampson and Mrs. Baggert.

"Here we go!" suddenly cried Tom, and he yanked over the lever that
started the main motor and propellers. The Black Hawk trembled
throughout her entire length. She shivered and shook. Faster and
faster whirled the great wooden screws. The motor hummed and
throbbed.

Slowly the Black Hawk moved across the ground. Then she gathered
speed. Now she was fairly rushing over the level space. Tom Swift
tilted the elevation rudder, and with a suddenness that was
startling, at least to the old elephant hunter, the new airship shot
upward on a steep, slant.

"The Black Hawk flies!" yelled Ned Newton. "Now for elephant land
and the big tusks!"

"Yes, and perhaps for the red pygmies, too," added Tom in a low
voice. Then he gave his whole attention to the management of his new
machine, which was rapidly mounting upward, with a speed rivalling
that of his former big craft.




CHAPTER VIII