and waited for orders, instead of going in at once, and this had
given the intruders time to wheel out the craft and start the
motor.

"Why didn't you jump right in on them when you saw what they were
up to, Koku?" asked Tom.

"Me wait for master. Me think master want to see who men were. Me
go in--they run."

"Well, of course that's so, in a way," admitted Tom. "They
probably would have run, but they'd have run WITHOUT my airship
instead of WITH it, if they hadn't had time to get it outside the
hangar. However, there's no use in crying over lost biplanes. The
next thing is how to get her back. Did you know any of the men,
Koku?"

"No, master."

"Then we haven't any clue that way. They laid their plans well.
They just let you tangle yourself up with them, Koku, while the
head ones got the motor going; an easy matter, since it was all
ready to start. Then they tripped you, Koku, and as many of them
as could, made a jump for the machine. Then they were off."

"Well, what's the next thing to do?" asked Ned, when another look
about the shed had shown that not the slightest clue was
available.

"I'm going to do some telephoning," Tom stated. "A big airship