"Oh, tut, tut!" said Hawkins. "This is nothing serious. I'll just start
the propeller on the reverse and we'll float off backward."

"Well, wait a minute before you start it," I said. "They're shouting
something."

"Don't jump! Don't jump!" cried the crowd.

"Who the dickens is going to jump?" replied Hawkins, angrily, leaning over
the side. "Fools!" he observed to me.

"The hook and ladder's coming!" continued a stentorian voice.

[Illustration: "Don't jump! Don't jump!" cried the crowd.]

"Well, they'll have their trouble for their pains," snapped Hawkins. "We
shall be on the ground before they get here."

"Why not wait?" I said. "We'll be sure to get down safely that way, and
you don't know what you may do by starting the machinery. The wires are
all mixed up in it, and they may smash and drag us down, or upset us,
Hawkins."

"Croak! Croak! Croak!" replied Hawkins, sourly. "Go on and croak till
your dying day, Griggs. If any one ever offers a prize for a pessimistic
alarmist, you take my advice and compete. You'll win. _I'm_ going to start
the engine and get out of this."

He pulled the reverse lever, and the engine buzzed merrily. The auto