"There he is!" cried Mr. Swift, who was on the watch, leaning over
the side of the boat. Tom and Ned saw him at the same instant.
Ned shifted his wheel and the young inventor bent over, holding
out the rope for the man to grasp. He saw it and struck out
toward the ARROW. But there was no need for him to go far. An
instant more and the speeding motor-boat shot past him. He
grabbed the rope and Tom, aided by Mr. Swift, began to lift him
out of the water.
"Quick! To one side, Ned!" yelled Tom, for the heat of the
descending mass of burning canvas struck him like a furnace blast.
Ned needed no urging. With a swirl of the screw the ARROW shot
herself out of the way, carrying the aeronaut with her. A moment
later the burning balloon, or what there was left of it, settled
down into the lake, hissing angrily as the fire was quenched by
the water and completely covering the spot where, but a few
seconds before, the man had been swimming. He had been saved in
the nick of time.
CHAPTER XXIII
PLANS FOR AN AIRSHIP
"Slow her down, Ned!" cried Tom, for the ARROW was shooting so
swiftly through the water that the young inventor found it
impossible to pull up the balloonist. Ned hurried back to the
motor, and, when the boat's way had been checked, it was an easy
matter to pull the dripping and almost exhausted man into the
craft.
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