certainly are slipping along. A hundred and fifty feet elevation," he
went on, as he looked at a gauge. I wonder if I'll ever get used to
going several miles up in the air?"

He shifted the rudder a bit, to go to the left. The Red Cloud obeyed
promptly, but, the next instant something snapped. Tom, with a
startled air, looked around. He could see nothing wrong, but a moment
later, the airship dipped suddenly toward the earth. Then it seemed to
increase its forward speed, and, a few seconds later, was rushing
straight at a tall, ornamental tower that rose from one corner of a
large building.

"Mr. Sharp! Mr. Sharp!" cried the lad. "Something has happened! We're
heading for that tower!"

"Steer to one side!" called the balloonist.

Tom tried, but found that the helm had become jammed. The horizontal
rudder would not work, and the craft was rushing nearer and nearer,
every minute, to the pile of brick and mortar.

"We're going to have a collision!" shouted Tom. "Better shut off the
power!"

The two propellers were whirling around so swiftly that they looked
like blurs of light. Mr. Sharp came rushing forward, and Tom
relinquished the steering wheel to him. In vain did the aeronaut try
to change the course of the airship. Then, with a shout to Tom to
disconnect the electric switch, the man turned off the power from the
motor.