"I shall be delighted," replied Tom, "only I fear I may have to help
Mr. Sharp out of this trouble."

"Don't worry about me, Tom," said the balloonist, who overheard him.
"Let me do the explaining. I'm an old hand at it. Been in trouble
before. Many a time I've had to pay damages for coming down in a
farmer's corn field. I'll attend to the lady principal, and you can
explain things to the young ones," and, with a wink, the jolly
aeronaut stepped over to where Miss Perkman, in spite of her prejudice
against the airship, was observing it curiously.

Glad to have the chance to talk to his young lady friend, Tom slipped
to the opposite side of the car with her and a few of her intimate
friends, to whom she slyly beckoned. There Tom told how the Red Cloud
came to be built, and of his first trip in the air, while, on the
opposite side, Miss Delafield lectured to the entire school on
aeronautics, as she thought she knew them.

Mr. Sharp evidently did know how to "explain" matters to the irate
principal, for, in a short while, she was smiling. By this time Tom
had about finished his little lecture, and Miss Delafield was at the
end of hers. The entire school of girls was grouped about the Red
Cloud, curiously examining it, but Mary Nestor and her friends
probably learned more than any of the others. Tom was informed that
his friend had been attending the school in Rocksmond since the fall
term opened.

"I little thought, when I found we were going to smash into that
tower, that you were below there, studying," said the lad to the girl.