Hardly had the aeroplane ceased moving when Tom and his
companion jumped out and began eagerly to examine the machinery
to see the extent of damage.
"I thought so!" Tom exclaimed. "The silencer cracked under the
strain. Those exhaust gases have more pressure that I believed
possible. I increased the margin of safety on this muffler, too.
But she's cracked, and I can't use the machine until I put on a
new one. Good thing I didn't ask for a government inspection
until after this trial flight."
"That's so," agreed Jackson. "But can't you patch it up, or go
on without a muffler, so we can get back home?"
"I'm afraid not," Tom answered. "You see I removed all the old
exhaust pipe fittings when I put on my new silencer. Now if I
took off my attachment there wouldn't be anything to carry off
the discharged gases, and they'd form a regular cloud about us.
We couldn't stand it without gas masks, such as they use in the
trenches, and we haven't any of those with us."
"That's right," agreed Jackson. "Well, what do you want to do?
Have me stay here and guard the machine while you go for help? Or
shall I go?"
"I don't know why we both can't go," said Tom.
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