"Look out that the motor doesn't scare your horse," Tom warned her.
"Old Dobbin doesn't mind anything," was her answer. "I'll see that he doesn't run away with me, as long as you're not on earth to rescue me. Good-by, Tom!"
"Good-by!" he called, and then he pulled the lever that set in motion the motor, and whirled the great propellers about. They whizzed around with a roar, and the Red Cloud, shivering and trembling with the vibration, rose in the air like some great bird.
"We're off for the West and Phantom Mountain!" called Tom to his companions.
As the airship soared upward, Eradicate Sampson ran forward from where he had been standing near his mule Boomerang. He waved his hands, and shouted something.
"Bless my hatband! What does he want?" asked Mr. Damon, watching him curiously.
"It sounds as if he were calling to us to come back," spoke Mr. Parker.
"It's too late now," decided Tom. "Maybe he forgot to tell us good-by," but, he felt a vague wonder at Eradicate's odd motions; for the colored man was pointing toward the stern of the airship, as if there was something wrong there. But the Red Cloud soared on.
