“The Black Hawk?” repeated Mr. Durban, wonderingly.

“Yes, that’s what I will name my new craft.  The red cloud was destroyed, and so I thought I’d change the color this time, and avoid bad luck.”

“Good!” exclaimed the hunter.  “When do you think you can have it finished?”

“Oh, possibly in a month—­perhaps sooner, and then we will go to Africa and hunt elephants!”

“Bless my ivory paper cutter!” exclaimed a voice in the hall just outside the library.  “Bless my fingernails!  But who’s talking about going to Africa?”

The old hunter looked at Tom and his father in surprise, but the young inventor laughing and going to the door, called out: 

“Come on in, Mr. Damon.  I didn’t hear you ring.  There is some one here from your town.”

“Is it my wife?” asked the odd gentleman who was always blessing something.  “She said she was going to her mother’s to spend a few weeks, and so I thought I’d come over here and see if you had anything new on the program.  The first thing I hear is that you are going to Africa.  And so there’s some one from Waterford in there, eh?  Is it my wife?”

“No,” answered Tom with another laugh.  “Come on in Mr. Damon.”

“Bless my toothpick!” exclaimed the odd gentleman, as he saw the grizzled elephant hunter sitting between Tom and Mr. Swift.  “I have seen you somewhere before, my dear sir.”

“Yes,” admitted Mr. Durban, “if you’re from Waterford you have probably seen me traveling about the streets there.  I’m stopping with my sister, Mrs. Douglass, but I can’t stand it to be in the house much, so I’m out of doors, wandering about a good bit of the time.  I miss my jungle.  But we’ll soon be in Africa, Tom Swift and me.”

“Is it possible, Tom?” asked Mr. Damon.  “Bless my diamond mines! but what are you going to do next?”

“It’s hard to say,” was the answer.  “But you came just in time.  Mr. Damon.  I’m going to rush work on the Black Hawk, my newest airship, and we’ll leave for elephant land inside of a month, taking my new electric rifle along.  Will you come”

“Bless my penknife!  I never thought of such a thing.  I—­I—­guess—­ no, I don’t know about it—­yes, I’ll go!” he suddenly exclaimed.  “I’ll, go!  Hurrah for the elephants!” and he jumped up and shook hands in turn with Mr. Durban, to whom he had been formally introduced, and with Tom and Mr. Swift.

“Then it’s all settled but the details,” declared the youth, “and now I’ll call in Mr. Jackson, and we’ll talk about how soon we can have the airship ready.”

“My, but you folks are almost as speedy as a herd of the big elephants themselves!” exclaimed Mr. Durban, and with the advent of the engineer the talk turned to things mechanical among Tom and Mr. Jackson and Mr. Damon, while Mr. Durban told Mr. Swift hunting stories which the old inventor greatly enjoyed.

The next day Tom engaged two machinists who had worked for him building airships before, and in the next week rush work began on the new Black Hawk.  Meanwhile Mr. Durban was a frequent visitor at Tom’s home, where he learned to use the new rifle, declaring it was even more wonderful than he had at first supposed.