“Come on!” he yelled.  “They’re awake and after us!”

The din outside increased.  Tom heard the rifles of his friends crack.  He saw, through the torn door curtain, the flashes of fire.  Then came a blue glare, and Tom knew that Mr. Durban was using the electric weapon.

By these intermittent gleams Tom managed to see sufficiently to thrust Mr. and Mrs. Illingway ahead of him.  Tomba was at their side.  The yells inside the hut were almost deafening.  All the red dwarfs left to guard the captives had awakened, and they could see well enough to attack Tom.  Fortunately they had no weapons, but they fairly threw themselves upon the sturdy lad, trying to pull him down.

“Go on!  Go on!” he yelled to the captives, fairly pushing them along.  Then, knowing they were out of the way, he turned and fired his two revolvers as fast as he could pull the triggers, into the very faces of the red imps who were seeking to drag him down.  Again and again he fired, until he had emptied both cylinders of his weapons.

He felt the grasps of the fiendish little men relax one by one.  Tom finally dragged himself loose, and staggered out of the hut.  The captives and Tomba were right in front of him.  At the airship, which loomed up in the flashes from the guns and electric rifle, Tom’s friends were giving battle.  About them swarmed the hordes of savages, with more of the imps pouring in every moment.

“Get aboard!” cried Tom to the missionaries.  “Get on the airship, and we’ll move out of this!”

He felt a stinging pain in his neck, where an arrow struck him.  He tore the arrow out, and rushed forward.  Fairly pushing Mr. and Mrs. Illingway up on deck before him, Tom followed.  Tomba was capering about his master and mistress, and he swung his big club savagely.  He had not been idle, and many a red imp had gone down under his blows.

“Rescued!  Rescued!” murmured Mr. Illingway, as Tom hastened to the pilot house to start the motor.

CHAPTER XXIV

TWO OTHER CAPTIVES

But the rescue was not yet accomplished.  Those on the airship were still in danger, and grave peril, for all about them were the red savages, shouting, howling, yelling and capering about, as they were now thoroughly aroused, and realized that their captives had been taken away from them.  They determined to get them back, and were rallying desperately to battle.  Nearly all of them were armed by this time, and flight after flight of spears and arrows were thrown or shot toward the airship.

Fortunately it was too dark to enable the pygmies to take good aim.  They were guided, to an extent, by the flashes of fire from the rifles, but these were only momentary.  Still some of our friends received slight wounds, for they stood on the open deck of the craft.

“Bless my eye-glasses!” suddenly exclaimed Mr. Damon.  “I’m stuck!”