Phyl shook her head. “There wasn’t any as far as we could see.”
“It must have been above the clouds,” Hank offered, and since there was no other solution, they accepted this explanation.
Sandy and Bud joined the others then, commenting ruefully on the whole experience.
“And on top of everything else,” Sandy said with disgust, “we found only this one ring out of all that legendary treasure!”
Tom grinned. “Too bad, Sis. Would you like to come back and try again?”
“No, thanks, Tom. I’m convinced now that there’s more legend than treasure on Purple Mesa!”
Tom announced that in the morning they would try to rescue the Skeeter.
“We’ll rig a winch and cable at the hangar doors. The wreckage can be secured with grappling hooks.”
Directly after breakfast the next morning, Tom and his friends set out for Purple Mesa in the Sky Queen.
150 TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT ROBOT
The winch-and-cable mechanism, rigged to avoid the jet lifters, projected on a boom out into space. Tom had to leave the hangar doors open, giving the usually graceful Sky Queen an ungainly appearance.
“What’s worse,” Bud complained, “it cuts down our speed and chances to maneuver. We’re wide open to an assault.”
Tom agreed that the device made the ship vulnerable. “We’ll have to stand by with an ax to cut the mounting loose in case the crows attack.”
But the ship was not molested. Reaching the cliff-side, Bud took over at the controls. Tom insisted upon riding down on the cable to make an inspection of the Skeeter himself and attach the grappling hooks.