From the first mention of the Megatherium, the party had become inoculated with a feverish desire to plunge into the adventurous channels the professor’s narrative appeared to open. But the matter involved was far too weighty to be decided in a moment. An hour or more of earnest discussion followed, until at last Captain Sprowl, throwing off all pretense of reserve, said:

“I’m frank to say that I’m for it. It’s two thousand miles from here to the foothills of the Andes on a rough calculation. You kin fly fifty miles an hour, kain’t you?”

“Easily,” was Jack’s reply, “but we can do better if the wind is with us and we develop full power,—say sixty-five.”

“Good enough. Then flying day and night, that brings us to the region we want to go to in about thirty-five hours.”

“That’s right,” nodded Mr. Chadwick, “but there are other things to be considered,—Indians, for instance.”

“Vee vouldt nodt vant to go vere human beings existed,” said the professor. “Der Megatherium, if he exists, vill be foundt far from any place vere peoples of any kindt lif.”

Mr. Chadwick interposed one or two more objections and then was silent for a minute. Finally he turned to the boys.

“Well,” he said, “what do you lads think of it?”

“I think that we could make the trip, sir,” rejoined Jack. “We are well armed. We have some trinkets that we could trade off to any hostile tribe we encountered and gain their good will, and then, too, the very sight of our flying-ship would overawe them if we managed things right. But from what the professor says, we are not likely even to encounter that danger. All we are required to do, as I understand it, is to fly our ship to a region he selects, and from that point organize a search for the Mega—mega——”

“Megaphone,” suggested Dick.

“Well, for the giant sloth. If you ask me, I say—yes!”

“Same here,” declared Tom, promptly, who had been waiting eagerly for a chance to announce himself.

“Yes,” thundered Captain Sprowl, “and we’ll bring that Meggy-meggy-fear-none home again, lashed to the mast.”

“Well, as I would only be in the minority, I suppose I may as well vote in the affirmative,” said Mr. Chadwick.

“I’m only an outsider,” piped Dick, “and as I’ve got no business here anyhow, I don’t suppose you’ll take me. But I say, yes; because if we do get this Mega-what-you-may-call-um and the professor lets me take pictures and write a story, it’ll be the biggest newspaper stunt pulled off for a long time.”

“You’re appointed special correspondent of the expedition, then,” laughed Jack.

“I don’t know how to dank you,” declared the professor fervently. “You haf done a service to science dot cannot be paidt in money, even if ve don’t get der Megatherium. Budt now ve gedt down to business. If vee gedt der Megatherium or proof dot he exists, I agree to pay you fifteen thousand dollars for der use of der Vundership. If ve don’t gedt him, I pay you half dot sum undt five tousandt additional for your services. Does dot suit you?”

“Suits me,” said Jack, almost at once, after a glance had passed between himself and Tom.

“Very vell, den. Dot is arranged mitout fuss or fedders. I gif you an agreement.”

“Oh, that’s all right,” said the elder of the two owners of the Wondership, but the professor tore out of his pocket-book a leaf of paper and with his fountain pen rapidly scribbled and signed a contract.

“If I die, der people for whom I am doing dis vurk vill see dot you gedt der sum agreed upon,” he said, as he handed the paper to Jack, who took it under protest.

The preparations for the trip into the unknown regions to the west of them occupied most of the rest of that day. It was decided to leave Judkins in the camp with a supply of provisions, as no more weight than was necessary was wanted in the air craft,—for that they would have to make much of their voyage by the “air route” there was no question. The engineer appeared quite agreeable to this plan and apprehended no danger. In a week at the outside they were to fly back and see how he was faring.

They decided to make the start the next morning, which would bring them into the region the professor wished to reach about daybreak of the day following. This would give them an opportunity to scour the country and fix a permanent camp.

That evening while the supper was cooking, with the addition of some turtle steaks and fish which had been caught during the afternoon by Dick, they were startled at a crashing and scrambling in one of the tree tops not far off.

Grasping their rifles, the boys started off in pursuit of the animal that was causing the disturbance. They soon arrived under the tree in which it was concealed, but owing to the dense foliage could see nothing but the shaking of leaves and branches as some heavy body moved about.

“Maybe it’s a leopard!” exclaimed Dick. “The captain says there are lots of ‘em about here and we heard some howling last night.”

“No, it’s making too much noise for a leopard,” declared Jack; “besides, I don’t believe that they ever go so high up.”

“Maybe it’s a monkey of some kind,” suggested Tom.

“That’s a heap more likely,” agreed Jack.

“Hullo! It’s moving again!” cried Tom.

“It’s swinging into the next tree. Look!” cried Dick excitedly.

“If you saw it, why didn’t you shoot?” demanded Tom.

“Got buck fever, I guess. Say, fellows, by the meandering monkeys of Moravia, that was the funniest looking thing I ever saw.”

“Why, what did it look like?” asked Jack.

Dick thought earnestly for a minute. Then he looked up brightly as if he had hit on a clever definition.

“Like nothing that I can think of,” he remarked with a grin. Tom aimed a swinging blow at the jester, which Dick dodged easily.

While they were thus engaged, Jack’s rifle spoke sharply. He had caught sight of the odd animal swinging to the tree beyond that to which it had already transferred itself.

There was a great threshing among the branches and an odd sort of squealing cry.

“You hit it, all right,” declared Tom.

“Yes; but I’m afraid it’s got entangled in the branches and we’ll lose it after all.”

“I’ll climb up and get it,” volunteered Dick.

But there was no necessity for this. After a minute’s interval a hairy body came crashing and toppling down, landing with a thud at their feet. As Dick had said, the animal was certainly unlike anything the boys had seen up to that time.

It was a hairy creature, about the size of a large monkey. Its nose was snub, its eyes large and round, and it apparently had no ears. But strangest of all, in among its coarse hairs grew a sort of moss of almost the exact hue of the vegetation adhering to the tree trunks.

The legs were long and powerful, and each foot bore three strong, curved claws, like meat-hooks. It was not until the professor saw the creature that they knew what it was.

The animal was the three-toed sloth, which travels upside down among the tree tops of tropical Brazil like a fly hanging to the ceiling. The moss-like growth amidst its coarse hair was real moss, declared the professor, and was one of those inscrutable devices of nature for protection purposes, rendering the animal almost invisible when swinging against a tree trunk.

“And the Meggy-thing-um-a-jig is the big cousin of this fellow?” asked Tom.

“He is radder de greadt, greadt, greadt gross fader,” responded the German with a smile.

“But surely the giant sloth doesn’t swing from trees?” asked Jack.

“Nein. Idt is peliefed dot he lifs in swampy places undt has a foodt broadt undt flat. Idt is only his grandchildren dot took to der trees.”

“Well, boys,” declared Captain Sprowl, when they exhibited Jack’s trophy to him, “that’s a sign of good luck. We’ve only got to find a critter like that, only forty times as big, and resemblin’ him ‘cos he’s so different, and you get fifteen thousand dollars. It’s jes’ as easy as rollin’ off’n a log—I don’t think.”

With which profound speech the captain continued his culinary tasks with vehemence.