David Ellison, with little money but much stalwart pride and sturdy ambition. Wally Cram, possessed with the idea that money will bring him everything; and he has plenty of money. Red Ryan, a young Irish mechanic with magic in his fingers and a fund of wit. All three are bound for a school for apprentices for lighter-than-air craft. David passes the entrance examinations; Wally fails in the tests; Red gets his job in the air plant. Three years pass. We find David and Red grown older, wiser, more stabilized, still at the air plant and now discussing the flight of the Silver Ship, a giant dirigible nearing completion in its hanger. Wally appears. He has heard the Silver Ship needs more backing. He puts enough capital into the venture to assure himself a place on her round-the-world flight. He will now be a dazzling figure in the public eye. When the majestic ship leaves her hanger, David is a pilot and Red a mechanic aboard her. When she returns in nineteen days, she holds the record for a world flight. Wally is a very humble rich man, David a victorious pilot and inventor, and Red Ryan the friend that "sticketh tighter than a brother."