"
"That sounds a little reasonable, anyhow, Frank. Queer that I never seem
to get hold of these things, and they just float along as easy as
anything to you. But it looks as if we had her all primed up now as
steady as a church. How about it, Frank?"
For answer the other touched several taut wire guys with a peculiar
little movement of finger and thumb, and each one responded with a
musical note that was the sweetest possible sound in the responsive ear
of the young aviators.
"All done, and let's be off," he said, presently, after the last test
had been applied.
Accordingly they shook hands with Farmer Quackenboss, his good wife, and
Felix, in the palm of which latter Andy made sure to leave a greenback
that made the boy grin broadly.
Three minutes later Frank sang out the word, and both the farmer and
Felix ran along with the machine for a dozen paces or so, when it left
them behind, taking on speed, and finally rushing over the ground at a
tremendous pace.
Uptilting the planes caused it to leave the ground and start to curve
gracefully upward, as the whizzing propeller did its noisy duty.
They could hear the farmer and his hired hand shouting themselves hoarse
with delight at having actually witnessed the start of a modern
aeroplane; but naturally the sound grew fainter and fainter in their
ears as they left the field and the squatty farmhouse far behind.
Pages:
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50