It was rather rough sledding, to be sure, and as the bicycle wheels
pounded over the turf the boys had to hold on to keep their seats.
But when sufficient momentum had been acquired, Frank elevated the fore
plane, and immediately there was the greatest relief felt; for they
began to rise in the air, and all that terrible bumping stopped for
good. The change was wonderful, and it felt as though they were gliding
on velvet.
"We're off!" exclaimed Andy, exultantly.
Frank said nothing. He did not possess quite the same sanguine nature
that his cousin had. Andy seldom allowed thoughts of possible disaster
to annoy him, but on the other hand Frank was always trying to head off
trouble.
He realized that with this launching of their new hydro-aeroplane they
would be entering upon an extra hazardous game, the outcome of which no
one could foresee. The two men whom they expected to follow must be
desperate fellows, who would resort to almost any hazard rather than
allow themselves to be caught.
And it was not an amateur aviator like Percy Carberry who was opposed
to them now, but one who had had long experience in the art of
harnessing a flying machine to do his bidding.
Once they left the ground behind them, Frank started to spiral upward
much in the same way the others had done.
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