IV
That evening Paul and Jack approached their parents for permission to be taken up in an airplane. Paul encountered little difficulty, much to his surprise. Of course, he was cautioned several times to be careful and he reiterated all the arguments he could muster about how safe flying had become and that there was no danger involved at all. Jack, on the other hand, found his mother set against any such thing. His father was reasonable and consented, but only on condition that his mother did not object. But she did, very strenuously! Jack argued his case as well as the best lawyers until his mother would no longer answer him but merely shake her head. Finally he told her that if Paul’s mother didn’t object he didn’t see why she should. So she called up Mrs. Morrison and then reluctantly gave her consent. Jack jumped high in the air and whooped for joy.
That night both boys found it difficult to fall asleep thinking of the adventure that was in store for them. And when they finally did fall asleep they dreamed of all sorts of things. Jack dreamed that he was a pilot flying across the country. Paul dreamed that he and his chum were flying across the jungles of South America and that they crashed and became lost in the jungles. And just as a wild animal which he couldn’t recognize was about to jump at him, he woke up and tumbled out of bed.
At about noon, Jack met Paul at the latter’s home and, mounting their bicycles, they were off to the airport. They were so thrilled that they couldn’t talk. So they peddled along briskly and when they arrived at their destination they found the Carberry twins and Nuthin’ already there and waiting for them. As Paul and Jack came in sight, the three boys set up a yell. Major McCarthy came out of the office building and waved to them. “Hello, there,” he said. “Are you ready to go up?”
Paul cried, “Sure. And we can hardly wait.”
Jack said, “And our parents gave us permission, too.”
The major smiled cheerfully. “I don’t see any reason for them to object,” he said, “but then some parents object thinking that it’s dangerous when it isn’t at all.”
The boys agreed with him. Nuthin’ cried, “You fellows don’t know how lucky you are. I’d give a right arm to be in your place.”
William offered higher stakes. He said, “I’d give a right arm and a right leg to change places with either of you two.”
Major McCarthy grinned. “Maybe I’ll take you boys up on that,” he said. “I can always use a couple of right arms.”
William jumped high in the air and whooped. “Say, do you mean that?” he demanded.
“I’m not saying a thing,” the major replied. “We’ll just wait and see.”
He went into the office and returned a few minutes later. “Already to go up?” he asked. They answered eagerly that they were and he said, “Then let’s go.”
The two boys fell in alongside of him with the three others trailing behind. At the hangar, one of the mechanics helped the major wheel out the plane. Then the mechanic hunted up a couple of jackets and goggles for the boys. When everything was ready, the major said, “All right, boys, climb into the observer’s seat. If you make yourselves small enough, there will be plenty of room for both of you.”
They climbed in. The other three boys were told to retreat about a hundred yards away. Finally the major got into the cockpit. Turning to the boys, he asked them, “Everything all right? Not frightened?”
They shook their heads and assured him that they felt perfectly at ease. The mechanic grasped hold of the propeller. “Ready! Switch off! Suck in!” he shouted.
“Switch off! Suck in!” answered the pilot.
The boys leaned over to watch what the pilot was doing. As the mechanic turned the propeller over about half a dozen times, the pilot, with a few strokes of the doping pump, sprayed gasoline vapor into the cylinders. “Contact!” cried the mechanic.
“Contact!” replied the major. He pressed down the switches and quickly turned the handle of the starting magneto. Brrr … brrrr … went the engine. The mechanic sprang away. The mechanic made as though to bound forward but was checked by the wooden chocks, placed in front of the under-carriage wheels.
Just as he was ready, he turned back and asked, “Are you ready boys?”
“Yes, sir,” they replied.
“Very well, then, we’re off.”
The three boys at the sheds cheered lustily as the machine began to move and Paul and Jack waved to them. And before they realized it the machine was about six feet off the ground which seemed to be falling away beneath them. The plane kept climbing steadily upwards. The boys leaned forward. They saw that the air-speed indicator registered a little over a hundred miles an hour, and they wondered because they couldn’t feel the machine traveling at such a rate of speed. As they continued to climb, the boys looked over the side at the scene below them. The earth now appeared like a great colored map, with fields showing up in different shades of green and brown. The airport which they had only shortly left, was a little to the left of them. Sheds and houses and barns appeared as very small rectangular blocks. As they climbed still higher, things took on yet smaller proportions. Major McCarthy spoke to them through the telephone. “Well, how do you like it?” he asked.
Paul answered for both of them. “Marvelous!” he cried.
The pilot banked the machine and it steeped over on one side so sharply that the boys instinctively clutched for support. McCarthy’s voice came over the telephone “Don’t be alarmed,” he said, “there’s no danger and you can’t fall out.” He straightened out the machine. Again they heard his voice. “Feel a little giddy?” he asked. “If you do,” he cried, “look down upon some fixed object on the ground and you’ll feel all right.”
Both boys complied with his instructions and they soon got over their giddiness. The pilot kept the machine sailing at an even keel. Soon they were flying over a small town and they saw what appeared to them as ants scurrying along. They knew that the ants were really men and women and they marveled how small they appeared. As a matter of fact, everything looked like toys from that distance and flying above a railroad, the track seemed to be two thin lines drawn with a pencil. Major McCarthy’s voice came over the telephone. “How would you boys like some stunts?” he asked.
The boys grinned at each other. Paul answered for both of them. “Very much,” he said.
“All right,” he said, “we’ll have to be satisfied with only one today. Just to see how you fellows take it. First we’ll bank and turn around. Ready!”
But before they could answer the pilot already had the machine keeled over on one side. On an even keel again, the major asked them, “How about your safety belts.” They adjusted their safety belts and told him so. “Very well,” he said, “here goes.” And so saying, he opened the throttle and the plane bounded forward. In a few seconds the nose sprang upward. As it rose the forward speed decreased, yet the engine continued to run at the maximum revolutions. The machine was not pointing vertically upwards. For a moment the plane appeared to hang on the revolving propeller and it felt as though the machine must inevitably drop tail foremost. But right away the nose fell over to one side and dropped and the tail shot up and the machine was shooting sharply downward. For some distance they continued to dive, then the pilot shut off the throttle and pulled back the elevator lever and brought the plane again on an even keel. However, they were now flying in the opposite direction. McCarthy asked, “How was it?”
The boys were thrilled.
