urday morning. In fact, Mrs. Ross had given them an earlier breakfast than usual, so that they cou

at reserve, the irrepressible Tom was the least successful of the trio, as might be expected, and when he caught John and Paul slyly winking at each other and glancing in his direction as he n

your nervousness by accusing us

a young kid with his fi

w much gasoline have we

, bending down and looking at the instr

our, and we may use as much as fifteen gallons in that time; that's about half the consumption o

out two gallons, I should say. Most planes use about a half-gallon to

the gauge told that the required additional twenty gallons were in. The same pump would work with the oil also, and soon the viscid fluid had been transferred from the storage can on t

shed putting in the fu

in the former

g to all. "I know it is a time I have looked forward to myself for a good many months,-ever s

el aboard now for a couple of hours' flight, and that will be long enough for a fir

run this

with the propeller, too. They work tip-top, either connected or disconnected. I t

e seen have always dashed forward as soon as their propellers began to revolve under impulse of the motor or motors; ther

kes designed to be worked by a control within reach of the pilot, brakes which will engage these ground wheels a good deal the same as brakes work o

, with the result that the airplane at once tipped forward and stuck its nos

sed to counteract this tendency to pitch over," explained Jo

point. "Stoop down a bit and look un

t the size of a saucer, from which protruded the end of an aluminum-enca

eventer, dad,"

p, sir, as I suggested. That is all the special dress you will need, as our enclosed cabin m

where it would have a smooth runway for a hundred yards ahead. The weather was ideal for the trip. There was littl

ith a wave of his hand. "I'll crank

a lever from the inside which caused the auxiliary ground wheel to shoot down and engage

he Sky-Bird gave a start, as though to dash forward; but beyond a steady, slight vibration of her whole body, as Tom slowed down the motor to four hundred revolutions per minute, there was

father, who sat in a chair adjoining. "Now watch the old girl jump ahead when Paul thr

d. To the surprise of even two such veteran flyers as John Ross and Tom Meeks, the airplane had gone less than fifty yards when she began to rise as gracefully as a swallow in respon

ring in a great circle about the town of Yonkers. Off to the northwestward were the rugged blue crags of the Catskills, covered with patches of milk-white snow, and just in front, winding like a huge serpent among the picturesque foothills, was the sparkling Hudson, dwindling away to a mere silver thre

o within a thousand feet, presently, as he saw his own home approaching. Someone, whom both John and Paul immediately recognized as their mother, stood in the door waving a handkerchief. In recognition, Paul drew down one of the s

eath. Most of these people were used to seeing airplanes, but obviously the bright finish

to do, for John once more gave the engine more gas, and turned the airplane skyward. Up, up they shot like a rocket. The hand on the dial of the altimeter moved along steadily-it reached 2 again, passed to 3, 4, 5, 6; the earth seemed literally to be falling away from them. All at once, when they were b

er been in an airplane before. A moment or two later, the boy added, as

tting colder," rem

der the higher one

getting cold feet

n, isn't this as good a time as any to try out the merits of t

t right now. When I left home I told Sis to mind the set there in my room

Sis! hello, Sis! hello, Sis!" for a few moments in the transmitter. Then he said, after

adpiece, and slipped it over his fat

ce-the voice of his own daug

hear me,

Betty," said he

ng with you when you were flying through the air. Mother just called ups

omewhere just north of

s lacon

don't go too high or too far, daddie, will you?" came the c

on be back with you and

rking perfectly.

y hat to you, Robert," he said. "I never thought your fussing at home all these years

f the streamlike cabin with a rushing sound like the distant roar of a huge cataract; the flexible window glass gave slightly to its pressure, but there was no sign of it breaking. One minut

cried John, one eye on the dial whic

les," venture

hirty," guesse

y," stated the mor

ng just exactly two hundred and fift

tra power they were soon making the remarkable speed of three hundred miles an hour! John then slowed up and

this fashion they ran for fifteen or twenty miles on a perfectly even keel, the apparatus automatically working the elevators and ailerons of the craft as various wind currents tended to disturb its equilibrium. At length, John gave a li

new airplane. And as it gracefully swooped down into the fair-grounds a little later, coming to a stop