In fact it seemed so terrible above that he lacked the nerve to persist in the upward work, and even commenced to drop down. Perk noticing this move, hardly knew what to make of it. He was, as he himself would have expressed it, “hanging on by his teeth,” in order to keep his seat in the wildly plunging airship and on finding that the bold pilot had given up hope of finding relief in the upper regions, the fact appalled him. Could it be Jack had decided to attempt a landing, with only the glare of those repeated electrical flashes to serve as airport lights? That indeed would be next to admitting their case as hopeless, and that Jack was taking such desperate chances only as a last resort.
They were zooming along all this time as if pursued by a jinx and indeed with such weird accompaniments it would not be hard to believe the spirit of the storm took on the part of such a goblin of the air, to pursue relentlessly this bold invader of the home of the aroused elements.
Perk hit the bullseye close to the center when afterwards, in describing their experience on this night of the great blow, he vowed they were “playing dice with death,” since it seemed a bare chance that they could ever pull through alive.
Such is the life of the aviator—one hour sailing smoothly along, at peace with all mankind, envying no man his following, and feeling himself to be on the top of the world—the next and he may be fighting with might and main the mad demons of the air, his life hanging in the balance, his strength ebbing fast, and unless the little cherub aloft that is said to be watching over each sailor, whether of the sea or the limitless air, comes to the rescue, his fate is sealed, and another modern Argonaut never comes back again to the home port.
It did not seem to be any the less exciting even when they had succeeded in gaining a much lower altitude; although possibly the danger from those thunderbolts might have been somewhat abated. Perk soon realized that his pilot had no intention of trying for a landing in the midst of such a turmoil and confusion, which fact relieved his harried feelings to some extent. Indeed, it would have been a mad proceeding, and almost unheard of, since hardly the slightest chance offered for the most skillful pilot to reach the earth without disaster, such as making a ground loop, and having the heavy engine bury them under its weight.
Perk endeavored to convince himself that things were a bit easier since a lower altitude had been effected but in so doing he feared he was only deceiving himself—if anything at all things were even worse,—although the drop might not be so far, which was small comfort, since it must mean their complete annihilation if it befell them.
Perk had numerous spasms when he fancied something was going amiss with their staunch craft, although unable to decide the exact nature of the imaginary trouble. Despite all these chills, which must have been the products of his excitement, they managed to hold out minute after minute, which fact gave more or less cause for renewed hope.
Jack must indeed be almost completely exhausted, and yet he refused to give up the controls, to which his hands seemed glued as though riveted there. Perk punched his side numbers of times, but could get no favorable response, proving that the other deemed it too hazardous a proceeding to change possession of the stick while in the whirl of that shrieking gale—which was indeed only another adaptation of the old proverb “it is folly to change horses when crossing a stream.”
There was no means for communication with each other, even though they may have wished to do so, since the ear-phones had been discarded with the donning of their slickers, and could not be put back in position, owing to the sudden bursting of the storm, and the necessity for employing their hands in more useful pursuits.
All Perk could do was to hang on, keeping himself ready to seize hold should his companion be suddenly compelled to release his grip through sheer weariness—that, and keeping tabs of the weather, so as to glean the first favorable sign that came along, promising a let-up, or at least a break.