As it rose with a long, sweeping glide, Dick caught his breath suddenly.
For an instant he seemed as though he were standing still and that the earth was dropping swiftly away from him—dropping, and at the same time rushing backward. He wanted to look back at Buckhart, but he did not dare. It was as though the machine was poised in so fine a balance that the least motion on his part would upset the equilibrium.
The big Texan was left standing in the centre of the clearing, his hands clenched so tightly that the nails cut into the flesh, his face white and drawn, with great beads of perspiration standing out on his forehead, his whole frame trembling like a leaf. As he watched with a strained and breathless eagerness, the aëroplane soared upward and away, carrying the best friend he had in the world swiftly out of sight in that perilous race through the darkness for a human life.
It took but a moment for Dick to recover his coolness and presence of mind. Then he realized that he was headed in quite the wrong direction.
Instinctively he felt that it might not be safe to attempt a turn with the monoplane still gliding upward, so very slowly he drew the horizontal lever toward him until he was going nearly on a level. Then he clasped the vertical lever and pushed it forward, little by little.
Luckily there was scarcely any wind, and the aëroplane responded instantly by turning in a wide, majestic circle. As soon as the propeller was headed northward, he pulled the lever back into the upright position, with a sigh of satisfaction. So far, there had been not the slightest hitch.
Presently he noticed that the monoplane was steadily increasing in speed, but somehow, this did not trouble him in the least. He was rapidly gaining confidence in himself and in the strange air craft, which was momentarily proving herself so much more steady and controllable than he had ever imagined she could be.
Then, too, there was an extraordinary sense of exhilaration in that rapid flight through the night air. A delicious feeling of lightness, of buoyancy unlike anything he had ever known. And stranger than all else was the amazing lack of fear. It did not seem as though he could possibly fall, or if he did, he felt that he would float to earth with the lightness of a thistledown.
He leaned forward and deflected the powerful searchlight, but he could see nothing. He must have gone considerably higher than he had realized, and promptly he pushed back the horizontal lever.
The result was startling. The monoplane gave a swift downward plunge which nearly threw him from his seat, so unexpected was it. With a jerk, he thrust the lever forward, and the craft slowly regained its equilibrium and began an upward glide.