“Oh, let up!” exclaimed Noddy as the fat man began to laugh. “Just you wait!”
“We are waiting,” cried several in the crowd. “Let her go, Professor Nixon.”
“Bring us down one of those clouds,” suggested another.
“Yes, and a little cooler atmosphere from above,” added a third waggish one.
Noddy was red in the face from his exertions in yanking on various levers. He could not seem to get the motor in gear, though the machine was working away at a fast rate. Finally Noddy called to one of his helpers. The man, who was evidently a machinist, soon located the trouble.
“I told you to pull out that catch before you tried to work the starting lever,” he said.
“Guess he doesn’t know much about the machine,” was the fat man’s comment.
“I know more than you, and I’ll show you so in a minute, too,” declared Noddy savagely.
He pulled on a lever with all his force. There was a grinding of cog-wheels, a sort of cough and wheeze from the motor as it took up the load, and then the big wings began to vibrate slowly up and down.
“There she goes!” cried the crowd in some enthusiasm. “Hurrah! He’s off!”