“How do you get that way, Old Man?” Jim demanded, whirling on him quickly. “Am I responsible because you over-stay your leave? Florida has any number of air planes and you’ll have no trouble getting one to take you across if you need to go. Get in, Bob and Dad.” He snapped out the last words so sharply, that his two companions complied without question, and it wasn’t until they were in their seats that it occurred to them that they had treated a United States officer rather sharply, but the “Lark” was already thundering into the sky. She climbed to ten thousand feet, then leveled off, and her nose was turned south.
“Come on, old man, change seats with me,” Bob insisted.
“All right,” Jim agreed, then he spoke into the tube. “O.K. back there, Dad?”
“Yes I am, my son, but I do not understand why you chose to be so uncivil to that officer.”
“I wasn’t until he began to shave-tail me, and besides, if we dropped down on one of the islands tonight and found you nicely strangled back there, your wife would never let us take you out again. We’re not taking any chances,” he answered.
“Have you any reason to believe the man was misrepresenting himself?”
“A frail one. While we were at lunch I heard a pretty girl almost cry because her brother, who is a Marine, hadn’t been able to get leave in weeks, and another thing, I bet a gold tooth that the boat service from Miami to Cuba is better than the train service from New York to Chicago,” he answered. “I’m going to change my togs.”
“You surely have a mind in the making, oh my step-brother. I was so busy feeling sorry for the poor goop that I didn’t use my think machine at all,” Bob remarked ruefully.
“Well, use it now, old fellow. In a few minutes Neptune will be under us and he’s a jealous God. Fly high, wide and handsome,” Jim chuckled.
Bob turned his entire attention to flying, while Jim managed to maneuver out of his heavy clothes and get into the lighter garments. It was pretty close quarters, but it was accomplished at last, and Austin settled himself in his seat, took a look at the parachute, adjusted that and the safety strap, then he had time to observe the vast expanse of ocean rolling in endless white-tipped billows beneath them. The plane was singing along smoothly, there were only a few clouds in the blue dome above, but the wind was strong. Austin scrutinized the chart, did some calculating, and finally made a decision.