"There's some fruit left, and a little bit of chicken. With water to drink we'll have a fine meal."
They sat down beside the plane to eat, and both girls seemed to enjoy their breakfast, meager as it was. For each had resolutely made up her mind to be cheerful.
"Are the pearls safe?" asked Linda, as she gathered up the chicken bones.
"In my pocket!" replied Louise, taking them out for examination. "How about your pistol?"
"O.K.... Lou! Look! A plane!"
Both girls jumped instantly to their feet and waved their arms and their coats in the air as signals of distress. If only the pilot would look down and see them!
He was flying low enough to make this perfectly possible, but a moment later his ascent sent a sickening disappointment into their hearts. He was going away without even seeing them! Useless to yell; no one could possibly hear above the deafening noise. To be so near to a rescue, and then to have it fail them in the end!
It was Linda, with her knowledge of flying, who was the first to realize that the aviator wasn't really going away, that he was only retreating farther into the field to make a safe landing, clear of them and their plane. In her ecstasy she hugged Louise tightly.
"He's coming down, Lou! To rescue us!"
"How do you know?" demanded the other, incredulously. "He seems to be going farther away to me!"