With a yawn and a stretch, Linda willingly complied, and gave the controls over to the other girl. It would afford her not only an opportunity to relax, but a chance to study the maps as well.
“We’ve covered eight hundred miles already,” she shouted in Dot’s ear. “And we’re sticking straight to our course.”
“How’s the gas holding out?” returned her companion.
“Fine. I think we’ll have some left over, at this rate.... Now Dot, if you’re all right, I think I’ll take forty winks. Even that blazing sun doesn’t seem to keep me from being sleepy.”
The other girl nodded, and Linda slipped off to sleep. Even the bumps in the air seemed to have no effect upon her slumbers; for an hour perhaps, she slept soundly, while Dot continued on the flight. Then, all of a sudden she was abruptly awakened by a terrified cry from her companion. The plane was dropping—it seemed to be diving right into the ocean—into the very jaws of death!
For one brief moment Linda thought of the life-boat, but that did not seem feasible now. Instinctively she grabbed the stick, and pulled it back sharply. The Sky Rocket wobbled almost on the surface of the water, and at that very moment a hideous, terrifying shark poked its head above the surface!
For one awful second death stared them in the face. Not the easy death of drowning, but a horrible torturing agony at the jaws of a ferocious fish. The plane seemed to hover uncertainly for a moment; then with a sudden lightning speed it gathered control and started to climb upward—to safety!
Linda let out a gasp of relief, and Dot sobbed in contrition as the Sky Rocket soared into the air.
“I don’t know how I could have done it,” wailed Dot. “All of a sudden, it seemed as if we were headed straight for the ocean, and nothing could stop us. If you hadn’t taken hold that very instant, we’d have been killed.”
“It was a lucky escape,” returned Linda. “And from now on we’ll make it a point to fly higher, even if we can’t use the wind to such advantage, as we could right over the water.”