“You bet I have!” replied Ben. “You wouldn’t catch me off on a flying-machine trip without a fish-line. We’re going to have some fish before we get off the Andes.”
“Well,” said Mr. Havens, “pass it over and I’ll see if I can fasten these wires together with strong cord and tighten them up with a twister.”
“Why not?” asked Ben.
“I’ve seen things of that kind done often enough!” declared Glenn.
“And, besides,” Glenn added, “we may be able to use the worn turn-buckle on the Louise and go after repairs, leaving the Bertha here.”
“I don’t like to do that!” objected the millionaire aviator. “I believe we can arrange to take both machines out with us.”
But it was not such an easy matter fastening the cords and arranging the twister as had been anticipated. They all worked over the problem for an hour or more without finding any method of preventing the fish-line from breaking when the twister was applied. When drawn so tight that it was impossible to slip, the eyes showed a disposition to cut the strands.
At last they decided that it would be unsafe to use the Bertha in that condition and turned to the Louise with the worn turn-buckle.
To their dismay they found that the threads were worn so that it would be unsafe to trust themselves in the air with any temporary expedient which might be used to strengthen the connection.
“This brings us back to the old proposition of a night under the clouds!” the millionaire said.