“Then look,” Green said.
A sheet of flame swept over the “burn,” lay upon it for an instant like a red-hot roof, and then warped and twisted itself away.
“I see,” Dan said, looking into the sky again, “but he can’t land. Impossible—in this storm!”
“Wait and see!” Green said, and sank back to the earth.
The aeroplane circled, high up, like a bird seeking its prey in the burning forest. The wind was tolerably steady at that height, but Ned knew that when he came into the lower current he would meet conditions which he could not understand.
“There’s a place to drop!” Frank shouted to him, pointing ahead to the “burn,” which seemed only a few yards away.
The aeroplane had missed the tree which had threatened it by an inch, and had turned upward again, for there were other trees in the way of a descent there. The “burn” was the first free spot that had been observed, and, besides, it lay inside the line Ned had figured as leading to the foresters.
“Hang on!” Ned cried.
The aeroplane plunged down, almost vertically, and Frank felt as if he was standing on his head.
“Don’t jump when it strikes the ground,” Ned commanded.