“I know this ship,” he cried. “Let her get a good run. Then pull back hard and she’ll climb almost straight up. Don’t hold her in a climb for more than two hundred feet or she may slip back on back and go into a tail spin.”
Ralph nodded his thanks and made a final check to see that the plane was ready for the attempt to get out of the valley.
Tall pines loomed on every side. Straight ahead there was a slight break in the tree tops he hoped to be able to slide through. It would require skilful piloting but they had passed through so many ordeals in the last few hours that Ralph felt himself capable of meeting the emergency.
The reporter leaned ahead and tapped Mitchell on the shoulder.
“All set?” he asked.
Mitchell nodded.
“Then hang on,” cried Ralph and he opened the throttle and sent the plane skimming through the snow.
The barrier of pines rose ahead of the propeller. Ralph waited until the last second and then jerked the stick back. The wheels lifted off the ground and the ship flashed into the air.
It was going to be close but it looked like they would clear the trees and wing their way eastward in safety. Ralph whipped the plane through the narrow opening in the tree tops. They were almost clear when one wing brushed the snow-burdened tips of the pine. It was just enough to throw the plane out of balance. They lost speed and the nose started down.
Ralph had visions of being impaled on the tops of the trees and he worked frantically to right the plane. Lower and lower they slipped. Then the motor overcame the pull of gravity and they resumed their climb. Two tall trees barred their way and Ralph banked sharply.