I can generally tell when a man is sincere, and I realized that this young scoundrel was, despite—and perhaps because of—the baseness of his motive.
"Help me?"
"Yes, out of the passage. Once you get in clear air you'll fly her easily enough—and you'll be astonished, by Jove! But you'd better let me pilot you. It's the lift and the sharp right bank that are so difficult...."
"Get up," I said.
He scrambled to his feet.
"Stand there!" He leaned against the wall at my side, his hands tied behind him and his arms tightly bound.
He was about to speak, when suddenly we both started. Something had happened. For a moment I did not realize what it was. Then I knew. The continuous thunder of rifle fire had stopped. Everything was dead silent. I'd hardly become conscious of the fact when there was a loud shout.
"Let her go, Sir John! Let her go!"
Danjuro stumbled into the cabin, panting like a whippet.
I pulled over the switch and then the lever of the starting mechanism.