“Have you been counting on doing this?” asked his mother, sitting upright and leaning toward the distressed boy.
“N—no,” stammered Andy. “But there is no one else.”
Mrs. Leighton turned toward Captain Anderson:
“Do you want him to do this, Captain?” she asked, her voice indicating that this situation had been long anticipated.
“No,” exclaimed the captain. “I don’t want him to do it. Of course, it is more than dangerous.”
“You know you said you’d find someone,” continued Mrs. Leighton, who was visibly under a strain.
“I haven’t found anyone yet,” replied the captain, somewhat crestfallen.
Mrs. Leighton was silent a few moments.
“Captain,” she said at last, “whenever, in your judgment, Andrew can be of further use to you in this experiment, he may do as you wish. If you think he ought to attempt to operate this aeroplane, I feel that I must defer to your judgment—”