Once only did Bob falter. In his inexperience, he had set the forward rudder too high. Like a bird not yet under full momentum, the aeroplane shook herself and stuck her nose skyward. As the nervous young aviator threw his rudder down, he did not check himself in time. There was one sickening dart toward the water of the Hillsborough River, the starting wheels spun backward with a splash of mist, the feet of both boys made one angry splash in the water, and then the worst was over. Gripping his levers and clenching his teeth, Bob righted the rudder, and, by the roar of cheers that rose behind him, he knew that he was ascending again, even before his increasing altitude showed it.
Until the fading aeroplane was only a speck in the northwest, Mrs. Balfour, Hal and Jerry stood, watching it in silence. At last, it was no longer visible, and Mrs. Balfour turned to leave.
“Mrs. Balfah,” said Jerry Blossom in a business-like voice, “Ah comed away in sich a hurry Ah done forgit to bring any change. Kin yo’ borrow me fo’ bits till Ah sees mah bankah?”
[CHAPTER XV]
ONE USE FOR AN AEROPLANE
Hal accepted Mrs. Balfour’s invitation to luncheon, and Jerry hastened away to eat at a restaurant. But, his weakness getting the better of him, the colored boy reached the schooner at three o’clock, foodless and moneyless, glad enough to stay himself with a hunk of Captain Joe’s bread and a piece of cold fish. While he ate this, the Three Sisters, with a supply of gasoline, a big box of fresh fruit presented by Mrs. Balfour, and the baggage of the aviators, was throwing the spray on her return trip out of the bay.
Bob and Tom, after the Anclote left the river and settled into an even glide, did not relax. It was impossible for either boy to enjoy his first real dash in an airship, and each, hardly breathing, sat tense and with hands gripped. At each small rise, drop or slightest dart, the hearts of the two boys seemed to stop. Then, with each steadier glide, there would come the sighs of breathing anew. For perhaps five minutes neither boy spoke.
The aeroplane was perhaps two hundred feet in the air, and almost over the white shell road leading from Tampa to Tarpon Springs. As the highway, like a dirty white ribbon, flew to the rear, both boys sat with eyes fixed straight ahead. A little settlement popped into the air, rushed toward the speeding machine with a buzz of calls and yells, and disappeared behind. It seemed to give Bob new courage.