"Might's well, I guess."
He proceeded to the engine-room, followed by Phœbe, who watched his actions with the greatest interest.
"What you doin' with that handle?" she asked.
"That sets the airyplane on the uptilt. I'm only settin' it a mite—jest 'nough to keep the machine from sinkin' down when we get to movin'."
"How are you goin' to lift us up?"
"Just let out a mite o' gas below," said Droop. He suited the action to the word, and, with a tremendous hissing beneath it, the vessel rose slowly.
Droop pulled the starting lever and they moved forward with increasing speed. When they had gathered way, he shut off the gas escape and carefully readjusted the aeroplanes until the machine as a whole moved horizontally.
There was felt a slight jerk as they reached the end of the rope, and then they began to move in a circle from east to west.
Phœbe glanced at the clock.
"Just five minutes past eight," she said.