“Yes, sir, there is the ‘Buckle’ close at hand, a nice, snug, road-side house of call.”
“Well, please to refresh these helps with this sovereign’s worth of whatever they like best to ask for. I suppose they have teetotal drinks at the ‘Buckle?’”
“Yes, all sorts there, sir.”
The ex-chief officer then cried out,—
“Three cheers, you men!”
And away went the aeronaut in excellent spirits. Warner, when asked how he liked the outlook and the pace at which they bowled along, replied,—
“Not so fast, is it, Mr Goodall?”
“It may not seem so to a novice,” said the aeronaut, “but if you keep your eye on those two full-rigged ships in the distance, and then look back at the ‘Buckle’ Inn, Warner, you will soon see the rate at which we are moving.”
Warner had his own binocular, and used it as if he were accustomed to aerial reconnoitring but the increasing extent of the sea-scape, together with the rapid movement of the balloon from the shore, and the nearer approach of the shipping in their eight miles distance from the coast, soon convinced the anxious detective that they were going much faster than he supposed.
Tom Trigger kept his eye on Warner, while Harry Goodall studied his map and instruments, not that Tom thought their bold passenger would fall overboard or funk, but he feared that the aerial detective might tread upon the armoury which had been stowed away so carefully beneath a canvas covering before they left Wedwell Park.