Phil was just about to move the elevating controls when his action was suddenly arrested by Dick’s voice in his ear.
“Don’t go up, Phil,” he yelled, excitedly. “Something is wrong with the guy wires. I saw one break just a second ago.”
Phil closed the throttle, and the plane slowed down and came to rest.
“You must be seeing things, Dick,” said Phil, twisting around in his seat. “I tested out every wire in the machine a couple of days ago, and they were all in fine condition.”
“Well, I saw one break, just the same,” said Dick, positively. “We’d better go over them all once more. It does seem queer, though.”
“Well, accidents will happen,” said Phil, removing his goggles and leather helmet. “Let’s have a look at the one that you saw snap, Dick. Which was it?”
“Just a second and I’ll show you,” replied Dick, leaping to the ground. “It was this one over here,” and he picked up a long wire that was trailing on the ground.
Phil took the wire from him, and rapidly followed up its length until he came to the loose end.
What he found there made him emit a long whistle.
“Say!” he exclaimed. “It’s no wonder this wire broke. It’s been filed half through!”