Harry shivered in anticipation of failure as his brother, having got the engine going by the just mentioned appliance, turned on the gasolene and spark.
For a breathless instant their fate hung in the balance, and then there came the welcome sound of the exhaust. Bit by bit Frank allowed the speed to increase, till the engine was running at its full capacity of revolutions. But the propellers were not turning, as before testing the motor he had thrown the clutch out of gear.
“I think that we can try to rise now,” he said calmly, after the motor had run without a miss or a skip for ten minutes or so.
“I think so, too,” said Dr. Perkins, “and I want to tell you, Frank, that you have done what I would not have believed possible under the conditions.”
Another anxious moment followed when the clutch was thrown in and the full load of the propellers came upon the engine. But not a hitch occurred. The large-bladed driving fans of the Sea Eagle beat the air rapidly and surely, and the hydroplane-formed underbody began to glide over the tops of the waves, instead of rolling and pitching helplessly among them. To the westward, too, there showed a patch of lighter sky, heralding the passing of the storm.
But, as if unwilling to allow them to escape without again bringing their hearts into their mouths, the storm had one more buffeting to give them. As full power was applied, and the Sea Eagle rose above the tossing wave crests and headed slantingly skyward, there came a sudden puff of wind.
Skillful as Dr. Perkins was, it caught him momentarily unprepared. In the wink of an eye the Sea Eagle careened over, almost on her “beam ends.” It seemed as if the right hand wing tips actually touched the water. One inch more and there might have been an abrupt conclusion to this story, but Dr. Perkins’ hands seemed to be everywhere at once. They flashed among levers and wheels.
For the space of a breath the Sea Eagle hung almost vertically, and then the big craft suddenly righted and shot upward on an even keel once more. But the moment had been an awful one, and as they winged their way upward not one aboard was there but felt that they had been delivered from a dreadful fate by what might well be described as a miracle.
