"Oh!"
That exclamation seemed to be forced from Andy's lips when he felt Frank give a quick turn to the lever that caused the deflecting rudder to again resume a normal position. The drop of the aeroplane was brought to a gradual stop, and when immediately afterwards the buzz of the motor announced that the propelling power was again at work, it was no wonder that the nervous boy expressed his relief by giving vent to that cry. There was a world of gratitude back of that word, it can be set down as certain; for no matter how confident Andy might have been concerning his cousin's ability to accomplish wonders, the new hydroplane was as yet untried in many things.
Now he even dared take his awed gaze from the heaving waters beneath the framework of the aeroplane, and give a thought to those whom they had chased overland and water for nearly three hours.
"Bully for Casper Blue! He made the riffle too! he's all to the good!" was the way the impulsive Andy announced his discovery to Frank, who just then could not spare even a second to take his attention off the working of the motor.
After all, it was not so very strange that the boy should express himself in this way. True, the man he was praising was now a criminal, and they sought to effect his arrest in some manner as yet vague and uncertain; but it was not in this light Andy viewed him just then. As a birdsman Casper Blue had proved that he still possessed the nerve and skill to direct a daring flight, and that all the tricks known to celebrated fliers were at his finger's ends.
Any one who has risked his life up among the clouds must always respect such a valiant spirit, even though aware that the object of his admiration has in other ways forfeited the esteem of all honorable men.
There was the biplane moving along on a level keel, and not more than two hundred feet above the water. And still the course held due north, showing that the desperate men who were thus fleeing from arrest had not the slightest intention of changing their plans.
"What do you think of her now, Andy?" asked the pilot, with a quiver of pride in his voice.
"You must mean our new craft, I take it, Frank; and I want to say that she's a real peach, if ever there was one. We never volplaned as easy as that in our lives, and that's a fact. Why, it was like sliding downhill on a sled, with never a single bump on the way. I could do that all day, and never get enough."
"Dangerous business, all the same," remarked Frank; "and doubly so when you don't happen to be well acquainted with your machine. A single hitch, and we would have struck the water at a terrible rate."