“Ninety-eight miles per!” he shouted back.
Glancing down, the girls saw the earth pass slowly in review before them. They made out a few buildings but it was difficult to believe that the miniature structures comprised the town of Rumson.
The day was an ideal one for flying, with very few clouds visible. That the girls might enjoy the novelty of their ride to the utmost, the pilot presently zoomed up above a small bank of mist and permitted them to look down upon the fleece-like floor.
For Doris and Kitty, who were having the thrill of their lives, the time passed all too swiftly. When Dave told them that they had been in the air nearly two hours they were amazed.
“I haven’t had so much fun in ages,” Doris declared enthusiastically, after they had landed safely at the air field.
“I’ll take you up again,” Dave promised, “and now that I know you won’t be afraid, I’ll pilot you myself some time. I should have my license in a little while.”
Leaving the monoplane to the care of an attendant, the two young men escorted the girls to a taxicab and took seats beside them.
“You know, I was thinking perhaps we could get up a picnic one of these days,” Dave suggested as they drove toward the mansion. “Marshmallow has been hinting that he wants to be included.”
“I think a picnic would be lots of fun,” Doris declared, “and by all means let’s have Marshmallow. He always brings the best things to eat! Of course that isn’t my reason for wanting him,” she added hastily, as the others began to laugh.
During the flight Dave had chanced to remark that Don Everts had formerly piloted an air mail plane and had a flying acquaintance with nearly every town and city in the east. Doris had been longing to ask him if he had ever passed over Cloudy Cove and now she broached the subject.