Ethel watched the chart creep back on its rollers and reasoned that the pointer indicated the location of the aeroplane. She wondered how the movement of the chart was regulated with that of the plane. Finally she decided to ask Komoru.
"By the landmarks and the time," he said. "Do you see that blue coming in on the northeast corner of the map?"
"Yes."
"Well, watch it."
After a few minutes of waiting the words "Gulf of Mexico" rolled out upon the chart. "Why, that can't be," said Ethel, "we just left the Pacific Ocean."
"But we have crossed the Isthmus of Tehauntepec," replied Komoru; "it is only a hundred miles wide."
His companion looked over the side of the car and to the front and. to the right, she could see by the perfectly flat horizon that they were approaching water.
"The map is unrolling too fast," said Komoru, as the pointer stood over the edge of the indicated water—and he pushed back the little lever on the clock mechanism that rolled the chart. "We have a little head wind," he added.
Ethel resumed her seat and sat musing for a half hour or so. Komoru looked around and called to her.
"Look over to your left," he said. "The lights of Vera Cruz. We are making better time now," he added, again adjusting the regulator on the clock work.