Free at last, the huge kite shot upwards like a rocket, and a terrible howl from the Eskimo showed that all was not right at their end of the line. The truth was that none of them were impressed with the importance of the duty required of them. The sudden strain jerked the line out of the hands of some, and threw others to the ground, and Alf, who had for greater security taken a turn of the line round his right arm, was dragged forward at full racing speed. Indeed he was beginning to take those tremendous bounds called “giant strides,” which were sure to terminate in his being dragged along the ground.
Captain Vane saw the danger, and was equal to the occasion. There was little time for thought or action. Another moment and Alf would be off the beach into the sea.
“Let go! Alf; let go!” cried Leo, in an agony of alarm.
“No, no! hold on!” shouted the Captain.
Poor Alf could not help holding on. The turns of the line round his arm held him fast.
Another moment, and he was abreast of the Captain who sprang at him as he passed like a leopard on his prey and held on. But the pace was little checked with this additional weight. It was beyond the Captain’s running powers, and both he and Alf would have been thrown violently to the ground had it not happened that they had reached the water, into which they plunged with a tremendous splash. They were dragged through it, however, only for a few seconds, for by that time the Captain had succeeded in getting hold of the red line and pulling it separately. The result was immediate and satisfactory. The head of the kite was thrown forward, acting somewhat as a sail does when a ship is thrown into the wind, and the two unfortunates came to an anchor in four feet of water.
“We must not let it into the water, Alf,” gasped the Captain, clearing the water from his eyes.
“How can we prevent it?” spluttered Alf, shaking the wet hair off his face.
“Ease your fingers a bit. There; hold on.” As he spoke the Captain gave a slight pull on the regulating line. The kite at once caught the wind and soared, giving the two operators an awful tug, which nearly overturned them again.
“Too much,” growled the Captain. “You see it takes some experience to regulate the excitable thing properly. There, now, haul away for the shore.”