Hike took her up, way up. He ascended in great circles, till he was up two thousand feet, then scooted down, in a straight line, aiming for the center of the Carquinez Straits. It looked as if they were going to hit the river-bottom, and never come up.
He came so near to the water that one wing scattered spray, as he steered her up. He circled quickly, and headed across the town for the campus again. He dipped down, as though he were going to stop. He glanced back. On Sea Lion’s pale face was a look of relief that could not be described.
“Poor boy, he thinks this is all,” reflected Hike, as he darted away. In what seemed like a second, they were buzzing over the hills that surrounded Santa Benicia. The gusts from between peaks rocked them till sometimes they seemed to be in a small boat on a rough sea.
Then he flew to the academy again. He rounded the flag-pole, a lofty redwood on the athletic field. As he rounded it, he banked so sharply that the right wing stood almost straight up, and the left down.
The crowd below howled with terror. They thought the machine was falling, going to land on its side, wing-first.
But it suddenly straightened up. Hike shot her almost straight down to earth, within few feet of the ground; then way up, then sharply down again, in the “Dutch roll.”
As he swooped down the second time, he looked back at Sea Lion. The Class Tease was clinching his teeth till the edges of his mouth stood out in huge wrinkles while his open lips made tight, hard lines across his teeth. His eyes were closed. He was clutching the edge of the cockpit with both hands.
This was quite too much triumph for Hike. He felt very sorry for Sea Lion as he circled again, and landed. He felt still sorrier as Sea Lion was lifted out, and staggered off, silent, while all his acquaintances yelled at him, “What did you find was the bangle of accidence, Slimy?”
“Good-by,” cried Hike, and started for Tanforan. He knew that there would be no more “kidding,” and mighty little more jealousy, the rest of the year.