And then Pank: "Quartermaster, stand by. Engines, stand by. Engines, cut off."
We glided down towards the grey water silently and flattened out. I felt the great wings cushioning as we ran along above the surface. We touched. The sharp keel began to drag the speed down. There was the roar of a breaking bow wave. And then she settled in and stopped.
"Bow-man, smart with the line," ordered Pank, as a motor-launch ran across our bows. We were in tow. "Unseal doors two, four, five, and six," he continued. The disks in the indicator were lifted.
Looking across the harbour I saw a mail-boat boiling towards us and an oiler standing by to pass us a filling hose when we were made fast to the buoy. Another motor-boat was on its way out to collect the passengers.
"I thought that crossing the Atlantic in a flying-boat was going to be an adventure," I said.
"Not at all," replied Pank. "It's a business."
PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS.