“You could not go so far in the Winged Arrow, could you, Tom?” asked Mary.
“I do not know why not. That is exactly what I built her for—long trips. She is able to carry provisions for a party of ten and enough gasoline to last for at least a flight of two thousand miles.”
“Two thousand miles without coming down?” cried Mary.
“About coming down, I don’t know. I expect her to clear a hundred miles an hour when put to it. Even if we don’t drive her more than fifty miles an hour, we could make a journey two thousand miles long in a little over a day and a half.
“And if she proves sea-worthy—if we can bring her down and launch her into the air again from the surface of the ocean as easily as we do from Lake Carlopa—I would not be afraid of taking a trip to Iceland.”
“Well, I just guess you won’t!” cried Mary. “That would be very perilous, Tom. Even if father and Mr. Damon were in trouble up there, you could scarcely help them by flying to them in a seaplane.”
Tom laughed too. The idea was odd enough. The use to which he expected to put the Winged Arrow was entirely practical.
That next morning they made the trial trip to the Atlantic. This test of the flying boat would be a real test. If she had to be brought down, either on land or sea, they would not be near headquarters and the mechanicians aboard the plane must be equal to all repairs that might be necessary.
CHAPTER XIV
AMAZING NEWS
Tom Swift drove the Winged Arrow to a high altitude when she left Lake Carlopa on her first long voyage. It was a windy day, but pleasant. The weather indications were favorable for the journey, but the report from out at sea was that a storm had shaken up the shipping a good deal.