While Billy was mounting Epworth’s shoulders, Joan placed Moawha’s arms around her waist and supported her on the bar of the bicycle power.
“All ready,” she called in a whisper. “Let us run together.”
“Circle around in a wide circle until I can find my second flashlight,” Epworth suggested. “And——”
He was interrupted by a rush of crickets that began to swarm around him. But he made no mistake. Finding an opening he ran forward and jumped into the air, and began to work his pedals vigorously.
The glider went forward but did not rise. When he put his feet down to make another start he could not touch ground.
He had jumped off into a bottomless crater, and instead of going up, weighted with Billy, he was going down.
“Julian! Julian!” he heard a faint voice call. “Where are you? We are falling, falling.”
With a dexterous movement Epworth whirled the glider in the direction of Joan’s voice. Presently he saw her, and gave devout thanks for the crater lamps. True she was red; the plane was red; the whole wide open space was red; but he could see her.
“The explanation is simple,” he explained as he drew near her fluttering plane. “Keep the glider on an even keel; never let it turn over. With the weight of the girl you cannot fly but you can make a parachute out of the glider and descend slowly. Take it easy. That is the best we can do at present.”