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Page 4
"Oh, yes, I know, Tom. It may be all right for you, but I've
never been up in this kind of airship before, and I want to know
if it's safe for me."
The young man leaned over the edge of the padded cockpit, and
clasped in his rather grimy hand the neatly gloved one of the
young lady. And though the glove was new, and fitted the hand
perfectly, there was no attempt to withdraw it. Instead, the
young lady seemed to be very glad indeed that her hand was in
such safe keeping.
"Mary!" exclaimed the young man, "if it wasn't safe--as safe as
a church--I wouldn't dream of taking you up!" and at the mention
of "church" Mary Nestor blushed just the least bit. Or perhaps it
was that the prospective excitement of the moment caused the
blood to surge into her cheeks. Have it as you will.
"Come, Mary! you're not going to back out the last minute, are
you?" asked Tom Swift. "Everything is all right. I've made a
trial flight, and you've seen me come down as safely as a bird.
You promised to go up with me. I won't go very high if you don't
like it, but my experience has been that, once you're off the
ground, it doesn't make any difference how high you go. you'll
find it very fascinating. So skip along to the house, and Mrs.
Baggert will help you get into your togs."
"Shall I have to wear all those things--such as you have on?"
asked Mary, blushing again.
"Well, you'll be more comfortable in a fur-lined leather suit,"
asserted Tom. "And if it does make you look like an Eskimo, why
I'm sure it will be very becoming. Not that you don't look nice
now," he hastened to assure Miss Nestor, "but an aviation suit
will be very--well, fetching, I should say."
"If I could be sure it would 'fetch' me back safe, Tom--"
"That'll do! That'll do!" laughed the young aviator. "One joke
like that is enough in a morning. It was pretty good, though. Now
go on in and tog up."
"You're sure it's safe, Tom?"
"Positive! Trot along now. I want to fix a wire and--"
"Oh, is anything broken?" and the girl, who had started away
from the aeroplane, turned back again.
"No, not broken. It's only a little auxiliary dingus I put on
to make it easier to read the barograph, but I think I'll go back
to the old system. Nothing to do with flying at all, except to
tell how high up one is."
"That's just what I don't care to know, Tom," said Mary Nestor,
with a smile. "If I could imagine I was sailing along only about
ten feet in the air I wouldn't mind so much."
"Flying at that height would be the worst sort of danger. You
leave it to me, Mary. I won't take you up above the clouds on
this sky ride; though, later, I'm sure you'll want to try that.
This is only a little flight. You've been promising long enough
to take a trip with me, and now I believe you're trying to back
out."
"No, really I'm not, Tom! Only, at the last minute, the machine
looks so small and frail, and the sky is so--big--"
She glanced up and seemed to shiver just a trifle.
"Don't be thinking of those things, Mary!" laughed Tom Swift.
"Trot along and get ready. The motor never worked better, and we
may break a few speed records this morning. No traffic cops to
stop us, either, as there might be if we were in an auto."
"There you go, Mary !" exclaimed Tom, as if struck with a new
thought. "You've ridden in an auto with me many a time, and you
never were a bit afraid, though we were in more danger than we'll
be this morning."
"Danger, Tom, in an auto? How?"
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