Page:Bedford-Jones--Boy Scouts of the Air at Cape Peril.djvu/38

 pilot's seat and directed Cat and another bystander to start his propeller and give his bird a shove. In a few moments, the crew had left the cheering Cat below and were soaring up the heavens.

Every drop of blood in their bodies seemed to be tingling to the tips of their ears when the taxying came to an end and the new flyers felt the machine rising. Legs wrapped his arms around Jimmy 's chest in the convulsive hug of a drowning man, while the latter clutched the edge of the well, an interminable "Gee-e-e-e!" flowing from his lips.

"Say, Legs, the ground's sinking!" he faltered out after some moments.

There was a tense silence on the part of the boy beneath him.

"I b'lieve you're scared," persisted Jimmy with a quiver in his tone. "Great Caesar's ghost! Stop squeezing the life out of me."

Continued silence on the part of the under lad.

"Dizzy?" persisted the tormentor.

"Naw!" finally returned Legs, with affected composure.

"Me neither. Duck your head, Legs. Going