"All ready, I guess, Mr. Damon!" he called, and the odd gentleman took his place. Tom got up into his own seat, in front of several wheels and levers by which he operated the craft.
"Start the propeller!" he requested of Mr. Jack son, and soon the motor was spitting fire, while the big, fanlike blades were whirrng around like wings of light. The engineer and Eradicate were holding back the Humming-Bird.
"Let her go!" cried Tom as he turned on more gasoline and further advanced the spark of the motor. The roar increased, the propeller looked like a solid circle of wood, and the trim little monoplane moved slowly across the rising ground, increasing its speed every second, until like some graceful bird, it suddenly rose in the air as Tom tilted the wing tips, and soared splendidly aloft!
