_Golden Butterfly_, much diminished in size now
by the distance, still hung doggedly on his heels.

"I'll give her more air," he vouchsafed stubbornly, "that ought to cool
her off a bit--that and advanced spark."

He manipulated the necessary levers, but before many minutes it became
apparent that, if urged at that rate, the _Silver Cobweb_ would never
reach Sandy Beach without a break-down.

"Hadn't you better shut down a bit? That paint's blistering, as if the
cylinders were red-hot."

Much as he disliked to interfere with the operation of the aeroplane, the
young officer felt that it was necessary that some means should be taken
to compel Mortlake to reduce speed. If the engine became so overheated
that it stopped in mid-air, they might be caught in a nasty position,
where it might be impossible to volplane--or glide--downward, without the
aid of the engine.

"It's all right, I tell you," said Mortlake stubbornly. "We'll beat those
cubs into Sandy Beach, or----"

Or what, was destined never to be known, for at that instant, with a
splutter and a sigh, the overheated engines, almost at a red-heat, stopped
short. The propeller ceased to revolve, and the aeroplane began to plunge
downward with fearful velocity.

But Mortlake, no matter what his other faults, possessed a cool head. The
instant he lost control of the motor, he seized the warping levers, and
began manipulating them. At the same time he set the rudder so as to bring
the _Silver Cobweb_ to earth in a series of long spirals. The maneuver was
that of volplaning, and has been performed successfully by several
aviators whose engines have suddenly ceased to work while in mid-air. The
young officer watched approvingly. Whatever else Mortlake might be--and
Lieut. Bradbury had not taken a violent fancy to him--he was a master of
the aerial craft.

Despite the mishap to the engine--caused by his own carelessness--Mortlake
managed to bring the _Silver Cobweb_ to a gentle landing in a broad, flat
meadow, inhabited by some spotted cows, which fled in undignified panic as
the monster, silent now, swooped down like a bolt from the blue.

The instant the _Silver Cobweb_ came to rest Mortlake's restless eyes
glanced upward. He was hoping against all common sense that the young
Prescotts had not seen his mishap, or at least that they would pass on
above him unnoticing. His first glance showed him the _Golden Butterfly_
still steadily plugging along, and a moment la