hey had just left.

The driver pulled up, and the pair stood up in the vehicle to watch the
splendid ascent of the dauntless aviator, who rose against the clear sky
in a wide spiral higher and higher, twice passing over their heads,
until he had reached an altitude of fully eight hundred feet. Then,
after a final circle, he turned and made straight towards the yellow
declining sun, speeding evenly and swiftly in the direction of Great
Yarmouth.

Next second a loud, shrill shriek escaped the girl as she covered her
face with her hands to shut out the appalling sight which met her gaze.

The machine, flying so beautifully, had, of a sudden, collapsed as
though she had broken her wing, which rose at right angles, and then the
machine, out of control, pitched forward and, nose first, fell straight
to the ground like a stone.

CHAPTER III.

DESCRIBES TWO INQUIRIES.

The fatal accident to Lieutenant Noel Barclay caused a wave of sympathy
throughout the country.

As a daring and experienced aviator he was well known. He had assisted
in the foundation of the Naval Flying School at Eastchurch, and had been
the first aviator to fly from land and greet the King on the occasion of
a great review off Weymouth. Many splendid feats of airmanship had he
accomplished, flying from Paris to London on three occasions, and going
far out to sea and back, scouting on one or other of the Government
hydroplanes.

Several important inventions were to his credit, and it had been due to
his genius that certain of the aircraft had been fitted with wireless
apparatus and experiments carried out with success. He had done
excellent service during the naval manoeuvres of the previous year,
and his name had been written large in the annals of aviation.

But alas! the public had one morning opened their daily papers to find a
tragic picture of his wrecked machine, and beneath was printed the news
of his fatal fall from a distance of eight hundred feet.

The inquest had been held at the Old Ship Hotel at Mundesley, the day
after the accident, and, in addition to representatives of the
Admiralty, a number of aviation experts who had examined the wreckage
had been present.

The inquiry was a searching one, for an important London newspaper had
hinted that, owing to the parsimonious policy of the Admiralty, certain
of their aeroplanes were not of the same stability as those owned by
private individuals. Hence the authorities at Whitehal