anges in it. No one was admitted to the shop, nor were any other
flights made.

One day the inventors also disappeared, and months later it was
discovered that they had built themselves a little shop on a deserted
stretch of the sandy North Carolina coast, and that they were carrying
on their experiments there, secure from observation. Enterprising
reporters tried to interview them and failed; but, ambushed afar off,
they one day saw the great machine soaring proudly in a wide circle
above the sands. A photographer even got a distant photograph of it.
There could be no doubt that the Wright brothers had solved the problem
of flight.

But not for two years more were they ready for public exhibitions. Then,
in 1908, they appeared at Fort Myer, Virginia, ready to take part in the
contest set by the United States government. No one who was present on
that first day will ever forget his sensations as the great winged
creature rose gracefully from the ground and circled about in the air
overhead. Again and again flights were made, sometimes with an extra
passenger; great speed was attained and the machine was under perfect
control. But an unfortunate accident put a stop to the trials, for one
day a propellor-blade broke while the machine was in mid-air, and it
struck the ground before it could be righted. The passenger, a member of
the United States Signal Corps, was instantly killed and Orville Wright
was seriously injured.

Meanwhile, the other brother, Wilbur, had gone to Europe, where, first
in France, and afterwards in Italy and England, he created a tremendous
sensation by his spectacular flights. They were uniformly successful.
Not an accident marred them. The governments of Europe were quick to
secure the right to manufacture the aeroplane; kings and princes vied
with each other in honoring the young inventor, and when he returned to
the United States, city, state, and nation combined in a great reception
to him and to his brother.

As these lines are being written, in August, 1909, another series of
flights has been concluded at Fort Myer. They were successful in every
way in fulfilling the government tests, and the Wrights' machine was
purchased by the government for $30,000. Everywhere air-ship flights are
being made successfully, and it is only a question of time until the
aeroplane becomes a common means of conveyance. Wilbur Wright declares
that it is already safer than the automobile, and it would seem that