bservation
windows, that he was gradually bearing in a great circle about the town
of Yonkers. Off to the northwestward were the rugged blue crags of the
Catskills, covered with patches of milk-white snow, and just in front,
winding like a huge serpent among the picturesque foothills, was the
sparkling Hudson, dwindling away to a mere silver thread in the north,
tapering away in the same manner toward the south, where it lapped the
piers of the city of New York and immediately afterward lost itself in
the waters of the Upper Bay. Although the great skyscrapers of the big
city itself could be dimly seen, they looked very small at that
distance.

Directly below them our friends could make out the familiar buildings
and landmarks of their own town as they swept past one by one, John
purposely flying at reduced speed so that a clearer vision could be
had. He also shot down to within a thousand feet, presently, as he saw
his own home approaching. Someone, whom both John and Paul immediately
recognized as their mother, stood in the door waving a handkerchief.
In recognition, Paul drew down one of the sliding windows, and put out
his head and fluttered his own handkerchief. Shortly afterward--it
seemed not more than a minute--the machine was over Shadynook Hill, and
Bob and his father were waving a similar salute to Mrs. Giddings.

As they swept on, men and women and children could be seen looking up
from the streets beneath. Most of these people were used to seeing
airplanes, but obviously the bright finish of the Sky-Bird II, and its
striking eagle-like appearance created more than passing notice.

Those in the cabin were amazed to note how effectually the new muffler
and the walls of the cabin shut out the sounds of operation. It was
very easy for them to talk back and forth with each other by using a
fairly strong pitch of voice, even when the machine was running at a
good rate, as it now began to do, for John once more gave the engine
more gas, and turned the airplane skyward. Up, up they shot like a
rocket. The hand on the dial of the altimeter moved along steadily--it
reached 2 again, passed to 3, 4, 5, 6; the earth seemed literally to be
falling away from them. All at once, when they were between six and
seven thousand feet high, and watching the minute patches of color far
below, which represented buildings, houses, hills, and the like, these
objects were swept away, and through the glass plates of the cab