or repairs. So
they crossed the northern tip of the island, and proceeded on over the
Strait of Malacca. Sometime since, Paul had taken Bob's place at the
throttle, and the latter had communicated with their destination by
wireless, learning that the other airplane had arrived.

It was twilight when they at last reached Singapore, and made a landing
in the race-course in the outskirts of the town. By long odds this was
the smallest island upon which they had so far stopped, but they found
the city one of the busiest. Their rivals had left fully two hours
before.

Now came the task of repairing the broken tail elevator. As the frame
was undamaged, it was only necessary to straighten out a few bent
supports and put new covering on. The British official at the field
showed them where to purchase the necessary silk and glue, also a good
waterproof varnish for coating the covering. From his own home he
secured a pair of scissors with which to do the cutting, and John and
Bob worked at the task, while Paul and Tom took on fuel and water and
looked after other preparations for resuming their journey as soon as
possible.

During this process, Grandpa the monkey was permitted to come out of
the cabin and entertain the crowd of onlookers with his antics, which
he did to perfection, as he had done at other stops. To the ivory ring
about his slender little waist, Paul always fastened a long thin rope,
which he had bought in Para, when he let Grandpa out. This leash
prevented him from wandering off, something nearly all unfettered
monkeys will do if not watched very closely by their masters. Almost
any place seems to be home to a monkey, and almost any man seems to
suit him for a temporary master.

Grandpa himself delighted in running out upon the wings of the Sky-Bird
at the stops. He pulled the control wires and made the ailerons swing
up and down, which always raised a laugh among the crowds. Another
favorite pastime with him was to post himself in front of the reflector
of the big searchlight up on the cabin, and make the most comical
grimaces at his image on the polished reflector inside, sometimes
uttering queer noises as if he were crying, and at other times
chattering with the utmost anger at the phantom monkey, mixing these
demonstrations up with wild dashes around behind the lamp to see if the
mimicking animal were there. No matter what language the natives of
each port might speak, they never failed to u