rection in which the
railway ran. He found that it was almost exactly south-south-east, and
concluded from a glance at the map that he was above the connection of
the Hyderabad railway running from Warangal to the coast of the Bay of
Bengal. Reassured, he resolved to let Smith have his sleep out,
followed the line until it swept eastward at Secunderabad, and then,
steering a little to the left, put the engine once more to full speed.
In less than an hour afterwards he saw a vast expanse of water
glistening in the light of the rising moon, and knew that he had
reached the sea.

Being by this time thoroughly stiff and tired, and knowing, moreover,
that Smith would navigate the aeroplane over the sea with much more
certainty than himself, he shouted to awaken him. This proving
ineffectual, he leant over and nudged his shoulder. Smith was awake in
an instant.

"Where are we?" he cried; but no answer was necessary; he saw the sea
below him, and stretching far to the east, north, and south. He
exchanged places with Rodier, who, too tired even to eat, fell asleep
at once.

"Good thing he woke me," thought Smith. It was one thing to fly over
land, with guiding marks in the shape of rivers, mountains, and other
physical features that could be recognized more or less easily from
the map; and quite another to cross the pathless ocean. But with a
compass and a clear sky the course would present no difficulty to a
seaman, and Smith settled down to a flight that would be without
obstruction for at least seven hundred miles.

He knew that in the Bay of Bengal the prevailing wind at that season
is south-westerly. Whether there was any wind or not it was impossible
to ascertain while the aeroplane was maintaining its enormous speed;
certainly there was none to cause unsteadiness. If wind there was, it
blew in his, favour, and all that he would have to do would be to
allow in steering for a slight northerly drift. He would certainly
sight the Nicobar group, and possibly the Andaman Islands if he did
not make sufficient allowance for the wind; but he was determined not
to alight if he could help it until he arrived at Penang; he had lost
time enough already.

It was the first time he had flown across so wide an expanse of sea,
and he felt a touch of anxiety lest the engine should break down. If
any accident should happen he had made up his mind that the only thing
to be done was to don the lifebuoys, cut the engine loose, and trust