your gang, on foot or in the air, in body or in mind,
we'll deserve whatever we get. We can outrun you, outjump you, throw you
down, or lick you; we can run faster, hit harder, dive deeper, and come
up dryer, than you can. We'll play any game you want to deal, whenever
you want to deal it; for fun, money, chalk, or marbles."

His brow darkened in anger as a thought struck him, and the steady gray
eyes bored into the unflinching black ones as he continued, with no
trace of his former levity in his voice:

"But listen to this. Anything goes as far as Martin and I personally are
concerned. But I want you to know that I could be arrested for what I
think of you as a man; and if any of your little schemes touch Dottie or
Peggy in any way, shape or form, I'll kill you as I would a snake--or
rather, I'll take you apart as I would any other piece of scientific
apparatus. This isn't a threat, it's a promise. Get me?"

"Perfectly. Good-night."

For many hours the Earth had been obscured by clouds, so that the pilot
had only a general idea of what part of the world was beneath them, but
as they dropped rapidly downward into the twilight zone, the clouds
parted and they saw that they were directly over the Panama Canal.
Seaton allowed the Skylark to fall to within ten miles of the ground,
when he stopped so that Martin could get his bearings and calculate the
course to Washington, which would be in total darkness before their
arrival.

DuQuesne had retired, cold and reticent as usual. Glancing quickly about
his cabin to make sure that he had overlooked nothing he could take with
him, he opened a locker, exposing to view four suits which he had made
in his spare time, each adapted to a particular method of escape from
the Skylark. The one he selected was of heavy canvas, braced with steel
netting, equipped with helmet and air-tanks, and attached to a strong,
heavy parachute. He put it on, tested all its parts, and made his way
unobserved to one of the doors in the lower part of the vessel. Thus,
when the chance for escape came, he was ready for it. As the Skylark
paused over the Isthmus, his lips parted in a sardonic smile. He opened
the door and stepped out into the air, closing the door behind him as he
fell. The neutral color of the parachute was lost in the gathering
twilight a few seconds after he left the vessel.

The course laid, Seaton turned almost due north and the Skylark tore
through the air. After a short time, w