afe enough for a license.
Shall we start?"

"All right, Dr. Arcot," replied the Air Inspector. "If you and your
father are willing to try it, I am."

"Ready, Engineer?" asked Arcot.

"Ready, Pilot!" replied Morey.

"All right--just keep your eye on the meters, Dad, as I turn on the
system. If the instruments back there don't take care of everything, and
you see one flash over the red mark--yank open the main circuit. I'll
call out what to watch as I turn them on."

"Ready son."

"Main gyroscopes!" There was a low snap, a clicking of relays in the
rear compartment, and then a low hum that quickly ran up the scale.
"Main generators!" Again the clicking switch, and the relays thudding
into action, again the rising hum. "Seat-gyroscopes." The low click was
succeeded by a quick shrilling sound that rose in moments above the
range of hearing as the separate seat-gyroscopes took up their work.
"Main power tube bank!" The low hum of the generator changed to a
momentary roar as the relays threw on full load. In a moment the
automatic controls had brought it up to speed.

"Everything is working perfectly so far. Are we ready to start now,
son?"

"Main vertical power units!" The great ship trembled throughout its
length as the lift of the power units started. A special instrument had
been set up on the floor beside Arcot, that he might be able to judge
the lift of his power units; it registered the apparent weight of the
ship. It had read two hundred tons. Now all eyes were fixed on it, as
the pointer dropped quickly to 150-100-75-50-40-20-10--there was a
click and the instrument flopped back to 300--it was registering in
pounds now! Then the needle moved to zero, and the mighty structure
floated into the air, slowly moving down the field as a breeze carried
it along the ground.

The men outside saw it rise swiftly into the sky, straight toward the
blue vault of heaven. In two or three minutes it was disappearing. The
glistening ship shrank to a tiny point of light; then it was gone! It
must have been rising at fully three hundred miles an hour!

To the men in the car there had been a tremendous increase in weight
that had forced them into the air cushions like leaden masses. Then the
ground fell away with a speed that made them look in amazement. The
house, the construction shed, the lake, all seemed contracting beneath
them. So quickly were they rising that they had not time to adjust their
mental attitude. To them