admiration which his story
evoked. He came through the ordeal of that breakfast-table with the
coolness of a veteran under fire. His hostess asked whether sailing in
the air made him sea-sick; her elder son wanted to know the type of
engine he favoured, the quantity of petrol it consumed per hour, and
what would happen if he collided with an airship going at equal speed
in the opposite direction. The younger boy asked if he might have a
ride in the aeroplane; the girl begged Smith to write his name in her
album. The governess sat with clasped hands, gazing at him with the
adoring ecstasy that she might have bestowed on a godlike visitant
from another sphere. Presently the Administrator said--

"Now get your hats on. We'll take Mr. Smith up in the buggy and see
him off."

When they reached the aeroplane they found Rodier demolishing some of
the good things provided by Mrs. Martin, the centre of an admiring
crowd of curious white men and wonder-struck natives. Two Papuan
constables were patrolling around with comical self-importance. The
petrol had arrived. When it was transferred to the aeroplane the
Administrator insisted on drinking Smith's health in a glass of Mr.
Martin's beer, and then called for three cheers for the airmen. His
daughter had brought her kodak and took a snapshot of them as they sat
in their places ready to start. The natives scattered with howls of
affright when the engine began sparking, the constables being easily
first in the stampede, one of them pitching head first into the
eucalyptus. The engine started, the men cheered, the women waved
handkerchiefs, and as the aeroplane soared up and flew in the
direction of the coast the whole crowd set off at a run to gain a
position whence they might follow its flight with their eyes.

For some time Smith steered down the coast, intending to cross the
Owen Stanley range as soon as he saw a convenient gap. After about
twenty miles, however, he ran with startling suddenness into a
tropical storm. It was as though he had passed from sunlight into a
dark and gloomy cavern. Rain fell in torrents, and he knew by the
extraordinary and alarming movements of the aeroplane that the wind
was blowing fiercely, and not steadily in one direction, but gustily,
and as it seemed, from all points of the compass. For the first time
since leaving the Euphrates he was seriously perturbed. It was true
that the force of the wind did not appear to be so great as it had
been