as in such safe keeping.

"Mary!" exclaimed the young man, "if it wasn't safe--as safe as a
church--I wouldn't dream of taking you up!" and at the mention of
"church" Mary Nestor blushed just the least bit. Or perhaps it was that
the prospective excitement of the moment caused the blood to surge into
her cheeks. Have it as you will.

"Come, Mary! you're not going to back out the last minute, are you?"
asked Tom Swift. "Everything is all right. I've made a trial flight,
and you've seen me come down as safely as a bird. You promised to go
up with me. I won't go very high if you don't like it, but my
experience has been that, once you're off the ground, it doesn't make
any difference how high you go. You'll find it very fascinating. So
skip along to the house, and Mrs. Baggert will help you get into your
togs."

"Shall I have to wear all those things--such as you have on?" asked
Mary, blushing again.

"Well, you'll be more comfortable in a fur-lined leather suit,"
asserted Tom. "And if it does make you look like an Eskimo, why I'm
sure it will be very becoming. Not that you don't look nice now," he
hastened to assure Miss Nestor, "but an aviation suit will be
very--well, fetching, I should say."

"If I could be sure it would 'fetch' me back safe, Tom--"

"That'll do! That'll do!" laughed the young aviator. "One joke like
that is enough in a morning. It was pretty good, though. Now go on in
and tog up."

"You're sure it's safe, Tom?"

"Positive! Trot along now. I want to fix a wire and--"

"Oh, is anything broken?" and the girl, who had started away from the
aeroplane, turned back again.

"No, not broken. It's only a little auxiliary dingus I put on to make
it easier to read the barograph, but I think I'll go back to the old
system. Nothing to do with flying at all, except to tell how high up
one is."

"That's just what I don't care to know, Tom," said Mary Nestor, with a
smile. "If I could imagine I was sailing along only about ten feet in
the air I wouldn't mind so much."

"Flying at that height would be the worst sort of danger. You leave it
to me, Mary. I won't take you up above the clouds on this sky ride;
though, later, I'm sure you'll want to try that. This is only a little
flight. You've been promising long enough to take a trip with me, and
now I believe you're trying to back out."

"No, really I'm not, Tom! Only, at the last minute, the machine looks
so small and frail, and the sky is so--big--