But his anxiety was a vain expenditure of energy. With the vertical screws at full speed, and the horizontal screws half speed, the machine rose like a huge bird from the deck, with a noise like the clattering of hundreds of bats and the humming of innumerable bees. At the height of sixty feet or so Tom stopped the vertical screws, and turned the full power of his engines on to the horizontal propellers, giving to the planes just sufficient inclination to counteract the force of gravity. “Capital!” exclaimed Mr. Greatorex, as he watched the easy flight. “First-rate! There’s a _fortune_ in that, skipper,” he said to Captain Bodgers at his side. “Maybe,” said the Captain reflectively. He was a man of few words. “Rather stay on deck, eh?” “Well, you can swim in water, sir.” “Exactly. But how far is the fellow going? It’s getting dark, and he’ll be out of sight directly. By the way, Bodgers, there’s no law about showing lamps on an airship. But there will be—there _will_ be. Ah! here he comes—at a spanking pace, too. He’ll overtake us in no time, going dead slow as we are.” In less than a minute the airship had come within a little distance astern of the yacht. “Hallo!” came a voice from the air. “Are you there?” answered Mr. Greatorex, from force of habit at the telephone. “Who are you?” came the response. “I say, Mr. Greatorex, pick up that boat and go full speed ahead. She’s going beautifully; the oiling she’s had has done her no end of good.” “All right. Aren’t you coming _down_? It’s getting _dark_; I can hardly _see_ you.” “Not just yet. She goes smoother than the yacht, and it’s beautifully fresh up here. I can tell your whereabouts by your lights.” “All right. _Don’t get lost!_” Tom laughed. He laughed again when, from his elevated position, he saw that though the boat had been hoisted on board, four men had been told off to stand by the davits in order to lower it again at the first sign of mishap. The yacht was sent full speed ahead. She could easily do her eighteen knots, but was no match in speed for the airship, which circled round and round her. “She beats us hollow,” said Mr. Mumford to M’Cracken, as they watched the flight from the foot of the companion. “Ou ay, sir. Yon’s a grand invention. It’s wonderful.” After about an hour Tom called down that he was going to descend. “He’d much better stay up now he’s there,” said Timothy, gloomily. “He’ll smash himself or us—I know he will.”