“Well, I just guess you won’t!” cried Mary. “That would be very perilous, Tom. Even if father and Mr. Damon were in trouble up there, you could scarcely help them by flying to them in a seaplane.” Tom laughed too. The idea was odd enough. The use to which he expected to put the _Winged Arrow_ was entirely practical. That next morning they made the trial trip to the Atlantic. This test of the flying boat would be a real test. If she had to be brought down, either on land or sea, they would not be near headquarters and the mechanicians aboard the plane must be equal to all repairs that might be necessary. CHAPTER XIV AMAZING NEWS Tom Swift drove the _Winged Arrow_ to a high altitude when she left Lake Carlopa on her first long voyage. It was a windy day, but pleasant. The weather indications were favorable for the journey, but the report from out at sea was that a storm had shaken up the shipping a good deal. “We have that matter of balance and safety when taking to the water to settle, whatever else we may do,” the inventor said to Ned Newton, who was again his companion. “The hollow sheath of the boat has proved a good thing while we are in the air; but I should hate to learn that I had planned something that turned out to be no good for the object I had in mind, even if it was useful in other ways.” Besides the two chums aboard the flying boat there were eight in the crew and a young man named Kingston who was a wireless operator. The _Winged Arrow_ was supplied with the very latest instruments for wireless and radiophone operation, and Kingston was well trained in his business. He was, as well, a pleasant addition to the plane’s company. They flew so high that landmarks had to be scrutinized through the glasses to make sure of their nature. They passed over three states in reaching the coast. From their height it seemed as though the ocean were a hazy blue sheet of glass with a white or yellow line marking the shore. They scaled down nearer to it and saw great ships tossing on mighty billows and the surf viciously beating the sands of Cape Cod. “Ho!” cried Ned. “I hope you are satisfied, Tom. It looks just as safe to land down there as though the ocean were a boiling cauldron.” “It is exactly what we have come to experience,” declared Tom. “Well, I hope everything is all right,” grumbled his friend. “But I want to tell you right now that I would rather be on dry land than on this plane when she hits that sea. Whew!” If Tom Swift felt any such fear he did not express it. But his face was rather grim as he scaled down the airways and brought the huge flying boat hovering above the tossing waves. To Brannigan, in the tail of the craft, he said: “Test out your levers. See that everything is buzzing right. We are going to subject her to a severe test. All ready?” “Aye, aye, sir!” rejoined Brannigan through the tube. “Let her go!”