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Descending from his seat, the aviator was greeted by two boys not far from his own age.
The Flying Machine Boys on Duty. Page 4.
The Flying Machine Boys
on Duty
CHAPTER I.
An aviator, swinging northward in a June twilight,found himself constantly annoyed by thedriver of a machine whose only motive in lifeseemed to be to get in the way. Turn as he might toright or left, sail high or low, the obstinate and impertinentpursuer was always at hand to threatenhim.
To the west, lay Bedloe’s island, showing theStatue of Liberty, ruddy in the sunlight. To theeast, Governor’s island presented the battlements ofFort Columbus and Castle William. To the north,or to the northeast, to be more exact, lay Batterypark, a smear of green at the lower end of Manhattanisland.
[4]For a time people on ferryboats traversing NewYork bay looked upward in momentary expectation of a battle in the air. Then the two flying machinespassed north along the line of Broadway, crossedover Bronx park, and came to the vicinity of Pelhambay, in Westchester county.
Here the aviator who had shown such pugnacityin his dashes and swirls at the other, and who hadbeen repulsed only by the finest skill and tact,wheeled straight to the west and was soon lost tosight in the gathering darkness.
For a moment it seemed that the aviator who hadthus far acted only on the defensive was about tobecome the aggressor and follow in the wake of hispersecutor. In fac