It read:
"No one will be allowed on the outer deck while the airship is
ascending or descending."
"What's that for? " Larry wanted to know.
"So you won't roll off into space," replied Lieutenant McBride.
"You see the deck is much tilted, when we are going up or down, and
that makes it dangerous. Of course the cabin floor is tilted also,
but there are walls here to save you from taking a tumble in case
you slip. Outside there is only a railing."
"I see," spoke Larry. "Well, I'll stay inside until we get up as
high as Dick wants to take us."
"Not very high this time," the young millionaire answered. "About
six thousand feet will be enough. We haven't gone quite a mile yet,
and it will be a good test for us."
Steadily the aircraft climbed upward until, when he had noted from
the barograph that they were at a height of nearly six thousand
feet, Dick "straightened her out," and let her glide along on a
level keel.
"You may now go outside, Larry," said the lieutenant, and the young
reporter and the others, except Dick, who remained at the wheel,
took their places in the open.
It was a strange sensation standing out thus, on a comparatively
frail craft, shooting along at fifty miles an hour over a mile above
the earth. The cabin broke the force of the wind, and there was
really little discomfort. The Abaris sailed so steadily that there
was scarcely a perceptible motion. Larry made some notes for a
story on which he was engaged.
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