“I laid in double the quantity I expected we’d devour,” he told them, “and then added something to that for good measure.  No telling what may crop up; and if we happen to be cast on a desert island a healthy lot of grub might come in handy.”

“It does right now, when we are far from any island, unless that’s one up there in that dark cloud floating above us,” and Jack stretched out to receive his portion of the lunch as parceled out by Colin.

“One thing that made me drop to a lower level,” explained Tom, “was the fact of its being so cold up there among the clouds.  Already I feel better for the change.”

“How about it if we should sight a steamer?” asked Jack.  “They’d report meeting a plane flying west here in midocean, which would stir up no end of comment in the papers, and might lead to our being found out.”

“We depend on you to keep the glasses in use, and report anything in sight ahead,” laughed Tom; for the clatter of the motors did not seem to bother them in the least when using the wireless telephone.  “And when you sing out ‘smoke down low on the horizon to the west!’ it’s going to be an easy job for us to climb up above the clouds in a hurry.”

So it was settled, and they ate their lunch in comfort.

Up to that time not the slightest thing had arisen to give them concern with regard to the working of the engines.  These aroused the admiration of the three voyagers by their remarkable performance.  Tom declared their equal had never been installed in any plane that was ever built, and Lieutenant Beverly’s eyes glowed with satisfaction to hear his pet praised so cordially by one whose good opinion he valued as highly as he did Tom Raymond’s.

After Jack had taken his turn at piloting the machine, he amused himself “between naps” by watching the surface of the sea through the binoculars.

“No telling but what I may glimpse a submarine creeping along under the surface,” he told the others jokingly.  “Then wouldn’t we wish we’d brought along a few bombs—­the kind they dropped on that Hun bridge the night we went with the raiders.  Right now I could almost imagine that shark’s dorsal-fin was a periscope belonging to an undersea boat.”

Other things came along to cause momentary interest, among them rolling porpoises that rose in sight, and then vanished under the waves, though from their height the boys could easily follow their movements.

Jack was getting a good deal of enjoyment out of the situation, and Tom was glad to notice this fact.  He had feared his chum’s nerves might give way under the long-continued strain; but apparently Jack had returned to his ordinary condition.

All of them rather dreaded the coming of night.  Flying in midocean while daylight lasted was serious enough, but with darkness around for many hours, the situation must awaken new anxieties.

But their hearts were still apparently undaunted.  The success that had rewarded their bold starting out gave abundant promise of still better things ahead.  Tom resolutely refused to allow himself to have any fear.  What if two thousand miles still lay between them and the goal of their hopes?  Was not the miracle-worker of a monster plane doing remarkably fine work, and should they not continue to believe the end justified the means?