Roy's big biplane and the rattling exhaust of Jimsy's fierce-looking
_Red Dragon_.

The _Golden Butterfly_, which was equipped with a silencing device, ran
smoothly and silently as a sewing machine. Peggy sat at the wheel, while
Jess reclined on the padded seat placed tandemwise behind her. It made a
wonderful picture, the big white biplane with its boy driver, the
scarlet and silver machine of Jimsy Bancroft and the delicate green and
gold color schemes of the other two flying machines.

"The first stop will be Palenville," announced Roy, "the biplane will be
the pathfinder."

Despite the earliness of the hour and the efforts that had been made to
keep the motor flight a secret, the information of the novel experiment
had, in some way, leaked out. Quite a small crowd gave a loud cheer as
Roy cried:

"Go!"

"We're off!" cried Peggy, athrill with excitement.

Propellers flashed in the sunlight and the next instant the biplane,
after a short run, soared aloft toward a sky of cloudless, clean-swept
blue. In rapid succession the _Dart, Golden Butterfly_ and _Red Dragon_
followed.

"Come on," cried Bess to Jimsy, waving her hand challengingly.

"Ladies first, even off the earth," came back from Jimsy gallantly,