"Well, finally the father consented to let his daughter try a fly
along the ground. I settled her in a comfortable seat, and away we
went. I made it a good stiff run, and there was some jolting, but
the girl was wild over it. She begged for a second run. We got
such a fine start that I lifted about twenty feet in the air."

"And then, of course, she screamed out in fear?" said Dave, with a
smile.

"Screamed nothing," dissented Hiram. "She just spoke one delighted
'O-oh!' and then: 'Higher, oh, please keep on going!' Say, Dave,
she looked so bright and brave I couldn't help it--Z--I--P!"

"What does 'Z--I--P!' mean, Hiram?" asked Dave.

"A slide, a swoop, then a circle, another, a shoot upwards, and the
girl laughing out, 'Oh, this is just grand!' Her sister shrieked,
her mother fainted away, and her father was shaking his cane at us
and yelling for us to come back. The Racer did her prettiest in two
grand circles of the grounds, and came down light as a feather. The
girl jumped out, one big smile. 'Just think of it!' I heard her cry
to her sister, 'when I've told my seminary chums that I've been up
in a real airship!' Then, seeing that she was safe, I think her
folks were just as proud of her exploit as she was. Anyhow, she ran
up to her father in a coaxing way, and came back to place a bank
note in my hand. When they were gone, and I found that it was a
fifty dollar bill, old Grimshaw chuckled and said he had hinted to
the party that the regular fee for a ride in an airship was one
hundred dollars. I'm mighty glad you're back, Dave."