Jimsy ascended last, but as this
was not a race, but a cloud-climbing contest, he was in no hurry. He was
anxious to see what the other air craft could do.
Up they climbed, ascending the aerial stairway, while the crowd below
stared up, at the risk of stiff necks in the immediate future.
Jimsy chose spiraling as his method of rising. But the others went
upward in curious zigzags. This was because their machines were not
equipped with the stability device, and they could not attempt the same
tactics. Before long Jimsy was high above the others. From below he
appeared a mere dot in the blue. But still he flew on.
Once he glanced at his barograph. It showed he had ascended 5,000
feet. It was higher than the boy had ever been before, but he kept
perseveringly on.
It was cold up there in the regions of the upper air, and Jimsy found
himself wishing he had put on a sweater.
"It's too long a drop to go down and get one," he remarked to himself,
with grim humor.
Beneath him he could see the other aeroplanes; but the black one was the
only one that appeared to be a serious rival.
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