"She'll be on time," cried Jimsy as the graceful ship swept over the distant confines of the course and came thundering down toward the starting point.
A great cheer swept skywards as the aeroplane came on.
These and a hundred other questions and remarks went from mouth to mouth all through the big crowd.
He had seen the signal corps man, whose duty it was to fire the bombs, outstretching himself on the ground awaiting the signal to touch off the starting sign.
But even as Jimsy spoke, the Golden Butterfly made a swift turn and, amid a roar from the crowd, shot whirring past the grandstand and alighted in front of the stand on the starting line.
Hardly had the wheels touched the ground before the judge in charge of the track raised his hand. A flag fell and the signal corps man jerked his arm back, firing the bomb that announced the start.
As the detonation died out the aeroplanes shot forward, rising into the still air almost in a body, like a flock of birds. It was a spectacle never to be forgotten, and the crowd appreciated it to the full.
But up in the grandstand, in inconspicuous places, sat three persons who did not look as well pleased as those about them.
"So the girl is going to take a chance," muttered Fanning Harding; "well, so much the worse for her. If she wins I'll put in a protest and compel her to unmask."
"Won't that Prescott and Bancroft bunch be astonished when they find out that we are on to their little game," chuckled Jukes Dade; "it'll be as good as a play."
"They'll find out that they can't humiliate me and not suffer for it," grated out Fanning.
"Wonder where that girl went to on her tryout spin?" inquired Dade.
"It doesn't make much difference where, but she certainly came back with a grandstand play," rejoined Gid.
"Well, if she wins the race it will be our turn," Fanning assured him.
They then turned their attention to the contest, two laps of which had been made while they were talking.
Number One, a small white Bleriot type of monoplane, seemed to be making the pace for the rest, and word flew about that it had gained half a lap on Number Four, its nearest competitor so far.
"But it will be a long contest," said the wiseacres in the crowd, "and accidents may happen at any time."