Hawkins had clambered into the basket before I could lay a hand on him.
“Now!” he cried, giving a push with his foot.
My breathing apparatus seemed to go on strike. Hawkins, basket, wings, and all dropped from the window.
For an instant they went straight toward the earth; then, like a parachute opening, the wings spread gracefully, the descent slackened, and Hawkins floated down, down, down--until he landed in the center of the yard without a jar.
Really, I was amazed. It seemed to be either a special dispensation of Providence or an invention of Hawkins' which really worked.
A minute or two later he had labored back to my side, up the stairs, with the aerial fire-escape on his back.
“There!” he exclaimed. “What do you think of that?”
“Well, rather! Now come up to the roof and have a drop with me. We'll go into the street this time, and----”
“Thank you, Hawkins,” I said, positively. “Don't count me in on that. I'll wait for the fire before dabbling with your Anti-Fire-Fly.”
“Oh, well, come with me, anyway. I'm going down once more. You've no idea of the sensation.”
It was a considerable feat of engineering to persuade the Anti-Fire-Fly into passing through the scuttle, but Hawkins finally accomplished it, and pushed the contrivance to the edge of the roof.
“Now that thing will carry a small family with ease and safety,” he said proudly. “Just sit down in the basket and feel the roominess. Oh, don't be afraid. I'll come, too.”
“Yes, it's very nice,” I said somewhat nervously, after crouching beside him for a moment. “I think I'll get out now.”
“All ri--oh! Here! Wait!” cried Hawkins, grabbing my coat and pulling me back. “Sit down!”
“The--the--the wings!” stuttered the inventor. “The--the wind!”
“Great Scott!” I shouted as a sudden breeze caught the wings and tilted the basket far to one side. “Let me out!”
“No, no!” shrieked Hawkins wildly. “You'll break your neck, man! We're right on the edge of the roof now, and----”
There was the street--miles below! Sickening dread choked me. I closed my eyes and gripped the basket as the accursed thing swayed from side to side and threatened every instant to precipitate us on the hard stones.
But it grew steadier presently. I looked about.
There was Hawkins hanging on for dear life, and white as death, but still serene. There, also, were numerous graveled roofs--some twenty feet below.