noon
This seemed the wisest course to pursue . So Paul , vexed though he was at the contrary actions of the airplane , buckled down to the job of guiding the machine and complained no more . But he made up his mind that if investigations proved the rival crew had been tampering with the Sky-Bird II he , for one , would do his part in giving them a warm time should they meet on the ground again . At noon while John and Tom slept , Bob relieved Paul , and for an hour they made a little better time by working both engines ; but , afraid of overheating the one they termed their `` night engine '' , they went back to one motor for the rest of the journey into Para , where they arrived an hour late . And it was to find bad news awaiting them . The landing-field official announced that the _ Clarion 's _ flyers had left not fifteen minutes before for Freetown , Africa . And upon investigating the helium valves in the wings of the Sky-Bird , our boys found to their dismay that fully a third of the pressure was gone , indicating that an equal quantity of gas had escaped in some manner .