CHAPTER VI 

 MOAK'S ADVENTURE 



UNDER the constant coaching of Frazer I was gradu- 

 ally broken in to cruising. The work was fatiguing, 

 particularly while one was growing accustomed to 

 the change in altitude, but presently this wore off 

 and I found that the daily run was becoming a fas- 

 cinating experience. The constant change of scene, 

 the magnificent views, the sense of exploration and 

 the occasional hazards encountered effectually pre- 

 cluded the possibility of failing interest. Each new 

 day brought forth its fresh adventures, so that the 

 time passed, for the most part, easily and with the 

 speed of thought. 



There was, however, one phase of our work that 

 had not seemed in prospect especially disagreeable, 

 but which I found at first very difficult to get used 

 to. This was the necessity under which each cruiser 

 lay of working alone all day. Like most of us I 

 had all my life been with, or at least near, other 

 people every hour of the twenty-four. For weeks 

 now I left my companions each morning with a dis- 

 tinct distaste for revelling in my own company till 

 evening. There was an initial strangeness about 

 finding oneself utterly and entirely alone in the f or- 



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