TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER (Annotated)

"Well, Ned, are you ready?""Oh, I suppose so, Tom. As ready as I ever shall be.""Why, Ned Newton, you're not getting afraid; are you? And after you've been on so many trips with me?""No, it isn't exactly that, Tom. I'd go in a minute if you didn't have this new fangled thing on your airship. But how do you know how it's going to work-or whether it will work at all? We may come a cropper.""Bless my insurance policy!" exclaimed a man who was standing near the two lads who were conversing. "You'd better keep near the ground, Tom."