“Seems to me I do ’member you fetched one home and I lost track o’ it in all the rush an bustle, Jack. Tear in an’ tell a feller what it all was about, won’t you?”
“This was a letter received from a pilot who had formerly worked on the same shift as Buddy Warner—it went on to broadly hint the boy had some kind of secret enemy and was deeply concerned—the writer of the letter couldn’t say positively what sort of trouble the missing pilot was up against, but declared it his belief that Buddy had met with some kind of foul play—that this other person might be interested in Buddy’s disappearance!”
“Rats! I don’t like the way he put that stuff over!” scoffed Perk with considerable indignation and concern. “Clean as a hound’s tooth that was Buddy Warner and every one who knew him would say the same. I don’t believe the cub had an enemy in the world—I’d call that a nasty makeup o’ a crooked yarn.”
“I’m with you there brother,” said Jack firmly. “But you can understand how eager some people are to get into print—they see an opening to break into some matter that’s gripped the public attention and just yearn to share in the spotlight. We’ll have a chance to dig out the truth for ourselves before a great while, if any sort of luck helps us to grab the right cards.”
Jack thereupon put away the few clippings he had kept and was soon in charge of the stick while his partner occupied himself with some of the ordinary duties pertaining to the observer and navigator of a double-seat air craft when on the wing.
The motor continued to function to a point close to perfection, showing how marvelous the skill of those mechanics to whom the task of building an engine fitted for the work of driving a heavier than air ship at an amazing pace through space must be.
The more Jack and Perk saw of their new boat, the higher their sincere admiration soared. If ever perfection was reached in such things it surely must have been when they put this engine together with an accuracy that compared favorably with the works of the finest and most expensive watch that ever came out of Switzerland.
“No necessity for both of us to stick it out when the going is as smooth as it is right now,” suggested Jack, “later on we may strike rough sledding when both of us will have to keep on deck for many hours. Suppose Perk, you curl up and take a snooze. I’ll promise to wake you up inside of three hours when you can take charge while I hit the hay—how about that arrangement, boy?”
“Oh! it’s okay any old way with me, partner,” replied the other readily enough for truth to tell Perk was commencing to yawn and show other signs of being sleepy, though he would willingly have stayed on the job until morning had there been any necessity for doing so.
“Just ten p. m. right now brother—about half-past twelve, then, I’ll give you a nudge which will mean your watch has arrived while I get a couple of hours off duty to freshen up. Everything looks up to snuff so far buddy, and let’s hope it will keep on that way right along.”