Joe stared at the girl and shrugged his shoulders. “That sounds fishy to me. I think you’re trying to spy on me. What brought you away down here?”
“We’re on a vacation,” answered Terry. “We are on our way to the Canal Zone.”
Joe Arnold watched the girls contemptuously. “I don’t believe you!” he said. “I think you came here to watch me.” Suddenly he turned to Bud. “Go on down there and see what’s the matter with Terry’s plane.”
“But I’d rather fix my own plane. I’m used to it and can fix it in a minute. I know exactly what’s the matter.”
“No! Let Bud go as I told him! You stay here!” There was a note of command that frightened the girls. Prim touched Terry’s arm and said softly. “Careful Terry, don’t make him angry.”
Terry gave her sister a grateful smile. She turned to Arnold and asked pleasantly. “Did you get into that storm?”
“No, I knew too much to let that happen. I saw your plane go into it and thought you were done for,” he answered.
“How did you avoid it?” asked Terry.
“I was flying high, fifteen thousand feet. It never touched me. The storm was all below me. I’m used to these hurricanes and I can usually guess about how far the storm extends.”
“I tried to get above it, but I didn’t go far enough.” Terry was watching Joe’s face while she was talking. Would he guess that she was carrying an important paper for Peter Langley? Would she be able to keep it hidden where he could not find it?