“Did you fellows really have an aeroplane?” asked Tom.
“Sure we did!” answered Jerry.
“These have self-starters,” remarked Ned, as he and the others inspected the aeroplanes.
“And they carry double,” added Bob.
There was a big crowd around the air craft, for it had been announced that a race was about to take place. Jerry and his chums saw Frank Watson and his crowd near the biplanes, and Frank, looking at our heroes, said sneeringly, and loudly enough to be heard by them:
“This is the kind of machine the motor boys said they had. Humph! I don’t believe they’d dare go up in a balloon!”
“The cad!” muttered Ned. “I’ll show him!”
“Now quiet down,” ordered Jerry. “If you don’t——”
At that moment one of the aviators stepped forward and addressed the throng.