“Humph. Well, I believe they are. And, since you mention it, two of our important directors were mysteriously ill at the time of the last meeting. They recovered in a day or so, but their medical men are still at a loss to know what was the matter with them. They have been taking every precaution since, in fact, they have had themselves and their homes strictly guarded,” De Castro announced, then added, “But there is no one they suspect, and as far as I know, there seems to have been no way to connect their illness with the Alonzos.”
“But the fact that the men were ill is in itself suspicious.”
“I should say that it is, very. May I ask what happened on your way here, and how you escaped?”
“I escaped because of my son’s promptness in acting, and Bob’s co-operation.” Mr. Austin went on to tell the story since the arrival at Miami where the supposed Marine tried so hard to be taken to Havana, and the discovering of the dwarf after he had attempted to drug the flyers. The De Castros listened tensely during the recital, and at its close, the older man got to his feet and paced up and down in his agitation.
“Barbarous, simply barbarous. The assassins. You say the chemist was unable to classify the drug?”
“He didn’t know it. We sent the tube north and hope to get it analyzed, but he had no idea what it contained.”
“Great guns, you boys must have had a wild time fighting that dwarf,” Carlos exclaimed.
“Jim did the fighting. I was frozen to the controls,” Bob answered.
“Sure he was, but I’d have gone into the briny with a bumped head if he hadn’t kept the “Lark” doing stunts. When we did slide off, he dove down under me so that I dropped on top of the wings. They sure did look good to me,” Jim declared.
“You didn’t look around for the dwarf?”