"Come over here by the tennis court," suggested Bill. "I want to talk to you. A lot of things have happened in the last few weeks, and I don't know what to make of them."
"Fire ahead if I can help," said Ernest.
Bill commenced his story with the influence Jardin seemed to have over Frank and concluded with what he had seen in the hangar.
"What's the game?" he demanded at last.
"I can't guess unless he wants Jardin to get so disgusted that he will give him the plane. Has Frank any money?" asked Ernest.
"He had a present from a friend of ours when we came," said Bill, "but most of that has been frittered away. Besides that, he hasn't a cent although he goes strutting around as though he had a little private wad to draw on. But I know he hasn't any. Where would he get money? His folks have only their army pay."
"It surely is funny about that plane," said Ernest. "I never saw a chap so crazy about flying, but he can't expect to get a plane like that for nothing, and yet what you saw looks suspiciously as though he was up to some scheme. What sort of a chap was he at home?"
"Not bad," replied Bill generously. "There was a lot of things I didn't like about him, but I never suspected he would do anything underhanded. Why, he might kill Jardin, monkeying that way with the plane!"
"He is determined not to harm him," said Ernest. "Everything that has happened to the plane has been of a nature that has made it impossible to get it off the ground. So Jardin is safe for the present at least. I think I will manage to secrete myself in that hangar to-morrow morning. I don't believe we had better tell anyone about this, Bill; it would stir up such a fuss. The plane is in perfect order now. I saw Tom a little while ago and he has it tuned up to perfection. In the meantime I think I will seek our friend Jardin and sound him a little. Later I will drop in." He strolled off in the direction of the billiard room where Jardin was usually to be found, and Bill went to his own room and tried to read. The thought that in a short time Lee, good, honest, loyal Lee, would be on his way to prison, a convicted thief, was more than he could bear. The print danced before his eyes. He heaved a sigh of relief when a tap on the door was followed by the entrance of Ernest.
"The plot thickens," he said, closing the door carefully and glancing about to assure himself they were alone. "I have had a long talk with young Jardin and it was very mystifying. You are mistaken about Frank, I think. He must have a bank account or something of the sort, because he has actually offered to buy that plane. I suspect he has offered very little for it, because Jardin would not tell me the price. But the deal is good as closed. Jardin is going to get a new machine, and Frank is to pay him for this one to-morrow."