“It must be Mr. Morse, the airship inventor,” thought Andy.
Just then the inventor removed his goggles, rubbed his eyes and turned his face towards Andy.
With a crash the boy dropped a plate, and with a profound start he drew back, staring blankly at the man at the bench.
“Oh, my!” said Andy breathlessly.
CHAPTER IX—THE AIRSHIP INVENTOR
Morse, the inventor, made a grab for his eye-goggles. He had become a shade paler. He did not take up the goggles, however. Instead, he turned his back on Andy.
Our hero had a right to be startled. He stood staring and spellbound, for he had recognized the inventor in an instant. He was the handcuffed man he had poled down the river from Princeville the night of the flight from the Talbots, and who had given him the very watch he now carried in his pocket with such pride and satisfaction.
The man had shaved off his full beard since Andy had first met him. This made him look different. It was the large, restless eyes, however, that had betrayed his identity. Andy would know them anywhere. He at once realized that the inventor had sought to disguise himself. Probably, Andy reasoned, he had caught him off his guard with the goggles off his eyes.
“What did you say ‘oh, my!’ for?” suddenly demanded the inventor.
“I—I thought I recognized you—I thought I knew you,” said Andy.