“Will you go with us to the field?” asked Ben.
“I should be glad to,” was the reply.
When the boys reached the corner of the next cross street, in ten minutes’ time, they found Mellen waiting for them with a high-power automobile. He was already in the seat with the chauffeur.
“I captured a machine belonging to a friend of mine,” he said, with a smile, “and so we shall be able to make quick time.”
As soon as the party came within sight of the field they saw that something unusual was taking place there, for people were massing from different parts of the plain to a common center, and people standing in the highway, evidently about to seek their homes, turned and ran back.
“Can you see the flying machines?” asked Ben.
“I can see one of them!” answered Mellen in the front seat. “And it seems to be mounting into the air!”
“I guess the little rascals have got off in spite of us!” declared Ben. “Perhaps we’d better hold up a minute and follow the direction it takes. It may not head for the valley.”
“It’s heading for the valley, all right!” Glenn exclaimed.
“Yes, and there’s something going on in the field below,” Mellen declared. “There are people running about, evidently in great excitement, and the second machine is being pushed forward.”