“And why not?” asked Ben, somewhat amazed.
Then the story of Sam Weller’s previous employment at the hangar on Long Island came out. The boys all declared that they wanted to be present when Sam met his former employer!
“I don’t care what you say about Sam!” Jimmie declared, after the boys had finished their discussion of the Long Island incident. “I like him just the same! There’s a kind of a free and easy impudence about him that gets me. I hope he’ll stay with us!”
“He might ride with Mr. Havens in the Ann!” laughed Carl.
“Well, I don’t believe Mr. Havens would object, at that!” declared Jimmie.
“Certainly he wouldn’t object!” replied the millionaire, coming out of the bath-room door with a smile on his face. “And so Sam Weller showed up here, did he?” he asked as he seated himself. “The boy is a first-class aviator, but he used to get his little finger up above his nose too often, so I had to let him go. Did he tell any of you boys how he happened to drift into this section?”
“He told me,” Jimmie replied, “that he was making a leisurely trip from the Isthmus of Panama to Cape Horn. He looked the part, too, for I guess he hadn’t had a square meal for several decades, and his clothes looked as if they had been collected out of a rag-bag!”
“He’s a resourceful chap!” Mr. Havens continued. “He’s a first-class aviator, as I said, in every way, except that he is not dependable, and that of course spoils everything.”
“He’s got the nerve!” Carl observed.
“He certainly has!” agreed Jimmie.