“How comes it that Jimmie and Kit are lost in the air?” asked Havens, as, accompanied by the sheriff and the forest ranger, Gilmore, the boys walked away from the jail.
“It’s the most unaccountable thing!” Ben exclaimed almost impatiently. “We left Jimmie to watch the machines while we slept, and the first thing we knew he was up in the air, and Kit with him.”
“He may have returned to the camp by this time,” suggested Havens.
“If he has, I hope he’ll guard the Louise better than we guarded the Bertha!” Carl put in.
“What happened to the Bertha?” the millionaire asked.
Then Ben told the story of the visit of the Chinaman who had wasted their gasoline and eaten their provisions so ravenously. He also told the story of the landing on the summit, and of the visit of the two Japs in the Ann. Havens looked grave.
“Those Japs,” he exclaimed, “must have come directly on from New York to Monterey. They are well-known East Side crooks, and are using their old tactics here.”
“Well, they probably went away after Phillips and Mendoza in that limping old machine,” Carl said. “They can’t go far.”
Gilmore and Sheriff Chase, who had listened intently to the conversation, now began asking questions.
“You spoke of a Chinaman coming to your tent,” Gilmore began, “as if Mr. Havens already knew of the existence of such a party. What about that? When and where did you first see this Chinaman?” he added turning to Ben. “Tell me all about it.”