While the boys talked, the door to the private office opened softly. Mr. Havens stood for a moment on the threshold and then stepped up to the fire. The young man was tall, slender and supple, with a dusky complexion and black hair and eyes. He was twenty-four years of age, but looked much younger. The millions he possessed had been inherited from his father, and instead of spending them along the Great White Way, he was devoting his entire attention to aviation.
“What’s the argument, boys?” he asked, standing before the grate with a smile on his face. “Machines working all right?”
“Finely!” replied Jimmie. “I had a fine ride over the bay this afternoon. The Louise motor runs like a watch!”
“I saw you from Battery park,” Havens answered.
“Then you must have seen the gink chasing me up?” Jimmie asked, tentatively.
“I noticed that,” Havens replied. “What was the occasion of it?”
“That’s just what we were discussing,” Jimmie said.
“And we had about concluded,” Ben interrupted, “that our plans regarding the visit to the Pacific coast must have leaked out.”
“That doesn’t seem possible!” exclaimed Havens. “Why,” he went on, “even the intimates of the chief of police at headquarters know nothing whatever of the matter. There must be some other explanation of what took place this afternoon.”
“I have known crooks to have friends among the men higher up!” laughed Jimmie. “It may be so in this case.”