“Of course!” replied the boy. “He’s a low-browed brute with wing ears and a hunch in his shoulders. I’d know him anywhere.”
“Do you really think he’ll chase us up?” asked Carl hopefully.
“I certainly do!” answered Havens.
“That will be great!” exclaimed Jimmie. “A flying machine race across the continent surely appeals to me. Are you going along with us, Mr. Havens?” he asked, then.
“I hope so,” was the reply, “although I’m not quite sure of getting through with several business deals now under way. However,” he went on, “you boys can go on with the Louise and the Bertha to-night, and I can catch you somewhere on the way over with the Mary Ann.”
“Not me!” Jimmie laughed. “You can’t catch me with the Mary Ann as long as I’m on board the Louise!”
“We’ll decide that point on the way across!” Havens replied.
“Well,” Ben suggested, “if we’re going to start to-night, we ought to be getting our camp equipment ready.”
“Aw, never mind the camp equipment!” exclaimed Jimmie. “We don’t want to carry a load of stuff across the continent. We can carry one light silk tent, like we had in Mexico, and a few provisions, and buy all the mountain outfit after we get in Monterey.”
“That listens good to me!” Carl put in. “If Mr. Havens is going to race us for three thousand miles in the Mary Ann, we don’t want to carry much excess baggage.”