"Then one of the boys must have been there," Ned said, calmly, although his heart was beating like a drum.
"The little fellow was there, the one you call Jimmie," was the reply.
"And he went into the air alone?"
"No; at the last minute a Peruvian Indian who has been hanging about the machine ever since you came here went with him."
"Then there is no danger," Ned replied, really feeling relieved at the thought that Jimmie was not alone in the aeroplane. "The lad will bring the Nelson back in good time. Anyway, he is entitled to a little excursion, 'all by his lonely,' as he puts it."
"He can operate the machine?"
"Certainly. He can handle the Nelson easily."
Thomas Q. Collins regarded Ned steadily for a moment, his brusque, salesmanship manner all gone, and then asked:
"'Where are you going from here?"
The fellow was showing his hand at last! Or was this just natural curiosity? At that moment Ned was more interested in discovering something about the attack on the Nelson than in fighting off personal and impertinent questions, so he said: