During the following weeks, the boys spent the major part of their time at the airport. Most of the boys were usually on hand when one of them took off for a lesson. And if there was no lesson, they spent their time dismantling the old plane and putting it together again. Ken and Nuthin’ became assistants to Fred, the chief mechanic. These two boys imparted their technical knowledge to their comrades.
As for McCarthy, he was happy and really enjoyed instructing the boys, because all of them responded so quickly to training. He taught them everything he knew about flying and found that William learned more easily than the others. McCarthy taught them to land, to take off, to do a few simple stunts. After four lessons, William was ready to solo. But his instructor wouldn’t permit him because McCarthy wanted them all to go up solo the same day, making it in the form of a graduation exercise.
In spite of their preoccupation in aviation, they spent many half hours discussing the mysterious airport and its consequences. Whatever evidence they had, however, was circumstantial and insufficient. And they couldn’t think of taking time out to do anything about it. The boys had other obligations, temporarily forgotten, which also had to be considered.
One day Paul called the boys together. Most of them were in overalls, their hands dirty with grease and their faces smeared. Looking at each other, they could not repress their smiles. Each in his own way was rather a funny sight. Ken laughed. “Hey, fellows, look at Bluff, will you?”
Bluff was wearing a pair of overalls that were much too large for him and his face was smeared with grease. “You’re n-no Ap-p-pollo yourself,” he countered.
Wallace asked, “What is it you want to talk to us about, Paul?”
“It’s this, fellows. We have been so busy the last few weeks, what with getting flying instructions and spending most of our time at the airport, that we have completely forgotten our baseball game with the Slavin team. We haven’t practiced at all and the game is only three days away.”
“Perhaps we can call the game off,” remarked William.
Several of the boys nodded in agreement, as their interest in aviation was much stronger than any thought of baseball just then. They were so engrossed in their work that any excuse was sufficient to try to break an agreement. Paul, however, objected. He said, “I fully know that all of us are more interested in our flying and all that, but we can’t go back on our word. We promised Ted Slavin and his team that we would play them and we’ve got to keep our word.”
Ken reminded the boys, “We also promised them a swimming match. That’s something we ought to practice up for, too.”