He walked over to the charred and twisted remains of the Skyrocket, fighting down his strong impulse to pry into the thing and see if he could discover the secret of its astounding exploits before the crash came. It did not take more than the most fleeting glance to see, even with his limited knowledge of flying machines, that this one was very much different from the others. He was glad when the others came up to save him from yielding to his curiosity.
Tod and the two men were deep in a discussion of Mr. Fulton's invention, but Jerry gained little by that, as most of the technical terms were so much Greek to him. Tod talked like a young mechanical genius—or a first-class parrot. The two men listened to his glowing praises in no little amusement, venturing a word now and then just to egg the boy on—though he needed none.
Jerry waited for a chance to break in forcibly. "I say, Tod." he interrupted a wild explanation of the theory of the differential, "I expect I'd better chase along back home. I can just catch the interurban if I cut loose now. I—I want to hike back and spread the good news that you aren't decorating a watery grave."
"I s'pose I'll have to stay here and help the Scouts mount guard over the relics here—when will you be back?"
"To-morrow, maybe."
"You can come back with dad. He'll probably come back to Watertown to-night, after he takes these two gentlemen to Chester in the launch. He'll probably want you to help him bring down some repairs."
"You think he'll try to patch up the Skyrocket?" asked Jerry.
"Doesn't look hardly worth while."
"Worth while!" exploded Tod. "Is a half million dollars worth while?" Then he repented having spoken out so freely, reminded by the sharp glances of the two men. "Oh, Jerry's all right," he apologized. "Dad thinks as much of him as he does of me."
"Well, I'll be off," said Jerry hurriedly. "Tell your father I'll see him either to-night or early in the morning—and that I've got something important to tell him."
"About the Skyrocket?" demanded Tod eagerly, but Jerry only shook his head teasingly and began to hurry across the fields and woods to the interurban tracks.