[CHAPTER V]
THE HOME OF THE ECCENTRIC EXPERIMENTER
Any lingering interest that Andy might have had in his uncle’s place disappeared, temporarily, on the spot. He had figured that he might have trouble in arranging things so that he could help about the place and yet find time to help build an aeroplane. To be sentenced to “paint the house” was more than he had bargained for. The boy was in despair.
But as they approached the house, his interest began to revive. When he saw that his uncle’s home was a substantial little building, backed by a grove of golden-studded orange trees, he began to forget his new trouble.
The house, two stories high, with a porch or gallery on two sides, stood on open ground.
“From the second story,” explained Captain Anderson, “it looks out over the river. You can even see the spray of the ocean breakers on the other side of the peninsula, sometimes.”
“The sea?” exclaimed Andy.
“And miles up and down the river,” replied the captain, nodding his head.