Finally, with no definite idea in mind, he repeated the story of the rudder model. With a wealth of detail and a dramatic climax, the boy worked his narrative up to the unmailed letter.
“And what makes me sorry,” he concluded, “is that there it is, the very thing all flyin’ machines need most. And nothin’ to come of it.”
“Why, that ought to be a patent,” suggested Mrs. Anderson.
“A patent?” repeated Mrs. Leighton. “Maybe there’s a fortune in it.”
“Yes,” remarked Andy. “But maybe it won’t do what uncle figured it will. A thing that won’t work ain’t much good if it is patented.”
“We ought to try it,” declared Captain Anderson earnestly. Then he added: “Let me have the model, Mrs. Leighton, and I’ll make a full-sized working copy.”
“I’m sure that would be putting you to a lot of trouble,” replied that lady.
“Besides,” interposed Mrs. Anderson, “how are you going to test it after you get it?”
“Well,” Captain Anderson answered at last, “it looks to me as if it might be worth the trouble of a real test, even if I had to make a machine to test it.”