“Anything new botherin’ you, Andy?” asked Captain Anderson, as he appeared to tell the boy that dinner was ready.
“Nothin’ that’s botherin’ me,” answered Andy, in a rather confident tone, “but I’ve got an idea. I reckon it’s so foolish that I ain’t agoin’ to tell about it—yet.”
As the boy followed the man into the house, he folded up a newspaper he had found on the parlor table and put it into his pocket. After dinner Andy secured from the landlady some paper, an envelope, and a stamp. In the office, he wrote a letter which, however, he did not seal.
That done, he composed himself until there was talk of starting home. There was no post-office at Valkaria, and as Andy had an important letter that he wanted to mail at the earliest opportunity, he managed to get Captain Anderson aside.
A little nervously he drew out the paper he had in his pocket. It was an Indian River region paper—the Daytona Daily Beacon. The boy pointed to the main article on the front page—an account of the annual automobile speed contests to be held during the coming week. Although these races, which take place on Ormond’s famed ocean beach—hard and smooth as cement—are known all over the world, Captain Anderson had no great interest in them.
“You’d like to go?” he began, glancing at the article indifferently.
Instead of replying, the boy, his nervousness most apparent, ran his finger down the column, through the program, to the end, where it paused on a sub-head entitled: “Distinguished Visitors Present.” The captain’s eyes followed Andy’s shaking finger. Then he saw it pointing to two names. These were:
“J. W. Atkinson, President American Aeroplane Works, Newark, New Jersey. Mr. Roy Osborne, ditto.”