“Cook!” repeated Mr. Graham. “When time and circumstances permitted I’ve seen him dress his brook trout with a hollandaise sauce that few chefs could provide. And then I’ve seen him go twenty-four hours on a moose trail with nothing to eat but raw salt pork.”
This was the letter Frank received:
“My Dear Nephew:
“I want to congratulate you on breaking away from the furniture business long enough to become a hero. (Show this to your father and ask him to send me any news of the Little Manistee.) I also congratulate you on being alive after what I suspect was really a dangerous adventure. You see by this that I am in New York and that I am taking the time to read the newspapers. Not having been in the west last fall I did not know you had gone in for aërial athletics. It interests me very much. I was afraid your father might try to make a furniture designer out of you. I believe you are sixteen. That’s quite old enough to begin to show your mettle. I have an idea that I shall conceal until I hear from you on this subject. Write to me at once and tell me all about this sky-ship which you and your friend have made. I tried to understand what it was by reading the newspapers, but I couldn’t make it out. If it is really practicable I want to know all about it. Especially am I interested in the enclosed cabin. Tell your mother I have been abroad since March and shall soon have as my guests, in this country, Captain Arthur Ludington of the English Army and Lord Pelton. I had a half formed plan to give them a taste of trout fishing up on the Little Manistee; but this is no part of my letter to you. You are to write me at once about your aëroplane.
“Very sincerely yours,
“Guy Mackworth.”
When Frank showed this important communication to his father the latter laughed, pronounced it characteristic, muttered something about English swells and told the boy to do as his relative asked. As a matter of fact the practical manufacturer was reminded by the note that Frank was Mr. Mackworth’s probable heir. Frank enlisted Phil’s assistance in the composition of the asked for description and found it no easy task. It was made more difficult by the query that was always in each boy’s head: what was Mr. Mackworth’s idea concerning the monoplane?
The letter to Mr. Mackworth, after describing in detail the big adjustable plane wings and the long flat tail of the monoplane, concluded:
“The novel pilot and passenger car has what is known as a ‘stream line’ body; resembles a long cartridge and is of aluminum and glass. Instead of a skeleton seat bolted to a flimsy lattice of bamboo, the forward or cabin space—the engine occupying the rear seven feet—contains two comfortable seats. One of these is for the pilot and within reach of it are the rudder stirrups for the aviator’s feet, the wheel to regulate the planes or wings above, and the rods connecting with the engine in the rear. Behind this seat is a duplicate for a passenger, so located that the addition or omission of a second person does not disturb the center of gravity. The aluminum bottom of this compartment is a flat-bottomed boat. This is the first wholly enclosed cabin or operating space used in an aëroplane. Movable panels of aluminum and glass are inserted between the boat body and the top of the car, affording a wind, rain and cold-proof space. In the low flights these sections may be omitted. In altitude flights their principal advantage is as a protection against the intense cold. We have also planned an electric motor for heat generating coils in the cabin and it is wholly possible, as soon as we get engine power strong enough to force us into the upper atmosphere, we will carry a supply of oxygen in the air-tight glass. In this way, with sufficient warmth and oxygen, the Loon may soon break the altitude record and double the present figures.”
The letter contained many other details and was forwarded at once. The second day after it had been mailed came a telegram addressed to Frank.