“The car will leave by express to-morrow. It will be sent to Dolores, Colorado. If you start about two days after the machine leaves, you’ll have time to stop a day in Chicago and then reach Dolores about the time the aeroplane does. After that, it’s up to you.”
“I’ll have charge of the car, then, from Dolores. I’m to deliver it?”
“Yes, and in doing that, you’ll act as our agent. You’ll have to hire teams to transport the equipment.”
Roy’s lips puckered. Mr. Atkinson smiled.
“I’ve thought of that,” he explained. “Here’s an order the cashier will honor. You’d better draw the money at once. I’ll charge your outfit and personal expenses to the Utah company. The cost of delivering the car is our expense. And,” said Mr. Atkinson, as he took the boy’s hand, “no man works well with poor tools. Get what you need—don’t stint yourself.”
“I’ve got a good deal to thank you for, Mr. Atkinson—” began Roy.
“Thank me?” exclaimed the president. “I’m going to do all the thanking. I’m trusting you with the first aeroplane ever sent out from this factory to be used for a commercial purpose. Just make good for us and the American Aeroplane Company will put the gratitude where it belongs.”
His young head awhirl with the quick developments of the short interview, Roy walked over to the cashier’s window and laid Mr. Atkinson’s order on the marble counter. Instantly the busy cashier shoved through the grating a package of bank notes. The figures on the band startled the lad, but they did not disconcert him. With a businesslike tone, Roy asked the cashier if he might see the order again. One glance was enough—there it was: “Advance on account to bearer, Mr. Roy Osborne, $500.”
He turned and entered the big assembling room again. Half way across the noisy shop he stopped. He had just realized what had happened. Twenty-four hours before, an idle schoolboy, he had been lounging about this same place wondering if he could secure employment for a few dollars a week. To-day he had five hundred dollars in advance expense money in his pocket, a two months’ job at four hundred dollars a month, and a possible bonus of one thousand dollars on deposit.