"Oh, you'll get it!" the lieutenant asserted.
"Maybe—yes. If my nephew doesn't get ahead of me," was the grim reply.
"Oh, he never will. We'll win that prize," the lieutenant assured him. "Now there's one other little matter I must speak of. I need some more money."
"More money! Good land, man! I gave you three dollars and a half last week to buy something!" cried Uncle Ezra.
"Yes, I know, but that went for guy wires and bolts. I need about ten dollars for an auxiliary steering wheel."
"A steering wheel?" questioned Uncle Ezra. "You mean a wheel to twist?"
"That's it. There must be two. We have only one."
"Well, if it's only a wheel, I can fix you up about that all right, and without spending a cent, either!" exclaimed the stingy old man with a chuckle. "There's an old sewing machine of my wife's down cellar. It's busted, all but the big wheel. We had an accident with it, but I made the company give me a new machine, and I kept the old one.
"Now that's got a big, round, iron wheel on it, and we can take that off, just as well as not, and use it on the airship. That's what you've got to do in this world—save money. I've spent a terrible pile, but we'll save some by using the sewing machine wheel."
"It won't do," said the lieutenant. "It's far too heavy. I must have one made to order of wood. It will cost ten dollars."