To this the lieutenant agreed, but I fancy with a mental reservation which meant that he would get more if he could.
At any rate preparations for building the craft, in an unused part of Uncle Ezra's woolen mill at Dankville, went on apace.
I say apace, and yet I must change that. Uncle Ezra, with his usual "closeness" regarding money, rather hampered Larson's plans.
"What do you reckon an airship ought to cost?" Mr. Larabee had asked when he first decided he would undertake it.
"Oh, I can make a good one for three thousand dollars," had been the answer of the former lieutenant.
"Three thousand dollars!" whistled Uncle Ezra. "That's a pot of money!"
"But you'll get twenty thousand dollars in return."
"That's so. Well, go ahead. I guess I can stand it." But it was not without many a sigh that the crabbed old man drew out the money from the bank, in small installments.
The work was started, but almost at once Larson demanded more than the original three thousand. Uncle Ezra "went up in the air," so to speak.
"More money!" he cried. "I shan't spend another cent!"