They remained at their several posts drinking in the wonderful features of the magnificent view until finally the machinery was set in motion again, and they found themselves being gradually lowered toward the ground. The buildings lost their squatty appearance, the moving throngs of human beings ceased resembling crawling flies, and finally the four boys issued from the cage satisfied that they had experienced a sensation worth while.
“Now, let’s sit down here in the shade for a little while, where we can talk,” suggested Tubby Hopkins, who had been one of the scouts with Rob over in Belgium and France on the previous late summer and fall when the war was going on, and consequently could be looked on as having passed through some lively experiences.
“Just a little while,” agreed Andy; and Hiram, after looking longingly away, no doubt in the direction of the quarter given up wholly to recent remarkable inventions, seemed to resign himself to martyrdom for a spell, for he, too, found a seat close by.
“Now tell it all to me,” demanded Tubby, “because I’m just sure it must be a story worth hearing. What happened to bring you three fellows out here? Did some one die and leave you his fortune? It takes a pretty hefty wad of money to pay all the expenses of a jaunt across the continent.”
“A poor guess that time, Tubby,” said Rob. “We’ll have pity on you, and give you the details before you lose weight trying to hit on the true explanation. To begin with, Hiram won the trip his own way, while Andy and myself just happened by a stroke of good luck to run upon our chance.”
“Tell that to the marines, will you, please?” scoffed Tubby. “Things don’t just happen to you that way, Mr. Assistant Scoutmaster Blake. Every time I’ve known you to get a thing you earned it by the sweat of your brow. I’d rather believe it was the other way, and that Hiram had dropped on a piece of good luck.”
“Well, mebbe I did, Tubby; but then I showed perseverance and grit such as a true scout should allers possess, they say; and so I claim I earned my right to be out here at the Exposition. Go on and tell him the hull story, Rob.”
Seeing that he was expected to undertake the job of being spokesman for the entire party, Rob started in. He was not the one to embellish facts, or try to make things seems of more importance than they really were. Indeed, if anything, Rob was apt to go to the other extreme, especially if he figured at all in a leading rôle in the narrative.
In this way Tubby was finally put in possession of all the needful information connected with their coming. He heard about the smart way in which Hiram had conducted his negotiations by mail with the company that made a specialty of aviation goods, and which apparently had so much faith in his patent stabilizer that they had advanced sufficient funds to enable the inventor to come out and visit them at their headquarters in San Francisco.
Then followed the account of how Rob and Andy had been of such signal service to Captain Jerry and his famous scientific passenger at the time the old naphtha launch took fire while crossing the bay to Collins’ Point; together with what resulted from that rescue.