"A regular bullseye electric torch, and black masks like cracksmen use—say, tell me, Frank, what's coming over our quiet country up here lately? There was the affair over in a neighboring town, when yeggmen broke into the bank, and robbed it; and now here you tell me we've had a little smash-up on our own account, with the burglars leaving cards behind them. But what d'ye think now anybody would want to go poking around in our shop for, Frank?"
His cousin was looking very grave.
"Well, you forget that we've been working overtime this winter on several little inventions that, if we ever complete them, will make a stir in the world of aviation."
"Jupiter, I had let that slip away from me, for a fact, Frank!" exclaimed the other, looking rather startled.
"Of course, it sounds pretty big for us to even imagine that any party could take enough interest in what the Bird boys are doing to come up here, intending to break into the shop, and learn our secrets; but what else can we think, tell me that, Andy?"
"But they wouldn't find out much, even if they had six hours to poke around our shop in, would they, Frank?"
"I guess you're right, because we've made it a rule to be cautious enough to hide our work and cover our tracks as we go along. But let's get busy now, and put the plane into shape, so we can slip along home. And as we work we can keep on talking as much as we want to," Frank went on to say.
The farmer and Felix still loitered around, determined to see the wonderful contrivance make a start, and expecting the greatest treat of their lives, when that event occurred.
Such experienced workers as the two Bird boys had now become would find little or no trouble about carrying out the work they had on hand. Every steel wire guy was kept as taut as a fiddle string; and by the time they were done handling the aeroplane it would be in apple-pie shape for work.
"Did they smash much in the shop, Frank?" Andy asked after they had been working some little time, and making fair progress.