"I've made sure of that," smiled his cousin; adding significantly: "I suppose you're thinking of Mr. Marsh right now?"
"That's who I am," came the prompt reply. "Don't you see how he would have loads of time to get in and rummage around, while all of us were off—even Colonel Josiah is bound to be at the high school building this p. m. Perhaps Mr. Marsh had that game in mind when he asked so many questions about the race."
"Oh! you suspicious chap," laughed Frank. "But rest easy, Andy, Mr. Marsh could look a long while through here without discovering any sign of my experiments; or at any rate, what success I had met with in the same. If he goes to all the trouble to get into the shop he'll have his work for nothing."
"And I'm going to make it a point to keep an eye out for that same gent," declared Larry, positively; "and if he vanishes from the campus just you make up your mind your Uncle Larry will be camping on his trail. I'd just like to see him breaking into a private building, no matter if it is only the workshop of two boys. Let him try it, if he wants to see what nice quarters Chief Waller has in the Bloomsbury lockup. You hear me?"
"After you give us the shove-off, boys, get on your wheels and hike for the campus. We expect you to be there to start us in the race. Something depends on a clever get-away, you know," Frank observed, as he locked the door, and put the key in his pocket.
A short time later the biplane rose swiftly, like a hawk that had been startled, and began to mount upward in gigantic circles, the faithful little Kinkaid engine throbbing with the regularity of heart beats.
As directed, no sooner had Larry, Elephant and Nat seen the Bird boys well off, than they mounted their waiting wheels, brought over for this especial purpose, and started for town.
Anybody could see without trouble that Bloomsbury was in the throes of a tremendous excitement that afternoon. People abandoned their houses in crowds, and flocked toward the campus of the high school, which seemed to be the hub of a vast wheel, the squads of citizens taking the part of spokes, all headed toward the common center.
And nearly everybody seemed to be turning around, to observe the biplane which was plainly visible, as Frank and Andy warmed the engine up for speedy use. All sorts of remarks reached the three boys, as they slackened their pace, once inside the limits of the town. The vast majority of the crowds seemed to be in favor of the Bird boys; though of course there were some who sympathized with the opposition; not because they cared so very much for Percy and Sandy, as of a desire to be on the other side of the fence. Some boys are built that way. They call it "taking the weaker part" but in reality it is a spirit of contrariness that pushes them on.
And when they reached the vicinity of the campus Larry and his comrades were astonished to see the multitude that had gathered to witness the novel event. All sorts of vehicles were parked in the nearby side streets, from big touring cars, and little electrics, to farm wagons; and even a hayrick, on which a dozen country people had ridden some ten miles, with a desire to witness the miracle of the twentieth century, the flying boys of Bloomsbury.