"Oh! are you the famous Bird boys I've heard so much about?" she exclaimed; at which Andy turned red in the face, and laughing awkwardly, replied:
"I'm Andy Bird, all right, and this is my cousin Frank, the head and brains of the combine; but as to our being famous, that's all a mistake. We have taken up aviation as a business, and mean to follow it. My father was a well-known aviator; so you see it runs in the blood. You live in Hazenhurst, I suppose, Miss Alice?"
And it was at this point the pretty girl informed them who she was.
"Oh! I hope you will stay long enough by the liberty pole for me to get back!" she observed, eagerly.
Andy nodded his head.
"Oh! I can promise you that we're not going to be in any very great hurry to start back home. Why, we might even have to wait a whole hour. There are lots of little things to be done, you see;" and as he said this Andy gave his cousin a sly kick on the shin with his toe, which was apparently understood by Frank, since he did not venture to say a word in opposition to what had been spoken; though truth to tell, he believed ten minutes would have sufficed him to make what little changes he had in mind.
"Then I'll start right away," Alice declared. "And as I chance to be a good walker I will show up inside of fifteen minutes at the most."
She shook hands with them again, and started toward the road. The old farmer, with bulging eyes, watched the two lads get their biplane ready; and obeying Frank's request even gave a shove at the proper instant. Then he stood there, craning his scrawny neck as he watched the great bird-like object soar upwards, hardly able to believe that he had actually assisted in the launching of one of the modern miracles that had conquered the forces of the upper air currents.
Andy was watching, and as they sailed over the road where Miss Alice was trudging back to town he shouted a greeting, and waved his handkerchief, to be delighted by a return salute.
"If I'd just dared, Frank," said Andy, regretfully, "I'd have offered to take her to town along with us; but I was afraid you'd say no."