“We both heard the big row,” he mused. “Then Andy here declares he saw something floating off above the trees yonder; he can’t say for sure whether it was an airship or a nighthawk. And he kind of thinks he heard something like the crackling of an aeroplane motor! Now, what happened? That’s what we’ve just got to find out.”
He looked around him.
“Yes,” he continued, as if speaking to himself, “I’m nearly sure that crash came from over yonder to the west. It seemed to reach me by way of the window, and that was why I made for that opening in such a hurry. Thought some fellow might be trying to climb in there and had fallen back.”
Again he cast his eyes upward, then slowly described a half circle.
“Andy says it disappeared over that clump of trees, which is almost due east of here. And I thought I heard the crash over at the other side of the shack, making it almost west. Now, that sounds reasonable. If they dropped something, meaning to hit the roof of the hangar, and undershot the mark, it would have fallen to the ground to the west of the building!”
“Yes,” said Andy, who had been listening eagerly, “and you remember, there’s a little pile of lumber lying there, which we meant to use if we had to enlarge the house. It must have struck those boards, Frank!”
“That’s a clever thought,” admitted the other, “and one I didn’t clutch myself. Let’s meander over that way and take a little observation. What say?”
“I’m with you every time,” declared Andy, quickly. “I never could stand having two mysteries bothering me at once. It’s enough to be always wondering where that blessed little monkey wrench could have vanished to.”
“Come on and drop that, if you please. Life is too short to be everlastingly whining about lost opportunities and monkey wrenches and such things,” said Frank, leading off as he spoke.
“Oh, splash! You haven’t got a grain of sentiment about you, Frank. Everything is too practical, according to your way of thinking. Now to my mind, there’s nothing prettier in the world than a cleverly constructed wrench that knows its business and refuses to get out of joint just when you need it to hold most.”