“Whoop! It’s great! And did you originate that clever stunt, Colonel Josiah?” shouted Andy, wringing his guardian’s hand as though it were a pump handle.
“To be sure I did,” replied the veteran, proudly. “I’ve had it in my mind for some little time now, and what you told me this morning about that other machine being constructed here just capped the climax, as I may say. But she’s all fixed now, lads. The prize is to be a silver cup. And unless I miss my guess, that trophy is bound to be kept in the Bird family, to be handed down to future generations of bird boys.”
He did not mention the fact, but Frank suspected it on the spot and afterwards discovered it to be true, that his money had gone to purchase the said trophy and have it suitably engraved.
“When is this great day to be?” demanded the excited Andy, leaning over, the better to scan the little poster that told in as few words as possible what the several conditions of the contest would be.
“July fourteenth, and at two p. m. the word will be given to go,” replied Frank.
“Whew! That gives us a scant five days to get ready and one of them Sunday, too, when there’s nothing doing. Can we get the machine in trim and master her by that time, Frank?” asked his cousin, anxiously.
“We certainly can and will!” came the steady reply from the boy who believed in his own powers to accomplish things. “Besides, you must remember that our only competitors are likely to be Puss Carberry and his crony Sandy, who know far less than we do about running an aeroplane.”
“That’s right,” agreed Andy, his confidence returning again, as it always did after being bolstered up by his chum’s unwavering determination and faith. “With only those two against us seems to me we ought to have a walk-over.”
“Now, don’t jump to the other extreme and underrate the enemy,” warned Frank. “You know that’s always a dangerous business. Besides, Percy has a certain amount of perseverance and cunning that often carries him along. He’s in dead earnest about this aviation business and bent on making a success of it. I never knew him to show so much interest in anything before. And it strikes me as funny, now that I look back, how neither of us ever suspected that he was up to beating us at our own game. He’s a sly one, all right.”
“Yes,” Andy went on, “and we might still be as much in the dark as ever if it hadn’t been for my silly blunder in starting to open his package of freight, without examining the tag first. That gave the secret away and put us on to their slick game.”