“He did, indeed!” murmured Hiram.
“I thought,” narrated Bruce, “that he had got away from me, when he came bolting out from the big hangar. I hadn’t seen him go in. He had something in one hand wrapped up in a piece of cloth, a bag I took it to be. He ran straight for the fence. I got behind a tool shed and watched him.”
“Go on,” urged Hiram eagerly.
“Well, one of the electric lights shone pretty bright just there. The man put his parcel on the ground. Then he took something from his pocket and slipped it across one ankle. I took it to be a band with a hook to it. He must have had another hook in his hand for he ran up that fence and vanished over the top of it like a monkey.”
“But the package he brought from the Whirlwind hangar?” asked Hiram.
“Oh, yes—I came near forgetting that. When he set it on the ground the wrapping fell away from it and I saw what it was.”
“And what was it?” asked Hiram.
“A barograph, just like the one you have in the Ariel.”
“Are you sure?” eagerly asked Hiram. “A barograph, you say?”
“Yes,” repeated Bruce, wondering at the earnest, excited manner of his comrade. “Even at the distance I was I could see the record reel and the metal recorder, and—why, what are you grabbing my arm that way for?” inquired Bruce in surprise. “And you’re trembling all over.”