“Mr. Borden!” he spoke in a whisper. Then he passed on. The tramp artist had placed a warning finger to his lips.
Mr. Brackett and Dave sat slightly back of a table around which were gathered the five official committeemen. Opposite to them were Worthington, Valdec and two others of their crowd. The chairman of the committee took up a bundle of papers and arose to his feet.
“All those interested in the matter under consideration are here, I believe,” he observed. “Mr. Worthington,” he continued, “we have to announce a revision of the unofficial announcement of prizes won.”
“How is that? What do you mean?” flared up the fiery Valdec.
“Just this,” replied the chairman steadily, almost sternly. “The committee has awarded the altitude test to number five.”
“Why! see here!” shouted the choleric Valdec, springing to his feet. “The barograph test”—but the chairman silenced him with a dignified wave of his hand and went on:
“You are barred from the grounds hereafter and the Association will be notified. You can take your choice with your entrant, Mr. Worthington: a public exposure, or a quiet withdrawal from membership in and privileges of the National Aero Association.”
“I cannot understand,” stammered Worthington, uneasily.
“This gentleman will explain,” observed the chairman and Borden advanced from the shadows, minus his disguise.
It was a brief but conclusive story—that which the artist tramp recited. He charged the Syndicate people with conspiring to defeat the high aims of aviatics. He claimed that Valdec had never made the altitude flight and had substituted a “doctored” barograph for the one the officers supplied to him at the start of the contest.