The young airman did not reply. He walked along in silence. Hiram saw that he was a good deal stirred up, but all Dave said about the incident was:
“I’m glad you discovered this, Hiram, and told me about it. We want to look out for that fellow.”
All that day, Hiram noticed that the pilot of the Comet seemed to be preoccupied. The hum and bustle of the approaching event, however, took up the attention of all hands. They had a busy day of it, and Hiram was so tired out by nightfall that he had well-nigh forgotten all about the unexplained incident of the earlier hours of the day.
Just after daylight the next morning Elmer stirred on his sleeping cot and drowsily cried out:
“What’s up? I thought I heard some one call for Dave.”
“You did,” replied Hiram, jumping from under the bedclothes. “I just roused up to see one of the hangar men scurrying out of here, and Dave, half dressed, rushing after him. Hurry up, get your clothes on.”
“What for?” inquired Elmer, sitting up in his cot and rubbing his eyes sleepily.
“Because I caught a remark the hangar man made.”
“What was it?”
“‘Something wrong with the Comet!’”