The lieutenant poked about in the aerodrome, took off his cap and stuck his head into what Poodle called “the tetooreelederlum’s innards,” and looked over some drawings and photographs that Martin Priest had made of the tetrahedral’s flight. (He had been taking photographs even when he was hundreds of feet up in the air, by having the camera’s lens uncover automatically).
Finally, Adeler nodded a couple of times and said, “Good machine. I’m not sure but that she’d be the fastest and best in the world!”
Then Martin Priest shook hands all ’round, shouted “God bless you,” and threw himself on the ground, sobbing like a child that wants its mother.
Adeler stood quietly waiting. When Martin Priest had got control of himself, the Lieutenant said:
“Of course she’ll have to have a test. If she makes good, I’ll be glad to back you. I happen to have a good deal of money—inherited it from my father. I’ll furnish the coin and all the help I can. I’d like to have an aerodrome built for you near Monterey. And I’ll do all I can to get the government Board of Aviation—that’ll decide on what machine the Army is to buy—look over your tetrahedral. The Board meets in Washington, in August. That is, I will if she shows up well when we test her—and I think she will.”
“See here, Lieutenant,” stammered Martin Priest, “I can patch this old Gnome—she’s a good engine, all right, but she was smashed up in an accident, and I’ve just been able to tinker with her. Never had new parts for her. But we can fly as far as Monterey with her, all right. You people have three horses? Well, you, Lieutenant, and one of the boys come with me in the aeroplane—it’ll carry all three of us, and what of my stuff here I need to keep—say two thousand pounds—pretty good load, eh? especially over these hills, with all the air-flaws there are. You’ll notice there’s a regular freight platform, aft in the machine. The other boy can ride back, and there’s a young ranchero that lives across the hills that’ll be willing to go with him, riding one horse and leading the other. “When does the Army Board of Aviation meet, did you say? What? In one month? Well, I could have the tetrahedral ready to fly then, all right. But what about getting a two hundred and fifty horse-power engine?”
“There’s a man down in San Diego that tried to build a monster triplane, and he got a great big two hundred and thirty horse-power Kulnoch engine for her—you know, one of these new ones, air-cooled, with revolving cylinders, peach of an engine,” said Lieutenant Adeler. “His machine never would fly, and he wants to sell the engine. We can get that in time.”
Adeler, though he talked very quietly, had gone into the thing as though it was the one thing he counted on. Hike was so glad that he pounded Poodle on the back till that comfortable youth grappled with him mightily.
“We’ll make that test,” continued the Lieutenant. “Hike, you and Poodle draw lots to see which goes with us.... By the way, Mr. Priest, there’s just one thing we’ve got to take into account. The only proper way that we can get this machine before the Board of Aviation is to interest Captain Welch in it. He’s to report to them. He’s—uh—a little—”
“Mulish,” supplied Poodle.