"Well," went on Matt, "we'll have to stay here until Carl gets back from the city. He's gone there after an important letter, and I've a hunch it may be from Miss Brady."
Harris opened his eyes at this, and Matt explained about the telegram from the Lestrange people. The officer shook his head.
"There's not much ground for thinking that letter is from Miss Brady," said he. "Probably it's some one who has heard about your air-ship work, and wants to hire the Hawk, or to charter her. What you've been doing in the aeronautical line, Matt, has aroused a good deal of interest all over the country. It's the first time, so far as I know, that an air ship has ever been used practically. First, Brady used the Hawk in his thieving operations, and next you used her to bring two of the gang and some of their booty from Willoughby's swamp. Your last exploit, in which you made an air-ship trip across Lake Michigan in Jerrold's machine, the Eagle, captured the Hawk and returned safely with her, seems to have caused more talk than anything else you have done. No, you can take my word for it, that important letter is from some enthusiast who wants to buy the Hawk, or to hire her. If you lads wanted to sell the air ship, you could realize at least four times what you paid for the craft. Not a bad 'spec,' eh?"
"She ain't for sale, messmate," spoke up Ferral. "She may be for sale, after awhile, but we want to have a little fun with her first. Eh, Matt?"
"That's right, Dick," answered Matt. "Aside from the fun, too, I want to learn all I can about the air-ship business. You never can tell when knowledge of that kind will come handy."
"There you are!" laughed Harris. "You never saw a boy with such a grasping disposition whenever there's anything to be learned. I'm going to stay right here with you and make myself comfortable until Carl gets back from Chicago. You've got me all worked up about that letter, and I'll have to see what it amounts to."
The officer peeled off his long coat and made himself at ease on a box in the shade of the balloon house.
"It beats all," he remarked, after a pause, "how Brady ever succeeded in getting out of the 'pen.'"
"Haven't you heard how he accomplished that?" queried Matt.
"The details haven't been given out—even the newspapers haven't got them. If Brady ever got another chance at you, Matt, he wouldn't halt at any halfway measures. He's right in laying his capture, and most of his troubles, to you, and we all know that he has a disposition like a rattlesnake. You've got to look out for him."