"How far is it to Sykestown?" Matt asked, as soon as his examination was finished.
"About a hundred miles," answered the man.
"And how far are you from Minnewaukon?"
"Eighty miles."
"Great spark plugs!" laughed Matt, resuming his seat in the machine; "I'm traveling some, all right. I've been only an hour and a half coming from Totten."
"Do tell!" gasped the man, in wonder. "Why, neighbor, them there hossless wagons couldn't travel much quicker'n that!"
"I should say not! I've some friends following me in an automobile, but they're nowhere in sight."
Matt got the bicycle wheels to turning. When they were carrying the aëroplane at the rate of thirty miles an hour the planes took the lift of the air and swung upward clear of the earth.
A pull at the gear turned the power into the propeller, and away rushed the machine like a new style of comet.
"I'm going to reach Sykestown in time for dinner," thought Matt, "and McGlory and Cameron are not expecting to meet me there until to-morrow morning. I'd have time to go to the Traquair homestead to-night and perhaps get Mrs. Traquair out of the shack and carry her in to Sykestown."