“Then he means to get away with Jeff——”
“No he doesn’t!” said Larry, sharply. “Here he comes onto the lawn!”
Pretending to be unaware of the arrival, the Sky Patrol issued from the house.
They saw that Mr. Whiteside carried a life preserver. In black on its side was painted “Tramp, New York.”
“Well, Sky Patrol—and Ground Crew,” he hailed them. “We are going to see some excitement at last!”
“Why?” asked Larry.
“How?” Dick amended.
“We are going to trap the real culprit.”
“How?”
“By watching in and around the hangar to-night—and this time our bait will be this life preserver that I discovered in the swamp. I guessed the ‘ghost’ was searching the amphibian and the seaplane for the right life preserver. I devised a plan to get rid of the caretaker while Jeff and I made a complete, exhaustive search, this noon. We found nothing; so Jeff flew me over the swamp and we got—this.”