“What?”
Barney smiled at Al.
“The partner and his son are working with an outsider. I thought so. But what about the brown ’plane? Any news of that?”
“We left it out entirely,” Bob said.
“We disobeyed Uncle,” Curt admitted. “Bob said Uncle wanted us to drop things here and concentrate on trying to find the brown ’plane, but——”
“We can’t find that ‘crate’ I feel sure.” Bob was earnest.
“Not only that, but if a crime is being committed under your nose you won’t go off looking for something else to do while it is going on, will you?” Al wanted their course confirmed.
“You did just right,” Barney commended them. “You lads stick to this end of it. I’ve suspected that Parsons and his son were ‘up to’ something, and I don’t agree with your father, Bob, about the brown crate at all! I think you fellows deserve a ‘raise’ and if you can only catch one or all of the crowd doing something—catch them ‘red-handed’ in a way of speaking, I’ll hand out a little private reward. I feel that it’s due to—to the memory of Mr. Tredway. He was mighty good to me and—and I want to—get everything cleared up here, because I think the ones who have been doing wrong right here at the plant got found out by him and they either hired that airplane from some distant place and flew out and rode down Tredway or else they paid some unscrupulous pilot——”
He paused as he saw Al squirming in his chair with eagerness.
“What is it, Al?”