But there was danger still in store for the daring aviator and his friends. They had made exceptionally good time from Chicago and were approaching the Long Island field. Tom was jubilant, for the record showed the best time yet made.
“There’s the field!” cried Ned, from the after cockpit where he was helping manage the plane. Tom had decided, as was his right, to pilot the last stage of the journey himself.
“You’re right!” admitted the young inventor as he gave a glance downward. “And there’s a big crowd on hand to welcome us.”
As they swung around into the wind, a puff of smoke was seen to arise from the hangar.
“Look at that!” cried Ned.
“Fire!” exclaimed Tom. “They may be trying to burn the place!”
Lower and lower the machine dropped, and those aboard could see the men in charge of the hangar making frantic signals for them not to drop too close to the big building. Tom heeded this advice, and swung down well away from the increasing volume of smoke. The Falcon came to a stop, and the young inventor and Ned climbed out of the cockpit.
“What’s going on?” cried Ned to some of the workmen.
“Two masked men set the place on fire,” was the answer. “But we’ve caught them, and the fire will soon be out. We were afraid you would come too close.”
“Whew!” whistled Tom. “They’re keeping up the fight until the last minute. So you caught the masked men, did you? Good! I’ll have a look at them in a moment. But what’s our time, Ned? We’ve completed our schedule and fulfilled our contract, but I’d like to know what actual running time we made this last trip in.”