“Some one’s coming, Tom!”
The young inventor, who had found the union connection he was looking for, looked up and saw a farmer approaching across the field.
“Maybe he’s going to order us off,” suggested Ned. “We’re trespassers all right. Didn’t even ask his leave to drop in on him.”
“No, we didn’t have time,” grimly chuckled Tom. “But if he makes a fuss I guess a few dollars will make him see the light of reason. I’ve dealt with that kind before.”
However, the farmer, for such he proved to be, was a friendly person. He smiled at the chums, looked with amazement at Koku, who was lifting a rock that three ordinary men could not have handled, and then asked:
“Are you having trouble? Can I help you?”
“Thank you, very much,” responded Tom. “It’s only a slight defect, and I’ll have it mended in a minute or two.”
“We thought possibly you were coming to order us off,” said Ned, as he got ready to help his chum replace the broken union on the oil feed pipe.
“Oh, no,” laughed the farmer, who gave his name as Mr. Kimball. “We’re getting used to aeroplanes landing here.”
“You mean the government machines?” asked Tom. “I know this is their route.”