“It can’t be any joke, then,” considered Ned. “Mr. Damon and Mary’s father must be in trouble.”
“But if they are up in Iceland and we are down here, what can I do to help them out of trouble?” cried Tom anxiously.
“That seems to be the question before the house,” replied Ned. “Guess we’ll have to go back home to find out. Your father is not very explicit, that is certain.”
“He would not send this message at such a time unless the matter was urgent. I am glad we have been able to try out the Winged Arrow as well as we have. Poor Mr. Nestor! Suppose he has died up there? Or maybe Mr. Damon is ill.”
“I hope not!” cried Ned.
“If it is anything like that, somebody will have to take passage at once for Iceland,” Tom went on, in a worried way. “Mary and her mother have nobody to look to for help but father and me. Mary’s uncle is traveling around the world, you know.”
“Then the duty devolves on you, does it?” demanded the other young fellow. “And how about business? What about the Swift Construction Company? You will have to drop this flying boat right where she is!”
“I hope not,” returned Tom, and he smiled again, though rather ruefully. “If we dropped her where she is, she would go to the bottom of a very deep part of the Atlantic, Ned.”
“Don’t joke! This is too serious,” said his chum.
“You are right. It must be serious—particularly for the Nestors. If we have to delay the exploitation of the Winged Arrow, all right. The need of Mary and her mother comes first.”