nse. This is it. All these arrangements are being made to
make absolutely sure nothing will happen to something very special that
is soon to be flown to North Africa."

"Such as?" Dawson prompted.

Freddy seemed to hesitate for a long time. Then he shrugged, and made a
little gesture with his hands, palms upward.

"Blessed if I know, or can guess," he said. "However, I feel absolutely
sure that all this business is taking place because something highly
important is to be flown to North Africa."

"I don't think I agree with you there, Freddy," Dawson stated with a
frown. "This is one of the Air Transport Command routes to North Africa,
but if something special was to be flown across, the plane carrying it
certainly wouldn't land at all these points. Heck, Freddy! Air Transport
Command has lots of planes that could make the run down here to Trinidad
non-stop, and hop from here to Natal the same way."

"Oh, quite," Freddy Farmer agreed, and waved his hand as though brushing
aside the undisputed point. "Non-stop all the way to Natal, if you want
to make an issue of it. However, the points in between are being given
just as much attention. Presumably this is being done _in the event of
trouble and a forced landing_; emergency fields, so to speak, all along
the route the plane, or _planes_, will fly."

"Okay, okay, Master Mind!" Dawson laughed, and threw up his hands.
"Maybe you've got something there. And if you have, it means that what
we've been delivering, and what we just destroyed, are instructions in
case your mysterious cavalcade of the air happens to sit down on one of
the fields. Okay, that's that, then. Now all you have left to figure out
is _why_ this mysterious flight?"

Freddy Farmer nodded but made no reply. He sat watching the swiftly
approaching shadows of night. Glancing at his face, Dawson saw that the
English youth had something very absorbing on his mind. When young
Farmer continued to maintain silence, Dawson's curiosity got the best of
him.

"Okay, out with it," he said. "What's the heavy thought that's weighing
down your brain at the moment?"

"A very definitely insane one," Freddy Farmer replied, with a little
apologetic smile. "But taking it all and all, I'm blessed if I can think
of anything better."

"Thanks," Dawson said sarcastically, and rolled over on his side. "That
makes everything clear as mud. What do you want me to do--get up on my
hind legs and beg?"

If Freddy Farmer heard