I've had several, all told. And inside of
three days I expected that the latest model of aluminum pontoons would
be along, to turn it into a water as well as an air craft. Now chances
are, I'll never see it again, because, like as not, nobody knows which
way in creation they went."

"We happen to have a pointer about that same thing," Andy could not help
saying, though he hardly liked the superior air of the other, not being
able to overlook such things as easily as his cousin did.

"I hope, then, you'll give it to the Chief, Andy," the Carberry boy
remarked, for the first time directly speaking to one of the cousins.

"Sure thing. We want to see the rascals copped just as much as anybody
does. You see, Felix, he's the farm hand up at Mr. Quackenboss' place,
and me, we thought it good policy to stay around, and keep an eye on our
machine while it was lying overnight in that meadow. I had had a long
watch of it, and was taking my turn at sleeping when just at daybreak
Felix shook me, and said there was a queer noise up aloft that kind of
scared him, and which he rather believed must come from some sort of
air craft.

"Oh!" exclaimed Percy, looking intensely interested, of course; "go on,
please."

"I jumped up, and sure enough I glimpsed a biplane passing over, and
headed up the lake at a pretty good height, I thought it looked like
your machine, but as I remarked to Frank later on, whoever steered it
had a different way about him from your method. While I was wondering
what took you out so early, and I could see there were two in the
machine, a big flock of crows passed over, and I lost track of it.

"So, you see, Percy," broke in the eager Chief just at that point,
"we've got a pretty good clue already about the direction the rascals
took, who broke into the safe of the bank, and carried off a bagful of
money, and valuable papers; and then followed that up by cribbing your
biplane. It was north they went, up the lake, in fact; and that's the
quarter we'll have to look for them. But let me tell you it's putting it
pretty hard over on a police officer to make him try to track a stolen
flying machine."

"But you can get in touch with every town to the north, and pick up
pointers here and there!" Percy declared, excitedly. "Get back to town
as fast as you can, Chief, and with a couple of your men I'll carry you
wherever you want to go. In the meanwhile, you can leave orders for your
men to do the wiring business;