ow or other had up to now
been stayed.

Although some weeks had passed since the much-talked-of race between the
rival aeroplanes, piloted by these two boys, in which Frank took his
little craft up to the lofty summit of Old Thunder Top ahead of Puss in
his biplane, as narrated in the first volume of this series, entitled
"The Bird Boys; or, The Young Sky Pilot's First Air Voyage," the latter
had never ceased to feel ugly over his defeat.

As usual he had what he considered a good excuse for his arriving
second; but few persons ever knew how Puss and his helper Sandy had
tried to injure Frank's airship when it was directly beneath them, by
deliberately dropping a sand bag, taken along, singularly enough, as
"ballast," but with this very idea in view.

"Seems to me you've gotten the big head ever since you happened to drop
on that rocky plateau on top of the mountain just three little seconds
ahead of me, Frank Bird!" he said, with a steely glitter in his eyes
that those who knew him best understood to mean coming trouble.

"Oh! I hope not, Puss," replied the other, with a smile. "I give you my
word my hat fits me just as comfortably as ever. It was a close race,
and the one who got there first hadn't much to crow about, for a
fact. We happened to be lucky not to have any trouble with our new
little Kinkaid engine, that was all."

"Huh!" grunted his cousin Andy, shaking his head, and scowling at Puss
in turn. "But we had plenty of other sorts of trouble, all the same,
sand bags full of it, in fact. They just rained down on us; but then
Frank knows how to check up his engine suddenly, and the storm passed by
without any hurt!"

Some of the fellows, who happened to know what this sly reference on the
part of the hotheaded Andy meant, began to chuckle. Of course such a
thing would only serve to make Puss more angry. He chose to believe that
they were all only trying to bait him.

Frank in particular came in for his dark looks. And Larry, who had once
run in the same company as Puss, so that he knew his whims better than
many others, took occasion to give Frank Bird a sly nudge in the side,
as he whispered:

"Look out for him, Frank; he's getting near the danger point, sure!"

But Frank did not have to be warned. He had grown tired of warding off
this ever threatening danger of a broil with Puss Carberry. Like his
cousin Andy, the other had no father; and his wealthy mother had long
since given up in despair the i