it. Why, he's afraid Frank might get on to some little
device that he expects will play a big part in the game, if ever he
races us again. Huh! come off your perch, Larry, and take another
guess."

"Well, there he goes around the field," the other went on. "Listen to
the hum of the propellers, would you? Don't they make sweet music,
though? I'm afraid I'll be like poor little Elephant here, and get the
aeroplane fever myself, if this thing keeps on. Then there'll be a
whole flock of us bobbing around."

He laughed heartily at the idea, as though he could imagine himself
whizzing through the air "like a comet," as he remarked.

"Look at Sandy swinging his hat!" called out Elephant. "He's yelling
something too, but I can't make it out, because of the racket the
machine makes."

"Well, it wouldn't be hard to guess," declared Andy; "because you know
how Sandy Hollingshead likes to boast. The joke of it is, he never
does anything but hang on to his crony, and keep up the shouting. He's
such a coward naturally that I don't understand how he finds the nerve
to go up in that cranky craft with Percy."

"There! he's making faces at us; or doing something with his hands,"
Elephant continued, as he watched the biplane swinging past, some
hundreds of feet in the air.

"I suppose that's meant for a defi," laughed Frank. "You know Sandy's
ways, fellows? He always was something of a monkey on the team when he
played ball. Don't answer back, any of you. A cat may look at a king;
and we have a perfect right to stand here in our own dooryard, and gape
at the show. But, Andy, pay attention to the way his machine works.
I've caught on to a little idea already that I believe we could use
with benefit ourselves."

That was practical Frank every time, always keeping an eye out for the
usefulness of things, and ready to improve his opportunities as
occasion arose.

Three times did Percy circle the big practice field, as though
determined to impress upon the lookers-on the marvelous advantages his
new biplane had over the old.

Doubtless time had not effaced the bitterness of his former defeats at
the hands of his rival; and he was now fairly burning for a chance to
wipe the memory out.

"Now, what d'ye suppose he's hanging around here all this while for?"
grumbled Andy, who was nervous just so long as the other aeroplane kept
winging its flight over the encircling fence that marked the confines
of the aviation field.