lately? There was the affair over in a neighboring town, when yeggmen
broke into the bank, and robbed it; and now here you tell me we've had a
little smash-up on our own account, with the burglars leaving cards
behind them. But what d'ye think now anybody would want to go poking
around in our shop for, Frank?"

His cousin was looking very grave.

"Well, you forget that we've been working overtime this winter on
several little inventions that, if we ever complete them, will make a
stir in the world of aviation."

"Jupiter, I had let that slip away from me, for a fact, Frank!"
exclaimed the other, looking rather startled.

"Of course, it sounds pretty big for us to even imagine that any party
could take enough interest in what the Bird boys are doing to come up
here, intending to break into the shop, and learn our secrets; but what
else can we think, tell me that, Andy?"

"But they wouldn't find out much, even if they had six hours to poke
around our shop in, would they, Frank?"

"I guess you're right, because we've made it a rule to be cautious
enough to hide our work and cover our tracks as we go along. But let's
get busy now, and put the plane into shape, so we can slip along home.
And as we work we can keep on talking as much as we want to," Frank went
on to say.

The farmer and Felix still loitered around, determined to see the