indeed Eben Joyce, the unfortunate inventor from whom Luther Barr by
trickery secured my working drawings and specifications for the
Buzzard. For a paltry five hundred I sold them all to him on the
understanding that I was to have a share in the business. There will
be millions in it--millions in it for him, but not a cent for me; for
the agreement that I foolishly signed contains a clause that resigns
all my interest in the Buzzards. Fool that I was, in my lack of
knowledge of business trickery, I did not realize what the
cunningly-worded sentence meant till it was too late. The five hundred
went to pay my debts, and my daughter and I now face starvation."

"Well, that's none of my business," was the brutal reply. "I simply am
here to drive the Buzzards, not to talk about them."

"What!" stammered the old man, "will you have no pity on us nor even
direct where we may find Luther Barr if he is on the grounds?"

"I can't waste any time on you, I tell you," cried the Frenchman, his
eye scanning the sky, where the Golden Eagle was maneuvering in
circles and swoops.

"Moreover," went on Malvoise, "I should not advise you to mention
Barr's name as the manufacturer of the Buzzards. He has a business
deal on in which it is important he should not be known as an
aeroplane speculator. If he learns that you are giving his secrets
away, he will make it hot for you, I can tell you. You were sent to
Bellevue yesterday, were you not?"

"I was--yes," pitifully cried the old man, "but I was at once
released, and it was with money given me by one of the doctors who