The white aeroplane flashed by, going farther to the east, and Ned
laid a hand on Leroy's arm as he was about to increase speed.

"Don't hurry," he said, almost screaming the words into the boy's
ear.

"I don't want him to beat me!" the driver called back.

"Let him go," Ned commanded. "Play about the scenery a little
while, and then we'll go back to Lima."

"Let me catch him!" pleaded Leroy. "Just let me chase around him a
couple of times. I want to see him make a sneak when he sees the
Nelson in action!"

"Can you do it?" asked Ned.

"Sure I can do it. Just give me a chance. There isn't a machine in
the world that can win a race against the Nelson!"

"I'm sure of that," Ned answered, "and I hope that fellow over there
won't find it out right away. Let him think he can go by us like we
were tied to a cloud, if he wants to. There will come a time when
his confidence in his machine will cost him his job!"

Leroy saw that Ned was really in earnest in the expressed wish to
deceive the aviator of the rival aeroplane, and also saw that there
was good reason for doing so, so he shut off the motors and started