Page:Air Service Boys Flying for France.djvu/61

56 "About Carl Potzfeldt do you mean?" demanded Tom instantly.

"He knows about your father and his invention that threatens to revolutionize aerial warfare and give the side possessing it a vast advantage in the war," Jack hastened to say breathlessly.

"Well, I'm not much surprised. I seemed to feel he was German at heart, even if he does wear a little flag emblem in his buttonhole and is continually boasting of his loyalty. Did Bessie tell you this, Jack?"

"She did. The poor little thing wilted and cried when she confessed that her guardian had made her try to learn all about us—what we were going over to France for, and even if we expected to make some sort of bargain that would mean a fortune for your father."

Tom ground his teeth in sudden rage.

"Just like some of those mercenary Germans!" he muttered. "They can think only of bargain and sale. Even now they firmly believe my father means to get the biggest price he can from some Government. They think Adolph Tuessig made a blunder in not bidding high enough for the secret of the stabilizer."

"And that you are being sent across to France with the design of the invention hidden in your luggage, so as to make a bargain with the