“Hey! that’s a hyderplane, mister, ain’t it?” demanded one sharp-eyed chap, after he had glimpsed the construction of the aluminum pontoons that were just kept from contact with the ground by the bicycle wheels.

“Have you ever seen one before?” asked Andy, desirous of keeping up friendly relations with the crowd, for he knew how important that might prove, since, as yet, no man wearing a blue uniform had put in an appearance; and should any hoodlum choose to play “rough house,” or try to be too familiar with the apparatus, there was always a chance that some damage might be done.

“No, I ain’t, but I seen a picture of that ‘ere Coffyn feller, a-flyin’ down on the Hudson river nigh New York; and she looked a heap like this here shebang,” came the quick response.

“Well, you guessed right that time, for that is what it is called, a hydroplane; because it can be navigated on the water as well as in the air.  And if you’ll please stand back, so as not to bother with anything, because the least handling may put the whole machine out of tune, I’ll be glad to tell you something about how we manage to use it as a boat.”

Andy knew how to manage, and he exerted himself to entertain the crowd while Frank was absent, keeping their interest aroused by little stories of things that had happened to birdmen in recent times, and which were of course well known to him, from the fact that both the cousins kept in close touch with all that went on in the world of aviation.

All the while Andy was keeping one anxious eye out for the sign of a blue uniform and brass buttons, while new additions kept arriving constantly to swell the eager crowd gathered on the park green.

In the end he was vastly relieved to discover a policeman hurrying up, looking as serious as though he expected to discover a fight, or two youngsters matching pet roosters, to the delight of the gathered host; for since the flying machine lay on the ground it was mostly concealed from his view; and he would never have known what it was anyway.

Of course, when he arrived on the scene and took command Andy quickly gained his favor by a little subtle flattery; and after that felt that he was, as he himself expressed it, “on Easy Street.”

Meanwhile Frank had proceeded direct to the drugstore on the corner, about two blocks away from the end of the green, where they had told him he could talk over the long distance phone with Bloomsbury.

He was pleased to find that they had a regular booth in the store; for he knew of numerous cases where the phone simply stood on a little stand, and everybody could hear what the subject of the talk might be, especially one side of it.

Once closeted in the booth he hastened to ask for connection with Police Headquarters at Bloomsbury.  There was some little delay, as though these long distance calls might be of rare occurrence in the local Central; but finally he received notice that connection had been made, and he was at liberty to start his message.