Ned Knight, plenty mad, stepped up to me chin first. “Benny, your job is to keep these ships in trim, ain’t it--’specially this one, that’s goin’ to fly the race--or was! Then how come the timin’ is off, and fire got sucked back into the carburetor? I’ll bet my hat that the screen and drain is in bad shape, too, you--. Good gosh!” “Well, I got it out all right, didn’t I?” inquired Jane, who seemed to think that any scrape wasn’t very bad if she got out of it alive. “You sure did! You got us out like a veteran. Jane, you’re all right. Benny, dang you--” I wasn’t wastin’ time standin’ there and bein’ bawled out. I put my head into that motor, and it took only a minute for me to find out that some monkey business had been goin on--grease-monkey business! The engine had been tampered with. Our pet Alton! The ship we were dressin’ for the race! And with Jane in it! Lord! I whirled around and barked out my troubles. And then there was plenty of quiet for a minute. * * * * * Ned Knight moved first. Some other members of the hangar crew had come out to share the excitement. He singled out a pilot named Stud Walker, and stepped right up to him. Ugly eyes that man had, and an ugly face, and an ugly heart--Walker. His eyes sort of flashed with fear, and he tried to back away, but Ned had him nailed. “Walker, lemme ask you some questions! Last night, while I was fussin’ around the field, I heard somebody inside this Alton’s hangar. That was strange. By the time I got it unlocked, and went inside, the noises stopped, and the hangar was empty. But I found a hole in the sand, under the tin wall, that was fresh dug, and that hole was hid by two empty oil barrels. You know anything about that? I’ll answer for you. You know _all_ about it. You’re the man that tampered with the plane!” “You can’t prove--” Walker gulped. “Your guilty face proves it for me! I’m goin’ to smash--” Ned began to sail in with both hands and feet, but I grabbed him. While he was talkin’, two other greaseballs had got behind Walker, and blocked his retreat. Also, they kept Ned from killin’ him. And right then Mr. Robert Bennett Alton himself stepped up and spoke. “Ned, if you’re accusin’ this man of tamperin’ with that plane, I hope you can prove what you say.” “Mr. Alton,” Ned came back, “some time ago I caught Walker tappin’ a gin bottle on the field, and ever since then I’ve been watchin’ him. A few days ago he acted funny. I watched closer. After dark a sedan drew up, and Walker got in. The car stayed, and I watched it. Inside it was Gifford, at the wheel--Gifford, of the Stormbird people. He and Walker were talkin’ low. Then I saw Gifford pass money to Walker. That is proof enough for me that he’s in Gifford’s pay, working against us. He was clever enough to jim the plane so I couldn’t find the trouble last night, but he’s got now!”