“It is a part of their agreement that they must test the machines first, so they, not you, will take all the risks. There are enough duties to keep all of you occupied. Never forget that I am commanding officer and I shall not tolerate interference with my plans.” With these words the colonel strode angrily away. For a minute neither of the two foreigners spoke. “Those Americans are in everything,” one said finally. “What chance do we stand while they are here? They do not know the meaning of the word fear; I have often watched them on the battle-front and I know. If these two give such exhibitions here as their countrymen did over there, they and not we will attract all the attention. We must manage to keep them out of the air.” “That is easy,” the other replied. “If we cannot keep them from going up, we can see to it that they come back down in an unexpected way. A loose pin, a defective strut, or any one of a dozen other things, and they will not stand in our way again. And no one will ever suspect!” Ted did not wait to hear more. With a face white with anger he hastened to where Stanley was clamping the Lewis gun to the iron bars of the turret. CHAPTER V IN QUEST OF THE HIDDEN TREASURE Ted’s first impulse was to tell Stanley immediately of the conversation he had heard in the hangar. But the roar of the motor made this impossible. Then it occurred to him that the two officers might be watching them, so he decided to withhold the information until they were safely in their own quarters. Stanley’s face was a puzzle as he listened to the story. He did not interrupt until the recital was completed. “I am surprised that they should resent our presence here,” he said finally. “There is room enough for all of us, but these fellows must have come bent on being the whole show and are determined to have their way. Still, it is almost impossible to believe they were altogether in earnest. Perhaps they knew you were listening and tried to frighten us.” “That is what they said, no matter what their real intention. I think the thing ought to be reported to the colonel.” “Perhaps we should report it, but that would only make matters worse. Why not wait until we have some proof of their intentions? Then we shall have a fair case against them. In the meantime I guess we can take care of ourselves.” “We must take every precaution. There is too much at stake for us to make a break one way or the other.” “Yes, we will be very careful. And we will let it go at that. I think we shall be able to tell without trouble if there has been any tampering with the ships. A strict watch must be kept, for one thing, and we shall make a most thorough inspection of our machine before each flight,” said Stanley. “Above all, we must work fast; that is, get into and out of our destination as soon as possible, and then we shall be at liberty to leave the country. If we speed up we may be able to forestall our rivals.”