Hamilton slowly. "I want to think it over, have a talk
with some of these 'birdmen' as you call them, and then you and I'll
consider it together, Dick. That's why I came on. I want to know
more about it before I make up my mind."
Mr. Hamilton became the guest of the colonel, as he had done on
several occasions before, and, in the following days, he made as
careful a study of aviation as was possible under the circumstances.
He also had several interviews with Mr. Vardon.
"Have you decided to let your son have an airship of his own?" the
colonel asked, when the millionaire announced that he would start
for New York the following morning.
"Well, I've been thinking pretty hard about the matter," was the
answer. "I hardly know what to do. I'm afraid it's only another
one of Dick's hare-brained ideas, and if he goes in for it, he'll
come a cropper.
"And, maybe, on the whole, it wouldn't be a bad idea to let him go
in for it, and make a fizzle of it. It would be a good lesson to
him, though I would certainly regret, exceedingly, if he were even
slightly injured.
"On the other hand Dick is pretty lucky. He may come out all right.
I suppose he'll go in and try to win some prizes at these aviation
meets they hold every once in a while."
"Yes, there are to be several," spoke the colonel. "I heard
something about the government offering a big prize for a successful
trans-continental flight--from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but I
know nothing of the details.
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