his cronies had
helped him to his feet, and started away with him, he still had enough
spite left to shout back, as he shook a fist: "We're not done with you
fellows yet!"

Paul was now the recipient of congratulations from all sides.
Everybody wished to slap him on the shoulder or shake hands with him,
it seemed, and the native populace gave him so many cocoanuts, bananas,
and pineapples that he was literally hemmed in with fruit, and John,
Bob, and Tom had to open up a pathway before he could get out of his
sweet-smelling barricade.

Our flyers put as much of the gifts in the cabin of the Sky-Bird as
they could find room for, including an abundance of nuts for the happy
Grandpa, and then they turned their attention to the pressing business
of overhauling the engines and storing fuel.

While they were thus engaged, the _Clarion's_ motor was heard to start;
and a few moments later she arose and took off to sea.

"Humph!" ejaculated Tom, "those fellows have beat us to it again."

"They ought to; didn't they arrive ahead of us?" asked Tom.

"We'll be out of here in fifteen minutes more," stated John.

But the words were no more than out of his mouth when Paul, who had
been inspecting the rear end of the machine came dashing excitedly
forward, crying:

"Fellows, hob is to pay! Those rascals have cut the wire braces that
support the tail-skid, and it's lopping away over!"

CHAPTER XXVIII

A MIX-UP IN DATES

Paul's announcement threw his friends into a state of consternation.
As they viewed the wire braces, neatly cut with a pair of nippers, they
recalled Pete Deveaux's act of whispering in the ear of one of his
party just preceding the recent fight, and realized now its full
import. This fellow had slunk out of the crowd, slipped over to the
unguarded airplane, and performed the unprincipled trick without any
risk of being caught at it.

Since there was no chance for immediate redress from the guilty party,
who were almost out of sight to the eastward, all our flyers could do
was to bend every effort to make repairs as fast as possible. After
considerable skirmishing around, they managed to secure some wire from
one of the vessels in the harbor. The severed strands were then
removed and new pieces cut to length.

It was found that the weight of the machine upon the unsupported skid,
had cracked the skid past repair; so they had to whittle out another
from some tough wood, which the natives brough