ased Grandpa, who had not
relished his part of the proceedings in the least, to judge from his
excited chattering, most of which was bestowed upon the rescued man.

CHAPTER XXX

AN ALARMING DISCOVERY

One of the first questions our flyers asked of Oliver Torrey, after
they had helped him remove his wet clothing, was:

"Where are your friends?"

The _Clarion_ flyer shook his head sadly. "They're done for--drowned.
I'm the only one left of our crew. That was an awful storm, boys! I
don't see how you ever survived it."

"We did it by flying over the greater part of it," said Tom. "How did
it happen to get you fellows?"

"Pete and Chuck were operating," explained Oliver Torrey. "Sam and I
both wanted to get above the tornado, but they said they thought it
wouldn't amount to much. When they saw how bad it really was, it was
too late. A whirlpool of wind struck us at three thousand feet, Pete
lost control, and we went into a nose-dive from which we never
recovered. When we struck the sea the force crushed in the front of
the cabin, stunning Pete, and before any of us could grab him the waves
had washed him out of our sight. Chuck, Sam, and I managed to get out
and climb up on the fuselage; but the seas were running so high that
half of the time we were buried in water. Coming out of one of these
deluges, I looked around and saw that I was alone. Then the storm
passed, and things looked better for me. But I was just about ready to
give up when I saw the Sky-Bird coming."

Oliver Torrey paused a moment, wiped his haggard face, and then
continued, as he looked earnestly at his rescuers:

"Boys, I never can thank you enough for saving my worthless life. It's
awful to think that we guys let Pete Deveaux coax us into doing all
those dirty things to hold you back. I guess we deserved this
punishment. If I ever get back to Panama I'll certainly make what
amends I can by telling the whole disgraceful story to the world."

Tom stepped in front of the _Clarion_ flyer, and shook his finger in
his face. "Torrey," said Tom, "I think at heart you are all right; but
listen! Mr. Wrenn, who hired you fellows, is a straight man through
and through. If this story gets out it will be published broadcast,
and people will think he abetted your crimes against us. So, for his
sake----"

"I see; I hadn't thought of that," ejaculated Torrey. "I will keep
still; as far as the public'll ever know, they'll think thi