“It’s not confidence,” said Stubbs.  “I’ve just got to do it.  Why, if my boss knew I had something like this in my hands and I didn’t get it to him I’d lose my job.”

Chester made no reply to this; instead, he bent over Hal who was still tinkering with the engine of the aeroplane.

“How are you making it?” he asked.

“I don’t seem to be able to fix it,” returned Hal.  “Say! you two fellows walk away a bit and keep an eye open for possible enemies.  We don’t want to be caught off our guard here.”

Chester and Stubbs did as Hal directed, though the latter mumbled to himself as he took his position some distance away.

“That’s the trouble with these contraptions,” he said.  “Always out of whack.  If a man had a good horse now—­”

He broke off and continued to mumble something unintelligible to himself.

“I’ve found it,” cried Hal now, from the aeroplane.  “I was working on the wrong part.  I’ll have it fixed in a jiffy.”

Chester made no reply, but Stubbs brightened up wonderfully.

“That’s the talk!” he cried.  “Fix her up, Hal, and get a move on.”

Hal smiled to himself as he tinkered with the engine.

Hal was deep in his work when his attention was attracted by a sudden cry of alarm from Stubbs.

“Germans!” cried the little man, and without stopping to look again, he dashed toward Hal.

At almost the same moment Chester saw a force of the enemy advancing toward him.  He, too, uttered a cry of alarm and dashed toward the place where Hal still bent over the aeroplane.

Stubbs danced up and down and chanted excitedly: 

“Hurry up, Hal!  Hurry up!  Here they come!”

“Shut up, Stubbs!” exclaimed Hal, straining all his energies to fix the break in the plane.  “I’ll have it in a minute.”

“A minute will be too late!” cried Stubbs.

“Be still, Stubbs!” said Chester, quietly.  “Give Hal a chance.  There is still time to run if it’s necessary.”

And at that moment Hal sprang to his feet.

“Fixed!” he cried joyfully.  “Climb in here, quickly!”

The others needed no urging and soon all were in their places.  It was now that Hal thanked his stars that the plane was one of the few that could rise from the ground.

Slowly the large army plane gathered headway as he moved along the ground.  Hal increased the speed slowly in spite of the close proximity, for he realized that too great haste might spell disaster, and he wished to test the engine carefully before soaring into the air.

“Up, Hal!” cried Stubbs.  “Here they come!”

Hal paid no heed to this frantic exclamation.  Instead, for a moment, he reduced the speed of the craft as something seemed not to be working exactly right.  Calmly he bent over the engine and tinkered with it a moment later.  Then he sat straight and exclaimed: 

“All right now!”