"He"s a fine looking gentleman, I must say," admitted Rob. "I think you"ll have no trouble making fair terms with him, if I"m any judge of faces."
"I"m glad to hear you say that, Rob," breathed Hiram, with a sigh, "because one minute I think everything looks rosy, and the next I"m groveling in the dust. But the agony will soon be over. There, he means to land this time; get ready to stick by me, because I want to be near when he climbs out of his seat and meets that boss of the whole company face to face."
The monoplane came swooping down, and like a great bird with wings extended, sailed along close to the ground, with constantly decreasing speed, as the power had been shut off.
Now the wheels under the frame had come in contact with the ground, and a dozen eager hands were outstretched to bring the machine to a full stop on the border of the group. This a.s.semblage was being constantly augmented by fresh arrivals, all eager to pa.s.s the good word with the pilot, and possibly congratulate him on the fine showing he had just made.
Hiram was looking as sharp as a fox as he strained his ears to catch every syllable that the air-man uttered.
He leisurely climbed out of his seat and reached the ground. There was a satisfied smile on his face that sent a wave of delight to the anxious heart of the waiting boy, to whom the success or failure of this, his first real invention, meant so much.
The pilot looked around. He was evidently expecting to make an immediate report to the gentleman with the white mustache, and Hiram had been very careful to keep in close touch with that man.
Yes, the pilot, after exchanging a little badinage with some of his comrades, immediately pushed directly toward the spot where the four chums stood. Straight up to the head of the large firm by whom he was employed the bird-man strode.
"Well, what is the decision?" Hiram heard the gentleman say, a note of antic.i.p.ation in his voice.
"Decidedly favorable, Mr. Curley. In fact, with only one trial I am convinced that it is going to be the best stabilizer so far on the market. You have made no mistake, take my word for it!"
Rob almost feared Hiram was going to faint. He leaned so heavily against him, as though for the moment his heart had ceased to beat. And yet, strange to say, the very first thing the overjoyed inventor did was to turn and clap his mouth close to the ear of the scout leader and mutter in trembling tones:
"By jinks! Did you hear _that_, Rob? Say, I meant to ask "em just twenty-five hundred cash for the patent, but she"s doubled in price now.
And don"t you think they"ll pay the five thousand all right, Rob?"
The Yankee in Hiram was on tap, Rob saw with amus.e.m.e.nt. At the same time he hastened to a.s.sure his chum that he was well within his rights in demanding all he thought he could get for his cunning device.
Evidently Hiram had determined to break the ice while the opportunity lay within his reach. Long had he waited for this glorious moment to arrive.
By day he had pictured it in a dozen fantastic forms, and while he slept his dreams must have carried him through numerous interviews with the powers that swayed the fortunes of the wonderful Golden Gate Aviation Supply Company.
He pushed forward a little further. If some of those present noticed the boy in scout uniform they paid little attention to him, being taken up with what was pa.s.sing between the pilot and the builder.
So Hiram managed to squeeze himself along until he could put out his hand and actually touch the two central figures in the discussion.
Rob and the other boys were not quite so fortunate, but being within easy hearing distance, they believed they would not be apt to miss anything that went on.
They saw Hiram put out his hand and give a tug at the coat of the fine-looking gentleman with the white military mustache. The latter looked down and was apparently annoyed to see that it was only a youth who sought to distract his attention.
"What do you want, boy?" he was heard to ask, impatiently.
Then Hiram spoke up. If his voice quavered a little that was not surprising; indeed, in Rob"s mind the wonder was that the excited scout could find his tongue at all.
"Do you think, Mr. Curley, that the little stabilizer has proved to be all that was claimed for it, sir?" was what Hiram asked.
The gentleman stared hard at him. Others who heard his question did the same, and Rob saw a smile as of amus.e.m.e.nt appear on the bronzed face of the noted air-pilot who had just come down, after experimenting with the device, bringing a favorable report; it was as though he had begun to smell a rat, and realized what a joke it would be to have a boy invent such an important appendage to a heavier-than-air flying machine.
"Why, what business is that of yours, may I ask, boy?" demanded the business head of the big company, as he continued to stare at the eager, flushed face of the lad who wore the khaki of a Boy Scout.
"Oh! Because I happen to be the Hiram Nelson you"ve been corresponding with, sir, that"s all!" said Hiram. "I used the money you sent me to come out here, but was a leetle bit afraid to face you. But I guess it"s all right now, Mr. Curley, because I heard your pilot say the thing worked fine. That suits me; and I"m ready to talk terms with you right away!"
CHAPTER XXIV.
A BOY SCOUT"S TRIUMPH.
"What"s this you are telling me?" asked Mr. Curley, quickly. "Have you the proof of what you claim with you, young man?"
Rob noticed that it was no longer "boy" with the gentleman; Hiram was evidently climbing in the scales, and rapidly at that.
"Oh, yes, sir, I"ve got everything to show you; and my patent right papers are in the hotel safe ready to be turned over in case we can reach a bargain."
The gentleman looked hastily around him. There were representatives of other makers of aeroplanes present who might endeavor to bid against him if only they knew he did not as yet have any positive agreement with the inventor of that successful stabilizer.
"Please say no more until we are in my office, Mr. Nelson," he remarked, softly; "and if you have the time now we might as well adjourn there.
I"ll ask a few of my people to accompany us, as well as this pilot who has just given your little trick its first try out."
"I"ll be glad to enter into a talk with you, Mr. Curley," declared Hiram; "but I must insist that my friends, who have come out to the Coast with me, be along."
He beckoned to Rob and Andy and Tubby, who immediately started to push their way through the crowd to where Hiram and the gentleman with the white mustache stood.
"Certainly, it is only fair that you should have equal backing with us,"
observed the gentleman, whose eyes twinkled with amus.e.m.e.nt now, as he began to grasp the situation, and realize that his company was up against a boy who knew his rights, and was possessed of considerable business sagacity, as well as inventive talent.
Accordingly they all headed for some buildings not a great ways off, and thus it came that presently the scouts found themselves behind closed doors with Mr. Curley and a number of others.
The head of the manufacturing firm was frowning a trifle, Rob noticed, even if there were times when he allowed a trace of a smile to steal across his face on glancing down at the figure of Hiram Nelson. Rob knew why this should be so, and he considered that it was only natural.
As a shrewd business man Mr. Curley realized that Hiram had been too smart for them. Instead of announcing his presence immediately, and taking what they chose to offer him for his clever device, the young Yankee inventor had hung around and waited for the climax to come. He had heard the favorable report made by the bird-man, and of course that had strengthened his case.
The gentleman understood that this unfortunate happening was likely to cost them dearly, since the inventor, knowing the value of his patent, would be likely to hold out for a much larger sum.
"Now, if you will let me see some papers to prove your ident.i.ty, Mr.
Nelson, we will talk shop with you; and I might as well confess in the beginning that if you are inclined to treat us fairly we can come to terms with you; but please consider that only one trial has been given to your stabilizer; and it may, after all, be of less value than appears at this moment."
Hiram needed no second invitation to get busy. He immediately unloaded a ma.s.s of proof upon them to show he was all he claimed, and that he also had the papers connected with his patent.
"I am satisfied, so far as that goes," announced the gentleman, as though desirous of arriving at the most important part of the whole proceedings as soon as possible. "Now will you please state the very lowest cash price you will accept to turn the patent over to this company?"
"Five thousand dollars, sir!" replied Hiram promptly.
Rob was watching the other"s face. He saw something there that told him Hiram had at least not exceeded the amount which would have been reckoned a price limit for the invention. Mr. Curley, however, was too good a business man to show any eagerness in the transaction, though there was certainly a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes as he seemed to consider the offer.
"I am going to be frank with you, Mr. Nelson," he remarked, presently.
"The sum you mention, although somewhat larger than we had contemplated paying for an invention the value of which has still to be fully proved, is within the amount we could afford to risk in the hopes of getting a really dependable stabilizer. Now, if we agree to do business with you, would you consent to sign a paper here and now to turn over your patent right entirely to us on the receipt of the sum you mention, five thousand dollars?"
Hiram was holding his own remarkably well. He refused to show any signs of being overwhelmed by his great good fortune, and seemed to be capable of displaying his customary shrewd Yankee bargaining qualities.
"I"ll agree to do it, Mr. Curley," he said deliberately, "if your company also makes the bargain so it can"t be broken. It mustn"t bind only me.