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THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR

farmer; and the three Rover boys knew he was thinking of his only daughter Minnie, and of the attention Songbird Powell was paying to her.

It was not long before they came in sight of the Sanderson homestead, pleasantly located in a grove of trees. Minnie Sanderson was on the lookout for them—a round-faced, jolly young lady—and she waved her hand as the carriage came to a halt.

"Why didn't you come in that wonderful airship!" she sang out gaily. "I'm dying to see you fly!"

"Because you have the machine here!" answered Sam.

"Oh, we've only got some bundles, and they don't look a bit like a flying machine," went on the girl. "But, say," she added, her cheeks dimpling. "What a time I had yesterday, keeping your secret! Mr. Powell took me out riding,"—she blushed a trifle—"and when we came back he wanted to know what the bundles contained. I told him it was some kind of machinery. He saw the canvas and said he guessed pa was going to put up a windmill!"

"Thanks for keeping it dark!" cried Dick. "We want to surprise everybody at Brill."

"You'll have to be careful of what you do then," went on the girl. "Some of the young men