I have no doubt but that the entire
performance on his part was to afford himself these opportunities; he
seemed to love such things."
"Was it not possible for your father to duplicate the plans?"
"At an earlier time it would have meant but a few weeks' application
at most. But at this period the thing was impossible. The last long
debauch seemed to have sapped his intellect; it also was the direct
cause of his death."
"I see," said Ashton-Kirk.
"I took the matter up with Hume at once," went on the young man. "But
I had no more success than my father. In the man's eyes, I had but
replaced my father; I was another patient subject for his mockery,
derision and abuse.
"There were some scattered drawings of the monoplane in father's
office; I began a study of these, thinking to chance upon the
principal idea. But I was unsuccessful.
"All this, you understand, was before I had met Miss Vale, and before
I was tangled up in the trouble I have just mentioned.
"The fear began to grow on me that Hume meant to use the plans to his
own advantage; I knew that he had long been familiar with Locke, who
was reputed to be a mechanical genius, and between them, I fancied
they'd take action. I began a watch upon the reports of the Patent
Office, thinking that that would finally give me something tangible to
use against them.
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