Finally, for want of something better, he went back to the very beginning and reconstructed his first meeting with Tomaso.

Sudden had hinted that they must have known how deeply he was interested in aviation.

But Johnny did not see how that could be.

He had not talked much about his ambition, even at the Rolling R, he remembered; not enough to set him apart from the others as one who dreamed day and night of flying.

Until the boys got hold of that doggerel he wrote, Johnny was sure they had not paid any attention to his occasional vague rhapsodies on the subject.
Tomaso had seen the letterhead of that correspondence school, and had just accidentally mentioned it.